US Patent 11611508 Packet forwarding method and network device

A packet forwarding method includes obtaining, by a network device, a first tunnel identifier of a first packet. When the first tunnel identifier is a first value, and forwarding, by the network device, the first packet based on a first routing group in a virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) table. The first routing group consists of one or more local routes, and each next-hop outbound interface of the one or more local routes is a local outbound interface. The network device forwards the packet based on a local routing group including only a local route in the VRF table such that the packet is forwarded to a local virtual machine for processing, and is not forwarded to another tunnel endpoint device during packet forwarding.