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Forwarded HTTP Extension
draft-ietf-appsawg-http-forwarded-00

The information below is for an old version of the document.
Document Type
This is an older version of an Internet-Draft that was ultimately published as RFC 7239.
Authors Andreas Petersson , Martin Nilsson
Last updated 2012-03-23 (Latest revision 2012-01-27)
RFC stream Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
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Stream WG state WG Document
Document shepherd Alexey Melnikov
IESG IESG state Became RFC 7239 (Proposed Standard)
Consensus boilerplate Unknown
Telechat date (None)
Responsible AD Pete Resnick
Send notices to appsawg-chairs@tools.ietf.org, draft-ietf-appsawg-http-forwarded@tools.ietf.org
draft-ietf-appsawg-http-forwarded-00
Network Working Group                                       A. Petersson
Internet-Draft                                                M. Nilsson
Intended status: Standards Track                          Opera Software
Expires: July 30, 2012                                  January 27, 2012

                        Forwarded HTTP Extension
                  draft-ietf-appsawg-http-forwarded-00

Abstract

   This document standardizes an HTTP extension header field that allows
   proxy components to disclose information lost in the proxying
   process, e.g. the originating IP number of a request or IP number of
   the proxy on the incoming side.  Given a trusted path of proxying
   components, each subsequent component will have access to all IP
   numbers used in the chain of proxied HTTP requests.

   This document also standardizes ways for a proxy administrator to
   anonymize the origin of a request.

Status of this Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
   working documents as Internet-Drafts.  The list of current Internet-
   Drafts is at http://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on July 30, 2012.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2012 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect

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   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   2.  Notational Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   3.  Syntax Notations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   4.  Forwarded  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   5.  Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     5.1.  Forwarded by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     5.2.  Forwarded for  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
     5.3.  Forwarded host . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
     5.4.  Forwarded proto  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
     5.5.  Private extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
     5.6.  Future extensions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
   6.  Node identifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
     6.1.  IPv4 and IPv6 identifiers  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     6.2.  The "unknown" identifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     6.3.  Obfuscated identifier  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
   7.  Implementation considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
   8.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
     8.1.  Header validity  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
     8.2.  Information Leak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
   9.  IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
   10. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
     10.1. Normative references . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
     10.2. Informative references . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
   Appendix A.  Forwarded BNF definition  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
   Appendix B.  Change Log (to be removed by  RFC Editor before
                publication)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
     B.1.  Since draft-petersson-forwarded-for-00 . . . . . . . . . . 11
     B.2.  Since draft-petersson-forwarded-for-01 . . . . . . . . . . 11
     B.3.  Since draft-petersson-forwarded-for-02 . . . . . . . . . . 12
   Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

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1.  Introduction

   In today's HTTP landscape, there are a multitude of different
   applications acting as a proxy for the user agent and effectively
   anonymizing the requests to look as if they originated from the proxy
   IP number or in other ways changing the information in the original
   request.  Examples of such applications include caching, content
   filtering, content compression, crypto offload, and load balancing.
   As most of the time this destructive behavior is not the primary
   purpose, or even a desired effect, a way of disclosing the original
   information on HTTP level instead of depending on the TCP/IP
   connection remote IP number is needed.

   Except for the above mentioned problems, there may also be issues due
   to the use of NAT.  This is further discussed in [RFC6269].

   A common way to disclose this information is by using the de facto
   standard header fields such as X-Forwarded-For, X-Forwarded-By, and
   X-Forwarded-Proto.  This document intends to standardize syntax and
   semantics for disclosing such information.  The header field also
   combines all information within one single header field, making it
   possible to correlate the header fields to each other.  With the
   header field format described in this document, it is possible to
   know what information belongs together, given that the proxies are
   trusted.  Such conclusions are not possible to make with the
   X-Forwarded class of header fields.  This new header field also
   extends the de facto standard of, e.g., X-Forwarded-For with features
   for which real life deployments have shown a need.

2.  Notational Conventions

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].

3.  Syntax Notations

   This specification uses the augmented BNF notation defined in Section
   2.1 of [RFC2616], including its rules for implied linear whitespace
   (LWS).

   The BNF rules for "IPv6address" and "IPv4address" are defined in
   [RFC3986] The IPv6address SHOULD comply with textual representation
   recommendations [RFC5952] (e.g., lowercase, zero compression).

