The End of Origin AS Is Near
On 28 July 2025, the Origin Autonomous System (Origin AS) field will be officially removed from the ARIN database. This change follows the ARIN Board of Trustees’ July 2023 adoption of policy ARIN-2021-8, which called for the deprecation of the ‘Autonomous System Originations’ field. If you currently rely on this field, now is the time to take action.
What is the Origin AS field?
Origin AS is an optional field collected by ARIN during IPv4 and IPv6 block transactions (allocation requests, reallocation and reassignment actions, transfer and experimental requests). An improvement over the limited routing security options at the time, this feature was introduced before Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI) became widely available. This field allowed IP address block holders to indicate which Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs) were authorized to originate their address block(s).
Why is the Origin AS field being removed?
Over the past two decades, ARIN has developed more advanced and robust mechanisms for publishing routing security information. Today, RPKI provides a cryptographically secure way to verify route originations, making the Origin AS field redundant and less reliable by comparison.
Additionally, consuming the data from the Origin AS field at scale has proven to be cumbersome and inefficient. Users must enter into a Bulk Whois Data agreement, download a large XML file generated only once daily, and manually extract the data. This process is cumbersome, and querying individual objects via HTTPS is not scalable and no longer aligns with modern operational requirements.
What actions should you take?
If you are using the Origin AS field for routing security or operational purposes, now is the time to transition to more modern and secure alternatives such as RPKI or the ARIN Internet Routing Registry (IRR). These tools provide more reliable, scalable, and secure mechanisms for managing and verifying routing information.
Final Thoughts
We encourage all resource holders to assess their reliance on the Origin AS field and begin transitioning to alternative routing security mechanisms as soon as possible. If you have questions or need assistance, ARIN is here to help.
You can find more information about RPKI and the IRR on our website, or contact our Registration Services Help Desk for guidance by using the “Ask ARIN” feature in your ARIN Online account or by calling +1.703.227.0660 during business hours.
The countdown to 28 July 2025 has begun — don’t wait until the last minute to make the switch!
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