Representing IPv6 Zone Identifiers in Address Literals and Uniform Resource Identifiers
School of Computer Science
University of Auckland
PB 92019
Auckland 1142
New Zealand
brian.e.carpenter@gmail.com
Apple Inc.
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014
USA
cheshire@apple.com
Check Point Software
959 Skyway Road
San Carlos, CA 94070
USA
bob.hinden@gmail.com
Internet
6MAN
This document describes how the zone identifier of an IPv6 scoped address, defined
as <zone_id> in the IPv6 Scoped Address Architecture (RFC 4007), can be
represented in a literal IPv6 address and in a Uniform Resource Identifier
that includes such a literal address. It updates the URI Generic Syntax
specification (RFC 3986) accordingly, and obsoletes RFC 6874.
Discussion Venue
Discussion of this document takes place on the
6MAN mailing list (ipv6@ietf.org),
which is archived at https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/browse/ipv6/.
Introduction
The Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) syntax specification defined how a
literal IPv6 address can be represented in the "host" part of a URI.
Two months later, the IPv6 Scoped Address Architecture specification extended
the text representation of limited-scope IPv6 addresses such that a zone identifier may be concatenated
to a literal address, for purposes described in that specification. Zone identifiers are especially
useful in contexts in which literal addresses are typically used, for example, during fault diagnosis,
when it may be essential to specify which interface is used for sending to a link-local address.
It should be noted that zone identifiers have purely local meaning within the
node in which
they are defined, often being the same as IPv6 interface names. They are completely meaningless
for any other node. Today, they are meaningful only when attached to addresses with less
than global scope, but it is possible that other uses might be defined in the future.
The IPv6 Scoped Address Architecture specification does not specify how zone identifiers are to be represented
in URIs. Practical experience has shown that this feature is useful or necessary,
in at least three use cases:
- When using a web browser for simple debugging actions
involving link-local addresses on a host with more than one
active link interface.
- When using a web browser to reconfigure a misconfigured
device which only has a link local address and whose only
configuration tool is a web server, again from a host with
more than one active link interface.
- When using an HTTP-based protocol for establishing link-
local relationships, such as the Apple CUPS printing
mechanism .
It should be noted that whereas some operating systems and network APIs
support a default zone identifier as described in ,
others do not, and for them an appropriate URI syntax is particularly important.
In the past, some browser versions directly accepted the IPv6 Scoped Address
syntax
for scoped IPv6 addresses embedded in URIs, i.e., they were coded to
interpret a "%" sign following the literal address as introducing a zone
identifier , instead of introducing two hexadecimal
characters representing some percent-encoded octet . Clearly,
interpreting the "%" sign as introducing a zone identifier is very convenient
for users, although it formally breaches
the established URI syntax . This document defines an alternative
approach that respects and extends the rules of URI syntax, and IPv6 literals in general, to be consistent.
Thus, this document updates the URI syntax specification by adding syntax to allow a zone identifier
to be included in a literal IPv6 address within a URI.
It should be noted that in contexts other than a user interface, a zone identifier is mapped into
a numeric zone index or interface number. The MIB textual convention InetZoneIndex and the
socket interface define this as a 32-bit unsigned integer. The mapping
between the human-readable zone identifier string and the numeric value is a host-specific
function that varies between operating systems. The present document is concerned only
with the human-readable string.
Several alternative solutions were considered while this document was developed. Appendix
A briefly describes the various options and their advantages and disadvantages.
This document obsoletes its predecessor by greatly
simplifying its recommendations and requirements for web browsers.
Its effect on the formal URI syntax is exactly the same
as that of RFC 6874.
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
"OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in
BCP 14 when, and
only when, they appear in all capitals, as shown here.
Issues with Implementing RFC 6874
Several issues prevented RFC 6874 being implemented in browsers:
- There was some disagreement with requiring percent-encoding of the "%" sign preceding a zone identifier.
This requirement is retained in the present document.
- The requirement to delete any zone identifier before emitting a URI from the host in an HTTP message
was considered both too complex to implement and in violation of normal HTTP practice .
