



Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                          W. Cheng
Request for Comments: 9747                                       R. Wang
Updates: 5880                                               China Mobile
Category: Standards Track                                    X. Min, Ed.
ISSN: 2070-1721                                                ZTE Corp.
                                                               R. Rahman
                                                                 Equinix
                                                           R. Boddireddy
                                                        Juniper Networks
                                                              March 2025


       Unaffiliated Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) Echo

Abstract

   This document specifies an extension to the Bidirectional Forwarding
   Detection (BFD) protocol that enables the use of the BFD Echo
   function without the need for an associated BFD control session.
   This "Unaffiliated BFD Echo" mechanism allows rapid detection of
   forwarding path failures in networks where establishing BFD control
   sessions is impractical or undesirable.  By decoupling the Echo
   function from the control plane, network devices can utilize BFD's
   fast failure detection capabilities in a simplified manner, enhancing
   network resiliency and operational efficiency.

   This document updates RFC 5880 by defining a new Unaffiliated BFD
   Echo mechanism.

Status of This Memo

   This is an Internet Standards Track document.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
   received public review and has been approved for publication by the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Further information on
   Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 7841.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9747.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2025 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   include Revised BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the
   Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described
   in the Revised BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction
     1.1.  Conventions Used in This Document
   2.  Unaffiliated BFD Echo Procedures
   3.  Updates to RFC 5880
   4.  Operational Considerations
   5.  Security Considerations
   6.  IANA Considerations
   7.  References
     7.1.  Normative References
     7.2.  Informative References
   Acknowledgements
   Contributors
   Authors' Addresses

1.  Introduction

   To minimize the impact of device and link faults on services and to
   improve network availability in single-hop scenarios, a network
   device needs the capability to quickly detect communication faults
   with adjacent devices.  Prompt detection allows for timely remedial
   actions to ensure service continuity.

   BFD [RFC5880] provides a low-overhead, short-interval method for
   detecting faults on the communication path between adjacent
   forwarding engines, which may include interfaces, data links, and the
   forwarding engines themselves.  BFD offers a unified mechanism to
   monitor any media and protocol layers in real time.

   BFD defines two primary modes -- Asynchronous mode and Demand mode --
   to accommodate various deployment scenarios.  Additionally, it
   supports an Echo function that reduces the level of BFD support
   required in device implementations, as described in Section 3.2 of
   [RFC5880].  When the Echo function is activated, the local system
   sends BFD Echo packets, and the remote system loops back the received
   Echo packets through the forwarding path, as described in Section 5
   of [RFC5880] and Section 4 of [RFC5881].  If several consecutive BFD
   Echo packets are not received by the local system, the BFD session is
   declared Down.

   There are two typical scenarios when using the BFD Echo function:

   *  Full BFD protocol capability with adjunct Echo function
      (Affiliated BFD Echo): This scenario requires both the local
      device and the adjacent device to support the full BFD protocol.
      This operation remains unchanged from [RFC5880].

   *  BFD Echo-Only method without full BFD protocol capability
      (Unaffiliated BFD Echo): This scenario requires only the local
      device to support sending and demultiplexing BFD Control packets.
      In this case, BFD Control packets are sent over the BFD Echo port,
      and the processing procedures for Asynchronous mode are used with
      the modifications specified in this document.  Note that this
      method requires the local device to send packets with one of its
      own IP addresses as the destination address, upon receipt of which
      the adjacent device loops them back to the local device.  Also
      note that this method monitors the connectivity to a device over a
      specific interface and does not verify the availability of a
      specific IP address at that device.

   This document specifies the Unaffiliated BFD Echo scenario.

   Section 5 of [RFC5880] indicates that the payload of an Affiliated
   BFD Echo packet is a local matter; therefore, its contents are
   outside the scope of that specification.  This document, however,
   specifies the contents of the Unaffiliated BFD Echo packet and the
   procedures for handling them.  While this may appear to contravene
   Section 5 of [RFC5880], the core behavior in that RFC states that the
   contents of BFD Echo packets are a local matter; this document is
   defining that "local matter".  Regarding the selection of IP
   addresses, the rules stated in Section 4 of [RFC5881] are applicable
   to the encapsulation of an Unaffiliated BFD Echo packet.

   Section 6.2.2 of [BBF-TR-146] describes a use case for the
   Unaffiliated BFD Echo.

