IPv6 address assignment in the 0::/8 range

Question

I need to know if the address in the range 0::/96 can be actually assigned in IPv6 or not. I've found the reference on IANA that IANA can't assign that range (actually 0::/8 range) but I can't find it as being an actually "reserved" range. My issue is that I'm converting IP Addresses from integers on python. Using the standard library ipaddress which has a convenient factory method ip_address that applies the simple heuristic, if n < 2**32 then ipv4 else ipv6.

This heurisitc would be great if I could find a place in which it screams out to networks admins to forbid using this range xD

Anyway, thanks!

Answer 1

You can find what you are looking for in RFC 5156. Section 2.3 lists the "IPv4-Compatible Addresses" which have been deprecated:

These addresses are deprecated and should not appear on the public Internet

And if you should see them they represent an IPv4 address (except for ::1), so a n > 1 && n < 2**32 heuristic should be perfectly safe.