2 INTERNET-DRAFT Nicolas Williams
8 GSS-APIv2 Extension for Storing Delegated Credentials
9 <draft-williams-gssapi-store-deleg-creds-01.txt>
16 This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with
17 all provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026 [RFC2026].
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35 This draft expires on January 30th, 2004. Please send comments to
41 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003). All Rights Reserved.
45 This document defines a new function for the GSS-API which allows
46 applications to store delegated (and other) credentials in the
47 implicit GSS-API credential store. This is needed for GSS-API
48 applications to use delegated credentials as they would use other
51 Conventions used in this document
53 The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
54 "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
55 document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].
59 DRAFT GSS_Store_cred() Expires March 2004
66 2.1 C-Bindings for GSS_Store_cred()
68 4 Security Considerations
70 5.1 Normative References
75 The GSS-API [RFC2743] clearly assumes that credentials exist in an
76 implicit store whence they can be acquired using GSS_Acquire_cred()
77 and GSS_Add_cred() or through use of the default credential.
78 Multiple credential stores may exist on a given host, but only one
79 store may be accessed by GSS_Acquire_cred() and GSS_Add_cred() at any
82 [NOTE: This assumption can be seen in sections 1.1.1.2 and 1.1.1.3
83 of RFC2743 as well as in section 3.5 of RFC2744.
85 Note to the RFC editor: please remove this note before
88 Applications may be able to change the credential store from which
89 credentials can be acquired, either by changing user contexts (where
90 the applications have the privilege to do so) or by other means
91 (where a user may have multiple credential stores).
93 Some GSS-API acceptor applications always change user contexts, after
94 accepting a GSS-API security context and making appropriate
95 authorization checks, to the user context corresponding to the
96 initiator principal name or to a context requested by the initiator.
97 The means by which credential stores are managed are generally beyond
98 the scope of the GSS-API.
100 In the case of delegated credential handles however, such credentials
101 do not exist in the acceptor's credential store or in the credential
102 stores of the user contexts to which the acceptor application might
103 change - which is precisely the raison d'etre of credential
104 delegation. But the GSS-API provides no mechanism by which delegated
105 credential handles can be made available for acquisition through
106 GSS_Acquire_cred()/GSS_Add_cred(). The GSS-API also does not provide
107 any credential import/export interfaces like the GSS-API context
108 import/export interfaces.
110 Thus acceptors are limited to making only direct use of delegated
111 credential handles and only with GSS_Init_sec_context(),
112 GSS_Inquire_cred*() and GSS_Release_cred(). This limitation is
113 particularly onerous on Unix systems where a call to exec() to
117 DRAFT GSS_Store_cred() Expires March 2004
119 replace the process image obliterates the delegated credentials
122 [NOTE: Delegated credentials are practically unusable on Unix
123 implementations of Secure Shell (SSHv2) servers, except where
124 there are extended interfaces for dealing with delegated
125 credentials, which to date have always been
126 mechanism-specific interfaces.
128 Note to the RFC editor: please remove this note before
131 In order to make delegated credentials generally as useful as
132 credentials that can be acquired with GSS_Acquire_cred() and
133 GSS_Add_cred() a primitive is needed which allows storing of
134 credentials in the implicit credential store. This primitive we call
137 [NOTE: Simon Wilkinson's patches to OpenSSH for GSS-API sport a
138 simple internal interface for storing delegated credentials
139 in users' credential store - this internal interface wraps
140 around two mechanism specific internal interfaces for storing
141 GSI and Kerberos V credentials.
143 Simon's code shows that:
145 a) a generic method is needed for making delegated
146 credentials available for indirect use through acquisition
147 (as opposed to just using the actual delegated cred
150 b) it is possible to design and implement such a generic
151 method for storing delegated credentials.
