4 NETWORK WORKING GROUP N. Williams
6 Expires: April 19, 2006 October 16, 2005
10 draft-ietf-kitten-gssapi-v3-guide-to-01.txt
14 By submitting this Internet-Draft, each author represents that any
15 applicable patent or other IPR claims of which he or she is aware
16 have been or will be disclosed, and any of which he or she becomes
17 aware will be disclosed, in accordance with Section 6 of BCP 79.
19 Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
20 Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that
21 other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-
24 Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
25 and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
26 time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
27 material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."
29 The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at
30 http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt.
32 The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at
33 http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html.
35 This Internet-Draft will expire on April 19, 2006.
39 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).
43 Extensions to the GSS-APIv2 are needed for a number of reasons. This
44 documents describes the extensions being proposed, the resons,
45 possible future directions, and portability, IANA and security
46 considerations. This document does not define any protocol or
47 interface and is purely informational.
55 Williams Expires April 19, 2006 [Page 1]
57 Internet-Draft Guide to the GSS-APIv3 October 2005
62 1. Conventions used in this document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
63 2. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
64 3. A Pseudo-Mechanism OID for the GSS-API Itself . . . . . . . . 6
65 4. Mechanism Attribute Inquiry Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
66 5. Security Context Extensibility Extensions . . . . . . . . . . 8
67 6. Credential Extensibility Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
68 7. Credential Export/Import . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
69 8. GSS_Store_cred() . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
70 9. Pseudo-Mechanism Stacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
71 10. Naming Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
72 11. Additional Name Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
73 12. GSS_Pseudo_random() . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
74 13. Channel Bindings Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
75 14. Semantic and Miscallaneous Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
76 15. Portability Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
77 16. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
78 17. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
79 18. Normative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
80 Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
81 Intellectual Property and Copyright Statements . . . . . . . . 22
111 Williams Expires April 19, 2006 [Page 2]
113 Internet-Draft Guide to the GSS-APIv3 October 2005
116 1. Conventions used in this document
118 The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
119 "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
120 document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].
167 Williams Expires April 19, 2006 [Page 3]
169 Internet-Draft Guide to the GSS-APIv3 October 2005
174 [NOTE: the references section is current fairly empty; the various
175 KITTEN WG work items will be added to this I-D in a subsequent
178 Since the advent of the GSS-APIv2 it has come to be used in a number
179 of Internet (and other) protocols and a number of implementations
180 exist. In that time implementors and protocol designers have come to
181 understand both, the GSS-API's strengths, and its shortcommings; we
182 believe now that a number of extensions to the GSS-API are needed.
183 Here these proposed extensions, forming what we may call the GSS-API
184 version 3, are described at a high-level.;
186 Some of these extensions are intended to facilitate further
187 extensions, so that further major revisions to the GSS-API may not be
188 necessary. Others are intended to fill voids in the the GSS-APIv2.
190 The extensions being proposed are:
192 A pseudo-mechanism OID for the GSS-API itself
194 Mechanism attribute inquiry facilities
196 Security context extensibility extensions
198 Credential extensibility extensions
200 Credential export/import
202 GSS_Store_cred(), for making delegated credentials available for
205 Pseudo-mechanism stacking
207 Naming extensions, to facilitate authorization by identifiers
210 Additional name types, specifically domain-based naming
212 A pseudo-random function interface
214 Channel bindings specifications
216 Semantic extensions relating to thread- and/or fork-safety
218 [Have I missed anything? I have a feeling I have. Re-keying?]
223 Williams Expires April 19, 2006 [Page 4]
225 Internet-Draft Guide to the GSS-APIv3 October 2005
230 Additionally, because we foresee future minor extensions, including,
231 specifically, extensions which may impact the various namespaces
232 associated with APIs (symbol names, constant values, class names,
233 etc...) we also propose the establishment of IANA registries for
279 Williams Expires April 19, 2006 [Page 5]
281 Internet-Draft Guide to the GSS-APIv3 October 2005
284 3. A Pseudo-Mechanism OID for the GSS-API Itself
286 A mechanism OID is assigned to identify and refer to the GSS-API
287 iself. This is necessary to enable the use of extended inquiry
288 interfaces to inquire about features of a GSS-API implementation
289 specifically, apart from actual mechanisms.
291 But also, this OID is needed for better error handling, so that minor
292 status codes produced in generic contexts that lack a mechanism OID
293 can be distinguished from minor status codes for a "default"
294 mechanism and properly displayed.
