RFC 5837 · PROPOSED STANDARD · 2010

Extending ICMP for Interface and Next-Hop Identification

Overview

RFC 5837, “Extending ICMP for Interface and Next-Hop Identification”, is a Proposed Standard document published in April 2010 by A. Atlas, R. Bonica, C. Pignataro, N. Shen, JR. Rivers. The canonical text is published by the RFC Editor.

Abstract

This memo defines a data structure that can be appended to selected ICMP messages. The ICMP extension defined herein can be used to identify any combination of the following: the IP interface upon which a datagram arrived, the sub-IP component of an IP interface upon which a datagram arrived, the IP interface through which the datagram would have been forwarded had it been forwardable, and the IP next hop to which the datagram would have been forwarded.

Devices can use this ICMP extension to identify interfaces and their components by any combination of the following: ifIndex, IPv4 address, IPv6 address, name, and MTU. ICMP-aware devices can use these extensions to identify both numbered and unnumbered interfaces. [STANDARDS-TRACK]

Abstract as published in the RFC, via rfc-editor.org.

What “Proposed Standard” means

An entry-level standards-track specification: stable, peer-reviewed and a solid basis for implementation, though it may still evolve before becoming an Internet Standard.

Read this RFC

The canonical text of RFC 5837 is hosted at rfc-editor.org. Available in TXT,HTML.

Other RFCs from 2010

Who Is Online

In total there are 245 users online: 0 registered, 239 guests and 6 bots.

Most users ever online was 1,226 on 13 Jun 2026, 3:56 am.

Bots: Applebot Facebook Googlebot Other Bot Other Spider SemrushBot

Users active in the past 15 minutes. Total registered members: 354