RFC 5925, "The TCP Authentication Option", June 2010

Errata ID: 5347
Status: Rejected
Type: Editorial
Publication Format(s) : TEXT
Reported By: Ignacio Goyret
Date Reported: 2018-05-03
Rejected by: Mirja Kühlewind
Date Rejected: 2020-03-04

Section 5.1 says:

3. The TCP header, by default including options, and where the TCP
   checksum and TCP-AO MAC fields are set to zero, all in network-
   byte order.

   The TCP option flag of the MKT indicates whether the TCP options
   are included in the MAC.  When included, only the TCP-AO MAC field
   is zeroed.

   When TCP options are not included, all TCP options except for TCP-
   AO are omitted from MAC processing.  Again, the TCP-AO MAC field
   is zeroed for the MAC processing.

It should say:

3. The TCP header and TCP options, where the TCP checksum and TCP-AO
   MAC fields are always set to zero, all in network-byte order.

   The TCP option flag of the MKT indicates which TCP options are
   included in the MAC. When TCP options are not included, only the
   TCP option for TCP-AO (as described in Section 2.2) is included
   in the MAC. Otherwise, all the TCP options are included in the MAC.

Notes:

Rewording for clarity and simplification.
The original text could lead to confusion re '...When included, only the TCP-AO MAC field is zeroed.'
--VERIFIER NOTES--
Rejected as the proposed text does not seem fundamentally clearer.

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