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An Authorization Information Format (AIF) for ACE
draft-ietf-ace-aif-00

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This is an older version of an Internet-Draft that was ultimately published as RFC 9237.
Expired & archived
Author Carsten Bormann
Last updated 2021-01-30 (Latest revision 2020-07-29)
Replaces draft-bormann-core-ace-aif
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Submission to the IESG of "An Authorization Information Format (AIF) for ACE"
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draft-ietf-ace-aif-00
Network Working Group                                         C. Bormann
Internet-Draft                                    Universität Bremen TZI
Intended status: Informational                              29 July 2020
Expires: 30 January 2021

           An Authorization Information Format (AIF) for ACE
                         draft-ietf-ace-aif-00

Abstract

   Constrained Devices as they are used in the "Internet of Things" need
   security.  One important element of this security is that devices in
   the Internet of Things need to be able to decide which operations
   requested of them should be considered authorized, need to ascertain
   that the authorization to request the operation does apply to the
   actual requester, and need to ascertain that other devices they place
   requests on are the ones they intended.

   To transfer detailed authorization information from an authorization
   manager (such as an ACE-OAuth Authorization Server) to a device, a
   representation format is needed.  This document provides a suggestion
   for such a format, the Authorization Information Format (AIF).  AIF
   is defined both as a general structure that can be used for many
   different applications and as a specific refinement that describes
   REST resources and the permissions on them.

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 30 January 2021.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2020 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

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   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.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
     1.1.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Information Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     2.1.  REST-specific model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     2.2.  Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     2.3.  Extended REST-specific model  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   3.  Data Model  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   4.  Media Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   5.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     5.1.  Media Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     5.2.  Registries  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     5.3.  Content-Format  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   6.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
   7.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     7.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     7.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
   Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11

1.  Introduction

   (See Abstract.)

1.1.  Terminology

   This memo uses terms from [RFC7252] and [RFC4949].

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
   "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in
   BCP 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all
   capitals, as shown here.  These words may also appear in this
   document in lower case as plain English words, absent their normative
   meanings.

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   (Note that this document is itself informational, but it is
   discussing normative statements that MUST be put into concrete terms
   in each specification that makes use of this document.)

   The term "byte", abbreviated by "B", is used in its now customary
   sense as a synonym for "octet".

2.  Information Model

   Authorizations are generally expressed through some data structures
   that are cryptographically secured (or transmitted in a secure way).
   This section discusses the information model underlying the payload
   of that data (as opposed to the cryptographic armor around it).

   For the purposes of this strawman, the underlying access control
   model will be that of an access matrix, which gives a set of
   permissions for each possible combination of a subject and an object.
   We do not concern the AIF format with the subject for which the AIF
   object is issued, focusing the AIF object on a single row in the
   access matrix (such a row traditionally is also called a capability
   list).  As a consequence, AIF MUST be used in a way that the subject
   of the authorizations is unambiguously identified (e.g., as part of
   the armor around it).

   The generic model of a such a capability list is a list of pairs of
   object identifiers and the permissions the subject has on the
   object(s) identified.

   AIF-Generic<Toid, Tperm> = [* [Toid, Tperm]]

                    Figure 1: Definition of Generic AIF

   In a specific data model, the object identifier ("Toid") will often
   be a text string, and the set of permissions ("Tperm") will be
   represented by a bitset in turn represented as a number (see
   Section 3).

   AIF-Specific = AIF-Generic<tstr, uint>

                  Figure 2: Likely shape of a specific AIF

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2.1.  REST-specific model

   In the specific instantiation of the REST resources and the
   permissions on them, for the object identifiers ("Toid"), we simply
   use the URI of a resource on a CoAP server.  More specifically, the
   parts of the URI that identify the server ("authority" in [RFC3986])
   are considered the realm of the authentication mechanism (which are
   handled in the cryptographic armor); we therefore focus on the "path-
   absolute" and "query" parts of the URI (URI "local-part" in this
   specification, as expressed by the Uri-Path and Uri-Query options in
   CoAP).  As a consequence, AIF MUST be used in a way that it is
   unambiguous who is the target (enforcement point) of these
   authorizations.

   For the permissions ("Tperm"), we simplify the model permissions to
   giving the subset of the CoAP methods permitted.  This model is
   summarized in Table 1.

                      +============+================+
                      | local-part | Permission Set |
                      +============+================+
                      | /s/light   | GET            |
                      +------------+----------------+
                      | /a/led     | PUT, GET       |
                      +------------+----------------+
                      | /dtls      | POST           |
                      +------------+----------------+

                         Table 1: An authorization
                            instance in the AIF
                             Information Model

2.2.  Limitations

   This simple information model only allows granting permissions for
   statically identifiable objects, e.g.  URIs for the REST-specific
   instantiation.  One might be tempted to extend the model towards URI
   templates [RFC6570], however, that requires some considerations of
   the ease and unambiguity of matching a given URI against a set of
   templates in an AIF object.

   This simple information model also doesn't allow further
   conditionalizing access based on state outside the identification of
   objects (e.g., "opening a door is allowed if that isn't locked").

