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TCP Fast Open
open-in-new
<p>In computer networking, TCP Fast Open (TFO) is an extension to speed up the opening of successive <a href="/facts/Transmission_Control_Protocol/WW4sPrt9">Transmission Control Protocol</a> (TCP) connections between two endpoints. It works by using a <i>TFO cookie</i> (a TCP option), which is a cryptographic cookie stored on the client and set upon the initial connection with the server. When the client later reconnects, it sends the initial SYN packet along with the TFO cookie data to authenticate itself. If successful, the server may start sending data to the client even before the reception of the final ACK packet of the three-way handshake, thus skipping a round-trip delay and lowering the <a href="/facts/Latency_(engineering)/6Bjhn30H">latency</a> in the start of data transmission. </p><p>The cookie is generated by applying a <a href="/facts/Block_cipher/MJywAyfQ">block cipher</a> keyed on a key held secret by the server to the client's, generating an <a href="/facts/Authentication_tag/mXxCP5Yl">authentication tag</a> that is difficult for third parties to spoof, even if they can forge a source IP address or make two-way connections to the same server from other IP addresses. Although it uses cryptographic techniques to generate the cookie, TFO is not intended to provide more security than the three-way handshake it replaces, and does not give any form of cryptographic protection to the resulting TCP connection, or provide identity assurance about either endpoint. It also is not intended to be resistant to <a href="/facts/Man-in-the-middle_attack/dx4cojdz">man-in-the-middle attacks</a>. If such resistance is required, it may be used in combination with a cryptographic protocol such as <a href="/facts/Transport_Layer_Security/pGy16TnA">TLS</a> or <a href="/facts/IPsec/01MwcET1">IPsec</a>. </p><p>TFO has been difficult to deploy due to protocol ossification; in 2020, no <a href="/facts/Web_browser/2pfyymLs">Web browsers</a> used it by default. </p><p>TFO presents <a href="/facts/Internet_privacy/Fdnjfnds">privacy</a> challenges; the TFO cookie can allow persistently tracking a client across sessions, even by passive observers. </p>