7 Network Working Group M. StJohns
8 Request for Comments: 5011 Independent
9 Category: Standards Track September 2007
12 Automated Updates of DNS Security (DNSSEC) Trust Anchors
16 This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
17 Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
18 improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
19 Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
20 and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
24 This document describes a means for automated, authenticated, and
25 authorized updating of DNSSEC "trust anchors". The method provides
26 protection against N-1 key compromises of N keys in the trust point
27 key set. Based on the trust established by the presence of a current
28 anchor, other anchors may be added at the same place in the
29 hierarchy, and, ultimately, supplant the existing anchor(s).
31 This mechanism will require changes to resolver management behavior
32 (but not resolver resolution behavior), and the addition of a single
33 flag bit to the DNSKEY record.
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60 RFC 5011 Trust Anchor Update September 2007
65 1. Introduction ....................................................2
66 1.1. Compliance Nomenclature ....................................3
67 2. Theory of Operation .............................................3
68 2.1. Revocation .................................................4
69 2.2. Add Hold-Down ..............................................4
70 2.3. Active Refresh .............................................5
71 2.4. Resolver Parameters ........................................6
72 2.4.1. Add Hold-Down Time ..................................6
73 2.4.2. Remove Hold-Down Time ...............................6
74 2.4.3. Minimum Trust Anchors per Trust Point ...............6
75 3. Changes to DNSKEY RDATA Wire Format .............................6
76 4. State Table .....................................................6
77 4.1. Events .....................................................7
78 4.2. States .....................................................7
79 5. Trust Point Deletion ............................................8
80 6. Scenarios - Informative .........................................9
81 6.1. Adding a Trust Anchor ......................................9
82 6.2. Deleting a Trust Anchor ....................................9
83 6.3. Key Roll-Over .............................................10
84 6.4. Active Key Compromised ....................................10
85 6.5. Stand-by Key Compromised ..................................10
86 6.6. Trust Point Deletion ......................................10
87 7. IANA Considerations ............................................11
88 8. Security Considerations ........................................11
89 8.1. Key Ownership vs. Acceptance Policy .......................11
90 8.2. Multiple Key Compromise ...................................12
91 8.3. Dynamic Updates ...........................................12
92 9. Normative References ...........................................12
93 10. Informative References ........................................12
97 As part of the reality of fielding DNSSEC (Domain Name System
98 Security Extensions) [RFC4033] [RFC4034] [RFC4035], the community has
99 come to the realization that there will not be one signed name space,
100 but rather islands of signed name spaces each originating from
101 specific points (i.e., 'trust points') in the DNS tree. Each of
102 those islands will be identified by the trust point name, and
103 validated by at least one associated public key. For the purpose of
104 this document, we'll call the association of that name and a
105 particular key a 'trust anchor'. A particular trust point can have
106 more than one key designated as a trust anchor.
108 For a DNSSEC-aware resolver to validate information in a DNSSEC
109 protected branch of the hierarchy, it must have knowledge of a trust
110 anchor applicable to that branch. It may also have more than one
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116 RFC 5011 Trust Anchor Update September 2007
119 trust anchor for any given trust point. Under current rules, a chain
120 of trust for DNSSEC-protected data that chains its way back to ANY
121 known trust anchor is considered 'secure'.
123 Because of the probable balkanization of the DNSSEC tree due to
124 signing voids at key locations, a resolver may need to know literally
125 thousands of trust anchors to perform its duties (e.g., consider an
126 unsigned ".COM"). Requiring the owner of the resolver to manually
127 manage these many relationships is problematic. It's even more
128 problematic when considering the eventual requirement for key
129 replacement/update for a given trust anchor. The mechanism described
130 herein won't help with the initial configuration of the trust anchors
131 in the resolvers, but should make trust point key
132 replacement/rollover more viable.
134 As mentioned above, this document describes a mechanism whereby a
135 resolver can update the trust anchors for a given trust point, mainly
136 without human intervention at the resolver. There are some corner
137 cases discussed (e.g., multiple key compromise) that may require
138 manual intervention, but they should be few and far between. This
139 document DOES NOT discuss the general problem of the initial
140 configuration of trust anchors for the resolver.
142 1.1. Compliance Nomenclature
144 The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
145 "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
146 document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14, [RFC2119].
148 2. Theory of Operation
150 The general concept of this mechanism is that existing trust anchors
151 can be used to authenticate new trust anchors at the same point in
152 the DNS hierarchy. When a zone operator adds a new SEP key (i.e., a
153 DNSKEY with the Secure Entry Point bit set) (see [RFC4034], Section
154 2.1.1) to a trust point DNSKEY RRSet, and when that RRSet is
155 validated by an existing trust anchor, then the resolver can add the
156 new key to its set of valid trust anchors for that trust point.
