Add underflow check when calculating the MTU

Also enforce the minimum MTU for IPv4 and IPv6, and discard packets if the
minimum is not met.

PiperOrigin-RevId: 338404225

10 files changed, 277 insertions, 147 deletions

diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/header/ipv4.go b/pkg/tcpip/header/ipv4.go
index 4c6e4be64..ee307d163 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/header/ipv4.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/header/ipv4.go
@@ -148,6 +148,13 @@ const (
 	// packet that every IPv4 capable host must be able to
 	// process/reassemble.
 	IPv4MinimumProcessableDatagramSize = 576
+
+	// IPv4MinimumMTU is the minimum MTU required by IPv4, per RFC 791,
+	// section 3.2:
+	//   Every internet module must be able to forward a datagram of 68 octets
+	//   without further fragmentation.  This is because an internet header may be
+	//   up to 60 octets, and the minimum fragment is 8 octets.
+	IPv4MinimumMTU = 68
 )
 
 // Flags that may be set in an IPv4 packet.
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/header/ipv6.go b/pkg/tcpip/header/ipv6.go
index c5d8a3456..09cb153b1 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/header/ipv6.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/header/ipv6.go
@@ -101,8 +101,10 @@ const (
 	// The address is ff02::2.
 	IPv6AllRoutersMulticastAddress tcpip.Address = "\xff\x02\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x02"
 
-	// IPv6MinimumMTU is the minimum MTU required by IPv6, per RFC 2460,
-	// section 5.
+	// IPv6MinimumMTU is the minimum MTU required by IPv6, per RFC 8200,
+	// section 5:
+	//   IPv6 requires that every link in the Internet have an MTU of 1280 octets
+	//   or greater.  This is known as the IPv6 minimum link MTU.
 	IPv6MinimumMTU = 1280
 
 	// IPv6Loopback is the IPv6 Loopback address.
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/network/fragmentation/fragmentation.go b/pkg/tcpip/network/fragmentation/fragmentation.go
index ed502a473..bb31ef61a 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/network/fragmentation/fragmentation.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/network/fragmentation/fragmentation.go
@@ -244,25 +244,25 @@ func (f *Fragmentation) releaseReassemblersLocked() {
 
 // PacketFragmenter is the book-keeping struct for packet fragmentation.
 type PacketFragmenter struct {
-	transportHeader buffer.View
-	data            buffer.VectorisedView
-	reserve         int
-	innerMTU        int
-	fragmentCount   int
-	currentFragment int
-	fragmentOffset  int
+	transportHeader    buffer.View
+	data               buffer.VectorisedView
+	reserve            int
+	fragmentPayloadLen int
+	fragmentCount      int
+	currentFragment    int
+	fragmentOffset     int
 }
 
 // MakePacketFragmenter prepares the struct needed for packet fragmentation.
 //
 // pkt is the packet to be fragmented.
 //
-// innerMTU is the maximum number of bytes of fragmentable data a fragment can
+// fragmentPayloadLen is the maximum number of bytes of fragmentable data a fragment can
 // have.
 //
 // reserve is the number of bytes that should be reserved for the headers in
 // each generated fragment.
-func MakePacketFragmenter(pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, innerMTU int, reserve int) PacketFragmenter {
+func MakePacketFragmenter(pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, fragmentPayloadLen uint32, reserve int) PacketFragmenter {
 	// As per RFC 8200 Section 4.5, some IPv6 extension headers should not be
 	// repeated in each fragment. However we do not currently support any header
 	// of that kind yet, so the following computation is valid for both IPv4 and
@@ -273,13 +273,13 @@ func MakePacketFragmenter(pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, innerMTU int, reserve int) Pa
 	var fragmentableData buffer.VectorisedView
 	fragmentableData.AppendView(pkt.TransportHeader().View())
 	fragmentableData.Append(pkt.Data)
-	fragmentCount := (fragmentableData.Size() + innerMTU - 1) / innerMTU
+	fragmentCount := (uint32(fragmentableData.Size()) + fragmentPayloadLen - 1) / fragmentPayloadLen
 
 	return PacketFragmenter{
-		data:          fragmentableData,
-		reserve:       reserve,
-		innerMTU:      innerMTU,
-		fragmentCount: fragmentCount,
+		data:               fragmentableData,
+		reserve:            reserve,
+		fragmentPayloadLen: int(fragmentPayloadLen),
+		fragmentCount:      int(fragmentCount),
 	}
 }
 
@@ -302,7 +302,7 @@ func (pf *PacketFragmenter) BuildNextFragment() (*stack.PacketBuffer, int, int,
 	})
 
 	// Copy data for the fragment.
-	copied := pf.data.ReadToVV(&fragPkt.Data, pf.innerMTU)
+	copied := pf.data.ReadToVV(&fragPkt.Data, pf.fragmentPayloadLen)
 
 	offset := pf.fragmentOffset
 	pf.fragmentOffset += copied
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/network/fragmentation/fragmentation_test.go b/pkg/tcpip/network/fragmentation/fragmentation_test.go
index d3c7d7f92..a1eb1e243 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/network/fragmentation/fragmentation_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/network/fragmentation/fragmentation_test.go
@@ -403,14 +403,14 @@ func TestPacketFragmenter(t *testing.T) {
 