153 No new concepts are added to the GSS-API by this document,
154 but the implicit existence of a credential store in the
155 background is made explicit, and a deficiency of the GSS-API
158 Compare this to the GGF proposal which includes a credential
159 import/export facility (like the existing context import/
160 export facility), but with an option to export as
161 "environment variables," meaning something like "store these
162 input creds in some new credential store and then tell me the
163 name of that credential store through some output environment
164 variable"[*]. Thus, the GGF export-cred-to-environment-
165 variable proposal adds knowledge of environment variables to
166 the GSS-API, which this proposal does not. Note that a
167 credential import/export facility along the lines of the
168 existing context import/export facility may be useful and
169 complements the GSS_Store_cred() interface; in fact, with
170 GSS_Store_cred() it should be possible to remove the
171 'option_req' input parameter and export-to-env-var features
175 DRAFT GSS_Store_cred() Expires March 2004
177 of the GGF's GSS_Export_cred() credential export proposal.
179 [*] For the exact semantics see section 1.2, paragraph 6 of
180 draft-engert-ggf-gss-extensions-00.txt
182 One side effect of GSS_Store_cred(), however, is that it
183 allows applications that can switch their current credential
184 store to move credentials from one store to the other; this
185 is a direct result of making it possible to store a
186 credential given a GSS-API credential handle. Perhaps there
187 should be some text allowing, or recommending, that
188 implementations of GSS_Store_cred() allow only the storage of
189 credentials acquired through credential delegation.
191 Note to the RFC editor: please remove this note before
198 o input_cred_handle CREDENTIAL HANDLE, -- credential to store; MUST
199 -- NOT be GSS_C_NO_CREDENTIAL
201 o cred_usage INTEGER -- 0=INITIATE-AND-ACCEPT, 1=INITIATE-ONLY,
204 o desired_mech_element OBJECT IDENTIFIER, -- if GSS_C_NULL_OID
205 -- then store all the elements of the input_cred_handle, otherwise
206 -- store only the element of the corresponding mechanism
208 o overwrite_cred BOOLEAN, -- if TRUE replace any credential for the
209 -- same principal in the credential store
211 o default_cred BOOLEAN -- if TRUE make the stored credential
212 -- available as the default credential (for acquisition with
213 -- GSS_C_NO_NAME as the desired name or for use as
214 -- GSS_C_NO_CREDENTIAL)
218 o major_status INTEGER,
220 o minor_status INTEGER,
222 o mech_elements_stored SET OF OBJECT IDENTIFIER, -- the set of
223 -- mechanism OIDs for which credential elements were successfully
226 o cred_usage_stored INTEGER -- like cred_usage, but indicates what
227 -- kind of credential was stored (useful when the cred_usage input
228 -- parameter is set to INITIATE-AND-ACCEPT)
233 DRAFT GSS_Store_cred() Expires March 2004
235 Return major_status codes:
237 o GSS_S_COMPLETE indicates that the credentials were successfully
240 o GSS_S_CREDENTIALS_EXPIRED indicates that the input credentials
241 had expired or expired before they could be stored.
243 o GSS_S_NO_CRED indicates that no input credentials were given.
245 o GSS_S_UNAVAILABLE indicates that the credential store is not
248 o GSS_S_DUPLICATE_ELEMENT indicates that an element of the input
249 credential could not be stored because a credential for the same
250 principal exists in the current credential store and the
251 overwrite_cred input argument was FALSE.
253 o GSS_S_FAILURE indicates that the credential could not be stored
254 for some other reason. The minor status code may provide more
255 information if a non-GSS_C_NULL_OID desired_mech_element was given.
257 GSS_Store_cred() is used to store, in the current credential store, a
258 given credential that has either been acquired from a different
259 credential store or been accepted as a delegated credential.
261 Specific mechanism elements of a credential can be stored one at a
262 time by specifying a non-GSS_C_NULL_OID mechanism OID as the
263 desired_mech_element input argument, in which case the minor status
264 output SHOULD have a mechanism-specific value when the major status
265 is not GSS_S_COMPLETE.
