Skip to main content

Why the Authentication Data Suboption is Needed for Mobile IPv6 (MIPv6)
draft-ietf-mip6-whyauthdataoption-07

The information below is for an old version of the document that is already published as an RFC.
Document Type
This is an older version of an Internet-Draft that was ultimately published as RFC 5419.
Authors Basavaraj Patil , Gopal Dommety
Last updated 2015-10-14 (Latest revision 2008-11-02)
RFC stream Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
Intended RFC status Informational
Formats
Reviews
Additional resources Mailing list discussion
Stream WG state (None)
Document shepherd (None)
IESG IESG state Became RFC 5419 (Informational)
Action Holders
(None)
Consensus boilerplate Unknown
Telechat date (None)
Responsible AD Jari Arkko
Send notices to mext-chairs@ietf.org
draft-ietf-mip6-whyauthdataoption-07
Network Working Group                                           B. Patil
Internet-Draft                                                     Nokia
Intended status: Informational                                G. Dommety
Expires: May 6, 2009                                               Cisco
                                                        November 2, 2008

          Why Authentication Data suboption is needed for MIP6
                draft-ietf-mip6-whyauthdataoption-07.txt

Status of this Memo

   By submitting this Internet-Draft, each author represents that any
   applicable patent or other IPR claims of which he or she is aware
   have been or will be disclosed, and any of which he or she becomes
   aware will be disclosed, in accordance with Section 6 of 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/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt.

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

   This Internet-Draft will expire on May 6, 2009.

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                  [Page 1]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

Abstract

   Mobile IPv6 defines a set of signaling messages that enable the
   mobile node (MN) to authenticate and perform registration with its
   home agent (HA).  These authentication signaling messages between the
   mobile node and home agent are secured by an IPsec SA that is
   established between the MN and HA.  The MIP6 working group has
   specified a mechanism to secure the binding update and binding
   acknowledgement messages using an authentication option, similar to
   the authentication option in Mobile IPv4, carried within the
   signaling messages that are exchanged between the MN and HA to
   establish a binding.  This document provides the justifications as to
   why the authentication option mechanism was needed for Mobile IPv6
   deployment in certain environments.

Table of Contents

   1.  Conventions used in this document  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   2.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   3.  Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   4.  Applicability Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
   5.  Justification for the use of the authentication option . . . .  7
     5.1.  Motivation for use of authentication option in
           cdma2000 wireless networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     5.2.  Additional arguments for the use of Authentication
           option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
   6.  Application of Mobile IPv6 in CDMA Networks  . . . . . . . . . 11
     6.1.  IPv4 based mobility architecture in cdma2000 networks  . . 11
     6.2.  IPv6 based mobility architecture in cdma2000 networks  . . 12
       6.2.1.  Overview of the mobility operation in IPv6 based
               cdma2000 networks  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
       6.2.2.  Authentication and Security details  . . . . . . . . . 14
   7.  Limitations of the Authentication Protocol option  . . . . . . 17
   8.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
   9.  IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
   10. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
   11. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
   12. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
     12.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
     12.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
   Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
   Intellectual Property and Copyright Statements . . . . . . . . . . 26

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                  [Page 2]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

1.  Conventions used in this document

   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].

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                  [Page 3]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