 	tests := []struct {
 		name               string
-		innerMTU           int
+		fragmentPayloadLen uint32
 		transportHeaderLen int
 		payloadSize        int
 		wantFragments      []fragmentInfo
 	}{
 		{
 			name:               "Packet exactly fits in MTU",
-			innerMTU:           1280,
+			fragmentPayloadLen: 1280,
 			transportHeaderLen: 0,
 			payloadSize:        1280,
 			wantFragments: []fragmentInfo{
@@ -419,7 +419,7 @@ func TestPacketFragmenter(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		{
 			name:               "Packet exactly does not fit in MTU",
-			innerMTU:           1000,
+			fragmentPayloadLen: 1000,
 			transportHeaderLen: 0,
 			payloadSize:        1001,
 			wantFragments: []fragmentInfo{
@@ -429,7 +429,7 @@ func TestPacketFragmenter(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		{
 			name:               "Packet has a transport header",
-			innerMTU:           560,
+			fragmentPayloadLen: 560,
 			transportHeaderLen: 40,
 			payloadSize:        560,
 			wantFragments: []fragmentInfo{
@@ -439,7 +439,7 @@ func TestPacketFragmenter(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		{
 			name:               "Packet has a huge transport header",
-			innerMTU:           500,
+			fragmentPayloadLen: 500,
 			transportHeaderLen: 1300,
 			payloadSize:        500,
 			wantFragments: []fragmentInfo{
@@ -458,7 +458,7 @@ func TestPacketFragmenter(t *testing.T) {
 			originalPayload.AppendView(pkt.TransportHeader().View())
 			originalPayload.Append(pkt.Data)
 			var reassembledPayload buffer.VectorisedView
-			pf := MakePacketFragmenter(pkt, test.innerMTU, reserve)
+			pf := MakePacketFragmenter(pkt, test.fragmentPayloadLen, reserve)
 			for i := 0; ; i++ {
 				fragPkt, offset, copied, more := pf.BuildNextFragment()
 				wantFragment := test.wantFragments[i]
@@ -474,8 +474,8 @@ func TestPacketFragmenter(t *testing.T) {
 				if more != wantFragment.more {
 					t.Errorf("(fragment #%d) got more = %t, want = %t", i, more, wantFragment.more)
 				}
-				if got := fragPkt.Size(); got > test.innerMTU {
-					t.Errorf("(fragment #%d) got fragPkt.Size() = %d, want <= %d", i, got, test.innerMTU)
+				if got := uint32(fragPkt.Size()); got > test.fragmentPayloadLen {
+					t.Errorf("(fragment #%d) got fragPkt.Size() = %d, want <= %d", i, got, test.fragmentPayloadLen)
 				}
 				if got := fragPkt.AvailableHeaderBytes(); got != reserve {
 					t.Errorf("(fragment #%d) got fragPkt.AvailableHeaderBytes() = %d, want = %d", i, got, reserve)
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv4/icmp.go b/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv4/icmp.go
index 3407755ed..ac66403fa 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv4/icmp.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv4/icmp.go
@@ -182,8 +182,11 @@ func (e *endpoint) handleICMP(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) {
 			e.handleControl(stack.ControlPortUnreachable, 0, pkt)
 
 		case header.ICMPv4FragmentationNeeded:
-			mtu := uint32(h.MTU())
-			e.handleControl(stack.ControlPacketTooBig, calculateMTU(mtu), pkt)
+			networkMTU, err := calculateNetworkMTU(uint32(h.MTU()), header.IPv4MinimumSize)
+			if err != nil {
+				networkMTU = 0
+			}
+			e.handleControl(stack.ControlPacketTooBig, networkMTU, pkt)
 		}
 
 	case header.ICMPv4SrcQuench:
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv4/ipv4.go b/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv4/ipv4.go
index e7c58ae0a..41e548c85 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv4/ipv4.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv4/ipv4.go
@@ -176,7 +176,11 @@ func (e *endpoint) DefaultTTL() uint8 {
 // MTU implements stack.NetworkEndpoint.MTU. It returns the link-layer MTU minus
 // the network layer max header length.
 func (e *endpoint) MTU() uint32 {
-	return calculateMTU(e.nic.MTU())
+	networkMTU, err := calculateNetworkMTU(e.nic.MTU(), header.IPv4MinimumSize)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0
+	}
+	return networkMTU
 }
 
 // MaxHeaderLength returns the maximum length needed by ipv4 headers (and
@@ -211,18 +215,15 @@ func (e *endpoint) addIPHeader(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, params s
 	pkt.NetworkProtocolNumber = ProtocolNumber
 }
 
-func (e *endpoint) packetMustBeFragmented(pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, gso *stack.GSO) bool {
-	return (gso == nil || gso.Type == stack.GSONone) && pkt.Size() > int(e.nic.MTU())
-}
-
 // handleFragments fragments pkt and calls the handler function on each
 // fragment. It returns the number of fragments handled and the number of
 // fragments left to be processed. The IP header must already be present in the
-// original packet. The mtu is the maximum size of the packets.
-func (e *endpoint) handleFragments(r *stack.Route, gso *stack.GSO, mtu uint32, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, handler func(*stack.PacketBuffer) *tcpip.Error) (int, int, *tcpip.Error) {
-	fragMTU := int(calculateFragmentInnerMTU(mtu, pkt))
+// original packet.
+func (e *endpoint) handleFragments(r *stack.Route, gso *stack.GSO, networkMTU uint32, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, handler func(*stack.PacketBuffer) *tcpip.Error) (int, int, *tcpip.Error) {
+	// Round the MTU down to align to 8 bytes.
+	fragmentPayloadSize := networkMTU &^ 7
 	networkHeader := header.IPv4(pkt.NetworkHeader().View())
-	pf := fragmentation.MakePacketFragmenter(pkt, fragMTU, pkt.AvailableHeaderBytes()+len(networkHeader))
+	pf := fragmentation.MakePacketFragmenter(pkt, fragmentPayloadSize, pkt.AvailableHeaderBytes()+len(networkHeader))
 
