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Use of RSA Keys with SHA-2 256 and 512 in Secure Shell (SSH)
draft-ietf-curdle-rsa-sha2-02

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 8332.
Author denis bider
Last updated 2016-09-12
Replaces draft-rsa-dsa-sha2-256
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draft-ietf-curdle-rsa-sha2-02
Internet-Draft                                                  D. Bider
Updates: 4252, 4253 (if approved)                        Bitvise Limited
Intended status: Standards Track                      September 12, 2016
Expires: February 12, 2017

      Use of RSA Keys with SHA-2 256 and 512 in Secure Shell (SSH)
                   draft-ietf-curdle-rsa-sha2-02.txt

Abstract

  This memo defines an algorithm name, public key format, and signature
  format for use of RSA keys with SHA-2 512 for server and client
  authentication in SSH connections.

Status

  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), its areas, and its working groups.  Note that other
  groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts.

  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."

  The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at
  http://www.ietf.org/1id-abstracts.html
  
  The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at
  http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html

Copyright

  Copyright (c) 2016 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
  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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1.  Overview and Rationale

  Secure Shell (SSH) is a common protocol for secure communication on
  the Internet. In [RFC4253], SSH originally defined the signature
  methods "ssh-rsa" for server and client authentication using RSA with
  SHA-1, and "ssh-dss" using 1024-bit DSA and SHA-1.
   
  A decade later, these signature methods are considered deficient.
  For US government use, NIST has disallowed 1024-bit RSA and DSA, and
  use of SHA-1 for signing [800-131A].
   
  This memo defines a new algorithm name allowing for interoperable use
  of RSA keys with SHA-2 256 and SHA-2 512, and a mechanism for servers
  to inform SSH clients of signature algorithms they support and accept.

1.1.  Requirements Terminology

  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].

2.  Public Key Algorithms

  This memo adopts the style and conventions of [RFC4253] in specifying
  how use of a signature algorithm is indicated in SSH.

  The following new signature algorithms are defined:
   
    rsa-sha2-256    RECOMMENDED    sign    Raw RSA key
    rsa-sha2-512    OPTIONAL       sign    Raw RSA key

  These signature algorithms are suitable for use both in the SSH transport
  layer [RFC4253] for server authentication, and in the authentication
  layer [RFC4252] for client authentication.

  Since RSA keys are not dependent on the choice of hash function, both
  new algorithms reuse the public key format of the existing "ssh-rsa"
  algorithm as defined in [RFC4253]:

    string    "ssh-rsa"
    mpint     e
    mpint     n
      
  All aspects of the "ssh-rsa" format are kept, including the encoded
  string "ssh-rsa", in order to allow users' existing RSA keys to be
  used with the new signature formats, without requiring re-encoding,
  or affecting already trusted key fingerprints.
   
  Signing and verifying using these algorithms is performed according to
  the RSASSA-PKCS1-v1_5 scheme in [RFC3447] using SHA-2 [FIPS-180-4] as
  hash; MGF1 as mask function; and salt length equal to hash size.

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  For the algorithm "rsa-sha2-256", the hash used is SHA-2 256.
  For the algorithm "rsa-sha2-512", the hash used is SHA-2 512.

  The resulting signature is encoded as follows:

    string    "rsa-sha2-256" / "rsa-sha2-512"
    string    rsa_signature_blob

  The value for 'rsa_signature_blob' is encoded as a string containing
  S - an octet string which is the output of RSASSA-PKCS1-v1_5, of
  length equal to the length in octets of the RSA modulus.
  
2.1.  Use for server authentication

  To express support and preference for one or both of these algorithms
  for server authentication, the SSH client or server includes one or
  both algorithm names, "rsa-sha2-256" and/or "rsa-sha2-512", in the
  name-list field "server_host_key_algorithms" in the SSH_MSG_KEXINIT
  packet [RFC4253]. If one of the two host key algorithms is negotiated,
  the server sends an "ssh-rsa" public key as part of the negotiated key
  exchange method (e.g. in SSH_MSG_KEXDH_REPLY), and encodes a signature
  with the appropriate signature algorithm name - either "rsa-sha2-256",
  or "rsa-sha2-512".
  
2.2.  Use for client authentication

  To use this algorithm for client authentication, the SSH client sends
  an SSH_MSG_USERAUTH_REQUEST message [RFC4252] encoding the "publickey"
  method, and encoding the string field "public key algorithm name" with
  the value "rsa-sha2-256" or "rsa-sha2-512". The "public key blob"
  field encodes the RSA public key using the "ssh-rsa" algorithm name.
  The signature field, if present, encodes a signature using an
  algorithm name that MUST match the SSH authentication request - either
  "rsa-sha2-256", or "rsa-sha2-512".

