In the IP of the Beholder: Strategies for Active IPv6 Topology Discovery

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel randomized probing approach for active IPv6 topology discovery, overcoming rate limiting issues, and significantly expanding the known IPv6 network topology from a single vantage point.

Contribution

It develops a new randomized probing method and analyzes IPv6 hitlists, leading to more effective and extensive IPv6 topology mapping compared to prior approaches.

Findings

Discovered over 1.3 million IPv6 router interfaces from one vantage point.

Developed synthesized target lists that improve coverage and depth in IPv6 topology discovery.

Demonstrated the effectiveness of randomized probing in overcoming rate limiting.

Abstract

Existing methods for active topology discovery within the IPv6 Internet largely mirror those of IPv4. In light of the large and sparsely populated address space, in conjunction with aggressive ICMPv6 rate limiting by routers, this work develops a different approach to Internet-wide IPv6 topology mapping. We adopt randomized probing techniques in order to distribute probing load, minimize the effects of rate limiting, and probe at higher rates. Second, we extensively analyze the efficiency and efficacy of various IPv6 hitlists and target generation methods when used for topology discovery, and synthesize new target lists based on our empirical results to provide both breadth (coverage across networks) and depth (to find potential subnetting). Employing our probing strategy, we discover more than 1.3M IPv6 router interface addresses from a single vantage point. Finally, we share our prober implementation, synthesized target lists, and discovered IPv6 topology results.