RFC 2525 (rfc2525) - Page 2 of 61

Known TCP Implementation Problems

RFC 2525              TCP Implementation Problems             March 1999


     2.11 Insufficient interval between keepalives....................34
     2.12 Window probe deadlock.......................................36
     2.13 Stretch ACK violation.......................................40
     2.14 Retransmission sends multiple packets.......................43
     2.15 Failure to send FIN notification promptly...................45
     2.16 Failure to send a RST after Half Duplex Close...............47
     2.17 Failure to RST on close with data pending...................50
     2.18 Options missing from TCP MSS calculation....................54
   3.  SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS........................................56
   4.  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...............................................56
   5.  REFERENCES.....................................................57
   6.  AUTHORS' ADDRESSES.............................................58
   7.  FULL COPYRIGHT STATEMENT.......................................60

1. Introduction

   This memo catalogs a number of known TCP implementation problems.
   The goal in doing so is to improve conditions in the existing
   Internet by enhancing the quality of current TCP/IP implementations.
   It is hoped that both performance and correctness issues can be
   resolved by making implementors aware of the problems and their
   solutions.  In the long term, it is hoped that this will provide a
   reduction in unnecessary traffic on the network, the rate of
   connection failures due to protocol errors, and load on network
   servers due to time spent processing both unsuccessful connections
   and retransmitted data.  This will help to ensure the stability of
   the global Internet.

   Each problem is defined as follows:

   Name of Problem
      The name associated with the problem.  In this memo, the name is
      given as a subsection heading.

   Classification
      One or more problem categories for which the problem is
      classified:  "congestion control", "performance", "reliability",
      "resource management".

   Description
      A definition of the problem, succinct but including necessary
      background material.

   Significance
      A brief summary of the sorts of environments for which the problem
      is significant.





Paxson, et. al.              Informational