Cannot set IPv6 address on host only interface with VBoxManage

[Prolixium]

Hi -

I had a previous VirtualBox setup running 6.1.6 that I recently upgraded to 6.1.32. Since then I haven't been able to use VBoxManage to add IPv6 addresses to host only interfaces.

Here's what I get when I try to do it (trying with and without specifying a netmask, although 64 is default):

(excalibur:13:04:EST)% ifconfig vboxnet0                                                                                                 
vboxnet0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet 10.3.7.238  netmask 255.255.255.252  broadcast 10.3.7.239
        inet6 fe80::800:27ff:fe00:0  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
        ether 0a:00:27:00:00:00  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        RX errors 0  dropped 29075  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 151  bytes 12326 (12.0 KiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

(excalibur:13:04:EST)% VBoxManage list hostonlyifs
Name:            vboxnet0
GUID:            786f6276-656e-4074-8000-0a0027000000
DHCP:            Disabled
IPAddress:       10.3.7.238
NetworkMask:     255.255.255.252
IPV6Address:     fe80::800:27ff:fe00:0
IPV6NetworkMaskPrefixLength: 64
HardwareAddress: 0a:00:27:00:00:00
MediumType:      Ethernet
Wireless:        No
Status:          Up
VBoxNetworkName: HostInterfaceNetworking-vboxnet0

Name:            vboxnet1
GUID:            786f6276-656e-4174-8000-0a0027000001
DHCP:            Disabled
IPAddress:       192.168.57.1
NetworkMask:     255.255.255.0
IPV6Address:     
IPV6NetworkMaskPrefixLength: 0
HardwareAddress: 0a:00:27:00:00:01
MediumType:      Ethernet
Wireless:        No
Status:          Up
VBoxNetworkName: HostInterfaceNetworking-vboxnet1

(excalibur:13:04:EST)% VBoxManage hostonlyif ipconfig vboxnet0 --ipv6 2620:6:200f:3::1                     
VBoxManage: error: Code NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005) - Operation failed (extended info not available)
VBoxManage: error: Context: "EnableStaticIPConfigV6(Bstr(pszIpv6).raw(), (PRUint32)uNetmasklengthv6)" at line 256 of file VBoxManageHostonly.cpp
(excalibur:13:04:EST)% VBoxManage hostonlyif ipconfig vboxnet0 --ipv6 2620:6:200f:3::1 --netmasklengthv6 64
VBoxManage: error: Code NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005) - Operation failed (extended info not available)
VBoxManage: error: Context: "EnableStaticIPConfigV6(Bstr(pszIpv6).raw(), (PRUint32)uNetmasklengthv6)" at line 256 of file VBoxManageHostonly.cpp

But, I can add this address manually just fine with iproute:

(excalibur:13:04:EST)% sudo ip addr add 2620:6:200f:3::1/64 dev vboxnet0                                   
(excalibur:13:04:EST)% ifconfig vboxnet0
vboxnet0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet 10.3.7.238  netmask 255.255.255.252  broadcast 10.3.7.239
        inet6 2620:6:200f:3::1  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x0<global>
        inet6 fe80::800:27ff:fe00:0  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
        ether 0a:00:27:00:00:00  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        RX errors 0  dropped 29075  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 162  bytes 13360 (13.0 KiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

(excalibur:13:04:EST)% 

This seems to be a bug.  Please let me know what information you need.  Here's some information about my system:

(excalibur:13:04:EST)% uname -a
Linux excalibur 5.8.0-2-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 5.8.10-1 (2020-09-19) x86_64 GNU/Linux
(excalibur:13:06:EST)% dpkg -l|grep virtualbox
ii  virtualbox                           6.1.32-dfsg-1+b1                  amd64        x86 virtualization solution - base binaries
ii  virtualbox-dkms                      6.1.32-dfsg-1+b1                  amd64        x86 virtualization solution - kernel module sources for dkms

Thanks!

• Mark

[janitor]

#20734

virtualbox now restricts by default the range of addresses that a user can set on hostonly interfaces. host admin can specify the allowed ranges in a global configuration file.

[janitor]

#20734