[hybi] [Technical Errata Reported] RFC6455 (7608)

RFC Errata System <rfc-editor@rfc-editor.org> Sat, 19 August 2023 04:51 UTC

To: ifette+ietf@google.com, Alexey.Melnikov@isode.com, superuser@gmail.com, francesca.palombini@ericsson.com, Salvatore.Loreto@ericsson.com, Gabriel.Montenegro@microsoft.com
From: RFC Errata System <rfc-editor@rfc-editor.org>
Cc: esmond.pitt@bigpond.com, hybi@ietf.org, rfc-editor@rfc-editor.org
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Message-Id: <20230819045116.F240E7FDE0@rfcpa.amsl.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2023 21:51:16 -0700
Archived-At: <https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/hybi/78BR5mUEp5ukkUXyCIKNNZyNwws>
Subject: [hybi] [Technical Errata Reported] RFC6455 (7608)
Precedence: list

The following errata report has been submitted for RFC6455,
"The WebSocket Protocol".

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You may review the report below and at:
https://www.rfc-editor.org/errata/eid7608

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Type: Technical
Reported by: Esmond Pitt <esmond.pitt@bigpond.com>

Section: 7.1.1

Original Text
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The underlying TCP connection, in most normal cases, SHOULD be closed
first by the server, so that it holds the TIME_WAIT state and not the
client (as this would prevent it from re-opening the connection for 2
maximum segment lifetimes (2MSL), while there is no corresponding
server impact as a TIME_WAIT connection is immediately reopened upon
a new SYN with a higher seq number).

Corrected Text
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The underlying TCP connection, in most normal cases, SHOULD be closed
first by the server, so that the TIME_WAIT occurs at the
client, not at the server.

Notes
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1. There is no such thing as a 'TIME_WAIT connection'.
2. TCP connections are never reused.
3. It is better for the TIME_WAIT *port* states to accumulate at the clients rather than at the server, as this distributes them among the client base and avoids possible resource exhaustion at the server (NB *not* port exhaustion, as the server is only using one port).
4. The part about 'as this would prevent it [the client] from re-opening the connection' is only true if the client is using a fixed local port number, which never works anyway.
5. The part about ' a TIME_WAIT connection is immediately reopened upon
a new SYN with a higher seq number' is nonsense.

Instructions:
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RFC6455 (draft-ietf-hybi-thewebsocketprotocol-17)
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Title : The WebSocket Protocol
Publication Date : December 2011
Author(s) : I. Fette, A. Melnikov
Category : PROPOSED STANDARD
Source : BiDirectional or Server-Initiated HTTP APP
Area : Applications
Stream : IETF
Verifying Party : IESG

[hybi] [Technical Errata Reported] RFC6455 (7608) RFC Errata System