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   Finally, the model does not provide any special access for a set of
   resources that are specific to a subject, e.g. that the subject
   created itself by previous operations (PUT, POST) or that were
   specifically created for the subject by others.

2.3.  Extended REST-specific model

   The extended REST-specific model addresses the need to provide
   defined access to dynamic resources that were created by the subject
   itself, specifically, a resource that is made known to the subject by
   providing Location-* options in a CoAP result or using the Location
   header field in HTTP [RFC7231] (the Location-indicating mechanisms).
   (The concept is somewhat comparable to "ACL inheritance" in NFSv4
   [rfc5661], except that it does not use a containment relationship but
   the fact that the dynamic resource was created from a resource to
   which the subject had access.)

          +================+===================================+
          | local-part     | Permission Set                    |
          +================+===================================+
          | /a/make-coffee | POST, Dynamic-GET, Dynamic-DELETE |
          +----------------+-----------------------------------+

              Table 2: An authorization instance in the AIF
                            Information Model

   For a method X, the presence of a Dynamic-X permission means that the
   subject holds permission to exercise the method X on resources that
   have been returned by a Location-indicating mechanism to a request
   that the subject made to the resource listed ("/a/make-coffee" in the
   example, which might return the location of a resource that allows
   GET to find out about the status and DELETE to cancel the coffee-
   making operation).

   Since the use of the extension defined in this section can be
   detected by the mentioning of the Dynamic-X permissions, there is no
   need for another explicit switch between the basic and the extended
   model; the extended model is always presumed once a Dynamic-X
   permission is present.

3.  Data Model

   Different data model specializations can be defined for the generic
   information model given above.

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   In this section, we will give the data model for basic REST
   authorization.  As discussed, the object identifier is specialized as
   a text string giving a relative URI (local-part as absolute path on
   the server serving as enforcement point).  The permission set is
   specialized to a single number by the following steps:

   *  The entries in the table that specify the same local-part are
      merged into a single entry that specifies the union of the
      permission sets.

   *  The (non-dynamic) methods in the permission sets are converted
      into their CoAP method numbers, minus 1.

   *  Dynamic-X permissions are converted into what the number would
      have been for X, plus a Dynamic-Offset chosen as 32 (e.g., 35 for
      Dynamic-DELETE).

   *  The set of numbers is converted into a single number by taking
      each number to the power of two and computing the inclusive OR of
      the binary representations of all the power values.

   This data model could be interchanged in the JSON [RFC8259]
   representation given in Figure 3.

   [["/s/light", 1], ["/a/led", 5], ["/dtls", 2]]

       Figure 3: An authorization instance encoded in JSON (46 bytes)

   In CDDL [RFC8610], a straightforward specification of the data model
   (including both the methods from [RFC7252] and the new ones from
   [RFC8132], identified by the method code minus 1) is:

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   AIF-REST = AIF-Generic<path, permissions>
   path = tstr   ; URI relative to enforcement point
   permissions = uint .bits methods
   methods = &(
     GET: 0
     POST: 1
     PUT: 2
     DELETE: 3
     FETCH: 4
     PATCH: 5
     iPATCH: 6
     Dynamic-GET: 32; 0 .plus Dynamic-Offset
     Dynamic-POST: 33; 1 .plus Dynamic-Offset
     Dynamic-PUT: 34; 2 .plus Dynamic-Offset
     Dynamic-DELETE: 35; 3 .plus Dynamic-Offset
     Dynamic-FETCH: 36; 4 .plus Dynamic-Offset
     Dynamic-PATCH: 37; 5 .plus Dynamic-Offset
     Dynamic-iPATCH: 38; 6 .plus Dynamic-Offset
   )

                           Figure 4: AIF in CDDL

   A representation of this information in CBOR [RFC7049] is given in
   Figure 5; again, several optimizations/improvements are possible.

   83                        # array(3)
      82                     # array(2)
         68                  # text(8)
            2f732f6c69676874 # "/s/light"
         01                  # unsigned(1)
      82                     # array(2)
         66                  # text(6)
            2f612f6c6564     # "/a/led"
         05                  # unsigned(5)
      82                     # array(2)
         65                  # text(5)
            2f64746c73       # "/dtls"
         02                  # unsigned(2)

       Figure 5: An authorization instance encoded in CBOR (29 bytes)

   Note that choosing 32 as Dynamic-Offset means that all future CoAP
   methods that can be registered can be represented both as themselves
   and in the Dynamic-X variant, but only the dynamic forms of methods 1
   to 21 are typically usable in a JSON form [RFC7493].

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4.  Media Types

   This specification defines media types for the generic information
   model, expressed in JSON ("application/aif+json") or in CBOR
   ("application/aif+cbor").  These media types have parameters for
   specifying "Toid" and "Tperm"; default values are the values "local-
   uri" for "Toid" and "REST-method-set" for "Tperm".

   [Insert lots of boilerplate here]

   A specification that wants to use Generic AIF with different "Toid"
   and/or "Tperm" is expected to request these as media type parameters
   (Section 5.2) and register a corresponding Content-Format
   (Section 5.3).

5.  IANA Considerations

5.1.  Media Types

   See Section 4.

