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STF(4) FreeBSD Kernel Interfaces Manual STF(4)
NAME
stf - 6to4 tunnel interface
SYNOPSIS
device stf
DESCRIPTION
The stf interface supports "6to4" and "6rd" IPv6 in IPv4 encapsulation.
It can tunnel IPv6 traffic over IPv4, as specified in RFC3056 or RFC5969.
For ordinary nodes in a 6to4 or 6RD site, you do not need stf interface.
The stf interface is necessary for site border routers (called "6to4
routers" or "6rd Customer Edge (CE)" in the specification).
Each stf interface is created at runtime using interface cloning. This
is most easily done with the ifconfig(8) create command or using the
cloned_interfaces variable in rc.conf(5).
6to4
Due to the way 6to4 protocol is specified, stf interface requires certain
configuration to work properly. Single (no more than 1) valid 6to4
address needs to be configured to the interface. "A valid 6to4 address"
is an address which has the following properties. If any of the
following properties are not satisfied, stf raises runtime error on
packet transmission. Read the specification for more details.
o matches 2002:xxyy:zzuu::/48 where xxyy:zzuu is a hexadecimal notation
of an IPv4 address for the node. IPv4 address can be taken from any
of interfaces your node has. Since the specification forbids the use
of IPv4 private address, the address needs to be a global IPv4
address.
o Subnet identifier portion (48th to 63rd bit) and interface identifier
portion (lower 64 bits) are properly filled to avoid address
collisions.
If you would like the node to behave as a relay router, the prefix length
for the IPv6 interface address needs to be 16 so that the node would
consider any 6to4 destination as "on-link". If you would like to
restrict 6to4 peers to be inside certain IPv4 prefix, you may want to
configure IPv6 prefix length as "16 + IPv4 prefix length". stf interface
will check the IPv4 source address on packets, if the IPv6 prefix length
is larger than 16.
stf can be configured to be ECN friendly. This can be configured by
IFF_LINK1. See gif(4) for details.
Please note that 6to4 specification is written as "accept tunnelled
packet from everyone" tunnelling device. By enabling stf device, you are
making it much easier for malicious parties to inject fabricated IPv6
packet to your node. Also, malicious party can inject an IPv6 packet
with fabricated source address to make your node generate improper
tunnelled packet. Administrators must take caution when enabling the
interface. To prevent possible attacks, stf interface filters out the
following packets. Note that the checks are no way complete:
o Packets with IPv4 unspecified address as outer IPv4
o Packets with limited broadcast address as outer IPv4
source/destination (255.0.0.0/8)
o Packets with private address as outer IPv4 source/destination
(10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, 192.168.0.0/16)
o Packets with subnet broadcast address as outer IPv4
source/destination. The check is made against subnet broadcast
addresses for all of the directly connected subnets.
o Packets that does not pass ingress filtering. Outer IPv4 source
address must meet the IPv4 topology on the routing table. Ingress
filter can be turned off by IFF_LINK2 bit.
o The same set of rules are applied against the IPv4 address embedded
into inner IPv6 address, if the IPv6 address matches 6to4 prefix.
It is recommended to filter/audit incoming IPv4 packet with IP protocol
number 41, as necessary. It is also recommended to filter/audit
encapsulated IPv6 packets as well. You may also want to run normal
ingress filter against inner IPv6 address to avoid spoofing.
By setting the IFF_LINK0 flag on the stf interface, it is possible to
disable the input path, making the direct attacks from the outside
impossible. Note, however, there are other security risks exist. If you
wish to use the configuration, you must not advertise your 6to4 address
to others.
6rd
Like "6to4" "6rd" also requires configuration before it can be used. The
required configuration parameters are:
o The IPv6 address and prefix length.
o The border router IPv4 address.
o The IPv4 WAN address.
o The prefix length of the IPv4 WAN address.
These can parameters are all configured through ifconfig(8).
The IPv6 address and prefix length can be configured like any other IPv6
address. Note that the prefix length is the IPv6 prefix length excluding
the embedded IPv4 address bits. The prefix length of the delegated
network is the sum of the IPv6 prefix length and the IPv4 prefix length.
The border router IPv4 address is configured with the ifconfig(8) stfv4br
command.
The IPv4 WAN address and IPv4 prefix length are configured using the
ifconfig(8) stfv4net command.
SYSCTL VARIABLES
The following sysctl(8) variables can be used to control the behavior of
the stf. The default value is shown next to each variable.
net.link.stf.permit_rfc1918: 0
EXAMPLES
Note that 8504:0506 is equal to 133.4.5.6, written in hexadecimals.
# ifconfig ne0 inet 133.4.5.6 netmask 0xffffff00
# ifconfig stf0 inet6 2002:8504:0506:0000:a00:5aff:fe38:6f86 \
prefixlen 16 alias
The following configuration accepts packets from IPv4 source 9.1.0.0/16
only. It emits 6to4 packet only for IPv6 destination 2002:0901::/32
(IPv4 destination will match 9.1.0.0/16).
# ifconfig ne0 inet 9.1.2.3 netmask 0xffff0000
# ifconfig stf0 inet6 2002:0901:0203:0000:a00:5aff:fe38:6f86 \
prefixlen 32 alias
The following configuration uses the stf interface as an output-only
device. You need to have alternative IPv6 connectivity (other than 6to4)
to use this configuration. For outbound traffic, you can reach other
6to4 networks efficiently via stf. For inbound traffic, you will not
receive any 6to4-tunneled packets (less security drawbacks). Be careful
not to advertise your 6to4 prefix to others (2002:8504:0506::/48), and
not to use your 6to4 prefix as a source.
# ifconfig ne0 inet 133.4.5.6 netmask 0xffffff00
# ifconfig stf0 inet6 2002:8504:0506:0000:a00:5aff:fe38:6f86 \
prefixlen 16 alias deprecated link0
# route add -inet6 2002:: -prefixlen 16 ::1
# route change -inet6 2002:: -prefixlen 16 ::1 -ifp stf0
The following example configures a "6rd" tunnel on a "6rd CE" where the
ISP's "6rd" IPv6 prefix is 2001:db8::/32. The border router is
192.0.2.1. The "6rd CE" has a WAN address of 192.0.2.2 and the full IPv4
address is embedded in the "6rd IPv6 address:"
# ifconfig stf0 inet6 2001:db8:c000:0202:: prefixlen 32 up
# ifconfig stf0 stfv4br 192.0.2.1
# ifconfig stf0 stfv4net 192.0.2.2/32
SEE ALSO
gif(4), inet(4), inet6(4)
Brian Carpenter and Keith Moore, Connection of IPv6 Domains via IPv4
Clouds, RFC, 3056, February 2001.
Jun-ichiro itojun Hagino, Possible abuse against IPv6 transition
technologies, draft-itojun-ipv6-transition-abuse-01.txt, July 2000, work
in progress.
HISTORY
The stf device first appeared in WIDE/KAME IPv6 stack.
BUGS
No more than one stf interface is allowed for a node, and no more than
one IPv6 interface address is allowed for an stf interface. It is to
avoid source address selection conflicts between IPv6 layer and IPv4
layer, and to cope with ingress filtering rule on the other side. This
is a feature to make stf work right for all occasions.
FreeBSD 14.2-RELEASE November 16, 2021 FreeBSD 14.2-RELEASE