IODEF Enumeration Reference Format
draft-ietf-mile-enum-reference-format-04

INTERNET-DRAFT                                         Adam W. Montville

Expires: November 8, 2014                                    David Black
                                                                   (EMC)
                                                             May 7, 2014

                  IODEF Enumeration Reference Format 
                draft-ietf-mile-enum-reference-format-04

Abstract

   The Incident Object Description Exchange Format [IODEF] provides a
   Reference class used to reference external entities (such as
   enumeration identifiers).  However, the method of external entity
   identification has been left unstructured.  This document describes a
   method to provide structure for referencing external entities for the
   [IODEF] Reference class.

Status of this Memo

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Copyright and License Notice

   Copyright (c) 2012 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
   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document. Please review these documents
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   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     1.1  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   2.  Referencing External Enumerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   3  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   4  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   5 XML Schema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
   6  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     6.1  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     6.2  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
   Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7

 

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1  Introduction

   There is an identified need to specify a format to include relevant
   enumeration values in an IODEF document.  It is anticipated that this
   requirement will exist in other standardization efforts within
   several IETF Working Groups, but the scope of this document pertains
   solely to [IODEF].

1.1  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 RFC 2119 [RFC2119].

2.  Referencing External Enumerations

   The need is to place enumeration identifiers and their references in
   [IODEF]'s Reference class.  There are several ways to accomplish this
   goal, but the most appropriate at this point is to require a specific
   format for the ReferenceName string of the [IODEF] Reference class,
   and use an IANA registry to manage the resulting reference formats.

      +------------------+
      | Reference        |
      +------------------+
      |                  |<>----------[ ReferenceName ]
      |                  |<>--{0..*}--[ URL           ]
      |                  |<>--{0..*}--[ Description   ]
      +------------------+

                   FIGURE 1: [IODEF] Reference Class 

   Per [IODEF] the ReferenceName is of type ML_STRING.  This becomes
   problematic when specific references, especially enumerations such as
   [CVE], [CCE], [CPE] and so on, are referenced - how is an implementer
   to know which type of reference this is, and thus how to parse it?
   One solution, presented here, is to require that ReferenceName follow
   a particular format. 

   Inclusion of such enumerations, especially those related to security
   automation, is important to incident communication and investigation.
    Typically, an enumeration identifier is simply an identifier with a
   specific format as defined by an external party.

 2.1 Reference Name Format

   The Reference Name Format uses XML to provide the structure for
 

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   enumeration identification, and requires that a specific Abbreviation
   and RegistryVersion be associated with the ID. An implementer can
   look up the ID type (as referenced by the logical tuple of
   Abbreviation and Index) in the IANA table (see Section 4) to
   understand how the ID is structured. Multiple registry entries may
   use the same abbreviation.  The Index field in the XML unambiguously
   indicates which IANA registry entry is to be used to correctly
   reference the enumeration specification, which avoids interpretation
   of version strings that may have specification-specific formats.

      <Reference>
         <ReferenceName>
            <EnumRef>
               <Abbreviation>CXI</Abbreviation>
               <Index>1</Index>
               <ID>CXI-1234-XYZ</ID>
            </EnumRef>
         </ReferenceName>
         <URL>http://cxi.example.com</URL>
         <Description>Foo</Description>
      </Reference>

      LISTING 1: Example Use of IODEF Enumeration Reference Format

   Information in the IANA table (see Section 4) would include:

      Full Name: Concept X Identifier
      Abbreviation: CXI
      Index: 1
      Version: any
      Specification URI: http://cxi.example.com/spec_url

 2.3 Reference Method Applicability

      While the scope of this document pertains to [IODEF], it should be
      readily apparent that any standard needing to reference an
      enumeration identified by a specially formatted string can use
      this method of providing structure after the standard has been
      published.  In effect, this method provides a standardized
      interface for enumerations, thus allowing a loose coupling between
      a given standard and the enumeration identifiers it needs to
      reference now and in the future.

 

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3  Security Considerations

      Producers of [IODEF] content SHOULD be careful to ensure a proper
      mapping of EnumRef ID elements to the correct Index. Potential
      consequences of not mapping correctly include inaccurate
      information references and similar distribution of misinformation.

      Use of EnumRef IDs from trusted sources SHOULD be preferred by
      implementers to mitigate the risk of receiving and/or providing
      misinformation.  Trust decisions with respect to enumeration
      reference providers is beyond the scope of this document.

      In some cases it might be possible for a third-party to host
      content associated with an EnumRef ID.  In such a circumstance,
      trust SHOULD extend from the origin of the EnumRef ID to the
      third-party, effectively making the third-party a trusted third-
      party in the context of providing a particular set of EnumRef IDs.

4  IANA Considerations

      This document specifies an identifier format for the [IODEF]
      ReferenceName string of the Reference class.

      This memo creates the following registry for IANA to manage:

      Name of the Registry: "Enumeration Reference Type Identifiers"

      Note that certain name requests should not be permitted as either
      Full Name or Abbreviation entries for the requested IANA table. 

      Fields to record in the registry: 

         Full Name: The full name of the enumeration as a string from
         the printable ASCII character set.

         Abbreviation: An abbreviation may be an acronym - it consists
         of upper-case characters (at least two, upper-case is used to
         avoid mismatches due to case differences), as specified by this
         ABNF [RFC5234] syntax:

               ABBREVIATION = 2*UC-ALPHA      ; At least two
               UC-ALPHA = %x41-5A             ; A-Z

               Multiple registrations MAY use the same Abbreviation but
               MUST have different Versions.

         Index: This is an IANA-assigned positive integer that
 

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         identifies the registration.  The first entry added to this
         registry uses the value 1, and this value is incremented for
         each subsequent entry added to the registry.

         Version: The version of the enumeration as a free-form string
         from the printable ASCII character set excepting white space.  

         Specification URI: A list of one or more URIs [RFC3986] from
         which the registered specification can be obtained.  The
         registered specification MUST be readily and publicly available
         from that URI.  The URI SHOULD be a stable reference to a
         specific version of the specification.  URIs that designate the
         latest version of a specification (which changes when a new
         version appears) SHOULD NOT be used.

      Initial registry contents: None.

      Allocation Policy: Expert Review [RFC5226] and Specification
      Required [RFC5226]

   The Designated Expert is expected to consult with the MILE (Managed
   Incident Lightweight Exchange) working group or its successor if any
   such WG exists (e.g., via email to the working group's mailing list).
   The Designated Expert is expected to review the request and validate
   the appropriateness of the enumeration for the attribute.  If a
   specification is associated with the request, it MUST be reviewed by
   the Designated Expert.

   The Designated Expert is expected to ensure that the Full Name,
   Abbreviation and Version are appropriate and that the information at
   the Specification URI is sufficient to unambiguously parse
   identifiers based on that specification. Additionally, the Designated
   Expert should prefer short Abbreviations over long ones.

5 XML Schema

      <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
      <xs:schema xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
        elementFormDefault="qualified">
        <xs:element name="EnumRef">
          <xs:complexType>
            <xs:sequence>
              <xs:element ref="Abbreviation"/>
              <xs:element ref="Index"/>
              <xs:element ref="ID"/>
            </xs:sequence>
          </xs:complexType>
        </xs:element>
 

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        <xs:element name="Abbreviation" type="xs:NCName"/>
        <xs:element name="Index" type="xs:integer"/>
        <xs:element name="ID" type="xs:NCName"/>
      </xs:schema>

          LISTING 2: IODEF Enumeration Reference Format Schema

      The root element of the XML schema listed here can be contained
      within the IODEF XML as showin in Listing 1 of Section 2.1.

6  References

6.1  Normative References

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

   [IODEF]    Danyliw, R., Meijer, J., and Y. Demchenko, "The Incident
              Object Description Exchange Format", RFC 5070, December
              2007.

   [RFC5226]  Narten, T. and H. Alvestrand, "Guidelines for Writing an
              IANA Considerations Section in RFCs", BCP 26, RFC 5226,
              May 2008.

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

   [RFC5234]  Crocker, D., Ed., and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for
              Syntax Specifications: ABNF", STD 68, RFC 5234, January
              2008.

6.2  Informative References

   [CCE] http://cce.mitre.org

   [CPE] http://cpe.mitre.org

   [CVE] http://cve.mitre.org

Authors' Addresses

   Adam W. Montville
 

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   EMail: adam@stoicsecurity.org

   David Black
   EMC Corporation

   EMail: david.black@emc.com

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