267 The initiator, acceptor or both usages of the input credential may be
268 stored as per the cred_usage input argument.
270 The credential elements that were actually stored, when the major
271 status is GSS_S_COMPLETE, are indicated through the cred_usage_stored
272 and mech_elements_stored function outputs.
274 If credentials already exist in the current store for the principal
275 of the input_cred_handle, then those credentials are not replaced
276 with the input credentials unless the overwrite_cred input argument
279 Finally, if the current credential store has no default credential
280 (that is, no credential that could be acquired for GSS_C_NO_NAME) or
281 if the default_cred input argument is TRUE, and the input credential
282 can be successfully stored, then the input credential will be
283 available for acquisition with GSS_C_NO_NAME as the desired name
284 input to GSS_Acquire_cred() or GSS_Add_cred() as well as for use as
285 GSS_C_NO_CREDENTIAL for the cred_handle inputs to GSS_Inquire_cred(),
286 GSS_Inquire_cred_by_mech(), GSS_Init_sec_context() and
287 GSS_Accept_sec_context().
291 DRAFT GSS_Store_cred() Expires March 2004
294 2.1 C-Bindings for GSS_Store_cred()
296 The C-bindings for GSS_Store_cred() make use of types from and are
297 designed based on the style of the GSS-APIv2 C-Bindings [RFC2744].
299 OM_uint32 gss_store_cred(
300 OM_uint32 *minor_status,
301 gss_cred_id_t input_cred,
302 gss_cred_usage_t cred_usage,
303 const gss_OID desired_mech,
304 OM_uint32 overwrite_cred,
305 OM_uint32 default_cred,
306 gss_OID_set *elements_stored,
307 gss_cred_usage_t *cred_usage_stored)
309 The two boolean arguments, 'overwrite_cred' and 'default_cred' are
310 typed as OM_uint32; 0 corresponds to FALSE, non-zero values
315 The intended usage of GSS_Store_cred() is to make delegated
316 credentials available to child processes of GSS-API acceptor
317 applications. Example pseudo-code:
320 * <GSS_Accept_sec_context() loop resulting in GSS_S_COMPLETE, an
321 * initiator name (hereafter, "src_name") and a delegated credential
322 * handle (hereafter "deleg_cred").>
324 * <"requested_username" is a username derived from the initiator
325 * name or explicitly requested by the initiator application.>
329 if (authorize_gss_client(src_name, requested_username)) {
331 * For Unix-type platforms this may mean calling setuid() and it
332 * may or may not also mean setting/unsetting such environment
333 * variables as KRB5CCNAME and what not.
335 if (change_user_context(requested_username))
336 (void) gss_store_creds(&minor_status, deleg_cred,
337 GSS_C_INITIATE, actual_mech,
344 4 Security Considerations
349 DRAFT GSS_Store_cred() Expires March 2004
351 Acceptor applications MUST only store delegated credentials into
352 appropriate credential stores and only after proper authorization of
353 the authenticated initiator principal to the requested service(s).
355 Acceptor applications that have no use for delegated credentials MUST
356 release them (such acceptor applications that use the GSS-API
357 C-Bindings may simply provide a NULL value for the
358 delegated_cred_handle argument to gss_accept_sec_context()).
362 5.1 Normative References
365 S. Bradner, RFC2026: "The Internet Standard Process - Revision
366 3," October 1996, Obsoletes - RFC 1602, Status: Best Current
370 S. Bradner, RFC2119 (BCP14): "Key words for use in RFCs to
371 Indicate Requirement Levels," March 1997, Status: Best Current
375 J. Linn, RFC2743: "Generic Security Service Application Program
376 Interface Version 2, Update 1," January 2000, Status: Proposed
380 J. Wray, RFC2744: "Generic Security Service API Version 2 :
381 C-bindings," January 2000, Status: Proposed Standard.
389 Email: Nicolas.Williams@sun.com
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407 DRAFT GSS_Store_cred() Expires March 2004
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