2.  Introduction

   Mobile IPv6 relies on the IPsec Security Association between the
   Mobile Node (MN) and the Home Agent (HA) for authentication of the MN
   to its HA before a binding cache can be created at the HA.  An
   alternate mechanism that does not rely on the existence of the IPsec
   SA between the MN and HA for authenticating the MN is needed in
   certain deployment environments.  This document captures the reasons
   that were outlined, and explains why such a mechanism was considered
   essential to ensure the applicability of MIP6 as a protocol for wider
   deployment.  It was noted that the alternate solution does not imply
   that the IPsec based solution would be deprecated.  It simply meant
   that in certain deployment scenarios there was a need for supporting
   MIP6 without an IPsec SA between the MN and HA.  So the alternate
   solution would be in addition to the IPsec based mechanism specified
   in the base RFCs, RFC 3775 [RFC3775], RFC 3776 [RFC3776] and RFC 4877
   [RFC4877].  It was noted that some of the challenges of deploying
   MIP6 in certain types of networks arose from the dependence on IKE
   which did not integrate will with a AAA backend infrastructure.
   IKEv2 solves this problem.  However at the time of discussion on the
   need for the authentication protocol, the specification for using
   Mobile IPv6 Operation with IKEv2 and the revised IPsec Architecture
   [RFC4877] was still work in progress and as a result an alternative
   solution needed.  This document is intended to capture for archival
   purposes the reasoning behind the need for the authentication
   protocol which is specified in [RFC4285].  It should be noted that
   some of the arguments for justifying the specification of the
   authentication protocol have been made redundant as a result of the
   specification of Mobile IPv6 operation with IKEv2 [RFC4877].  However
   some of the arguments discussed in this document are still applicable
   and justify usage of the authentication protocol in certain
   deployment environments.

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                  [Page 4]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

3.  Background

   Mobile IPv6 signaling involves several messages.  These include:

   o  The Binding update/Binding ACK between the mobile node and the
      home agent.

   o  The route optimization signaling messages which include HoTI/Hot,
      CoTI/CoT and BU/BAck between the MN and CN.  HoTI and HoT
      signaling messages are routed through the MNs HA.

   o  Mobile prefix solicitation and advertisements between the MN and
      HA.

   o  Home agent discovery by MNs.

   The signaling messages between the MN and HA are secured using the
   IPsec SA that is established between these entities.  The exception
   to this are the messages involved in the home agent discovery
   process.  [RFC4877] specifies the establishment of the IPsec SA using
   IKEv2.

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                  [Page 5]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

4.  Applicability Statement

   The authentication option specified in the Authentication Protocol
   for MIP6 [RFC4285] provides a solution for MIP6 deployment in
   environments which an operator may not require IPsec based security
   for the signaling.  The reasons for an operator choosing to deploy
   MIP6 without mandating IPsec based security for signaling messages
   between the MN and HA could be many.  Some of these are for example:

   1.  Operators deploying MIP6 in cellular networks may consider IPsec
       and IKEv2 as adding overhead to the limited bandwidth over the
       air interface.  The overhead here is in terms of the bytes that
       IPsec and IKEv2 introduce to the signaling.

   2.  Operators may consider the number of messages between the MN and
       HA that are required to establish the IPsec SA as too many.  The
       number of transactions chew into the capacity of limited
       bandwidth air interfaces when MIP6 is used in such environments.
       It also adds additional latency to the establishment of the
       binding.

   3.  In many deployments the authentication credentials already exist
       in a AAA server.  These credentials are used for authenticating a
       user and authorizing network access.  The same credentials and
       security parameters can be reused for MIP6 security as well.

   4.  Dynamic assignment of home agents is needed in certain
       deployments to minmize the latency of the backhaul.  This is done
       by allocating an HA in a visited network for example.  Requiring
       IPsec SAs with home agents that are dynamically assigned is an
       overhead especially when the HA is in a visited network.

   5.  Signaling messages between the MN and HA may be in certain
       deployments over secure link-layers.  The lower layers provide
       ciphering and security for the messages and hence the need for
       IPsec to do the same for MIP6 messages does not exist.

   One such example of networks that have such characteristics are cdma
   networks as defined in the 3GPP2 X.S0011-002-D [3GPP2 X.S0011-002-D]
   specification.  Mobile WiMAX (Worldwide interoperability for
   Microwave Access) which is based on IEEE 802.16e also specifies in
   the network architecture the use of MIP6, with the default security
   for signaling being the authentication protocol (RFC4285).  The WiMAX
   network architecture specifications are available at: [WiMAX-NWG].

