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[gsasl.git] / doc / specification / draft-ietf-sasl-saslprep-08.txt

INTERNET-DRAFT                                   Kurt D. Zeilenga
Intended Category: Standards Track            OpenLDAP Foundation
Expires: September 2004                             12 April 2004


        SASLprep: Stringprep profile for user names and passwords
                    <draft-ietf-sasl-saslprep-08.txt>


Status of Memo

  This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with all
  provisions of Section 10 of RFC 2026.

  This document is intended to be, after appropriate review and
  revision, submitted to the RFC Editor as a Standards Track document.
  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.  Technical discussion of this
  document will take place on the IETF SASL mailing list
  <ietf-sasl@imc.org>.  Please send editorial comments directly to the
  document editor <Kurt@OpenLDAP.org>.

  Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task
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  Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004).  All Rights Reserved.

  Please see the Full Copyright section near the end of this document
  for more information.


Abstract

  This document describes how to prepare Unicode strings representing
  user names and passwords for comparison.  The document defines the
  "SASLprep" profile of the "stringprep" algorithm to be used for both
  user names and passwords.  This profile is intended to be used by
  Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL) mechanisms (such as
  PLAIN, CRAM-MD5, and DIGEST-MD5) as well as other protocols exchanging



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  simple user names and/or passwords.


1. Introduction

  The use of simple user names and passwords in authentication and
  authorization is pervasive on the Internet.  To increase the
  likelihood that user name and password input and comparison work in
  ways that make sense for typical users throughout the world, this
  document defines rules for preparing internationalized user names and
  passwords for comparison.  For simplicity and implementation ease, a
  single algorithm is defined for both user names and passwords.

  The algorithm assumes all strings are comprised of characters from the
  Unicode character set.

  This document defines the "SASLprep" profile of the "stringprep"
  algorithm [StringPrep].

  The profile is designed for use in Simple Authentication and Security
  Layer ([SASL]) mechanisms such as [PLAIN].  It may be applicable
  elsewhere simple user names and passwords are used.  This profile is
  not intended to be used to prepare identity strings which are not
  simple user names (e.g., e-mail addresses, domain names, distinguished
  names), or where identity or password strings which are not character
  data.


2. The SASLprep profile

  This section defines the "SASLprep" profile of the "stringprep"
  algorithm [StringPrep].  This profile is intended to be used to
  prepare strings representing simple user names and passwords.

  This profile uses Unicode 3.2 [Unicode].

  Character names in this document use the notation for code points and
  names from the Unicode Standard [Unicode].  For example, the letter
  "a" may be represented as either <U+0061> or <LATIN SMALL LETTER A>.
  In the lists of mappings and the prohibited characters, the "U+" is
  left off to make the lists easier to read.  The comments for character
  ranges are shown in square brackets (such as "[CONTROL CHARACTERS]")
  and do not come from the standard.

  Note: a glossary of terms used in Unicode can be found in [Glossary].
  Information on the Unicode character encoding model can be found in
  [CharModel].




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2.1. Mapping

  This profile specifies:
    - non-ASCII space characters [StringPrep, C.1.2] be mapped to SPACE
      (U+0020), and

    - the "commonly mapped to nothing" characters [StringPrep, B.1] be
      mapped to nothing.



2.2. Normalization

  This profile specifies using Unicode normalization form KC, as
  described in Section 4 of [StringPrep].


2.3. Prohibited Output

  This profile specifies the following characters:

    - Non-ASCII space characters [StringPrep, C.1.2],
    - ASCII control characters [StringPrep, C.2.1],
    - Non-ASCII control characters [StringPrep, C.2.2],
    - Private Use [StringPrep, C.3],
    - Non-character code points [StringPrep, C.4],
    - Surrogate code points [StringPrep, C.5],
    - Inappropriate for plain text [StringPrep, C.6],
    - Inappropriate for canonical representation [StringPrep, C.7],
    - Change display properties or are deprecated [StringPrep, C.8], and
    - Tagging characters [StringPrep, C.9].

  are prohibited output.