 	var n int
 	for {
@@ -280,8 +281,14 @@ func (e *endpoint) writePacket(r *stack.Route, gso *stack.GSO, pkt *stack.Packet
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	if e.packetMustBeFragmented(pkt, gso) {
-		sent, remain, err := e.handleFragments(r, gso, e.nic.MTU(), pkt, func(fragPkt *stack.PacketBuffer) *tcpip.Error {
+	networkMTU, err := calculateNetworkMTU(e.nic.MTU(), uint32(pkt.NetworkHeader().View().Size()))
+	if err != nil {
+		r.Stats().IP.OutgoingPacketErrors.Increment()
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if packetMustBeFragmented(pkt, networkMTU, gso) {
+		sent, remain, err := e.handleFragments(r, gso, networkMTU, pkt, func(fragPkt *stack.PacketBuffer) *tcpip.Error {
 			// TODO(gvisor.dev/issue/3884): Evaluate whether we want to send each
 			// fragment one by one using WritePacket() (current strategy) or if we
 			// want to create a PacketBufferList from the fragments and feed it to
@@ -292,6 +299,7 @@ func (e *endpoint) writePacket(r *stack.Route, gso *stack.GSO, pkt *stack.Packet
 		r.Stats().IP.OutgoingPacketErrors.IncrementBy(uint64(remain))
 		return err
 	}
+
 	if err := e.nic.WritePacket(r, gso, ProtocolNumber, pkt); err != nil {
 		r.Stats().IP.OutgoingPacketErrors.Increment()
 		return err
@@ -311,17 +319,23 @@ func (e *endpoint) WritePackets(r *stack.Route, gso *stack.GSO, pkts stack.Packe
 
 	for pkt := pkts.Front(); pkt != nil; pkt = pkt.Next() {
 		e.addIPHeader(r, pkt, params)
-		if e.packetMustBeFragmented(pkt, gso) {
+		networkMTU, err := calculateNetworkMTU(e.nic.MTU(), uint32(pkt.NetworkHeader().View().Size()))
+		if err != nil {
+			r.Stats().IP.OutgoingPacketErrors.IncrementBy(uint64(pkts.Len()))
+			return 0, err
+		}
+
+		if packetMustBeFragmented(pkt, networkMTU, gso) {
 			// Keep track of the packet that is about to be fragmented so it can be
 			// removed once the fragmentation is done.
 			originalPkt := pkt
-			if _, _, err := e.handleFragments(r, gso, e.nic.MTU(), pkt, func(fragPkt *stack.PacketBuffer) *tcpip.Error {
+			if _, _, err := e.handleFragments(r, gso, networkMTU, pkt, func(fragPkt *stack.PacketBuffer) *tcpip.Error {
 				// Modify the packet list in place with the new fragments.
 				pkts.InsertAfter(pkt, fragPkt)
 				pkt = fragPkt
 				return nil
 			}); err != nil {
-				panic(fmt.Sprintf("e.handleFragments(_, _, %d, _, _) = %s", e.nic.MTU(), err))
+				panic(fmt.Sprintf("e.handleFragments(_, _, %d, _, _) = %s", networkMTU, err))
 			}
 			// Remove the packet that was just fragmented and process the rest.
 			pkts.Remove(originalPkt)
@@ -778,26 +792,32 @@ func (p *protocol) SetForwarding(v bool) {
 	}
 }
 
-// calculateMTU calculates the network-layer payload MTU based on the link-layer
-// payload mtu.
-func calculateMTU(mtu uint32) uint32 {
-	if mtu > MaxTotalSize {
-		mtu = MaxTotalSize
+// calculateNetworkMTU calculates the network-layer payload MTU based on the
+// link-layer payload mtu.
+func calculateNetworkMTU(linkMTU, networkHeaderSize uint32) (uint32, *tcpip.Error) {
+	if linkMTU < header.IPv4MinimumMTU {
+		return 0, tcpip.ErrInvalidEndpointState
 	}
-	return mtu - header.IPv4MinimumSize
-}
 
-// calculateFragmentInnerMTU calculates the maximum number of bytes of
-// fragmentable data a fragment can have, based on the link layer mtu and pkt's
-// network header size.
-func calculateFragmentInnerMTU(mtu uint32, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) uint32 {
-	if mtu > MaxTotalSize {
-		mtu = MaxTotalSize
+	// As per RFC 791 section 3.1, an IPv4 header cannot exceed 60 bytes in
+	// length:
+	//   The maximal internet header is 60 octets, and a typical internet header
+	//   is 20 octets, allowing a margin for headers of higher level protocols.
+	if networkHeaderSize > header.IPv4MaximumHeaderSize {
+		return 0, tcpip.ErrMalformedHeader
 	}
-	mtu -= uint32(pkt.NetworkHeader().View().Size())
-	// Round the MTU down to align to 8 bytes.
-	mtu &^= 7
-	return mtu
+
+	networkMTU := linkMTU
+	if networkMTU > MaxTotalSize {
+		networkMTU = MaxTotalSize
+	}
+
+	return networkMTU - uint32(networkHeaderSize), nil
+}
+
+func packetMustBeFragmented(pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, networkMTU uint32, gso *stack.GSO) bool {
+	payload := pkt.TransportHeader().View().Size() + pkt.Data.Size()
+	return (gso == nil || gso.Type == stack.GSONone) && uint32(payload) > networkMTU
 }
 
 // addressToUint32 translates an IPv4 address into its little endian uint32
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv4/ipv4_test.go b/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv4/ipv4_test.go
index fee11bb38..19a8f999b 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv4/ipv4_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv4/ipv4_test.go
@@ -39,7 +39,10 @@ import (
 	"gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/waiter"
 )
 
