netdev - [RFC net-next 3/3] ipv6: Document defauit of zero for max_dst_opts

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Message-ID: <20251112001744.24479-4-tom@herbertland.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2025 16:16:01 -0800
From: Tom Herbert <tom@...bertland.com>
To: tom@...bertland.com,
	davem@...emloft.net,
	kuba@...nel.org,
	netdev@...r.kernel.org
Subject: [RFC net-next 3/3] ipv6: Document defauit of zero for max_dst_opts_number

Add a note and rationalization for setting the default maximum number
of Destination options to zero. This means by default Destination
Options extension headers are not processed on receive and packets
with Destination Options extension headers are dropped
---
 Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.rst | 38 ++++++++++++++++++--------
 1 file changed, 27 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.rst b/Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.rst
index 7cd35bfd39e6..2acaad94c475 100644
--- a/Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.rst
+++ b/Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.rst
@@ -2454,20 +2454,36 @@ mld_qrv - INTEGER
 	Minimum: 1 (as specified by RFC6636 4.5)
 
 max_dst_opts_number - INTEGER
-	Maximum number of non-padding TLVs allowed in a Destination
-	options extension header. If this value is less than zero
-	then unknown options are disallowed and the number of known
-	TLVs allowed is the absolute value of this number.
-
-	Default: 8
+        Maximum number of non-padding TLVs allowed in a Destination
+        options extension header. If this value is zero then receive
+        Destination Options processing is disabled in which case packets
+        with the Destination Options extension header are dropped. If
+        this value is less than zero then unknown options are disallowed
+        and the number of known TLVs allowed is the absolute value of
+        this number.
+
+        The default is zero which means the all received packets with
+        Destination Options extension header are dropped. The rationale is that
+        for the vast majority of hosts, Destination Options serve no purpose.
+        In the thirty years of IPv6 no broadly useful IPv6 Destination options
+        have been defined, they have no security or even checksum protection,
+        latest data shows the Destination have drop rates on the Internet
+        from ten percent to more than thirty percent (depending on the size of
+        the extension header). They also have the potential to be used as a
+        Denial of Service attack.
+
+        Default: 0
 
 max_hbh_opts_number - INTEGER
 	Maximum number of non-padding TLVs allowed in a Hop-by-Hop
-	options extension header. If this value is less than zero
-	then unknown options are disallowed and the number of known
-	TLVs allowed is the absolute value of this number.
-
-	Default: 8
+	options extension header. If this value is zero then receive
+        Hop-by-Hop Options processing is disabled in which case packets
+        with the Hop-by-Hop Options extension header are dropped.
+        If this value is less than zero then unknown options are disallowed
+        and the number of known TLVs allowed is the absolute value of this
+        number.
+
+        Default: 8
 
 max_dst_opts_length - INTEGER
 	Maximum length allowed for a Destination options extension
-- 
2.43.0