  For example, an SSH "publickey" authentication request using an
  "rsa-sha2-512" signature would be properly encoded as follows:

    byte      SSH_MSG_USERAUTH_REQUEST
    string    user name
    string    service name
    string    "publickey"
    boolean   TRUE
    string    "rsa-sha2-512"
    string    public key blob:
        string    "ssh-rsa"
        mpint     e
        mpint     n
    string    signature:
        string    "rsa-sha2-512"
        string    rsa_signature_blob
    

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3.  Discovery of signature algorithms supported by servers

  Implementation experience has shown that there are servers which apply
  authentication penalties to clients attempting signature algorithms
  which the SSH server does not support.
  
  Servers that accept rsa-sha2-* signatures for client authentication
  SHOULD implement the extension negotiation mechanism defined in
  [SSH-EXT-INFO], including especially the "server-sig-algs" extension.
  
  When authenticating with an RSA key against a server that does not
  implement the "server-sig-algs" extension, clients MAY default to an
  ssh-rsa signature to avoid authentication penalties.

4.  IANA Considerations

  IANA is requested to update the "Secure Shell (SSH) Protocol
  Parameters" registry, to extend the table Public Key Algorithm Names:
  
  - To the immediate right of the column Public Key Algorithm Name,
    a new column is to be added, titled Signature Algorithm Name. For
    existing entries, the column Signature Algorithm Name should be
    assigned the same value found under Public Key Algorithm Name.

  - Immediately following the existing entry for "ssh-rsa", two sibling
    entries are to be added:

    P. K. Alg. Name    Sig. Alg. Name    Reference          Note
    ssh-rsa            rsa-sha2-256      [this document]    Section 2
    ssh-rsa            rsa-sha2-512      [this document]    Section 2

5.  Security Considerations

  The security considerations of [RFC4253] apply to this document.
   
  The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special
  Publication 800-131A [800-131A] disallows the use of RSA and DSA keys
  shorter than 2048 bits for US government use after 2013. Keys of 2048
  bits or larger are considered acceptable.
  
  The same document disallows the SHA-1 hash function, as used in the
  "ssh-rsa" and "ssh-dss" algorithms, for digital signature generation
  after 2013. The SHA-2 family of hash functions is seen as acceptable.

6.  Why no DSA?
  
  A draft version of this memo also defined an algorithm name for use of
  2048-bit and 3072-bit DSA keys with a 256-bit subgroup and SHA-2 256
  hashing. It is possible to implement DSA securely by generating "k"
  deterministically as per [RFC6979]. However, a plurality of reviewers
  were concerned that implementers would continue to use libraries that
 

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  generate "k" randomly. This is vulnerable to biased "k" generation,
  and extremely vulnerable to "k" reuse.

  This document therefore abstains from defining new algorithm names
  for DSA, and recommends RSA where this is preferred over elliptic
  curve cryptography.

7.  References

7.1.  Normative References

  [FIPS-180-4]
              National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),
              United States of America, "Secure Hash Standard (SHS)",
              FIPS Publication 180-4, August 2015,
              <http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/NIST.FIPS.180-4>.

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

  [RFC3447]   Jonsson, J. and B. Kaliski, "Public-Key Cryptography
              Standards (PKCS) #1: RSA Cryptography Specifications
              Version 2.1", RFC 3447, February 2003.

  [RFC4252]   Ylonen, T. and C. Lonvick, Ed., "The Secure Shell (SSH)
              Authentication Protocol", RFC 4252, January 2006.

  [RFC4253]   Ylonen, T. and C. Lonvick, Ed., "The Secure Shell (SSH)
              Transport Layer Protocol", RFC 4253, January 2006.

7.2.  Informative References

  [800-131A]  National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),
              "Transitions: Recommendation for Transitioning the Use of
              Cryptographic Algorithms and Key Lengths", NIST Special
              Publication 800-131A, January 2011, <http://csrc.nist.gov/
              publications/nistpubs/800-131A/sp800-131A.pdf>.

  [RFC4250]   Lehtinen, S. and C. Lonvick, Ed., "The Secure Shell (SSH)
              Protocol Assigned Numbers", RFC 4250, January 2006.

  [RFC6979]   Pornin, T., "Deterministic Usage of the Digital
              Signature Algorithm (DSA) and Elliptic Curve Digital
              Signature Algorithm (ECDSA)", RFC 6979, August 2013.

  [SSH-EXT-INFO] 
              Bider, D., "Extension Negotiation in Secure Shell (SSH)",
              draft-ietf-curdle-ssh-ext-info-01, September 2016,
              <https://tools.ietf.org/html/
              draft-ietf-curdle-ssh-ext-info-01>.

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Author's Address

  Denis Bider
  Bitvise Limited
  Suites 41/42, Victoria House
  26 Main Street
  GI

  Phone: +506 8315 6519
  EMail: ietf-ssh3@denisbider.com
  URI:   https://www.bitvise.com/

Acknowledgments

  Thanks to Jon Bright, Niels Moeller, Stephen Farrell, Mark D. Baushke,
  Jeffrey Hutzelman, Hanno Boeck, Peter Gutmann, Damien Miller, and Mat
  Berchtold for comments and suggestions.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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