158 There are some issues with this approach that need to be mitigated.
159 For example, a compromise of one of the existing keys could allow an
160 attacker to add their own 'valid' data. This implies a need for a
161 method to revoke an existing key regardless of whether or not that
162 key is compromised. As another example, assuming a single key
163 compromise, we need to prevent an attacker from adding a new key and
164 revoking all the other old keys.
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172 RFC 5011 Trust Anchor Update September 2007
177 Assume two trust anchor keys A and B. Assume that B has been
178 compromised. Without a specific revocation bit, B could invalidate A
179 simply by sending out a signed trust point key set that didn't
180 contain A. To fix this, we add a mechanism that requires knowledge
181 of the private key of a DNSKEY to revoke that DNSKEY.
183 A key is considered revoked when the resolver sees the key in a
184 self-signed RRSet and the key has the REVOKE bit (see Section 7
185 below) set to '1'. Once the resolver sees the REVOKE bit, it MUST
186 NOT use this key as a trust anchor or for any other purpose except to
187 validate the RRSIG it signed over the DNSKEY RRSet specifically for
188 the purpose of validating the revocation. Unlike the 'Add' operation
189 below, revocation is immediate and permanent upon receipt of a valid
190 revocation at the resolver.
192 A self-signed RRSet is a DNSKEY RRSet that contains the specific
193 DNSKEY and for which there is a corresponding validated RRSIG record.
194 It's not a special DNSKEY RRSet, just a way of describing the
195 validation requirements for that RRSet.
197 N.B.: A DNSKEY with the REVOKE bit set has a different fingerprint
198 than one without the bit set. This affects the matching of a DNSKEY
199 to DS records in the parent [RFC3755], or the fingerprint stored at a
200 resolver used to configure a trust point.
202 In the given example, the attacker could revoke B because it has
203 knowledge of B's private key, but could not revoke A.
207 Assume two trust point keys A and B. Assume that B has been
208 compromised. An attacker could generate and add a new trust anchor
209 key C (by adding C to the DNSKEY RRSet and signing it with B), and
210 then invalidate the compromised key. This would result in both the
211 attacker and owner being able to sign data in the zone and have it
212 accepted as valid by resolvers.
214 To mitigate but not completely solve this problem, we add a hold-down
215 time to the addition of the trust anchor. When the resolver sees a
216 new SEP key in a validated trust point DNSKEY RRSet, the resolver
217 starts an acceptance timer, and remembers all the keys that validated
218 the RRSet. If the resolver ever sees the DNSKEY RRSet without the
219 new key but validly signed, it stops the acceptance process for that
220 key and resets the acceptance timer. If all of the keys that were
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228 RFC 5011 Trust Anchor Update September 2007
231 originally used to validate this key are revoked prior to the timer
232 expiring, the resolver stops the acceptance process and resets the
235 Once the timer expires, the new key will be added as a trust anchor
236 the next time the validated RRSet with the new key is seen at the
237 resolver. The resolver MUST NOT treat the new key as a trust anchor
238 until the hold-down time expires AND it has retrieved and validated a
239 DNSKEY RRSet after the hold-down time that contains the new key.
241 N.B.: Once the resolver has accepted a key as a trust anchor, the key
242 MUST be considered a valid trust anchor by that resolver until
243 explicitly revoked as described above.
245 In the given example, the zone owner can recover from a compromise by
246 revoking B and adding a new key D and signing the DNSKEY RRSet with
249 The reason this does not completely solve the problem has to do with
250 the distributed nature of DNS. The resolver only knows what it sees.
251 A determined attacker who holds one compromised key could keep a
252 single resolver from realizing that the key had been compromised by
253 intercepting 'real' data from the originating zone and substituting
254 their own (e.g., using the example, signed only by B). This is no
255 worse than the current situation assuming a compromised key.
259 A resolver that has been configured for an automatic update of keys
260 from a particular trust point MUST query that trust point (e.g., do a
261 lookup for the DNSKEY RRSet and related RRSIG records) no less often
262 than the lesser of 15 days, half the original TTL for the DNSKEY
263 RRSet, or half the RRSIG expiration interval and no more often than
264 once per hour. The expiration interval is the amount of time from
265 when the RRSIG was last retrieved until the expiration time in the
266 RRSIG. That is, queryInterval = MAX(1 hr, MIN (15 days, 1/2*OrigTTL,
267 1/2*RRSigExpirationInterval))
269 If the query fails, the resolver MUST repeat the query until
270 satisfied no more often than once an hour and no less often than the
271 lesser of 1 day, 10% of the original TTL, or 10% of the original
272 expiration interval. That is, retryTime = MAX (1 hour, MIN (1 day,
273 .1 * origTTL, .1 * expireInterval)).
