5 Internet-Draft M. Brown
6 February 2006 RedPhone Security
7 Expires: August 2006 R. Housley
10 Transport Layer Security (TLS) Authorization Extensions
11 <draft-housley-tls-authz-extns-00.txt>
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39 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006). All Rights Reserved.
43 This document specifies authorization extensions to the Transport
44 Layer Security (TLS) Handshake Protocol. Extension types are carried
45 in the client and server hello messages to confirm that both parties
46 support the authorization messages. The syntax and semantics of the
47 authorization messages are described in detail.
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63 Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol [TLS1.0][TLS1.1] is being
64 used in an increasing variety of operational environments, including
65 ones that were not envisioned when the original design criteria for
66 TLS were determined. The extensions introduced in this document are
67 designed to enable TLS to operate in environments where authorization
68 information needs to be exchanged between the client and the server
69 before any protected data is exchanged.
71 This document describes authorization extensions for the TLS
72 Handshake Protocol in both TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1. These extensions
73 observe the conventions defined for TLS Extensions [TLSEXT] that make
74 use of the general extension mechanisms for the client hello message
75 and the server hello message. The extensions described in this
76 document allow TLS clients to provide to the TLS server authorization
77 information, and allow TLS server to provide to the TLS client
78 authorization information about the TLS server.
80 The authorization extensions may be used in conjunction with TLS 1.0
81 and TLS 1.1. The extensions are designed to be backwards compatible,
82 meaning that the Handshake Protocol messages associated with the
83 authorization extensions will only be exchanged if the client
84 indicates support for them in the client hello message and the server
85 indicates support for them in the server hello message.
87 Clients typically know the context of the TLS session that is being
88 setup, thus the client can request the use of the authorization
89 extensions when they are needed. Servers must accept extended client
90 hello messages, even if the server does not "understand" the all of
91 the listed extensions. However, the server will not indicate support
92 for these "not understood" extensions. Then, clients may reject
93 communications with servers that do not support the authorization
98 The syntax for the authorization messages is defined using the TLS
99 Presentation Language, which is specified in Section 4 of [TLS1.0].
101 The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
102 "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
103 document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [STDWORDS].
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119 Figure 1 illustrates the placement of the authorization messages in
120 the full TLS handshake. In order to avoid unnecessary disclosure of
121 privilege information, the authorization messages appear after the
122 Finished message. This placement ensures that they are encrypted and
127 ClientHello -------->
132 <-------- ServerHelloDone
138 ClientAuthorizationData -------->
141 <-------- ServerAuthorizationData
142 Application Data <-------> Application Data
144 * Indicates optional or situation-dependent messages that
147 [] Indicates that ChangeCipherSpec is an independent TLS
148 Protocol content type; it is not actually a TLS
151 Figure 1. Authorization data exchange in full TLS handshake
153 The ClientHello message includes an indication that the
154 ClientAuthorizationData message and ServerAuthorizationData message
155 are supported. The ServerHello message also includes an indication
156 that the ClientAuthorizationData message and ServerAuthorizationData
157 message are supported. Both the client and the server MUST indicate
158 support for the authorization messages, otherwise they MUST NOT be
159 included in the handshake.
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173 2. Authorization Extension Types
175 The general extension mechanisms enable clients and servers to
176 negotiate whether to use specific extensions, and how to use specific
177 extensions. As specified in [TLSEXT], the extension format used in
178 the extended client hello message and extended server hello message
182 ExtensionType extension_type;
183 opaque extension_data<0..2^16-1>;
186 The extension_type identifies a particular extension type, and the
187 extension_data contains information specific to the particular
190 As specified in [TLSEXT], for all extension types, the extension type
191 MUST NOT appear in the extended server hello message unless the same
192 extension type appeared in the corresponding client hello message.
193 Clients MUST abort the handshake if they receive an extension type in
194 the extended server hello message that they did not request in the
195 associated extended client hello message.
197 When multiple extensions of different types are present in the
198 extended client hello message or the extended server hello message,
199 the extensions can appear in any order, but there MUST NOT be more
200 than one extension of the same type.