335 Williams Expires April 19, 2006 [Page 6]
337 Internet-Draft Guide to the GSS-APIv3 October 2005
340 4. Mechanism Attribute Inquiry Facilities
342 In the course of designing a pseudo-mechanism stacking facility, as
343 well as while considering the impact of all of these extensions on
344 portability, a need for interfaces through which to discover or
345 inquire by features provided by GSS-API mechanisms was discovered.
347 The proposed mechanism attribute inquiry interfaces consist of:
349 GSS_Inquire_mech_attrs_for_mech()
351 GSS_Indicate_mechs_by_mech_attrs()
353 GSS_Display_mech_attr()
355 These extensions facilitate portability by allowing GSS-APIv3
356 applications to discover the features provided by a given
357 implementation of the GSS-API or any mechanisms. These extensions
358 are also useful in facilitating stackable pseudo-mechanisms.
391 Williams Expires April 19, 2006 [Page 7]
393 Internet-Draft Guide to the GSS-APIv3 October 2005
396 5. Security Context Extensibility Extensions
398 In order to facilitate future security context options we introduce a
399 GSS_Create_sec_context() interface that creates a security context
400 object, for use with extensions and with GSS_Init_sec_context(),
401 GSS_Accept_sec_context(), and GSS_Inquire_sec_context(). Such
402 security contexts are in a non-established state until they are
403 established through the use of GSS_Init_sec_context() or
404 GSS_Accept_sec_context().
447 Williams Expires April 19, 2006 [Page 8]
449 Internet-Draft Guide to the GSS-APIv3 October 2005
452 6. Credential Extensibility Extensions
454 In order to facilitate future extensions to GSS credentials we
455 introduce a GSS_Create_credential(), similar to
456 GSS_Create_sec_context(), interface that creates an "empty"
503 Williams Expires April 19, 2006 [Page 9]
505 Internet-Draft Guide to the GSS-APIv3 October 2005
508 7. Credential Export/Import
510 To allow for passing of credentials between different "session
511 contexts," between different hosts, or for storage of post-dated
512 credentials, we introduce a credential export/import facility, much
513 like the security context export/import facility of the GSS-APIv2.
515 Together with credential extensibility and other extensions this
516 facility may allow for:
518 Credential delegation at any time
520 Post-dated credentials, and storage of the such for subsequent
559 Williams Expires April 19, 2006 [Page 10]
561 Internet-Draft Guide to the GSS-APIv3 October 2005
566 This extension fills a void in the GSS-APIv2 where delegated
567 credentials could not be used except in the context of the same
568 process that received them. With this extension acceptor
569 applications can now make delegated credentials available for use,
570 with GSS_Acquire_cred() et. al., in other process contexts.
572 [Manipulation of "credential stores" is (may be?) out of scope for
615 Williams Expires April 19, 2006 [Page 11]
617 Internet-Draft Guide to the GSS-APIv3 October 2005
620 9. Pseudo-Mechanism Stacking
622 A number of pseudo-mechanisms are being proposed which are designed
623 to "stack" atop other mechanisms. The possiblities are many,
624 including: a compression mechanism, a perfect forward security
625 mechanism, an many others.
627 The GSS-APIv2 only had concrete mechanisms and one pseudo-mechanism
628 (SPNEGO) available. With this proposal the mechanism taxonomy is
631 Concrete mechanisms (e.g., the Kerberos V mechanism)
633 Composite mechanisms (a concrete mechanism composed with one or
634 more stackable pseudo-mechanisms)
636 Stackable pseudo-mechanisms
638 Other pseudo-mechanisms (e.g., SPNEGO, the GSS-API itself)
640 Although composed mechanisms may be made available for use by GSS-
641 APIv2 applications without any further extensions, use of stackable
642 pseudo-mechanisms can complicate mechanism negotiation; additionally,
643 discovery of mechanisms appropriate for use in one or another context
644 would require hard-coding information about them in GSS-APIv2
645 applications. Extensions to the GSS-APIv2 could facilitate use of
648 The mechanism attribute inquiry facilities, together with the
649 forllowing additional interfaces, provide for a complete interface to
650 mechanism composition and for managing the complexity of mechanism
659 GSS_Indicate_negotiable_mechs()
661 GSS_Negotiate_mechs()
671 Williams Expires April 19, 2006 [Page 12]
673 Internet-Draft Guide to the GSS-APIv3 October 2005
676 10. Naming Extensions
678 Some applications make use of exported names, as produced by
679 GSS_Export_name(), to create/manage/evaluate access control lists; we
680 call this name-based authorization.