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284 RFC 5011 Trust Anchor Update September 2007
287 2.4. Resolver Parameters
289 2.4.1. Add Hold-Down Time
291 The add hold-down time is 30 days or the expiration time of the
292 original TTL of the first trust point DNSKEY RRSet that contained the
293 new key, whichever is greater. This ensures that at least two
294 validated DNSKEY RRSets that contain the new key MUST be seen by the
295 resolver prior to the key's acceptance.
297 2.4.2. Remove Hold-Down Time
299 The remove hold-down time is 30 days. This parameter is solely a key
300 management database bookeeping parameter. Failure to remove
301 information about the state of defunct keys from the database will
302 not adversely impact the security of this protocol, but may end up
303 with a database cluttered with obsolete key information.
305 2.4.3. Minimum Trust Anchors per Trust Point
307 A compliant resolver MUST be able to manage at least five SEP keys
310 3. Changes to DNSKEY RDATA Wire Format
312 Bit 8 of the DNSKEY Flags field is designated as the 'REVOKE' flag.
313 If this bit is set to '1', AND the resolver sees an RRSIG(DNSKEY)
314 signed by the associated key, then the resolver MUST consider this
315 key permanently invalid for all purposes except for validating the
320 The most important thing to understand is the resolver's view of any
321 key at a trust point. The following state table describes this view
322 at various points in the key's lifetime. The table is a normative
323 part of this specification. The initial state of the key is 'Start'.
324 The resolver's view of the state of the key changes as various events
327 This is the state of a trust-point key as seen from the resolver.
328 The column on the left indicates the current state. The header at
329 the top shows the next state. The intersection of the two shows the
330 event that will cause the state to transition from the current state
338 StJohns Standards Track [Page 6]
340 RFC 5011 Trust Anchor Update September 2007
344 --------------------------------------------------
345 FROM |Start |AddPend |Valid |Missing|Revoked|Removed|
346 ----------------------------------------------------------
347 Start | |NewKey | | | | |
348 ----------------------------------------------------------
349 AddPend |KeyRem | |AddTime| | | |
350 ----------------------------------------------------------
351 Valid | | | |KeyRem |Revbit | |
352 ----------------------------------------------------------
353 Missing | | |KeyPres| |Revbit | |
354 ----------------------------------------------------------
355 Revoked | | | | | |RemTime|
356 ----------------------------------------------------------
357 Removed | | | | | | |
358 ----------------------------------------------------------
364 NewKey The resolver sees a valid DNSKEY RRSet with a new SEP key.
365 That key will become a new trust anchor for the named trust
366 point after it's been present in the RRSet for at least 'add
369 KeyPres The key has returned to the valid DNSKEY RRSet.
371 KeyRem The resolver sees a valid DNSKEY RRSet that does not contain
374 AddTime The key has been in every valid DNSKEY RRSet seen for at
375 least the 'add time'.
377 RemTime A revoked key has been missing from the trust-point DNSKEY
378 RRSet for sufficient time to be removed from the trust set.
380 RevBit The key has appeared in the trust anchor DNSKEY RRSet with
381 its "REVOKED" bit set, and there is an RRSig over the DNSKEY
382 RRSet signed by this key.
386 Start The key doesn't yet exist as a trust anchor at the resolver.
387 It may or may not exist at the zone server, but either
388 hasn't yet been seen at the resolver or was seen but was
389 absent from the last DNSKEY RRSet (e.g., KeyRem event).
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396 RFC 5011 Trust Anchor Update September 2007
399 AddPend The key has been seen at the resolver, has its 'SEP' bit
400 set, and has been included in a validated DNSKEY RRSet.
401 There is a hold-down time for the key before it can be used
404 Valid The key has been seen at the resolver and has been included
405 in all validated DNSKEY RRSets from the time it was first
406 seen through the hold-down time. It is now valid for
407 verifying RRSets that arrive after the hold-down time.
408 Clarification: The DNSKEY RRSet does not need to be
409 continuously present at the resolver (e.g., its TTL might
410 expire). If the RRSet is seen and is validated (i.e.,
411 verifies against an existing trust anchor), this key MUST be
412 in the RRSet, otherwise a 'KeyRem' event is triggered.