-const extraHeaderReserve = 50
+const (
+	extraHeaderReserve = 50
+	defaultMTU         = 65536
+)
 
 func TestExcludeBroadcast(t *testing.T) {
 	s := stack.New(stack.Options{
@@ -47,7 +50,6 @@ func TestExcludeBroadcast(t *testing.T) {
 		TransportProtocols: []stack.TransportProtocolFactory{udp.NewProtocol},
 	})
 
-	const defaultMTU = 65536
 	ep := stack.LinkEndpoint(channel.New(256, defaultMTU, ""))
 	if testing.Verbose() {
 		ep = sniffer.New(ep)
@@ -103,7 +105,6 @@ func TestExcludeBroadcast(t *testing.T) {
 // checks the response.
 func TestIPv4Sanity(t *testing.T) {
 	const (
-		defaultMTU     = header.IPv6MinimumMTU
 		ttl            = 255
 		nicID          = 1
 		randomSequence = 123
@@ -132,13 +133,13 @@ func TestIPv4Sanity(t *testing.T) {
 	}{
 		{
 			name:              "valid",
-			maxTotalLength:    defaultMTU,
+			maxTotalLength:    ipv4.MaxTotalSize,
 			transportProtocol: uint8(header.ICMPv4ProtocolNumber),
 			TTL:               ttl,
 		},
 		{
 			name:              "bad header checksum",
-			maxTotalLength:    defaultMTU,
+			maxTotalLength:    ipv4.MaxTotalSize,
 			transportProtocol: uint8(header.ICMPv4ProtocolNumber),
 			TTL:               ttl,
 			badHeaderChecksum: true,
@@ -157,35 +158,35 @@ func TestIPv4Sanity(t *testing.T) {
 		//      received with TTL less than 2.
 		{
 			name:              "zero TTL",
-			maxTotalLength:    defaultMTU,
+			maxTotalLength:    ipv4.MaxTotalSize,
 			transportProtocol: uint8(header.ICMPv4ProtocolNumber),
 			TTL:               0,
 			shouldFail:        false,
 		},
 		{
 			name:              "one TTL",
-			maxTotalLength:    defaultMTU,
+			maxTotalLength:    ipv4.MaxTotalSize,
 			transportProtocol: uint8(header.ICMPv4ProtocolNumber),
 			TTL:               1,
 			shouldFail:        false,
 		},
 		{
 			name:              "End options",
-			maxTotalLength:    defaultMTU,
+			maxTotalLength:    ipv4.MaxTotalSize,
 			transportProtocol: uint8(header.ICMPv4ProtocolNumber),
 			TTL:               ttl,
 			options:           []byte{0, 0, 0, 0},
 		},
 		{
 			name:              "NOP options",
-			maxTotalLength:    defaultMTU,
+			maxTotalLength:    ipv4.MaxTotalSize,
 			transportProtocol: uint8(header.ICMPv4ProtocolNumber),
 			TTL:               ttl,
 			options:           []byte{1, 1, 1, 1},
 		},
 		{
 			name:              "NOP and End options",
-			maxTotalLength:    defaultMTU,
+			maxTotalLength:    ipv4.MaxTotalSize,
 			transportProtocol: uint8(header.ICMPv4ProtocolNumber),
 			TTL:               ttl,
 			options:           []byte{1, 1, 0, 0},
@@ -193,7 +194,7 @@ func TestIPv4Sanity(t *testing.T) {
 		{
 			name:              "bad header length",
 			headerLength:      header.IPv4MinimumSize - 1,
-			maxTotalLength:    defaultMTU,
+			maxTotalLength:    ipv4.MaxTotalSize,
 			transportProtocol: uint8(header.ICMPv4ProtocolNumber),
 			TTL:               ttl,
 			shouldFail:        true,
@@ -225,7 +226,7 @@ func TestIPv4Sanity(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		{
 			name:              "bad protocol",
-			maxTotalLength:    defaultMTU,
+			maxTotalLength:    ipv4.MaxTotalSize,
 			transportProtocol: 99,
 			TTL:               ttl,
 			shouldFail:        true,
@@ -462,7 +463,7 @@ var fragmentationTests = []struct {
 	wantFragments         []fragmentInfo
 }{
 	{
-		description:           "No Fragmentation",
+		description:           "No fragmentation",
 		mtu:                   1280,
 		gso:                   nil,
 		transportHeaderLength: 0,
@@ -483,6 +484,30 @@ var fragmentationTests = []struct {
 		},
 	},
 	{
+		description:           "Fragmented with the minimum mtu",
+		mtu:                   header.IPv4MinimumMTU,
+		gso:                   nil,
+		transportHeaderLength: 0,
+		payloadSize:           100,
+		wantFragments: []fragmentInfo{
+			{offset: 0, payloadSize: 48, more: true},
+			{offset: 48, payloadSize: 48, more: true},
+			{offset: 96, payloadSize: 4, more: false},
+		},
+	},
+	{
+		description:           "Fragmented with mtu not a multiple of 8",
+		mtu:                   header.IPv4MinimumMTU + 1,
+		gso:                   nil,
+		transportHeaderLength: 0,
+		payloadSize:           100,
+		wantFragments: []fragmentInfo{
+			{offset: 0, payloadSize: 48, more: true},
+			{offset: 48, payloadSize: 48, more: true},
+			{offset: 96, payloadSize: 4, more: false},
+		},
+	},
+	{
 		description:           "No fragmentation with big header",
 		mtu:                   2000,
 		gso:                   nil,
@@ -647,43 +672,50 @@ func TestFragmentationWritePackets(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-// TestFragmentationErrors checks that errors are returned from write packet
+// TestFragmentationErrors checks that errors are returned from WritePacket
 // correctly.
 func TestFragmentationErrors(t *testing.T) {
 	const ttl = 42
 