202 This document specifies the use of two new extension types:
203 client_authz_request and server_authz_request. These extension types
204 are described in Section 2.1 and Section 2.2, respectively. This
205 specification adds two new types to ExtensionType:
208 client_authz_request(TBD), server_authz_request(TBD),
212 The authorization extensions are relevant when a session is initiated
213 and any subsequent session resumption. However, a client that
214 requests resumption of a session does not know whether the server
215 will have all of the context necessary to accept this request, and
216 therefore the client SHOULD send an extended client hello message
217 that includes the extension types associated with the authorization
218 extensions. This way, if the resumption request is denied, then the
219 authorization extensions will be negotiated as normal.
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229 2.1. The client_authz_request Extension Type
231 Clients MUST include the client_authz_request extension type in the
232 extended client hello message to indicate their desire to send
233 authorization data to the server. The extension_data field indicates
234 the format of the authorization data that will be sent. The format
235 is indicated with the AuthzDataFormat type defined in Section 2.3.
237 Servers that receive an extended client hello message containing the
238 client_authz_request extension MUST respond with the same
239 client_authz_request extension in the extended server hello message
240 if the server is willing to receive authorization data in the
241 indicated format. The client_authz_request extension MUST be omitted
242 from the extended server hello message if the server is not willing
243 to receive authorization data in the indicated format.
245 2.2. The server_authz_request Extension Type
247 Clients MUST include the server_authz_request extension type in the
248 extended client hello message to indicate their desire to receive
249 authorization data from the server. The extension_data field
250 indicates the format of the authorization data that is desired. The
251 format is indicated with the AuthzDataFormat type defined in Section
254 Servers that receive an extended client hello message containing the
255 server_authz_request extension MUST respond with the same
256 server_authz_request extension in the extended server hello message
257 if the server is willing to provide authorization data in the
258 requested format. The server_authz_request extension MUST be omitted
259 from the extended server hello message if the server is not able to
260 provide authorization data in the requested format.
262 2.3. AuthzDataFormat Type
264 The AuthzDataFormat type is used in both the client_authz_request and
265 the server_authz_request extensions. It indicates the format of the
266 authorization data that will be transferred. The AuthzDataFormat
270 x509_attr_cert(0), saml_assertion(1), (255)
273 When the x509_attr_cert value is present, the authorization data is
274 an X.509 Attribute Certificate that conforms to the profile in RFC
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285 When the saml_assertion value is present, the authorization data is
286 an assertion composed using the Security Assertion Markup Language
289 3. Handshake Messages
291 This document specifies the use of two new handshake messages: the
292 ClientAuthorizationData message and ServerAuthorizationData message.
293 These messages are described in Section 3.1 and Section 3.2,
294 respectively. The updated handshake message structure becomes:
297 hello_request(0), client_hello(1), server_hello(2),
298 certificate(11), server_key_exchange (12),
299 certificate_request(13), server_hello_done(14),
300 certificate_verify(15), client_key_exchange(16),
301 finished(20), certificate_url(21), certificate_status(22),
302 client_authz_data(TBD), server_authz_data(TBD), (255)
306 HandshakeType msg_type; /* handshake type */
307 uint24 length; /* octets in message */
308 select (HandshakeType) {
309 case hello_request: HelloRequest;
310 case client_hello: ClientHello;
311 case server_hello: ServerHello;
312 case certificate: Certificate;
313 case server_key_exchange: ServerKeyExchange;
314 case certificate_request: CertificateRequest;
315 case server_hello_done: ServerHelloDone;
316 case certificate_verify: CertificateVerify;
317 case client_key_exchange: ClientKeyExchange;
318 case finished: Finished;
319 case certificate_url: CertificateURL;
320 case certificate_status: CertificateStatus;
321 case client_authz_data: ClientAuthorizationData;
322 case server_authz_data: ServerAuthorizationData;
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341 3.1. ClientAuthorizationData Message
343 The ClientAuthorizationData message contains authorization data
344 associated with the TLS client. The format of the authentication
345 data depends on the format negotiated in the client_authz_request
346 hello message extensions.
