Manual Pages  — INET6

inet6 is a collection of protocols layered atop the Internet Protocol version 6 ( IPv6) transport layer, and utilizing the IPv6 address format. The inet6 family provides protocol support for the SOCK_STREAM, SOCK_DGRAM, and SOCK_RAW socket types; the SOCK_RAW interface provides access to the IPv6 protocol.

struct sockaddr_in6 {
        uint8_t         sin6_len;
        sa_family_t     sin6_family;
        in_port_t       sin6_port;
        uint32_t        sin6_flowinfo;
        struct in6_addr sin6_addr;
        uint32_t        sin6_scope_id;
};

The IPv6 specification defines scoped addresses, like link-local or site-local addresses. A scoped address is ambiguous to the kernel, if it is specified without a scope identifier. To manipulate scoped addresses properly from the userland, programs must use the advanced API defined in RFC2292. A compact description of the advanced API is available in ip6(4). If a scoped address is specified without an explicit scope, the kernel may raise an error. Note that scoped addresses are not for daily use at this moment, both from a specification and an implementation point of view.

The KAME implementation supports an extended numeric IPv6 address notation for link-local addresses, like "fe80::1%de0" to specify " fe80::1 on de0 interface ". This notation is supported by getaddrinfo(3) and getnameinfo(3). Some of normal userland programs, such as telnet(1) or ftp(1), are able to use this notation. With special programs like ping6(8), you can specify the outgoing interface by an extra command line option to disambiguate scoped addresses.

Scoped addresses are handled specially in the kernel. In kernel structures like routing tables or interface structures, a scoped address will have its interface index embedded into the address. Therefore, the address in some kernel structures is not the same as that on the wire. The embedded index will become visible through a PF_ROUTE socket, kernel memory accesses via kvm(3) and on some other occasions. HOWEVER, users should never use the embedded form. For details please consult IMPLEMENTATION supplied with KAME kit.

The behavior of AF_INET6 TCP/UDP socket is documented in RFC2553. Basically, it says this:

• A specific bind on an AF_INET6 socket ((bind) 2 with an address specified) should accept IPv6 traffic to that address only.
• If you perform a wildcard bind on an AF_INET6 socket ((bind) 2 to IPv6 address ::), and there is no wildcard bind AF_INET socket on that TCP/UDP port, IPv6 traffic as well as IPv4 traffic should be routed to that AF_INET6 socket. IPv4 traffic should be seen as if it came from an IPv6 address like ::ffff:10.1.1.1. This is called an IPv4 mapped address.
• If there are both a wildcard bind AF_INET socket and a wildcard bind AF_INET6 socket on one TCP/UDP port, they should behave separately. IPv4 traffic should be routed to the AF_INET socket and IPv6 should be routed to the AF_INET6 socket.

However, RFC2553 does not define the ordering constraint between calls to bind(2), nor how IPv4 TCP/UDP port numbers and IPv6 TCP/UDP port numbers relate to each other (should they be integrated or separated). Implemented behavior is very different from kernel to kernel. Therefore, it is unwise to rely too much upon the behavior of AF_INET6 wildcard bind sockets. It is recommended to listen to two sockets, one for AF_INET and another for AF_INET6, when you would like to accept both IPv4 and IPv6 traffic.

It should also be noted that malicious parties can take advantage of the complexity presented above, and are able to bypass access control, if the target node routes IPv4 traffic to AF_INET6 socket. Users are advised to take care handling connections from IPv4 mapped address to AF_INET6 sockets.

Users are suggested to implement "version independent" code as much as possible, as you will need to support both inet(4) and inet6.