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4.  Forwarded

   The Forwarded HTTP header field is an optional header field that,
   when used, contains a list of parameter-identifier pairs that
   disclose information that is altered or lost in a proxy.  This
   applies to forwarding proxies, as well as reverse proxies.
   Information passed in this header can be, e.g., the source address of
   the request, the address of the incoming interface on the proxy, or
   whether HTTP or HTTPS is used.  If the request is passing through
   several proxies, each proxy MAY add any parameters, it MAY also
   remove earlier added Forwarded-header fields.

   The top-level list is represented as a list of HTTP header field-
   values [RFC2616].  The left-most element in this list holds
   information added by the first proxy, followed by information added
   by any subsequent proxy.  Each field-value is a semicolon-separated
   list, this sub-list consists of parameter-identifier pairs.
   Parameter-identifier pairs are grouped together by an equals sign.
   The header field can be defined in augmented BNF syntax as

       Forwarded: = "Forwarded" ":" LWS Forwarded-v
       Forwarded-v = 1#forwarded-element

       forwarded-element =
               OWS forwarded-value *( OWS ";" OWS forwarded-value ) OWS

       forwarded-value   = for-kv | by-kv | proto-kv | host-kv | ext-kv

       for-kv     = "for=" node
       by-kv      = "by="  node
       proto-kv   = "proto=" proto-name
       host-kv    = "host=" host
       proto-name = ALPHA *( ALPHA | DIGIT | "+" | "-" | "." )

   Example:

       Forwarded: for=192.0.2.43,for=[2001:db8:cafe::17]
       Forwarded: proto=https;by=198.51.100.60

   Given that a proxy wishes to add a Forwarded header field to the
   outgoing request, if the incoming request has no such header field,
   the proxy simply adds the header with the list of parameters desired.
   If, on the other hand, the incoming request has such a header field,
   the proxy simply adds a comma and the list of parameters a proxy MAY
   remove all Forwarded header fields from a request.  It MUST, however,
   ensure that the correct header field is updated in case of multiple
   Forwarded header fields.

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   Example: A request from a client with IP number 192.0.2.43 passes
   through a proxy with IP number 198.51.100.17, then through another
   proxy with IP number 203.0.113.60 before reaching a origin server.
   This could, for example, be an office client behind a corporate
   malware filter talking to a origin server through a reverse proxy.

   o  The HTTP request between the client and the first proxy has no
      Forwarded header field.

   o  The HTTP request between the first and second proxy has a
      "Forwarded: for=192.0.2.43" header field.

   o  The HTTP request between the second proxy and the origin server
      has a "Forwarded: for=192.0.2.43,
      for=198.51.100.17;by=203.0.113.60;proto=http;host=example.com"
      header field.

   Note that, at some points in a connection chain, the information
   might not be correctly updated in the Forwarded header field, either
   because of lack of support of this HTTP extension or because of a
   policy decision not to disclose information about this network
   component.

5.  Parameters

   Valid parameters are as follows:

   o  "by" identifies the incoming interface of the proxy.

   o  "for" identifies the node making the request to the proxy.

   o  "host" is the host request header-field as received by the proxy.

   o  "proto" tells what protocol was used to make the request.

5.1.  Forwarded by

   The "by" parameter is used to disclose the interface where the
   request came in to the proxy server.  Typically, the value of this
   parameter is an IP-address, but it can, however, be some other kind
   of identifier.  The parameter value MUST, however, be a node
   identifier as described in Section 6.  This is primarily added by
   reverse proxies that wish to forward this information to the backend
   server.

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5.2.  Forwarded for

   The "for" parameter is used to disclose information about the user
   agent that initiated the request.  Typically the value of this
   parameter is an IP-address, but it can also be some other kind of
   identifier.  The parameter value MUST, however, be a node identifier,
   as described in Section 6.  In a chain of proxy servers where this is
   fully utilized, the first for-parameter will disclose the user agent
   where the request first was made, followed by any subsequent proxy
   identifiers.  The last proxy in the chain is not part of the list of
   for-parameters.  The last proxy's IP address is, however, readily
   available as the remote IP address of the TCP/IP connection.

5.3.  Forwarded host

   The "host" parameter is used to forward the original value of the
   "Host" header field.  This can be used by the origin server if a
   reverse proxy is rewriting the "Host" header field to some internal
   host name.

5.4.  Forwarded proto

   The "proto" parameter has the value of the used protocol type.  If
   present, it MUST contain the URI schema name as defined in section
   3.1 in [RFC3986] and registered to IANA according to [RFC4395].
   Typical values are "http" or "https".  For example, in an environment
   where a reverse proxy is also used as a crypto offloader, this allows
   the origin server to rewrite URLs in a document to match the type of
   connection as the user agent requested, even though all connections
   to the origin server are unencrypted HTTP.