682 Exported names typically encode names that are meant for display to
683 humans, not internal identifiers.
685 In practice this creates a number of problems. E.g., the referential
686 integrity of such access control lists is hard to maintain as
687 principals are added, removed, renamed or old principal names reused.
689 Additionally, some mechanisms may lack a notion of a "canonical" name
690 for some or all of their principals. Such mechanisms cannot be used
691 by applications that rely on name-based authorization.
693 <Describe the proposed extensions in this area.>
727 Williams Expires April 19, 2006 [Page 13]
729 Internet-Draft Guide to the GSS-APIv3 October 2005
732 11. Additional Name Types
734 <Decribe domain-based names and the need for them.>
783 Williams Expires April 19, 2006 [Page 14]
785 Internet-Draft Guide to the GSS-APIv3 October 2005
788 12. GSS_Pseudo_random()
790 <Decribe GSS_Pseudo_random() and the need for it.>
839 Williams Expires April 19, 2006 [Page 15]
841 Internet-Draft Guide to the GSS-APIv3 October 2005
844 13. Channel Bindings Specifications
895 Williams Expires April 19, 2006 [Page 16]
897 Internet-Draft Guide to the GSS-APIv3 October 2005
900 14. Semantic and Miscallaneous Extensions
902 The GSS-APIv2 specifications say nothing about the thread-safety,
903 much less the fork-safety, of the GSS-API. Thread-safety and fork-
904 safety are, after all, platform- and/or language-specific matters.
905 But as support for multi-threading spreads the matter of thread-
906 safety cannot be avoided. The matter of fork-safety is specific to
907 platforms that provide a "fork()" function, or similar.
909 <describe the GSS-APIv3's thread-safety requirements>
911 <reference the portability considerations section>
951 Williams Expires April 19, 2006 [Page 17]
953 Internet-Draft Guide to the GSS-APIv3 October 2005
956 15. Portability Considerations
958 The potential for additional generic, mechanism-specific, language
959 binding-specific and, most importantly, semantic extensions to the
960 GSS-APIv3 may create application portability problems. The mechanism
961 attribute inquiry facilities of the GSS-APIv3 and the pseudo-
962 mechanism OID for the GSS-API itself double as a run-time facility
963 for discovery of feature availability. Run-time feature discovery
964 facilities, in turn, can be used at application build-time as well by
965 building small applications to display the available features.
1007 Williams Expires April 19, 2006 [Page 18]
1009 Internet-Draft Guide to the GSS-APIv3 October 2005
1012 16. IANA Considerations
1014 <Describe the namespace issues associated with future minor
1015 extensions to the GSS-APIv3 and the IANA registries to be created to
1063 Williams Expires April 19, 2006 [Page 19]
1065 Internet-Draft Guide to the GSS-APIv3 October 2005
1068 17. Security Considerations
1074 [RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
1075 Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
1077 [RFC2743] Linn, J., "Generic Security Service Application Program
1078 Interface Version 2, Update 1", RFC 2743, January 2000.
1080 [RFC2744] Wray, J., "Generic Security Service API Version 2 :
1081 C-bindings", RFC 2744, January 2000.
1119 Williams Expires April 19, 2006 [Page 20]
1121 Internet-Draft Guide to the GSS-APIv3 October 2005
1132 Email: Nicolas.Williams@sun.com
1175 Williams Expires April 19, 2006 [Page 21]
1177 Internet-Draft Guide to the GSS-APIv3 October 2005
1180 Intellectual Property Statement
1182 The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
1183 Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to
1184 pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
1185 this document or the extent to which any license under such rights
1186 might or might not be available; nor does it represent that it has
1187 made any independent effort to identify any such rights. Information
1188 on the procedures with respect to rights in RFC documents can be
1189 found in BCP 78 and BCP 79.
1191 Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any
1192 assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an
1193 attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use of
1194 such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this
1195 specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository at
1196 http://www.ietf.org/ipr.
1198 The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
1199 copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary
1200 rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement
1201 this standard. Please address the information to the IETF at
1205 Disclaimer of Validity
1207 This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
1208 "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS
1209 OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET
1210 ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
1211 INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE
1212 INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED
1213 WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
1218 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005). This document is subject
1219 to the rights, licenses and restrictions contained in BCP 78, and
1220 except as set forth therein, the authors retain all their rights.
1225 Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
1231 Williams Expires April 19, 2006 [Page 22]