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                  [Page 6]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

5.  Justification for the use of the authentication option

   The following two sections provide the reasoning for standardizing
   the authentication option based registration process for Mobile IPv6.
   Section 5.1 provides the key arguments for the use of authentication
   option.  Section 5.2 provides further explanation and additional
   motivations for the authentication option.

5.1.  Motivation for use of authentication option in cdma2000 wireless
      networks

   cdma2000 networks deployed and operational today use Mobile IPv4 for
   IP mobility.  Operators have gained a significant amount of
   operational experience in the process of deploying and operating
   these networks. 3GPP2 has specified Mobile IPv6 in Revision D of the
   3GPP2 X.S0011-002-D [3GPP2 X.S0011-002-D] specification (which
   specifies the packet data architecture).  The following are the
   deployment constraints that existing CDMA networks have to deal with
   when deploying Mobility service based on IPv6:

   o  Operators intend to leverage the Mobile IPv4 deployment and
      operational experience by ensuring that Mobile IPv6 has a similar
      deployment and operating model.

   o  Operators will have two parallel networks, one that offers IPv4
      mobility with MIP4 and another providing IPv6 mobility using MIP6.

   o  The same backend subscriber profile database, security keys etc.
      are intended to be used for both Mobile IPv4 and, Mobile IPv6
      service.  However from a security standpoint, the reuse of the
      same keys with multiple algorithms/protocols is a bad idea.

   o  The same user configuration information, i.e the identity and keys
      associated with a user will be used for IP mobility service in
      IPv4 and/or IPv6 networks.  The only security association that is
      preconfigured is a shared secret between the mobile node and the
      home-AAA server.  This was in contrast with an earlier version of
      the Mobile IPv6 model which required an IPsec SA between the MN
      and HA.  At the time of this writing the IKEV2 based solution for
      establishing an IPsec SA [RFC4877] was not available.  IKEv2 does
      enable integration with a a AAA backend.

   o  At the time of specifying the authentication protocol, the Mobile
      IPv6 specification did not support the dynamic assignment of home
      agent and home address.  However work done in the MIP6 working
      group on bootstrapping of Mobile IPv6 as specified in [RFC5026]
      and MIP6-bootstrapping for the Integrated Scenario
      [I-D.ietf-mip6-bootstrapping-integrated-dhc] addresses this

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                  [Page 7]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

      deficiency.  The mechanism defined in Authentication protocol for
      Mobile IPv6 [RFC4285] is capable of handling authentication even
      in the case of dynamic assignments (and is similar to what is used
      in current MIPv4 deployments).

   Consequently, MIP6 as specified at the time the authentication
   protocol was being specifid did not satisfy many of the deployment
   requirements.  The Authentication protocol for MIP6 [RFC4285] along
   with the MN Identifier option for MIP6 [RFC4283] are enabling the
   deployment of Mobile IPv6 in a manner that is similar to what is
   deployed in cdma2000 networks today.  This authentication model is
   very similar to the one adopted by the MIPv4 WG.  This is explained
   in detail in the 3GPP2 X.S0011-002-D [3GPP2 X.S0011-002-D]
   specification.

   The earlier MIP6 deployment model which requires an IPsec SA which is
   either configured manually or established using IKE does not have
   synergy with the deployment models of 3GPP2 or WiMAX networks.  This
   issue has however been alleviated with the publication of RFC4877
   which enables the establishment of an IPsec SA using IKEv2 and is
   also able to integrate with the backend AAA infrastrucuture that is
   responsible for the authentication of the MN in 3GPP2 and WiMAX
   networks.

5.2.  Additional arguments for the use of Authentication option

   The use of IPsec for performing Registration with a home agent is not
   always an optimal solution.  While it is true that IPsec is an
   integral part of the IPv6 stack, it is still a considerable overhead
   from a deployment perspective of using IPsec as the security
   mechanism for the signaling messages between the MN and HA.  This
   statement is a result of experience gained from deployment of Mobile
   IPv4.  MIP4 does not rely on IPsec for securing the Registration
   signaling messages.