5.5.  Private extensions

   Private extensions allow for adding own parameters and values.  This
   may be particularly useful in a reverse proxy environment.

5.6.  Future extensions

   One may extend this RFC by writing new RFCs that define new
   parameters.  IANA should be notified if an RFC is updating this RFC
   with new valid parameters.

6.  Node identifiers

   The node identifiers are the IP address of the network node, a
   predefined token hiding the real identity, but signaling that such a
   component exists in the network path, or a generated token allowing

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   for tracing and debugging without revealing network internals.

       nodename = IPv4address | IP-literal |
                   "unknown" | obfnode

   All of the identifiers may optionally have the port identifier, for
   example, allowing the identification of the end point in a NATted
   environment.

       node            = nodename [ ":" node-port ]

   The node-port can be identified either by its TCP port number or by a
   generated token obfuscating the real port number.

       node-port       = port | obfport
       port            = 1*5DIGIT
       obfport         = 1*(ALPHA | DIGIT)

   Note that this also allows port numbers to be appended to the the
   "unknown" identifier.  Interpretation of such notation is, however,
   left to the possessor of a proxy adding such a value to the header
   field.  To distinguish an obfport from a port, we RECOMMEND that an
   obfport always should contain at least one ALPHA.

6.1.  IPv4 and IPv6 identifiers

   The IPv4address and IPv6address BNF tokens are defined as follows:

       IPv6address = "[" addr6 "]"
       addr6 = hexpart [ ":" IPv4address ]
       IPv4address = 1*3DIGIT "." 1*3DIGIT "." 1*3DIGIT "." 1*3DIGIT

       hexpart = hexseq | hexseq "::" [ hexseq ] | "::" [ hexseq ]
       hexseq  = hex4 *( ":" hex4)
       hex4    = 1*4HEXDIG

   Note that the IP number may be one from the internal nets, as defined
   in [RFC1918] and [RFC4193].  Also, note that an IPv6 adress always
   must be enclosed by square brackets.

6.2.  The "unknown" identifier

   The "unknown" identifier is used when the identity of the preceding
   entity is not known.  One example would be a proxy server process
   generating an outgoing request without direct access to the incoming
   request TCP socket.

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6.3.  Obfuscated identifier

   A generated identifier may be used where there is a wish to keep the
   internal IP numbers secret, while still allowing the Forwarded header
   field to be used for tracing and debugging.  The identifiers can be
   randomly generated for each request and do not need to be statically
   assigned to resources.  To distinguish the obfuscated identifier from
   other identifiers, it MUST have a leading underscore "_".  Further,
   it MUST also consist of only US-ASCII letters and US-ASCII digits.

       obfnode         = "_" 1*( ALPHA | DIGIT )

   Example:

       Forwarded: for=_hidden, for=_SEVKISEK

7.  Implementation considerations

   Note that an HTTP list allows white spaces to occur between the
   identifiers, and the list may be split over multiple header fields.
   As an example, the header field

       Forwarded: for=192.0.2.43,for=[2001:db8:cafe::17],for=unknown

   is equivalent to the header field

       Forwarded: for=192.0.2.43, for=[2001:db8:cafe::17], for=unknown

   which is equivalent to the header fields

       Forwarded: for=192.0.2.43
       Forwarded: for=[2001:db8:cafe::17], for=unknown

   Also, note that the draft [I-D.ietf-httpbis-p1-messaging] renders the
   use of folding within a list obsolete.  The use of CRLF within the
   field-value list is, therefore, NOT RECOMMENDED.

8.  Security Considerations

8.1.  Header validity

   The Forwarded HTTP header field cannot be relied upon to be correct,
   as it may be modified, whether mistakenly or for malicious reasons,
   by every node on the way to the server, including the client making
   the request.

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   One approach is to verify the correctness of proxies and whitelist
   them as trusted.  This approach has at least two weaknesses.  First,
   the chain of IP numbers listed before the request came to the proxy
   cannot be trusted.  Second, unless the communication between proxies
   and the end point is secured, the data can be modified by an attacker
   with access to the network.

8.2.  Information Leak

   The Forwarded HTTP header field can reveal internal structures of the
   network setup behind the NAT or proxy setup, which may be undesired.
   This can be addressed either by preventing the internal nodes from
   updating the HTTP header field or by having an egress proxy removing
   entries that reveals internal network information.

