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Date:      Thu, 07 Dec 2023 04:16:26 +0000
From:      bugzilla-noreply@freebsd.org
To:        standards@FreeBSD.org
Subject:   [Bug 275586] Undocumented feature of ifconfig UP
Message-ID:  <bug-275586-99@https.bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/>

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https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=3D275586

            Bug ID: 275586
           Summary: Undocumented feature of ifconfig UP
           Product: Base System
           Version: Unspecified
          Hardware: Any
                OS: Any
            Status: New
          Severity: Affects Only Me
          Priority: ---
         Component: standards
          Assignee: standards@FreeBSD.org
          Reporter: on@cs.ait.ac.th

I am not sure whether it is an undocumented feature or a bug but "ifconfig =
UP"
behaves differently from "ifconfig up". I cannot say for how long this
behaviour has been going on, I only recently discovered it, but it is affec=
ting
any 13.2-p5 RELEASE system I have tested.

To reproduce the problem:

"ifconfig up" is working as documented/expected:

$ ifconfig tap0 create
$ ifconfig tap0 up
$ ifconfig tap0
tap0: flags=3D8803<UP,BROADCAST,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
        options=3D80000<LINKSTATE>
        ether 58:9c:fc:10:a4:65
        groups: tap
        media: Ethernet autoselect
        status: no carrier
        nd6 options=3D29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
$ arp -a | grep 192.41.170.42

While "ifconfig UP" is acting up:

Reboot the system, then...
$ ifconfig tap0 create
$ ifconfig tap0 UP
ifconfig: WARNING: setting interface address without mask is deprecated,
default mask may not be correct.
$ ifconfig tap0
tap0: flags=3D8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
        options=3D80000<LINKSTATE>
        ether 58:9c:fc:10:a4:65
        inet 192.41.170.42 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.41.170.255
        groups: tap
        media: Ethernet autoselect
        status: no carrier
        nd6 options=3D29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
$ arp -a | grep 192.41.170.42
www.cs.ait.ac.th (192.41.170.42) at 58:9c:fc:10:a4:65 on tap0 permanent
[ethernet]

An IP address has been assigned to the tap0 interface (it happens to be the=
 IP
of my web server, why?) even though the tap0 interface is not yet connected=
 to
anything.

As a corollary, the machine may respond to ARP requests, giving a bogus MAC
address for the IP 192.41.170.42 and causing problems on my network.

Solution:

Always use "ifconfig up". But if it gives weird results and if not document=
ed,
why keeping "ifconfig UP".

I have not tested it, but it seems there is also a problem with "ifconfig D=
OWN"
vs. "ifconfig down".

--=20
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