System and method for avoiding neighbor cache pollution

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for causing a first endpoint computing device to avoid cache corruption when establishing a network connection with a second endpoint computing device by performing the steps of:

• transmitting a broadcast request to a second endpoint computing device and a third endpoint computing device, wherein the request includes a media access control (MAC) address associated with a first network interface card (NIC) in the first endpoint computing device and a masquerade layer-3 address associated with the first endpoint computing device that is different than a layer-3 address currently associated with the first endpoint computing device, wherein a first cache included in the third endpoint computing device stores a first relationship between the layer-3 address currently associated with the first endpoint computing device and a MAC address associated with a second NIC in the first endpoint computing device, and, in response to receiving the broadcast request the first cache, stores a second relationship between the masquerade layer-3 address and the MAC address associated with the first NIC without modifying the first relationship, wherein, in response to receiving the broadcast request, a second cache in the second computing device stores a third relationship between the masquerade layer-3 address and the MAC address currently associated with the first NIC, and wherein the masquerade layer-3 address is generated by providing a masquerade MAC address that is different than the MAC address associated with the first NIC to a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server;
• receiving a reply transmitted by the second endpoint computing device in response to the request, wherein the reply includes a media access control (MAC) address associated with the second endpoint computing device;
• and
• establishing a network connection with the second endpoint computing device using the MAC address associated with the second endpoint computing device.

A system configured to avoid cache corruption when establishing a network connection, the system comprising:

• a first endpoint computing device configured to transmit a broadcast or multicast request that includes a media access control (MAC) address associated with the first endpoint computing device and a masquerade layer-3 address associated with the first endpoint computing device that is different than a layer-3 address currently associated with the first endpoint computing device to a second endpoint computing device and a third endpoint computing device, wherein a first cache included in the third endpoint computing device stores a first relationship between the layer-3 address currently associated with the first endpoint computing device and a MAC address associated with a second NIC in the first endpoint computing device, and, in response to receiving the broadcast request the first cache, stores a second relationship between the masquerade layer-3 address and the MAC address associated with the first NIC without modifying the first relationship, wherein, in response to receiving the broadcast request, a second cache in the second computing device stores a third relationship between the masquerade layer-3 address and the MAC address currently associated with the first NIC, and wherein the masquerade layer-3 address is generated by providing a masquerade MAC address that is different than the MAC address associated with the first NIC to a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server, and
• wherein the second endpoint computing device that is configured to transmit a reply to the first endpoint computing device in response to the broadcast or multicast request, wherein the reply includes a MAC address associated with the second endpoint computing device.