9.  IANA Considerations

   This document specifies the HTTP header listed below, which should be
   added to the permanent HTTP header registry defined in [RFC3864].

   Header field: Forwarded
   Applicable protocol: http/https
   Status: standard
   Author/Change controller:
       IETF (iesg@ietf.org)
       Internet Engineering Task Force
   Specification document(s): this specification (Section 4)
   Related information: none

10.  References

10.1.  Normative references

   [I-D.ietf-httpbis-p1-messaging]
              Fielding, R., Gettys, J., Mogul, J., Nielsen, H.,
              Masinter, L., Leach, P., Berners-Lee, T., Lafon, Y., and
              J. Reschke, "HTTP/1.1, part 1: URIs, Connections, and
              Message Parsing", draft-ietf-httpbis-p1-messaging-17 (work
              in progress), October 2011.

   [RFC1918]  Rekhter, Y., Moskowitz, R., Karrenberg, D., Groot, G., and
              E. Lear, "Address Allocation for Private Internets",
              BCP 5, RFC 1918, February 1996.

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

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   [RFC2616]  Fielding, R., Gettys, J., Mogul, J., Frystyk, H.,
              Masinter, L., Leach, P., and T. Berners-Lee, "Hypertext
              Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.1", RFC 2616, June 1999.

   [RFC3864]  Klyne, G., Nottingham, M., and J. Mogul, "Registration
              Procedures for Message Header Fields", BCP 90, RFC 3864,
              September 2004.

   [RFC3986]  Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R., and L. Masinter, "Uniform
              Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax", STD 66,
              RFC 3986, January 2005.

   [RFC4193]  Hinden, R. and B. Haberman, "Unique Local IPv6 Unicast
              Addresses", RFC 4193, October 2005.

   [RFC4395]  Hansen, T., Hardie, T., and L. Masinter, "Guidelines and
              Registration Procedures for New URI Schemes", BCP 35,
              RFC 4395, February 2006.

   [RFC5952]  Kawamura, S. and M. Kawashima, "A Recommendation for IPv6
              Address Text Representation", RFC 5952, August 2010.

10.2.  Informative references

   [RFC6269]  Ford, M., Boucadair, M., Durand, A., Levis, P., and P.
              Roberts, "Issues with IP Address Sharing", RFC 6269,
              June 2011.

Appendix A.  Forwarded BNF definition

   This appendix defines the Forwarded header field.

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       Forwarded: = "Forwarded" ":" LWS Forwarded-v
       Forwarded-v = 1#forwarded-element

       forwarded-element =
               OWS forwarded-value *( OWS ";" OWS forwarded-value ) OWS

       forwarded-value   = for-kv | by-kv | proto-kv | host-kv | ext-kv

       for-kv     = "for=" node
       by-kv      = "by="  node
       proto-kv   = "proto=" proto-name
       host-kv    = "host=" host
       ext-kv     =  extension "=" ext-value

       node = nodename [ ":" node-port ]
       nodename = IPv4address | IP-literal |
         "unknown" | obfnode
       obfnode = "_" 1*( ALPHA | DIGIT )
       node-port = port | obfport
       port = 1*5DIGIT
       obfport = 1*( ALPHA | DIGIT )
       proto-name = ALPHA *( ALPHA | DIGIT | "+" | "-" | "." )
       extension = 1*( ALPHA | DIGIT | "-" )
       ext-value = <any OCTET except CTLs, "," and ";",
         but including SP>

Appendix B.  Change Log (to be removed by  RFC Editor before
             publication)

B.1.  Since draft-petersson-forwarded-for-00

   Added IANA considerations.

   Expanded scope and add parameterized list.

B.2.  Since draft-petersson-forwarded-for-01

   Removed "x-" from private extensions.

   Allow for any protocol name.

   Rename kv-v to forwarded-element and kv to forwarded-value.

   Add informative reference RFC6269.

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B.3.  Since draft-petersson-forwarded-for-02

   Name change to draft-ietf-appsawg-http-forwarded-00.

   Updated proto in list under section 5 Parameters.

   Remove "hidden" but mention _hidden as an example in 6.3 Obfuscated
   identifier.

   Clarify that IPv6-addresses must be enclosed by square brackets.

   Restrict ext-value: do not allow "," or ";".

Authors' Addresses

   Andreas Petersson
   Opera Software
   S:t Larsgatan 12
   Linkoping  SE-582 24

   Email: pettson@opera.com

   Martin Nilsson
   Opera Software
   S:t Larsgatan 12
   Linkoping  SE-582 24

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