   This document updates [RFC5880] by defining a new method of BFD Echo-
   only operation which only impacts the sender of BFD Echo packets
   without requiring an implementation to support the BFD protocol at
   the loopback device, such that any IP forwarder can loop back the BFD
   Echo packets.  It specifies the use of the Unaffiliated BFD Echo over
   IPv4 and IPv6 for a single IP hop.  The reason why it cannot be used
   for multihop paths is that the Unaffiliated BFD Echo packets would be
   looped back by the first hop.  A full description of the updates to
   [RFC5880] is provided in Section 3.

1.1.  Conventions Used in This Document

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
   "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in
   BCP 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all
   capitals, as shown here.

2.  Unaffiliated BFD Echo Procedures

   This section specifies the Unaffiliated BFD Echo procedures.

           Device A                                     Device B
      +----------------+                           +----------------+
      |                |                           |                |
      |   |------------|                           |                |
      |   |Unaffiliated|                           |                |
      |   | BFD Echo  --->                         |                |
      |   | Session    |                           |                |
      |   |            |   Unaffiliated BFD Echo   |                |
      |   |           -------------------------------| BFD          |
      |   |            |                             | packets      |
      |   |          <-------------------------------| looped       |
      |   |------------|                           |                |
      |                |                           |                |
      |                |                           |                |
      +----------------+                           +----------------+
        BFD supported                               BFD not supported

                      Figure 1: Unaffiliated BFD Echo

   As shown in Figure 1, device A supports BFD, whereas device B is a
   regular IP forwarder that does not support BFD.  Device A would send
   Unaffiliated BFD Echo packets, and after receiving the Unaffiliated
   BFD Echo packets sent from device A, the one-hop-away BFD peer device
   B immediately loops them back by normal IP forwarding.  This allows
   device A to rapidly detect a connectivity loss to device B.  Note
   that device B would not intercept any received Unaffiliated BFD Echo
   packet or parse any BFD protocol field within the Unaffiliated BFD
   Echo packet.

   An Unaffiliated BFD Echo session is not actually a BFD session
   because there is no coordination of BFD protocol state between the
   two link ends: the remote end does not support BFD and so cannot
   engage in a BFD session.  From the standpoint of the local end (as an
   initiator), the Unaffiliated BFD Echo session may be regarded as a
   BFD session.

   For the Unaffiliated Echo procedure, an Unaffiliated BFD Echo session
   is established on device A.  The session MUST adhere to the BFD state
   machine specified in Section 6.2 of [RFC5880], with the exception
   that the received state is not derived from BFD Control packets
   originating from the remote system, but rather from packets that are
   generated by the local system and looped back from the remote system.
   Consequently, the AdminDown state is not utilized in Unaffiliated BFD
   Echo.

   BFD Control packets are transmitted and received as Unaffiliated BFD
   Echo packets, using UDP destination port 3785, as defined in
   [RFC5881].  The standard procedures for BFD Asynchronous sessions are
   applied to the looped BFD Control packets, including packet
   validation and authentication, in accordance with [RFC5880].

   Once an Unaffiliated BFD Echo session is created on device A, it
   starts sending Unaffiliated BFD Echo packets.  Unaffiliated BFD Echo
   packets with zeroed "Your Discriminator" field are demultiplexed to
   the proper session based on the source IP address or UDP source port.
   After the remote system loops back the local discriminator, all
   further received packets are demultiplexed based on the "Your
   Discriminator" field only, which conforms to the procedure specified
   in Section 6.3 of [RFC5880].  An Unaffiliated BFD Echo packet follows
   the same encapsulation rules as for a BFD Echo packet as specified in
   Section 4 of [RFC5881].  All Unaffiliated BFD Echo packets for the
   session MUST be sent with a TTL or Hop Limit value of 255.  Received
   packets MUST have a TTL or Hop Limit value of 254 (similar to
   Appendix A of [RFC5082] to verify against a configured number of
   hops); otherwise, the received packets MUST be dropped.

   In the context of an Unaffiliated BFD Echo packet, the "Desired Min
   TX Interval" and "Required Min RX Interval" fields, as defined in
   [RFC5880], MUST be populated with a specific value to prevent the
   potential exposure of uninitialized memory.  It is RECOMMENDED that
   these fields be set to a value of 1 second (1,000,000 microseconds).
   However, upon receipt, these values MUST be ignored and MUST NOT be
   used in the calculation of the Detection Time.

   The "Required Min Echo RX Interval" field, as defined in [RFC5880],
   MUST be populated with a specific value to prevent the potential
   exposure of uninitialized memory.  It is RECOMMENDED that this field
   be set to 0.  However, this value MUST be ignored upon receipt.  The
   transmission interval for Unaffiliated BFD Echo packets when in the
   Up state MUST be provisioned on device A.

