[RFC] The Linux kernel IPv6 stack don't follow the RFC 4942 recommendation

["François-Xavier Le Bail" <fx.lebail@yahoo.com>]

Hi,

I do some tests on a Linux 3.0 kernel with IPv6 forwarding mode enabled.

When I ping (ICMPv6 echo request) on one of its Subnet-Router anycast addresses
(SRAA, http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4291#section-2.6.1),
the Linux kernel reply with an unicast source address, not the anycast one.

When I send an IPv6 UDP packet to a server on Linux on one of its SRAA,
the Linux kernel build a reply with an unicast source address, not the anycast one.

The RFC 4942 states (http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4942#section-2.1.6) :
2.1.6. Anycast Traffic Identification and Security
[. . .]
   To avoid exposing knowledge about the internal structure of the
   network, it is recommended that anycast servers now take advantage of
   the ability to return responses with the anycast address as the
   source address if possible.

Also, If the source address of reply differs from destination address of the request, many applications are broken.
Please let me know your feedback.


Thanks,
Francois-Xavier Le Bail