-	expectedError := tcpip.ErrAborted
-	fragTests := []struct {
+	tests := []struct {
 		description           string
 		mtu                   uint32
 		transportHeaderLength int
 		payloadSize           int
 		allowPackets          int
-		fragmentCount         int
+		outgoingErrors        int
+		mockError             *tcpip.Error
+		wantError             *tcpip.Error
 	}{
 		{
 			description:           "No frag",
 			mtu:                   2000,
-			transportHeaderLength: 0,
 			payloadSize:           1000,
+			transportHeaderLength: 0,
 			allowPackets:          0,
-			fragmentCount:         1,
+			outgoingErrors:        1,
+			mockError:             tcpip.ErrAborted,
+			wantError:             tcpip.ErrAborted,
 		},
 		{
 			description:           "Error on first frag",
 			mtu:                   500,
-			transportHeaderLength: 0,
 			payloadSize:           1000,
+			transportHeaderLength: 0,
 			allowPackets:          0,
-			fragmentCount:         3,
+			outgoingErrors:        3,
+			mockError:             tcpip.ErrAborted,
+			wantError:             tcpip.ErrAborted,
 		},
 		{
 			description:           "Error on second frag",
 			mtu:                   500,
-			transportHeaderLength: 0,
 			payloadSize:           1000,
+			transportHeaderLength: 0,
 			allowPackets:          1,
-			fragmentCount:         3,
+			outgoingErrors:        2,
+			mockError:             tcpip.ErrAborted,
+			wantError:             tcpip.ErrAborted,
 		},
 		{
 			description:           "Error on first frag MTU smaller than header",
@@ -691,28 +723,40 @@ func TestFragmentationErrors(t *testing.T) {
 			transportHeaderLength: 1000,
 			payloadSize:           500,
 			allowPackets:          0,
-			fragmentCount:         4,
+			outgoingErrors:        4,
+			mockError:             tcpip.ErrAborted,
+			wantError:             tcpip.ErrAborted,
+		},
+		{
+			description:           "Error when MTU is smaller than IPv4 minimum MTU",
+			mtu:                   header.IPv4MinimumMTU - 1,
+			transportHeaderLength: 0,
+			payloadSize:           500,
+			allowPackets:          0,
+			outgoingErrors:        1,
+			mockError:             nil,
+			wantError:             tcpip.ErrInvalidEndpointState,
 		},
 	}
 
-	for _, ft := range fragTests {
+	for _, ft := range tests {
 		t.Run(ft.description, func(t *testing.T) {
-			ep := testutil.NewMockLinkEndpoint(ft.mtu, expectedError, ft.allowPackets)
-			r := buildRoute(t, ep)
 			pkt := testutil.MakeRandPkt(ft.transportHeaderLength, extraHeaderReserve+header.IPv4MinimumSize, []int{ft.payloadSize}, header.IPv4ProtocolNumber)
+			ep := testutil.NewMockLinkEndpoint(ft.mtu, ft.mockError, ft.allowPackets)
+			r := buildRoute(t, ep)
 			err := r.WritePacket(&stack.GSO{}, stack.NetworkHeaderParams{
 				Protocol: tcp.ProtocolNumber,
 				TTL:      ttl,
 				TOS:      stack.DefaultTOS,
 			}, pkt)
-			if err != expectedError {
-				t.Errorf("got WritePacket(_, _, _) = %s, want = %s", err, expectedError)
+			if err != ft.wantError {
+				t.Errorf("got WritePacket(_, _, _) = %s, want = %s", err, ft.wantError)
 			}
-			if got, want := len(ep.WrittenPackets), int(r.Stats().IP.PacketsSent.Value()); err != nil && got != want {
-				t.Errorf("got len(ep.WrittenPackets) = %d, want = %d", got, want)
+			if got := int(r.Stats().IP.PacketsSent.Value()); got != ft.allowPackets {
+				t.Errorf("got r.Stats().IP.PacketsSent.Value() = %d, want = %d", got, ft.allowPackets)
 			}
-			if got, want := int(r.Stats().IP.OutgoingPacketErrors.Value()), ft.fragmentCount-ft.allowPackets; got != want {
-				t.Errorf("got r.Stats().IP.OutgoingPacketErrors.Value() = %d, want = %d", got, want)
+			if got := int(r.Stats().IP.OutgoingPacketErrors.Value()); got != ft.outgoingErrors {
+				t.Errorf("got r.Stats().IP.OutgoingPacketErrors.Value() = %d, want = %d", got, ft.outgoingErrors)
 			}
 		})
 	}
@@ -1577,7 +1621,7 @@ func TestWriteStats(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Run(writer.name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			for _, test := range tests {
 				t.Run(test.name, func(t *testing.T) {
-					ep := testutil.NewMockLinkEndpoint(header.IPv4MinimumSize+header.UDPMinimumSize, tcpip.ErrInvalidEndpointState, test.allowPackets)
+					ep := testutil.NewMockLinkEndpoint(header.IPv4MinimumMTU, tcpip.ErrInvalidEndpointState, test.allowPackets)
 					rt := buildRoute(t, ep)
 
 					var pkts stack.PacketBufferList
@@ -1783,7 +1827,7 @@ func TestPacketQueing(t *testing.T) {
 