   The functionality of the Unaffiliated BFD Echo feature is dependent
   on device B performing IP forwarding.  While this capability is
   typically expected to be supported on routers, it may not be enabled
   by default on hosts.  The method for provisioning device B to loop
   back Unaffiliated BFD Echo packets is outside the scope of this
   document.

   Similar to what's specified in [RFC5880], the Unaffiliated BFD Echo
   session begins with the periodic, slow transmission of Unaffiliated
   BFD Echo packets.  The slow transmission rate should be no greater
   than one packet per second, until the session on device A is Up.
   After the session is Up, the provisioned transmission interval is
   used.  When the Unaffiliated BFD Echo session on device A goes Down,
   the slow transmission rate is resumed.  The "Detect Mult" field
   defined in [RFC5880] MUST be set to a value provisioned on device A.
   When the bfd.SessionState is Up and a "Detect Mult" number of
   Unaffiliated BFD Echo packets have not arrived at device A as they
   should, the device A "MUST set bfd.SessionState to Down and
   bfd.LocalDiag to 2 (Echo Function Failed)", as specified in
   Section 6.8.5 of [RFC5880].

   In summary, the Unaffiliated BFD Echo packet reuses the format of the
   BFD Control packet defined in [RFC5880], and the fields within the
   Unaffiliated BFD Echo packet are populated as follows:

   *  My Discriminator: MUST be set to the provisioned local
      discriminator.

   *  Your Discriminator: MUST initially be set to 0, and then MUST be
      set to the value of "My Discriminator" looped back from the remote
      system.

   *  Desired Min TX Interval: MUST be set to a specific value, with a
      suggested value of 1 second (1,000,000 microseconds).

   *  Required Min RX Interval: MUST be set to a specific value, with a
      suggested value of 1 second (1,000,000 microseconds).

   *  Required Min Echo RX Interval: MUST be set to a specific value,
      with a suggested value of 0.

   *  Detect Mult: MUST be set to the provisioned maximum allowable
      number of consecutively lost Unaffiliated BFD Echo packets.

3.  Updates to RFC 5880

   The Unaffiliated BFD Echo described in this document reuses the BFD
   Echo function as described in [RFC5880] and [RFC5881], but does not
   require BFD Asynchronous or Demand mode.  In the Unaffiliated BFD
   Echo operation, only the local system has the BFD protocol enabled,
   while the remote system simply loops back the received BFD Echo
   packets as ordinary data packets, without engaging in the BFD
   protocol.

   This document updates [RFC5880] with respect to its descriptions on
   the BFD Echo function as follows.

   The fourth paragraph of Section 3.2 of [RFC5880] is updated as below:

   OLD TEXT

   |  An adjunct to both modes is the Echo function.

   NEW TEXT

   |  An adjunct to both modes is the Echo function, which can also be
   |  running independently.

   OLD TEXT

   |  Since the Echo function is handling the task of detection, the
   |  rate of periodic transmission of Control packets may be reduced
   |  (in the case of Asynchronous mode) or eliminated completely (in
   |  the case of Demand mode).

   NEW TEXT

   |  Since the Echo function is handling the task of detection, the
   |  rate of periodic transmission of Control packets may be reduced
   |  (in the case of Asynchronous mode) or eliminated completely (in
   |  the case of Demand mode).  The Echo function may also be used
   |  independently, with neither Asynchronous nor Demand mode.

   The third and ninth paragraphs of Section 6.1 of [RFC5880] are
   updated as below:

   OLD TEXT

   |  Once the BFD session is Up, a system can choose to start the Echo
   |  function if it desires and the other system signals that it will
   |  allow it.  The rate of transmission of Control packets is
   |  typically kept low when the Echo function is active.

   NEW TEXT

   |  When a system is running with Asynchronous or Demand mode, once
   |  the BFD session is Up, it can choose to start the Echo function if
   |  it desires and the other system signals that it will allow it.
   |  The rate of transmission of Control packets is typically kept low
   |  for Asynchronous mode or eliminated completely for Demand mode
   |  when the Echo function is active.

   OLD TEXT

   |  If the session goes Down, the transmission of Echo packets (if
   |  any) ceases, and the transmission of Control packets goes back to
   |  the slow rate.

   NEW TEXT

   |  In Asynchronous mode or Demand mode, if the session goes Down, the
   |  transmission of Echo packets (if any) ceases, and the transmission
   |  of Control packets goes back to the slow rate.

