Can UDP data be delivered corrupted?

UDP packets use a 16 bit checksum. It is not impossible for UDP packets to have corruption, but it's pretty unlikely. In any case it is not more susceptible to corruption than TCP.


First of all, the "IP checksum" referenced above is only an IP header checksum. It does not protect the payload. See RFC 791

Secondly, UDP allows transport with NO checksum, which means that the 16-bit checksum is set to 0 (ie, none). See RFC 768. (An all zero transmitted checksum value means that the transmitter generated no checksum)

Thirdly, as others have mentioned, UDP has a 16-bit checkSUM, which is not the best way to detect a multi-bit error, but is not bad. It is certainly possible for an undetected error to sneak in, but very unlikely.