 	for _, test := range tests {
 		t.Run(test.name, func(t *testing.T) {
-			e := channel.New(1, header.IPv6MinimumMTU, host1NICLinkAddr)
+			e := channel.New(1, defaultMTU, host1NICLinkAddr)
 			e.LinkEPCapabilities |= stack.CapabilityResolutionRequired
 			s := stack.New(stack.Options{
 				NetworkProtocols:   []stack.NetworkProtocolFactory{arp.NewProtocol, ipv4.NewProtocol},
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv6/icmp.go b/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv6/icmp.go
index ead6bedcb..40908ddaa 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv6/icmp.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv6/icmp.go
@@ -170,8 +170,11 @@ func (e *endpoint) handleICMP(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, hasFragme
 			return
 		}
 		pkt.Data.TrimFront(header.ICMPv6PacketTooBigMinimumSize)
-		mtu := header.ICMPv6(hdr).MTU()
-		e.handleControl(stack.ControlPacketTooBig, calculateMTU(mtu), pkt)
+		networkMTU, err := calculateNetworkMTU(header.ICMPv6(hdr).MTU(), header.IPv6MinimumSize)
+		if err != nil {
+			networkMTU = 0
+		}
+		e.handleControl(stack.ControlPacketTooBig, networkMTU, pkt)
 
 	case header.ICMPv6DstUnreachable:
 		received.DstUnreachable.Increment()
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv6/ipv6.go b/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv6/ipv6.go
index 9670696c7..3c2578343 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv6/ipv6.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv6/ipv6.go
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ const (
 	// ProtocolNumber is the ipv6 protocol number.
 	ProtocolNumber = header.IPv6ProtocolNumber
 
-	// maxTotalSize is maximum size that can be encoded in the 16-bit
+	// maxPayloadSize is the maximum size that can be encoded in the 16-bit
 	// PayloadLength field of the ipv6 header.
 	maxPayloadSize = 0xffff
 
@@ -363,7 +363,11 @@ func (e *endpoint) DefaultTTL() uint8 {
 // MTU implements stack.NetworkEndpoint.MTU. It returns the link-layer MTU minus
 // the network layer max header length.
 func (e *endpoint) MTU() uint32 {
-	return calculateMTU(e.nic.MTU())
+	networkMTU, err := calculateNetworkMTU(e.nic.MTU(), header.IPv6MinimumSize)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0
+	}
+	return networkMTU
 }
 
 // MaxHeaderLength returns the maximum length needed by ipv6 headers (and
@@ -386,27 +390,40 @@ func (e *endpoint) addIPHeader(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, params s
 	pkt.NetworkProtocolNumber = ProtocolNumber
 }
 
-func (e *endpoint) packetMustBeFragmented(pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, gso *stack.GSO) bool {
-	return (gso == nil || gso.Type == stack.GSONone) && pkt.Size() > int(e.nic.MTU())
+func packetMustBeFragmented(pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, networkMTU uint32, gso *stack.GSO) bool {
+	payload := pkt.TransportHeader().View().Size() + pkt.Data.Size()
+	return (gso == nil || gso.Type == stack.GSONone) && uint32(payload) > networkMTU
 }
 
 // handleFragments fragments pkt and calls the handler function on each
 // fragment. It returns the number of fragments handled and the number of
 // fragments left to be processed. The IP header must already be present in the
-// original packet. The mtu is the maximum size of the packets. The transport
-// header protocol number is required to avoid parsing the IPv6 extension
-// headers.
-func (e *endpoint) handleFragments(r *stack.Route, gso *stack.GSO, mtu uint32, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, transProto tcpip.TransportProtocolNumber, handler func(*stack.PacketBuffer) *tcpip.Error) (int, int, *tcpip.Error) {
-	fragMTU := int(calculateFragmentInnerMTU(mtu, pkt))
-	if fragMTU < pkt.TransportHeader().View().Size() {
+// original packet. The transport header protocol number is required to avoid
+// parsing the IPv6 extension headers.
+func (e *endpoint) handleFragments(r *stack.Route, gso *stack.GSO, networkMTU uint32, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer, transProto tcpip.TransportProtocolNumber, handler func(*stack.PacketBuffer) *tcpip.Error) (int, int, *tcpip.Error) {
+	networkHeader := header.IPv6(pkt.NetworkHeader().View())
+
+	// TODO(gvisor.dev/issue/3912): Once the Authentication or ESP Headers are
+	// supported for outbound packets, their length should not affect the fragment
+	// maximum payload length because they should only be transmitted once.
+	fragmentPayloadLen := (networkMTU - header.IPv6FragmentHeaderSize) &^ 7
+	if fragmentPayloadLen < header.IPv6FragmentExtHdrFragmentOffsetBytesPerUnit {
+		// We need at least 8 bytes of space left for the fragmentable part because
+		// the fragment payload must obviously be non-zero and must be a multiple
+		// of 8 as per RFC 8200 section 4.5:
+		//   Each complete fragment, except possibly the last ("rightmost") one, is
+		//   an integer multiple of 8 octets long.
+		return 0, 1, tcpip.ErrMessageTooLong
+	}
+
+	if fragmentPayloadLen < uint32(pkt.TransportHeader().View().Size()) {
 		// As per RFC 8200 Section 4.5, the Transport Header is expected to be small
 		// enough to fit in the first fragment.
 		return 0, 1, tcpip.ErrMessageTooLong
 	}
 