   The second paragraph of Section 6.4 of [RFC5880] is updated as below:

   OLD TEXT

   |  When a system is using the Echo function, it is advantageous to
   |  choose a sedate reception rate for Control packets, since liveness
   |  detection is being handled by the Echo packets.  This can be
   |  controlled by manipulating the Required Min RX Interval field (see
   |  section 6.8.3).

   NEW TEXT

   |  When a system is using the Echo function with Asynchronous mode,
   |  it is advantageous to choose a sedate reception rate for Control
   |  packets, since liveness detection is being handled by the Echo
   |  packets.  This can be controlled by manipulating the Required Min
   |  RX Interval field (see section 6.8.3).  Note that a system
   |  operating in Demand mode would direct the remote system to cease
   |  the periodic transmission of BFD Control packets, by setting the
   |  Demand (D) bit in its BFD Control packets.

   The second paragraph of Section 6.8 of [RFC5880] is updated as below:

   OLD TEXT

   |  When a system is said to have "the Echo function active" it means
   |  that the system is sending BFD Echo packets, implying that the
   |  session is Up and the other system has signaled its willingness to
   |  loop back Echo packets.

   NEW TEXT

   |  When a system in Asynchronous or Demand mode is said to have "the
   |  Echo function active" it means that the system is sending BFD Echo
   |  packets, implying that the session is Up and the other system has
   |  signaled its willingness to loop back Echo packets.

   The seventh paragraph of Section 6.8.3 of [RFC5880] is updated as
   below:

   OLD TEXT

   |  When the Echo function is active, a system SHOULD set
   |  bfd.RequiredMinRxInterval to a value of not less than one second
   |  (1,000,000 microseconds).  This is intended to keep received BFD
   |  Control traffic at a negligible level, since the actual detection
   |  function is being performed using BFD Echo packets.

   NEW TEXT

   |  When the Echo function is active with Asynchronous mode, a system
   |  SHOULD set bfd.RequiredMinRxInterval to a value of not less than
   |  one second (1,000,000 microseconds).  This is intended to keep
   |  received BFD Control traffic at a negligible level, since the
   |  actual detection function is being performed using BFD Echo
   |  packets.  A system operating in Demand mode would not receive BFD
   |  Control traffic.

   The first and second paragraphs of Section 6.8.9 of [RFC5880] are
   updated as below:

   OLD TEXT

   |  BFD Echo packets MUST NOT be transmitted when bfd.SessionState is
   |  not Up.  BFD Echo packets MUST NOT be transmitted unless the last
   |  BFD Control packet received from the remote system contains a
   |  nonzero value in Required Min Echo RX Interval.
   |  
   |  BFD Echo packets MAY be transmitted when bfd.SessionState is Up.
   |  The interval between transmitted BFD Echo packets MUST NOT be less
   |  than the value advertised by the remote system in Required Min
   |  Echo RX Interval, except as follows: [...]

   NEW TEXT

   |  When a system is using the Echo function with either Asynchronous
   |  or Demand mode, BFD Echo packets MUST NOT be transmitted when
   |  bfd.SessionState is not Up, and BFD Echo packets MUST NOT be
   |  transmitted unless the last BFD Control packet received from the
   |  remote system contains a nonzero value in Required Min Echo RX
   |  Interval.
   |  
   |  When a system is using the Echo function with either Asynchronous
   |  or Demand mode, BFD Echo packets MAY be transmitted when
   |  bfd.SessionState is Up, and the interval between transmitted BFD
   |  Echo packets MUST NOT be less than the value advertised by the
   |  remote system in Required Min Echo RX Interval, except as follows:
   |  [...]

4.  Operational Considerations

   All operational considerations from [RFC5880] apply.  Since this
   mechanism leverages existing BFD machinery, particularly periodic
   pacing of traffic based on configuration, there's no real possibility
   to create congestion.  Moreover, creating congestion would be
   counterproductive to checking the bidirectional connectivity.

   Some devices that would benefit from the use of BFD may be unable to
   support the full BFD protocol.  Examples of such devices include
   servers running virtual machines, or Internet of Things (IoT)
   devices.  By using Unaffiliated BFD Echo, these devices only need to
   support a basic loopback function.