   Deployment of Mobile IPv6 on a large scale is possible only when the
   protocol is flexible for being adapted to various scenarios.  The
   scenario being considered is the deployment in cdma2000 net- works or
   WiMAX networks. cdma2000 networks are currently deployed in many
   countries today and WiMAX deployments are beginning.  The packet data
   network architecture of cdma2000 [3GPP2 X.S0011-002-D] includes a
   MIP4 foreign agent/Home agent and a Radius based AAA infrastrucutre
   for authentication, authorization and accounting purposes.  The AAA
   infrastructure provides the authentication capability in the case of
   Mobile IPv4.

   Typically, the Mobile Node shares a security association with the
   AAA-Home entity.  This is the preferred mode of operation over having

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                  [Page 8]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

   a shared secret between the MN and HA because the AAA-Home entity
   provides a central location for provisioning and administering the
   shared secrets for a large number of mobiles (millions).  This mode
   of operation also makes dynamic home address and dynamic home agent
   assignment easier.  A similar approach is needed for the deployment
   of Mobile IPv6 in these networks.  There is no practical mechanism to
   use IPsec directly with the AAA infrastructure with out the use of
   IKE or some other mechanism that enables the establishment of the
   IPsec SA between the MN and HA.

   Mobile IPv6 as specified in RFC3775 and RFC3776 is based on a very
   specific model for deployment.  It anticipates the Mobile nodes
   having a static home IPv6 address and a designated home agent.  This
   is not practical in most deployment scenarios being considered.  An
   IPsec SA is expected to be created, either via manual keying or
   established dynamically by using IKE or IKEv2.  These assumptions do
   not necessarily fit in very well for the deployment model envisioned
   in cdma2000 or WiMAX networks.  These limitations have however been
   overcome as a result of the bootstrapping specifications as per
   [RFC5026] and MIP6-bootstrapping for the Integrated Scenario
   [I-D.ietf-mip6-bootstrapping-integrated-dhc]

   cdma2000 and WiMAX networks would prefer to allocate home addresses
   to MNs on a dynamic basis.  The advantage of doing so is the fact
   that the HA can be assigned on a link that is close to the MNs point
   of attachment.  While route-optimization negates the benefit of
   having a home-agent on a link close to the MN, it cannot be always
   guaranteed that the MN and CN will use or support route optimization.
   There may also be instances where the operator prefers to not allow
   route optimization for various reasons such as accounting aggregation
   or enforcing service contracts.  In such cases an HA that is close to
   the MNs point of attachment reduces the issues of latency etc. of
   forward and reverse tunnelling of packets between the MN and HA.

   cdma2000 networks that are operational today have large numbers of
   subscribers who are authenticated via the AAA infrastrucure.
   Deployment of Mobile IPv6 should leverage the existing AAA
   infrastructure.  The security model needed in these networks is an SA
   between the MN and AAA-Home entity.  This is the primary security
   association that should be used for authenticating and authorizing
   users to utilize MIPv6 service.  This SA is then used for
   establishing session keys between the MN and the dynamically assigned
   HA for authenticating subsequent binding updates and binding
   acknowledgements between them.  Establishing an IPsec SA between the
   MN and HA using AAA infrastrucure was not specified for Mobile IPv6
   at the time the Authentication protocol was being specified.  RFC3776
   explains how IKE is used for establishing the SA between the MN and
   HA.  [RFC4877] has been published subsequently and hence the issue of

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                  [Page 9]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

   establishing an IPsec SA dynamically between the MN and HA no longer
   exists. cdma2000 network operators would prefer to assign home
   addresses to the MN on a dynamic basis and do this preferably using
   the AAA infrastrucutre which contains subscriber profile and
   capability information.  This was not possible prior to the
   specification of the bootstrapping mechanism in [RFC5026].

