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A new cryptographic signature method for DKIM
draft-ietf-dcrup-dkim-crypto-07

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 8463.
Author John R. Levine
Last updated 2017-12-18 (Latest revision 2017-12-01)
Replaces draft-levine-dcrup-dkim-crypto
RFC stream Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
Formats
Reviews
Additional resources Mailing list discussion
Stream WG state Waiting for WG Chair Go-Ahead
Document shepherd Barry Leiba
IESG IESG state Became RFC 8463 (Proposed Standard)
Consensus boilerplate Yes
Telechat date (None)
Responsible AD (None)
Send notices to Barry Leiba <barryleiba@computer.org>
draft-ietf-dcrup-dkim-crypto-07
Network Working Group                                          J. Levine
Internet-Draft                                      Taughannock Networks
Updates: 6376 (if approved)                             December 1, 2017
Intended status: Standards Track
Expires: June 4, 2018

             A new cryptographic signature method for DKIM
                    draft-ietf-dcrup-dkim-crypto-07

Abstract

   DKIM was designed to allow new cryptographic algorithms to be added.
   This document adds a new signing algorithm.

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 https://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 June 4, 2018.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2017 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
   (https://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
   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.

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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Conventions Used in This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   3.  Ed25519-SHA256 Signing Algorithm  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   4.  Signature and key syntax  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     4.1.  Signature syntax  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     4.2.  Key syntax  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   5.  Key and algorithm choice and strength . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   6.  Transition Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   7.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   8.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     8.1.  DKIM Key Type registry  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   9.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     9.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     9.2.  URIs  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   Appendix A.  Change log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5

1.  Introduction

   Discussion Venue:    Discussion about this draft is directed to the
      dcrup@ietf.org [1] mailing list.

   DKIM [RFC6376] signs e-mail messages, by creating hashes of the
   message headers and body and signing the header hash with a digital
   signature.  Message recipients fetch the signature verification key
   from the DNS where it is stored in a TXT record.  The defining
   documents specify a single signing algorithm, RSA [RFC3447], and
   recommend key sizes of 1024 to 2048 bits.

   This document adds a new stronger signing algorithm, Edwards-Curve
   Digital Signature Algorithm using the Curve25519 curve (ed25519),
   which has much shorter keys than RSA for similar levels of security.

2.  Conventions Used in This Document

   The capitalized 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].

   Syntax descriptions use Augmented BNF (ABNF) [RFC5234].  The ABNF
   tokens sig-a-tag-k and key-k-tag-type are imported from [RFC6376].

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3.  Ed25519-SHA256 Signing Algorithm

   The ed25519-sha256 signing algorithm computes a message hash as
   defined in section 3 of [RFC6376], and signs it with the Hash variant
   of Ed25519, as defined in in RFC 8032 section 5.1 [RFC8032].  The
   signing algorithm is HashEdDSA.  (Even though the input to the
   signing algorithm has already been hashed, the PureEdDSA which does
   not do an additional hash is not widely implemented, and the extra
   hash causes no problems other than an insignificant slowdown.)  The
   DNS record for the verification public key MUST have a "k=ed25519"
   tag to indicate that the key is an Ed25519 rather than RSA key.

   Note: since Ed25519 keys are 256 bits long, DNS key record data will
   generally fit in a single 255 byte TXT string, and will work even
   with DNS provisioning software that doesn't handle multi-string TXT
   records.

4.  Signature and key syntax

   The syntax of DKIM signatures and DKIM keys are updated as follows.

4.1.  Signature syntax

   The syntax of DKIM algorithm tags in section 3.5 of [RFC6376] is
   updated by adding this rule to the existing rule for sig-a-tag-k:

       ABNF:

       sig-a-tag-k =/ "ed25519"

4.2.  Key syntax

   The syntax of DKIM key tags in section 3.6.1 of [RFC6376] is updated
   by adding this rule to the existing rule for key-k-tag-type:

       ABNF:

       key-k-tag-type  =/ "ed25519"

5.  Key and algorithm choice and strength

   Section 3.3 of [RFC6376] describes DKIM's hash and signature
   algorithms.  It is updated as follows:

   Signers SHOULD implement and verifiers MUST implement the
   ed25519-sha256 algorithm.

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6.  Transition Considerations

   For backward compatibility, signers MAY add multiple signatures that
   use old and new signing algorithms.  Since there can only be a single
   key record in the DNS for each selector, the signatures will have to
   use different selectors, although they can use the same d= and i=
   identifiers.

7.  Security Considerations

   Ed25519 is a widely used cryptographic technique, so the security of
   DKIM signatures using new signing algorithms should be at least as
   good as those using old algorithms.

8.  IANA Considerations

   IANA is requested to update registries as follows.

8.1.  DKIM Key Type registry

   The following value is added to the DKIM Key Type Registry

                     +---------+-----------+--------+
                     |   TYPE  | REFERENCE | STATUS |
                     +---------+-----------+--------+
                     | ed25519 | [RFC8032] | active |
                     +---------+-----------+--------+

               Table 1: DKIM Key Type Registry Added Values

9.  References

9.1.  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.

   [RFC3447]  Jonsson, J. and B. Kaliski, "Public-Key Cryptography
              Standards (PKCS) #1: RSA Cryptography Specifications
              Version 2.1", RFC 3447, DOI 10.17487/RFC3447, February
              2003, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3447>.

   [RFC5234]  Crocker, D., Ed. and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for Syntax
              Specifications: ABNF", STD 68, RFC 5234,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC5234, January 2008,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5234>.

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   [RFC6376]  Crocker, D., Ed., Hansen, T., Ed., and M. Kucherawy, Ed.,
              "DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) Signatures", STD 76,
              RFC 6376, DOI 10.17487/RFC6376, September 2011,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6376>.

   [RFC8032]  Josefsson, S. and I. Liusvaara, "Edwards-Curve Digital
              Signature Algorithm (EdDSA)", RFC 8032,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC8032, January 2017,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8032>.

9.2.  URIs

   [1] mailto:dcrup@ietf.org

Appendix A.  Change log

   06 to 07:  Remove RSA fingerprints.  Change Pure to hashed eddsa.

   05 to 06:  Editorial changes only.

   04 to 05:  Remove deprecation cruft and inconsistent key advice.  Fix
      p= and k= text.

   03 to 04:  Change eddsa to ed25519.  Add Martin's key regeneration
      issue.  Remove hashed ed25519 keys.  Fix typos and clarify text.
      Move syntax updates to separate section.  Take out SHA-1 stuff.

   01 to 02:  Clarify EdDSA algorithm is ed25519 with Pure version of
      the signing.  Make references to tags and fields consistent.

Author's Address

   John Levine
   Taughannock Networks
   PO Box 727
   Trumansburg, NY  14886

   Phone: +1 831 480 2300
   Email: standards@taugh.com

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