   As specified in Section 2 of this document, some configuration is
   needed to make the Unaffiliated BFD Echo work, although the
   configuration won't go beyond the scope of [RFC5880].  At a BFD-
   enabled local system, the Unaffiliated BFD Echo session can coexist
   with other types of BFD sessions.  In that scenario, the remote
   system for the Unaffiliated BFD Echo session must be different from
   the remote system for any other type of BFD session, and the local
   system's discriminators for different BFD sessions must be different.
   At the same time, it's not necessary for the local system to
   differentiate the Unaffiliated BFD Echo session from the other types
   of BFD sessions.

5.  Security Considerations

   All security considerations from [RFC5880] and [RFC5881] apply.

   Unaffiliated BFD Echo requires the remote device to loop Unaffiliated
   BFD Echo packets.  In order to provide this service, the remote
   device cannot make use of Unicast Strict Reverse Path Forwarding
   (RPF) [RFC3704], otherwise the Unaffiliated BFD Echo packets might
   not pass the RPF check at the remote device.

   As described in Section 5 of [RFC5880], BFD Echo packets may be
   spoofed.  Specifically for Unaffiliated BFD Echo, a DoS attacker may
   send spoofed Unaffiliated BFD Echo packets to the loopback device, so
   some form of authentication SHOULD be included.  Considering the
   Unaffiliated BFD Echo packets in this document are also BFD Control
   packets, the "Authentication Section" as defined in [RFC5880] for a
   BFD Control packet is RECOMMENDED to be included within the
   Unaffiliated BFD Echo packet.

   As stated in Section 2, in order to avoid unset values being a
   potential vector for disclosure of uninitialized memory, all fields
   of the Unaffiliated BFD Echo packet MUST be populated with a certain
   value, even if some of the fields are ignored on receipt.

6.  IANA Considerations

   This document has no IANA actions.

7.  References

7.1.  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.

   [RFC5880]  Katz, D. and D. Ward, "Bidirectional Forwarding Detection
              (BFD)", RFC 5880, DOI 10.17487/RFC5880, June 2010,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5880>.

   [RFC5881]  Katz, D. and D. Ward, "Bidirectional Forwarding Detection
              (BFD) for IPv4 and IPv6 (Single Hop)", RFC 5881,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC5881, June 2010,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5881>.

   [RFC8174]  Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
              2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
              May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8174>.

7.2.  Informative References

   [BBF-TR-146]
              Broadband Forum, "TR-146: Subscriber Sessions", Broadband
              Forum Technical Report, TR-146, Issue 1, May 2013,
              <https://www.broadband-forum.org/pdfs/tr-146-1-0-0.pdf>.

   [RFC3704]  Baker, F. and P. Savola, "Ingress Filtering for Multihomed
              Networks", BCP 84, RFC 3704, DOI 10.17487/RFC3704, March
              2004, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3704>.

   [RFC5082]  Gill, V., Heasley, J., Meyer, D., Savola, P., Ed., and C.
              Pignataro, "The Generalized TTL Security Mechanism
              (GTSM)", RFC 5082, DOI 10.17487/RFC5082, October 2007,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5082>.

Acknowledgements

   The authors would like to acknowledge Ketan Talaulikar, Greg Mirsky,
   Santosh Pallagatti, Aijun Wang, Éric Vyncke, Adrian Farrel, Tim
   Wicinski, Dhruv Dhody, Stephen Farrell, Gunter Van de Velde, Gyan
   Mishra, Brian Trammell, Gorry Fairhurst, Mahesh Jethanandani, John
   Scudder, Murray Kucherawy, and Zaheduzzaman Sarker for their careful
   reviews and very helpful comments.

   The authors would like to acknowledge Jeff Haas for his guidance,
   insightful review, and very helpful comments.

   The authors would like to acknowledge Erik Auerswald for his
   insightful comments during the discussion of this document.

   The authors would like to acknowledge Detao Zhao for the very helpful
   discussion.

Contributors

   Liu Aihua
   ZTE
   Email: liu.aihua@zte.com.cn


   Qian Xin
   ZTE
   Email: qian.xin2@zte.com.cn


   Zhao Yanhua
   ZTE
   Email: zhao.yanhua3@zte.com.cn


Authors' Addresses

   Weiqiang Cheng
   China Mobile
   Beijing
   China
   Email: chengweiqiang@chinamobile.com


   Ruixue Wang
   China Mobile
   Beijing
   China
   Email: wangruixue@chinamobile.com


   Xiao Min (editor)
   ZTE Corp.
   Nanjing
   China
   Email: xiao.min2@zte.com.cn


   Reshad Rahman
   Equinix
   Ottawa
   Canada
   Email: reshad@yahoo.com


   Raj Chetan Boddireddy
   Juniper Networks
   Email: rchetan@juniper.net