349 client_authz_data AuthorizationData;
350 } ClientAuthorizationData;
352 The AuthorizationData structure is described in Section 3.3.
354 3.2. ServerAuthorizationData Message
356 The ServerAuthorizationData message contains authorization data
357 associated with the TLS server. The format of the authorization data
358 depends on the format negotiated in the server_authz_request hello
362 server_authz_data AuthorizationData;
363 } ServerAuthorizationData;
365 The AuthorizationData structure is described in Section 3.3.
367 3.3. AuthorizationData Type
369 The AuthorizationData structure is defined as follows. For
370 readability, the definition of AuthzDataFormat is repeated from
373 All of the entries in the authz_data_list MUST contain the same
374 authz_format value, and this value MUST match the one advertised by
375 the client in the extended hello message extension.
378 AuthorizationDataEntry authz_data_list<1..2^16-1>;
382 AuthzDataFormat authz_format;
383 select (authz_format) {
384 case x509_attr_cert: X509AttrCert;
385 case saml_assertion: SAMLAssertion;
387 } AuthorizationDataEntry;
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398 x509_attr_cert(0), saml_assertion(1), (255)
401 opaque X509AttrCert<1..2^16-1>;
403 opaque SAMLAssertion<1..2^16-1>;
405 When X509AttrCert is used, the field contains an ASN.1 DER-encoded
406 X.509 Attribute Certificate (AC) that follows the profile in RFC 3281
407 [ATTRCERT]. An AC is a structure similar to a public key certificate
408 (PKC); the main difference being that the AC contains no public key.
409 An AC may contain attributes that specify group membership, role,
410 security clearance, or other authorization information associated
413 When SAMLAssertion is used, the field contains XML constructs with a
414 nested structure defined in [SAML]. SAML is an XML-based framework
415 for exchanging security information. This security information is
416 expressed in the form of assertions about subjects, where a subject
417 is either human or computer with an identity. In this context, the
418 assertions are most likely to convey authorization decisions about
419 whether subjects are allowed to access certain resources. Assertions
420 are issued by SAML authorities, namely, authentication authorities,
421 attribute authorities, and policy decision points.
423 4. IANA Considerations
425 IANA needs to assign two TLS Extension Types: client_authz_request,
426 and server_authz_request.
428 IANA needs to assign two TLS Handshake Message Types:
429 client_authz_data, and server_authz_data.
431 IANA needs to establish a registry for TLS Authorization Data
432 Formats. The first two entries in the registry are x509_attr_cert(0)
433 and saml_assertion(1). TLS Authorization Data Format identifiers
434 with values in the inclusive range 0-63 (decimal) are assigned via
435 RFC 2434 [IANA] Standards Action. Values from the inclusive range
436 64-223 (decimal) are assigned via RFC 2434 Specification Required.
437 Values from the inclusive range 224-255 (decimal) are reserved for
438 RFC 2434 Private Use.
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453 5. Security Considerations
455 A TLS server can support more than one application, and each
456 application may include several features, each of which requires
457 separate authorization checks. This is the reason that more than one
458 piece of authorization information can be provided.
460 A TLS server that requires different authorization information for
461 different applications or different application features may find
462 that a client has provided sufficient authorization information to
463 grant access to a subset of these offerings. In this situation the
464 TLS Handshake protocol will complete successfully; however, the
465 server must ensure that the client will only be able to use the
466 appropriate applications and application features. That is, the TLS
467 server must deny access to the applications and application features
468 for which authorization has not been confirmed.
470 6. Normative References
472 [ATTRCERT] Farrell, S., and R. Housley, "An Internet Attribute
473 Certificate Profile for Authorization", RFC 3281,
476 [IANA] Narten, T., and H. Alvestrand, "Guidelines for Writing
477 an IANA Considerations Section in RFCs", RFC 3434,
480 [TLS1.0] Dierks, T., and C. Allen, "The TLS Protocol, Version 1.0",
481 RFC 2246, January 1999.
483 [TLS1.1] Dierks, T., and E. Rescorla, "The Transport Layer Security
484 (TLS) Protocol, Version 1.1", RFC 4346, February 2006.
486 [TLSEXT] Blake-Wilson, S., Nystrom, M., Hopwood, D., Mikkelsen, J.,
487 and T. Wright, "Transport Layer Security (TLS) Extensions",
490 [SAML] Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information
491 Standards, "Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML),
492 version 1.1", September 2003. [Version 2.0 is out for
493 public comment; it will replace this reference if approved.]
495 [STDWORDS] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
496 Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
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516 mark <at> redphonesecurity <dot> com
520 918 Spring Knoll Drive
523 housley <at> vigilsec <dot> com
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