-	pf := fragmentation.MakePacketFragmenter(pkt, fragMTU, calculateFragmentReserve(pkt))
+	pf := fragmentation.MakePacketFragmenter(pkt, fragmentPayloadLen, calculateFragmentReserve(pkt))
 	id := atomic.AddUint32(&e.protocol.ids[hashRoute(r, e.protocol.hashIV)%buckets], 1)
-	networkHeader := header.IPv6(pkt.NetworkHeader().View())
 
 	var n int
 	for {
@@ -468,8 +485,14 @@ func (e *endpoint) writePacket(r *stack.Route, gso *stack.GSO, pkt *stack.Packet
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	if e.packetMustBeFragmented(pkt, gso) {
-		sent, remain, err := e.handleFragments(r, gso, e.nic.MTU(), pkt, protocol, func(fragPkt *stack.PacketBuffer) *tcpip.Error {
+	networkMTU, err := calculateNetworkMTU(e.nic.MTU(), uint32(pkt.NetworkHeader().View().Size()))
+	if err != nil {
+		r.Stats().IP.OutgoingPacketErrors.Increment()
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if packetMustBeFragmented(pkt, networkMTU, gso) {
+		sent, remain, err := e.handleFragments(r, gso, networkMTU, pkt, protocol, func(fragPkt *stack.PacketBuffer) *tcpip.Error {
 			// TODO(gvisor.dev/issue/3884): Evaluate whether we want to send each
 			// fragment one by one using WritePacket() (current strategy) or if we
 			// want to create a PacketBufferList from the fragments and feed it to
@@ -499,13 +522,20 @@ func (e *endpoint) WritePackets(r *stack.Route, gso *stack.GSO, pkts stack.Packe
 		return pkts.Len(), nil
 	}
 
+	linkMTU := e.nic.MTU()
 	for pb := pkts.Front(); pb != nil; pb = pb.Next() {
 		e.addIPHeader(r, pb, params)
-		if e.packetMustBeFragmented(pb, gso) {
+
+		networkMTU, err := calculateNetworkMTU(linkMTU, uint32(pb.NetworkHeader().View().Size()))
+		if err != nil {
+			r.Stats().IP.OutgoingPacketErrors.IncrementBy(uint64(pkts.Len()))
+			return 0, err
+		}
+		if packetMustBeFragmented(pb, networkMTU, gso) {
 			// Keep track of the packet that is about to be fragmented so it can be
 			// removed once the fragmentation is done.
 			originalPkt := pb
-			if _, _, err := e.handleFragments(r, gso, e.nic.MTU(), pb, params.Protocol, func(fragPkt *stack.PacketBuffer) *tcpip.Error {
+			if _, _, err := e.handleFragments(r, gso, networkMTU, pb, params.Protocol, func(fragPkt *stack.PacketBuffer) *tcpip.Error {
 				// Modify the packet list in place with the new fragments.
 				pkts.InsertAfter(pb, fragPkt)
 				pb = fragPkt
@@ -569,7 +599,7 @@ func (e *endpoint) WritePackets(r *stack.Route, gso *stack.GSO, pkts stack.Packe
 	return n + len(dropped), nil
 }
 
-// WriteHeaderIncludedPacker implements stack.NetworkEndpoint.
+// WriteHeaderIncludedPacket implements stack.NetworkEndpoint.
 func (e *endpoint) WriteHeaderIncludedPacket(r *stack.Route, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) *tcpip.Error {
 	// The packet already has an IP header, but there are a few required checks.
 	h, ok := pkt.Data.PullUp(header.IPv6MinimumSize)
@@ -1427,14 +1457,31 @@ func (p *protocol) SetForwarding(v bool) {
 	}
 }
 
-// calculateMTU calculates the network-layer payload MTU based on the link-layer
-// payload mtu.
-func calculateMTU(mtu uint32) uint32 {
-	mtu -= header.IPv6MinimumSize
-	if mtu <= maxPayloadSize {
-		return mtu
+// calculateNetworkMTU calculates the network-layer payload MTU based on the
+// link-layer payload MTU and the length of every IPv6 header.
+// Note that this is different than the Payload Length field of the IPv6 header,
+// which includes the length of the extension headers.
+func calculateNetworkMTU(linkMTU, networkHeadersLen uint32) (uint32, *tcpip.Error) {
+	if linkMTU < header.IPv6MinimumMTU {
+		return 0, tcpip.ErrInvalidEndpointState
+	}
+
+	// As per RFC 7112 section 5, we should discard packets if their IPv6 header
+	// is bigger than 1280 bytes (ie, the minimum link MTU) since we do not
+	// support PMTU discovery:
+	//   Hosts that do not discover the Path MTU MUST limit the IPv6 Header Chain
+	//   length to 1280 bytes.  Limiting the IPv6 Header Chain length to 1280
+	//   bytes ensures that the header chain length does not exceed the IPv6
+	//   minimum MTU.
+	if networkHeadersLen > header.IPv6MinimumMTU {
+		return 0, tcpip.ErrMalformedHeader
 	}
-	return maxPayloadSize
+
+	networkMTU := linkMTU - uint32(networkHeadersLen)
+	if networkMTU > maxPayloadSize {
+		networkMTU = maxPayloadSize
+	}
+	return networkMTU, nil
 }
 
 // Options holds options to configure a new protocol.
@@ -1509,23 +1556,6 @@ func NewProtocol(s *stack.Stack) stack.NetworkProtocol {
 	return NewProtocolWithOptions(Options{})(s)
 }
 