414 Missing This is an abnormal state. The key remains a valid trust-
415 point key, but was not seen at the resolver in the last
416 validated DNSKEY RRSet. This is an abnormal state because
417 the zone operator should be using the REVOKE bit prior to
420 Revoked This is the state a key moves to once the resolver sees an
421 RRSIG(DNSKEY) signed by this key where that DNSKEY RRSet
422 contains this key with its REVOKE bit set to '1'. Once in
423 this state, this key MUST permanently be considered invalid
426 Removed After a fairly long hold-down time, information about this
427 key may be purged from the resolver. A key in the removed
428 state MUST NOT be considered a valid trust anchor. (Note:
429 this state is more or less equivalent to the "Start" state,
430 except that it's bad practice to re-introduce previously
431 used keys -- think of this as the holding state for all the
432 old keys for which the resolver no longer needs to track
435 5. Trust Point Deletion
437 A trust point that has all of its trust anchors revoked is considered
438 deleted and is treated as if the trust point was never configured.
439 If there are no superior configured trust points, data at and below
440 the deleted trust point are considered insecure by the resolver. If
441 there ARE superior configured trust points, data at and below the
442 deleted trust point are evaluated with respect to the superior trust
445 Alternately, a trust point that is subordinate to another configured
446 trust point MAY be deleted by a resolver after 180 days, where such a
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452 RFC 5011 Trust Anchor Update September 2007
455 subordinate trust point validly chains to a superior trust point.
456 The decision to delete the subordinate trust anchor is a local
457 configuration decision. Once the subordinate trust point is deleted,
458 validation of the subordinate zone is dependent on validating the
459 chain of trust to the superior trust point.
461 6. Scenarios - Informative
463 The suggested model for operation is to have one active key and one
464 stand-by key at each trust point. The active key will be used to
465 sign the DNSKEY RRSet. The stand-by key will not normally sign this
466 RRSet, but the resolver will accept it as a trust anchor if/when it
467 sees the signature on the trust point DNSKEY RRSet.
469 Since the stand-by key is not in active signing use, the associated
470 private key may (and should) be provided with additional protections
471 not normally available to a key that must be used frequently (e.g.,
472 locked in a safe, split among many parties, etc). Notionally, the
473 stand-by key should be less subject to compromise than an active key,
474 but that will be dependent on operational concerns not addressed
477 6.1. Adding a Trust Anchor
479 Assume an existing trust anchor key 'A'.
481 1. Generate a new key pair.
483 2. Create a DNSKEY record from the key pair and set the SEP and Zone
486 3. Add the DNSKEY to the RRSet.
488 4. Sign the DNSKEY RRSet ONLY with the existing trust anchor key -
491 5. Wait for various resolvers' timers to go off and for them to
492 retrieve the new DNSKEY RRSet and signatures.
494 6. The new trust anchor will be populated at the resolvers on the
495 schedule described by the state table and update algorithm -- see
496 Sections 2 and 4 above.
498 6.2. Deleting a Trust Anchor
500 Assume existing trust anchors 'A' and 'B' and that you want to revoke
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508 RFC 5011 Trust Anchor Update September 2007
511 1. Set the revocation bit on key 'A'.
513 2. Sign the DNSKEY RRSet with both 'A' and 'B'. 'A' is now revoked.
514 The operator should include the revoked 'A' in the RRSet for at
515 least the remove hold-down time, but then may remove it from the
520 Assume existing keys A and B. 'A' is actively in use (i.e. has been
521 signing the DNSKEY RRSet). 'B' was the stand-by key. (i.e. has been
522 in the DNSKEY RRSet and is a valid trust anchor, but wasn't being
523 used to sign the RRSet).
525 1. Generate a new key pair 'C'.
526 2. Add 'C' to the DNSKEY RRSet.
527 3. Set the revocation bit on key 'A'.
528 4. Sign the RRSet with 'A' and 'B'.
530 'A' is now revoked, 'B' is now the active key, and 'C' will be the
531 stand-by key once the hold-down expires. The operator should include
532 the revoked 'A' in the RRSet for at least the remove hold-down time,
533 but may then remove it from the DNSKEY RRSet.
535 6.4. Active Key Compromised
537 This is the same as the mechanism for Key Roll-Over (Section 6.3)
538 above, assuming 'A' is the active key.
540 6.5. Stand-by Key Compromised
542 Using the same assumptions and naming conventions as Key Roll-Over
545 1. Generate a new key pair 'C'.
