amwalding / IPv6_Extension_Header_PCAPs

Here are a collection of IPv6 Extension Header packet captures for those interested in what they look like in Wireshark.

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If you are looking for my IPv6 Reference repository - look here: https://github.com/amwalding/ipv6-ref

IPv6 Extension Header PCAPs

For those who know networking, there are very few opportunities to get your hands on packet capture (pcaps) that have IPv6 Extension Headers. There are a number of reasons for this, and one is that extension headers in IPv6 have always been a security vulnerability. So many service providers do not support transport of IPv6 packets with extension headers.

What are IPv6 Extension Headers?

  • Extension headers fit between the IPv6 header and the Layer 4 headers (UDP or TCP)
  • Note: IPv4 supports this capability, but has never been utilized
  • IPv6 header is fixed to 40 bytes, so extensions allow features to be added beyond this limit
  • Extension Headers are part of the Payload
  • Primarily end-to-end – not processed by intermediate nodes
  • Extension Headers are designed to make IPv6 extensible to add features we may not even contemplate today.

Are Extension Headers Supported in Limited Domains?

  • Limited Domains are domains that are
    • Managed by a single entity – think a company, a university, perhaps a provider
    • A network that is firewalled off the larger network
  • Enterprise Networks (generally) have been hesitant to deploy IPv6
    • Security issues (privacy of extension headers), other “gaps”
    • Can extension headers support segment routing, OAM, other features?
    • Enterprises need to understand the exact use cases
  • Some Universities report free flow of Extension Headers inside their networks, but policing at the network edges
  • Possible use cases:
    • Some kind of Traffic Engineering
    • Using IPv6 as an underlay network?

I searched and searched and could not find a good source of IPv6 extension header samples. So I have created this repository to try to provide some for researchers/engineers.

Here are a collection of IPv6 Extension Header packet captures for those interested in what they look like in Wireshark.

That said, if you are a researcher like me I hope this little repository helps. You may also want to grab my IPv6 Wireshark Profiles from that repository.

If you want to contribute - please let me know.

You can find more Wireshark related stuff here in Github (like my profiles repository) and here: https://www.cellstream.com/tag/wireshark/ - at my web site. Also, feel free to browse our other IPv6 related articles and information here: https://www.cellstream.com/tag/ipv6/

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Here are a collection of IPv6 Extension Header packet captures for those interested in what they look like in Wireshark.