-// calculateFragmentInnerMTU calculates the maximum number of bytes of
-// fragmentable data a fragment can have, based on the link layer mtu and pkt's
-// network header size.
-func calculateFragmentInnerMTU(mtu uint32, pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) uint32 {
-	// TODO(gvisor.dev/issue/3912): Once the Authentication or ESP Headers are
-	// supported for outbound packets, their length should not affect the fragment
-	// MTU because they should only be transmitted once.
-	mtu -= uint32(pkt.NetworkHeader().View().Size())
-	mtu -= header.IPv6FragmentHeaderSize
-	// Round the MTU down to align to 8 bytes.
-	mtu &^= 7
-	if mtu <= maxPayloadSize {
-		return mtu
-	}
-	return maxPayloadSize
-}
-
 func calculateFragmentReserve(pkt *stack.PacketBuffer) int {
 	return pkt.AvailableHeaderBytes() + pkt.NetworkHeader().View().Size() + header.IPv6FragmentHeaderSize
 }
diff --git a/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv6/ipv6_test.go b/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv6/ipv6_test.go
index 297868f24..dc4200b8a 100644
--- a/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv6/ipv6_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tcpip/network/ipv6/ipv6_test.go
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ func TestReceiveOnAllNodesMulticastAddr(t *testing.T) {
 				NetworkProtocols:   []stack.NetworkProtocolFactory{NewProtocol},
 				TransportProtocols: []stack.TransportProtocolFactory{test.protocolFactory},
 			})
-			e := channel.New(10, 1280, linkAddr1)
+			e := channel.New(10, header.IPv6MinimumMTU, linkAddr1)
 			if err := s.CreateNIC(1, e); err != nil {
 				t.Fatalf("CreateNIC(_) = %s", err)
 			}
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ func TestReceiveOnSolicitedNodeAddr(t *testing.T) {
 				NetworkProtocols:   []stack.NetworkProtocolFactory{NewProtocol},
 				TransportProtocols: []stack.TransportProtocolFactory{test.protocolFactory},
 			})
-			e := channel.New(1, 1280, linkAddr1)
+			e := channel.New(1, header.IPv6MinimumMTU, linkAddr1)
 			if err := s.CreateNIC(nicID, e); err != nil {
 				t.Fatalf("CreateNIC(%d, _) = %s", nicID, err)
 			}
@@ -825,7 +825,7 @@ func TestReceiveIPv6ExtHdrs(t *testing.T) {
 				NetworkProtocols:   []stack.NetworkProtocolFactory{NewProtocol},
 				TransportProtocols: []stack.TransportProtocolFactory{udp.NewProtocol},
 			})
-			e := channel.New(1, 1280, linkAddr1)
+			e := channel.New(1, header.IPv6MinimumMTU, linkAddr1)
 			if err := s.CreateNIC(nicID, e); err != nil {
 				t.Fatalf("CreateNIC(%d, _) = %s", nicID, err)
 			}
@@ -1844,7 +1844,7 @@ func TestReceiveIPv6Fragments(t *testing.T) {
 				NetworkProtocols:   []stack.NetworkProtocolFactory{NewProtocol},
 				TransportProtocols: []stack.TransportProtocolFactory{udp.NewProtocol},
 			})
-			e := channel.New(0, 1280, linkAddr1)
+			e := channel.New(0, header.IPv6MinimumMTU, linkAddr1)
 			if err := s.CreateNIC(nicID, e); err != nil {
 				t.Fatalf("CreateNIC(%d, _) = %s", nicID, err)
 			}
@@ -2230,8 +2230,8 @@ var fragmentationTests = []struct {
 	wantFragments []fragmentInfo
 }{
 	{
-		description: "No Fragmentation",
-		mtu:         1280,
+		description: "No fragmentation",
+		mtu:         header.IPv6MinimumMTU,
 		gso:         nil,
 		transHdrLen: 0,
 		payloadSize: 1000,
@@ -2241,7 +2241,18 @@ var fragmentationTests = []struct {
 	},
 	{
 		description: "Fragmented",
-		mtu:         1280,
+		mtu:         header.IPv6MinimumMTU,
+		gso:         nil,
+		transHdrLen: 0,
+		payloadSize: 2000,
+		wantFragments: []fragmentInfo{
+			{offset: 0, payloadSize: 1240, more: true},
+			{offset: 154, payloadSize: 776, more: false},
+		},
+	},
+	{
+		description: "Fragmented with mtu not a multiple of 8",
+		mtu:         header.IPv6MinimumMTU + 1,
 		gso:         nil,
 		transHdrLen: 0,
 		payloadSize: 2000,
@@ -2262,7 +2273,7 @@ var fragmentationTests = []struct {
 	},
 	{
 		description: "Fragmented with gso none",
-		mtu:         1280,
+		mtu:         header.IPv6MinimumMTU,
 		gso:         &stack.GSO{Type: stack.GSONone},
 		transHdrLen: 0,
 		payloadSize: 1400,
@@ -2273,7 +2284,7 @@ var fragmentationTests = []struct {
 	},
 	{
 		description: "Fragmented with big header",
-		mtu:         1280,
+		mtu:         header.IPv6MinimumMTU,
 		gso:         nil,
 		transHdrLen: 100,
 		payloadSize: 1200,
@@ -2448,8 +2459,8 @@ func TestFragmentationErrors(t *testing.T) {
 			wantError:      tcpip.ErrAborted,
 		},
 		{
-			description:    "Error on packet with MTU smaller than transport header",
-			mtu:            1280,
+			description:    "Error when MTU is smaller than transport header",
+			mtu:            header.IPv6MinimumMTU,
 			transHdrLen:    1500,
 			payloadSize:    500,
 			allowPackets:   0,
@@ -2457,6 +2468,16 @@ func TestFragmentationErrors(t *testing.T) {
 			mockError:      nil,
 			wantError:      tcpip.ErrMessageTooLong,
 		},
+		{
+			description:    "Error when MTU is smaller than IPv6 minimum MTU",
+			mtu:            header.IPv6MinimumMTU - 1,
+			transHdrLen:    0,
+			payloadSize:    500,
+			allowPackets:   0,
+			outgoingErrors: 1,
+			mockError:      nil,
+			wantError:      tcpip.ErrInvalidEndpointState,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, ft := range tests {