This requirement has been dropped from the present document.
- The suggestion to pragmatically allow a bare "%" sign when this would be unambiguous was considered both
too complex to implement and confusing for users. This suggestion has been dropped from the present document.
Specification
According to IPv6 Scoped Address syntax , a zone identifier is attached to the textual representation of an IPv6
address by concatenating "%" followed by <zone_id>, where <zone_id> is a string identifying the zone of the address.
However, the IPv6 Scoped Address Architecture specification gives no precise definition of the character set allowed in <zone_id>.
There are no rules or de facto standards for this. For example, the first Ethernet interface in a host
might be called %0, %1, %en1, %eth0, or whatever the implementer happened to choose. Also, %25
would be valid.
In a URI, a literal IPv6 address is always embedded between "[" and "]".
This document specifies how a <zone_id> can be appended to the address.
According to Section 2.4 of , "%" must be percent-encoded
to be used as data within a URI, so any occurrences of literal "%" symbols in a URI MUST
be percent-encoded and represented in the form "%25".
Thus, the scoped address fe80::abcd%en1 would appear in a URI as http://[fe80::abcd%25en1].
- Open Issue 1:
This choice needs to be re-discussed as there is an argument that URI parsers
could be coded to avoid percent-encoding here if so directed by the ABNF syntax.
This depends on the exact interpretation of Section 2.4 of
- Open Issue 2:
Depending on the outcome of the previous issue, there is an argument that an alternative
separator (specifically "-") would be preferable to "%25".
A <zone_id> SHOULD contain only ASCII characters classified
as "unreserved" for use in URIs . This excludes characters such as "]" or even "%" that would complicate parsing.
However, the syntax described below does allow such characters to be percent-encoded, for
compatibility with existing devices that use them.
If an operating system uses any other characters in zone or interface identifiers that are not in the
"unreserved" character set, they MUST be represented using percent encoding
.
We now present the necessary formal syntax.
The URI syntax specification formally defined the
IPv6 literal format in ABNF by the following rule:
To provide support for a zone identifier,
the existing syntax of IPv6address is retained, and a zone identifier may be
added optionally to any literal address. This syntax allows flexibility for unknown future
uses. The rule quoted above from the previous URI syntax specification
is replaced by three rules:
Alternative rules for Issue 1 above:
Alternative rules for Issue 2 above:
This syntax fills the gap that is described at the end of Section 11.7 of
the IPv6 Scoped Address Architecture specification .
The established rules for textual representation of IPv6 addresses SHOULD be applied in producing URIs.
The URI syntax specification states that URIs have a global scope, but that in some cases their
interpretation depends on the end-user's context. URIs including a ZoneID are
to be interpreted only in the context of the host at which they originate, since
the ZoneID is of local significance only.
The IPv6 Scoped Address Architecture specification offers guidance on how the ZoneID affects interface/address selection
inside the IPv6 stack. Note that the behaviour of an IPv6 stack, if it is passed a non-null
zone index for an address other than link-local, is undefined.
Web Browsers
This section discusses how web browsers might handle this syntax extension.
Unfortunately, there is no formal distinction between the syntax allowed
in a browser's input dialogue box and the syntax allowed in URIs. For this
reason, no normative statements are made in this section.
Due to the lack of defined syntax, web browsers have been
inconsistent in providing for ZoneIDs. Most have no support, but there
have been examples of ad hoc support. For example, some versions of Firefox allowed the
use of a ZoneID preceded by a bare "%" character, but
this feature was removed for consistency with established syntax . As another example, some
versions of Internet Explorer allowed use of a ZoneID preceded by a "%"
character encoded as "%25", still beyond the syntax allowed by the established
rules . This
syntax extension is in fact used internally in the Windows operating system and some
of its APIs.
It is desirable for all browsers to recognise a ZoneID according to the above syntax.
URIs including
a ZoneID have no meaning outside the originating HTTP client node. However, in some use cases,
such as CUPS mentioned above, the URI
will be reflected back to the client.