2.4. Bidirectional characters

  This profile specifies checking bidirectional strings as described in
  [StringPrep, Section 6].


2.5. Unassigned Code Points

  This profile specifies [StringPrep, A.1] table as its list of
  unassigned code points.


3. Security Considerations



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  This profile is intended to used to prepare simple user names and
  passwords strings for comparison or use in cryptographic functions
  (e.g., message digests).  The preparation algorithm is specifically
  designed such that its output is canonical.

  It is not intended to be used for to prepare identity strings which
  are not simple user names (e.g., distinguished names and domain
  names).  Nor is the profile intended to be used for simple user names
  which require different handling.  Protocols (or applications of those
  protocols) which have application-specific identity forms and/or
  comparison algorithms should use mechanisms specifically designed for
  these forms and algorithms.

  Application of string preparation may have an impact upon the
  feasibility of brute force and dictionary attacks.  While the number
  of possible prepared strings is less than the number of possible
  Unicode strings, the number of usable names and passwords is greater
  than if only ASCII was used.  Though SASLprep eliminates some of
  Unicode code point sequences as possible prepared strings, that
  elimination generally makes the (canonical) output forms practicable
  and prohibits nonsensical inputs.

  User names and passwords should be protected from eavesdropping.

  General "stringprep" and Unicode security considerations apply.  Both
  are discussed in [StringPrep].


4. IANA Considerations

  This document details the "SASLprep" profile of [StringPrep] protocol.
  Upon Standards Action the profile should be registered in the
  stringprep profile registry.

      Name of this profile: SASLprep
      RFC in which the profile is defined: This RFC
      Indicator whether or not this is the newest version of the
      profile: This is the first version of the SASPprep profile.


5. Acknowledgment

  This document borrows text from "Preparation of Internationalized
  Strings ('stringprep')" and "Nameprep: A Stringprep Profile for
  Internationalized Domain Names", both by Paul Hoffman and Marc
  Blanchet.

  This document is a product of the IETF SASL WG.



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6. Normative References

  [StringPrep]  Hoffman, P. and M. Blanchet, "Preparation of
                Internationalized Strings ('stringprep')", RFC 3454,
                December 2002.

  [Unicode]     The Unicode Consortium, "The Unicode Standard, Version
                3.2.0" is defined by "The Unicode Standard, Version 3.0"
                (Reading, MA, Addison-Wesley, 2000. ISBN 0-201-61633-5),
                as amended by the "Unicode Standard Annex #27: Unicode
                3.1" (http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr27/) and by the
                "Unicode Standard Annex #28: Unicode 3.2"
                (http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr28/).


7. Informative References

  [Glossary]    The Unicode Consortium, "Unicode Glossary",
                <http://www.unicode.org/glossary/>.

  [CharModel]   Whistler, K. and M. Davis, "Unicode Technical Report
                #17, Character Encoding Model", UTR17,
                <http://www.unicode.org/unicode/reports/tr17/>, August
                2000.

  [SASL]        Melnikov, A. (Editor), "Simple Authentication and
                Security Layer (SASL)",
                draft-ietf-sasl-rfc2222bis-xx.txt, a work in progress.

  [CRAM-MD5]    Nerenberg, L., "The CRAM-MD5 SASL Mechanism",
                draft-ietf-sasl-crammd5-xx.txt, a work in progress.

  [DIGEST-MD5]  Leach, P., C. Newman, and A. Melnikov, "Using Digest
                Authentication as a SASL Mechanism",
                draft-ietf-sasl-rfc2831bis-xx.txt, a work in progress.

  [PLAIN]       Zeilenga, K. (Editor), "The Plain SASL Mechanism",
                draft-ietf-sasl-plain-xx.txt, a work in progress.


8. Editor's Address

  Kurt D. Zeilenga
  OpenLDAP Foundation

  Email: Kurt@OpenLDAP.org





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