546 2. Add 'C' to the DNSKEY RRSet.
547 3. Set the revocation bit on key 'B'.
548 4. Sign the RRSet with 'A' and 'B'.
550 'B' is now revoked, 'A' remains the active key, and 'C' will be the
551 stand-by key once the hold-down expires. 'B' should continue to be
552 included in the RRSet for the remove hold-down time.
554 6.6. Trust Point Deletion
556 To delete a trust point that is subordinate to another configured
557 trust point (e.g., example.com to .com) requires some juggling of the
558 data. The specific process is:
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564 RFC 5011 Trust Anchor Update September 2007
567 1. Generate a new DNSKEY and DS record and provide the DS record to
568 the parent along with DS records for the old keys.
570 2. Once the parent has published the DSs, add the new DNSKEY to the
571 RRSet and revoke ALL of the old keys at the same time, while
572 signing the DNSKEY RRSet with all of the old and new keys.
574 3. After 30 days, stop publishing the old, revoked keys and remove
575 any corresponding DS records in the parent.
577 Revoking the old trust-point keys at the same time as adding new keys
578 that chain to a superior trust prevents the resolver from adding the
579 new keys as trust anchors. Adding DS records for the old keys avoids
580 a race condition where either the subordinate zone becomes unsecure
581 (because the trust point was deleted) or becomes bogus (because it
582 didn't chain to the superior zone).
584 7. IANA Considerations
586 The IANA has assigned a bit in the DNSKEY flags field (see Section 7
587 of [RFC4034]) for the REVOKE bit (8).
589 8. Security Considerations
591 In addition to the following sections, see also Theory of Operation
592 above (Section 2) and especially Section 2.2 for related discussions.
594 Security considerations for trust anchor rollover not specific to
595 this protocol are discussed in [RFC4986].
597 8.1. Key Ownership vs. Acceptance Policy
599 The reader should note that, while the zone owner is responsible for
600 creating and distributing keys, it's wholly the decision of the
601 resolver owner as to whether to accept such keys for the
602 authentication of the zone information. This implies the decision to
603 update trust-anchor keys based on trusting a current trust-anchor key
604 is also the resolver owner's decision.
606 The resolver owner (and resolver implementers) MAY choose to permit
607 or prevent key status updates based on this mechanism for specific
608 trust points. If they choose to prevent the automated updates, they
609 will need to establish a mechanism for manual or other out-of-band
610 updates, which are outside the scope of this document.
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620 RFC 5011 Trust Anchor Update September 2007
623 8.2. Multiple Key Compromise
625 This scheme permits recovery as long as at least one valid trust-
626 anchor key remains uncompromised, e.g., if there are three keys, you
627 can recover if two of them are compromised. The zone owner should
628 determine their own level of comfort with respect to the number of
629 active, valid trust anchors in a zone and should be prepared to
630 implement recovery procedures once they detect a compromise. A
631 manual or other out-of-band update of all resolvers will be required
632 if all trust-anchor keys at a trust point are compromised.
636 Allowing a resolver to update its trust anchor set based on in-band
637 key information is potentially less secure than a manual process.
638 However, given the nature of the DNS, the number of resolvers that
639 would require update if a trust anchor key were compromised, and the
640 lack of a standard management framework for DNS, this approach is no
641 worse than the existing situation.
643 9. Normative References
645 [RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
646 Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
648 [RFC3755] Weiler, S., "Legacy Resolver Compatibility for Delegation
649 Signer (DS)", RFC 3755, May 2004.
651 [RFC4033] Arends, R., Austein, R., Larson, M., Massey, D., and S.
652 Rose, "DNS Security Introduction and Requirements", RFC
655 [RFC4034] Arends, R., Austein, R., Larson, M., Massey, D., and S.
656 Rose, "Resource Records for the DNS Security Extensions",
657 RFC 4034, March 2005.
659 [RFC4035] Arends, R., Austein, R., Larson, M., Massey, D., and S.
660 Rose, "Protocol Modifications for the DNS Security
661 Extensions", RFC 4035, March 2005.
663 10. Informative References
665 [RFC4986] Eland, H., Mundy, R., Crocker, S., and S. Krishnaswamy,
666 "Requirements Related to DNS Security (DNSSEC) Trust
667 Anchor Rollover", RFC 4986, August 2007.
674 StJohns Standards Track [Page 12]
676 RFC 5011 Trust Anchor Update September 2007
684 EMail: mstjohns@comcast.net
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732 RFC 5011 Trust Anchor Update September 2007
735 Full Copyright Statement
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