The normal diagnostic usage for the ZoneID syntax will cause it to be entered in the browser's
input dialogue box. Thus, URIs including a ZoneID are unlikely to be encountered in
HTML documents. However, if they do (for example, in a diagnostic script coded in HTML),
it would be appropriate to treat them exactly as above.
Security Considerations
The security considerations from the URI syntax specification and the IPv6 Scoped Address Architecture specification apply.
In particular, this URI format creates a specific pathway by which a deceitful zone
index might be communicated, as mentioned in the final security consideration
of the Scoped Address Architecture specification.
To limit this risk, implementations MUST NOT allow use of this format except for
well-defined usages, such as sending to link-local addresses under prefix fe80::/10.
At the time of writing, this is the only well-defined usage known.
Acknowledgements
The lack of this format was first pointed out by Margaret Wasserman and
later by Kerry Lynn. A previous draft document by Martin Duerst and Bill
Fenner discussed this topic but was not finalised.
Michael Sweet and Andrew Cady explained some of the difficulties caused by RFC 6874.
Valuable comments and contributions were made by
Karl Auer,
Carsten Bormann,
Benoit Claise,
Stephen Farrell,
Brian Haberman,
Ted Hardie,
Philip Homburg,
Tatuya Jinmei,
Yves Lafon,
Barry Leiba,
Radia Perlman,
Tom Petch,
Michael Richardson,
Tomoyuki Sahara,
Juergen Schoenwaelder,
Nico Schottelius,
Dave Thaler,
Martin Thomson,
Ole Troan,
and others.
References
Normative References
Informative References
Formats for IPv6 Scope Zone Identifiers in Literal Address Formats
CUPS open source printing system
Options Considered
This section will be updated as necessary after the open issues are resolved.
The syntax defined above allows a ZoneID to be added to any
IPv6 address. The 6man WG discussed and rejected an alternative in which
the existing syntax of IPv6address would be extended by an option
to add the ZoneID only for the case of link-local addresses. It
was felt that the solution presented in this document offers more flexibility for
future uses and is more straightforward to implement.
The various syntax options considered are now briefly described.
-
Leave the problem unsolved.
This would mean that per-interface diagnostics would still have to be performed using ping or ping6:
ping fe80::abcd%en1
Advantage: works today.
Disadvantage: less convenient than using a browser. Leaves some use cases unsatisfied.
-
Simply use the percent character:
http://[fe80::abcd%en1]
Advantage: allows use of browser; allows cut and paste.
Disadvantage: invalid syntax under RFC 3986; not acceptable to URI community.
-
Simply use an alternative separator:
http://[fe80::abcd-en1]
Advantage: allows use of browser; simple syntax.
Disadvantage: Requires all IPv6 address literal parsers and
generators to be updated in order to allow simple cut and paste; inconsistent
with existing tools and practice.
Note: The initial proposal for this choice was to use an underscore
as the separator, but it was noted that this becomes effectively invisible when
a user interface automatically underlines URLs.
-
Simply use the "IPvFuture" syntax left open in RFC 3986:
http://[v6.fe80::abcd_en1]
Advantage: allows use of browser.
Disadvantage: ugly and redundant; doesn't allow simple cut and paste.
-
Retain the percent character already specified for introducing
zone identifiers for IPv6 Scoped Addresses [RFC4007], and then
percent-encode it when it appears in a URI, according to the
already-established URI syntax rules [RFC 3986]:
http://[fe80::abcd%25en1]
Advantage: allows use of browser; consistent with general URI
syntax.
Disadvantage: somewhat ugly and confusing; doesn't allow simple
cut and paste.
This is the option chosen for standardisation.
Change log
- draft-carpenter-6man-rfc6874bis-02, 2021-08-12:
- Give details of open issues
- Update authorship
- Editorial fixes
- draft-carpenter-6man-rfc6874bis-01, 2021-07-11:
- Added section on issues with RFC6874
- Removed suggested heuristic for bare % signs
- Editorial fixes
- draft-carpenter-6man-rfc6874bis-00, 2021-07-05: