RFC 4607 - Source-Specific Multicast for IP

Status of This Memo

This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006).

Abstract

IP version 4 (IPv4) addresses in the 232/8 (232.0.0.0 to 232.255.255.255) range are designated as source-specific multicast (SSM) destination addresses and are reserved for use by source-specific applications and protocols. For IP version 6 (IPv6), the address prefix FF3x::/32 is reserved for source-specific multicast use. This document defines an extension to the Internet network service that applies to datagrams sent to SSM addresses and defines the host and router requirements to support this extension.

Contents

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Semantics of Source-Specific Multicast Addresses
• 3. Terminology
• 4. Host Requirements
  • 4.1. Extensions to the IP Module Interface
  • 4.2. Requirements on the Host IP Module
  • 4.3. Allocation of Source-Specific Multicast Addresses
• 5. Router Requirements
  • 5.1. Packet Forwarding
  • 5.2. Protocols
• 6. Link-Layer Transmission of Datagrams
• 7. Security Considerations
  • 7.1. IPsec and SSM
  • 7.2. SSM and RFC 2401 IPsec Caveats
  • 7.3. Denial of Service
  • 7.4. Spoofed Source Addresses
  • 7.5. Administrative Scoping
• 8. Transition Considerations
• 9. IANA Considerations
• 10. Acknowledgements
• 11. Normative References
• 12. Informative References
• Authors' Addresses
• Full Copyright Statement