5.2.  Registries

   IANA is requested to create a registry for AIF with two sub-
   registries for "Toid" and "Tperm", populated with:

    +=============+=================+=================================+
    | Subregistry | name            | Description/Specification       |
    +=============+=================+=================================+
    | Toid        | local-part      | local-part of URI as specified  |
    |             |                 | in [RFCthis]                    |
    +-------------+-----------------+---------------------------------+
    | Tperm       | REST-method-set | set of REST methods represented |
    |             |                 | as specified in [RFCthis]       |
    +-------------+-----------------+---------------------------------+

                                  Table 3

   The registration policy is Specification required [RFC8126].  The
   designated expert will engage with the submitter to ascertain the
   requirements of this document are addressed.

5.3.  Content-Format

   IANA is requested to register Content-Format numbers in the CoRE
   Parameters Registry [IANA.core-parameters], as follows:

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6.  Security Considerations

   (TBD.  Some issues are already discussed in the security
   considerations of [RFC7252] and in [RFC8576].)

7.  References

7.1.  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>.

   [RFC4949]  Shirey, R., "Internet Security Glossary, Version 2",
              FYI 36, RFC 4949, DOI 10.17487/RFC4949, August 2007,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4949>.

   [RFC7252]  Shelby, Z., Hartke, K., and C. Bormann, "The Constrained
              Application Protocol (CoAP)", RFC 7252,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC7252, June 2014,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7252>.

   [RFC8126]  Cotton, M., Leiba, B., and T. Narten, "Guidelines for
              Writing an IANA Considerations Section in RFCs", BCP 26,
              RFC 8126, DOI 10.17487/RFC8126, June 2017,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8126>.

   [RFC8174]  Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
              2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
              May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8174>.

   [RFC8610]  Birkholz, H., Vigano, C., and C. Bormann, "Concise Data
              Definition Language (CDDL): A Notational Convention to
              Express Concise Binary Object Representation (CBOR) and
              JSON Data Structures", RFC 8610, DOI 10.17487/RFC8610,
              June 2019, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8610>.

7.2.  Informative References

   [I-D.ietf-ace-dtls-authorize]
              Gerdes, S., Bergmann, O., Bormann, C., Selander, G., and
              L. Seitz, "Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS)
              Profile for Authentication and Authorization for
              Constrained Environments (ACE)", Work in Progress,
              Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-ace-dtls-authorize-12, 6 July
              2020, <http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-ace-
              dtls-authorize-12.txt>.

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   [I-D.ietf-ace-oscore-profile]
              Palombini, F., Seitz, L., Selander, G., and M. Gunnarsson,
              "OSCORE profile of the Authentication and Authorization
              for Constrained Environments Framework", Work in Progress,
              Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-ace-oscore-profile-11, 18 June
              2020, <http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-ace-
              oscore-profile-11.txt>.

   [IANA.core-parameters]
              IANA, "Constrained RESTful Environments (CoRE)
              Parameters",
              <http://www.iana.org/assignments/core-parameters>.

   [RFC3986]  Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R., and L. Masinter, "Uniform
              Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax", STD 66,
              RFC 3986, DOI 10.17487/RFC3986, January 2005,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3986>.

   [rfc5661]  Shepler, S., Ed., Eisler, M., Ed., and D. Noveck, Ed.,
              "Network File System (NFS) Version 4 Minor Version 1
              Protocol", RFC 5661, DOI 10.17487/RFC5661, January 2010,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5661>.

   [RFC6570]  Gregorio, J., Fielding, R., Hadley, M., Nottingham, M.,
              and D. Orchard, "URI Template", RFC 6570,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC6570, March 2012,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6570>.

   [RFC7049]  Bormann, C. and P. Hoffman, "Concise Binary Object
              Representation (CBOR)", RFC 7049, DOI 10.17487/RFC7049,
              October 2013, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7049>.

   [RFC7231]  Fielding, R., Ed. and J. Reschke, Ed., "Hypertext Transfer
              Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Semantics and Content", RFC 7231,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC7231, June 2014,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7231>.

   [RFC7493]  Bray, T., Ed., "The I-JSON Message Format", RFC 7493,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC7493, March 2015,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7493>.

   [RFC8132]  van der Stok, P., Bormann, C., and A. Sehgal, "PATCH and
              FETCH Methods for the Constrained Application Protocol
              (CoAP)", RFC 8132, DOI 10.17487/RFC8132, April 2017,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8132>.

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   [RFC8259]  Bray, T., Ed., "The JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) Data
              Interchange Format", STD 90, RFC 8259,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC8259, December 2017,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8259>.

   [RFC8576]  Garcia-Morchon, O., Kumar, S., and M. Sethi, "Internet of
              Things (IoT) Security: State of the Art and Challenges",
              RFC 8576, DOI 10.17487/RFC8576, April 2019,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8576>.

Acknowledgements

   Jim Schaad and Francesca Palombini provided comments that shaped the
   direction of this document.

Author's Address

   Carsten Bormann
   Universität Bremen TZI
   Postfach 330440
   D-28359 Bremen
   Germany

   Phone: +49-421-218-63921
   Email: cabo@tzi.org

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