   A large subset of MNs in cdma2000 networks do not have IKE
   capability.  As a result the use of RFC3776 for setting up the MN-HA
   IPsec SA is not an option.  It should also be noted that IKE requires
   several transactions before it is able to establish the IPsec SA.
   [RFC4877] specifies the establishment of an IPsec SA between the MN
   and HA using IKEv2.  It is possible that not all MNs in a deployment
   will support IKEv2 and hence an alternative mechanism provides the
   needed flexibility.

   cdma2000 network operators are extremely conscious in terms of the
   number of messages sent and received over the air-interface for
   signaling.  The overhead associated with sending/receiving a large
   number of signaling messages over the air interface has a direct
   impact on the overall capacity and cost for the operator.
   Optimization of the number of messages needed for using a service
   like Mobile IPv6 is of great concern.  As a result the use of IKE for
   Mobile IPv6 deployment is considered as being suboptimal in certain
   network architectures and deployment scenarios from the perspective
   of message overhead.

   Another downside of IKE for setting up the IPsec SA between the MN
   and HA is that IKE does not integrate very well with the Radius based
   AAA back-end.  Since operators rely on the AAA infrastrucure to
   provision subscribers as well as define profiles, keys etc. in the
   AAA-Home, there is no getting away from the use of AAA in cdma2000
   networks.  IKEv2 does address this problem.  However from a timeline
   perspective the availability of IKEv2 specifications for Mobile IPv6
   Operation with IKEv2 and the revised IPsec Architecture [RFC4877] and
   implementations did not meet the need of operators that were relying
   on 3GPP2 specifications.  With the specification of IKEv2 and
   publication of RFC4877 the integration with AAA backends is no longer
   an issue.

   In summary the model of Mobile IPv6 deployment which mandated the
   existence of an IPsec SA between the MN and HA, as specified in RFCs
   3775 and 3776, was too rigid and did not meet the requirements of
   operators building networks based on the cdma2000 [3GPP2
   X.S0011-002-D] specifications.  To address this shortcoming, the
   authentication protocol [RFC4285] was specified.

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                 [Page 10]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

6.  Application of Mobile IPv6 in CDMA Networks

   Sections 6.1 and 6.2 describe the IPv4 based mobility architecture in
   cdma networks and IPv6 based mobility architecture in cdma Networks
   respectively.  For further details associated with the description
   below, please refer to Section 5, "MIP6 Operation", in 3GPP2
   specification [3GPP2 X.S0011-002-D].

6.1.  IPv4 based mobility architecture in cdma2000 networks

   The figure below shows a high level view of the key network elements
   that play a role in providing IP mobility using Mobile IPv4.

                 +--------------+           +----------------------+
                 |   +------+   |           |   +------+           |
                 |   |      |   |           |   |      |           |
                 |   |F-AAA |   |           |   |H-AAAH|           |
                 |   |      +-------------------+      |           |
                 |   +---+--+   |           |   +--+---+           |
                 |       |      |           |      |               |
                 |       |      |           |      |               |
      +------+   |   +---+--+   |           |   +--+---+           |
      |      |   |   |      |   |           |   |      |           |
      |  MN  +- -|- -+ PDSN + --  --  --  --  - +  HA  |           |
      |      |   |   |  /FA |   |           |   |      |           |
      +------+   |   +------+   |           |   +------+           |
                 |              |           |                      |
                 +--------------+           +----------------------+

   Figure 1: cdma2000 packet data network architecture with Mobile IPv4

   The cdma mobility architecture based on MIPv4 is explained below.  In
   this architecture, mobility is tightly integrated with the AAA
   infrastructure.  The Mobile is configured with a NAI (Network Access
   Identifier) and a MN-AAA Key. The MN-AAA key is a shared Key that is
   shared between the MN and the Home AAA server.

   Below is the access link setup procedure:

   (1)  Bring up PPP on MN/PDSN (access router link).  PPP
        authentication is skipped.  Mobile IP Authentication is
        performed via the FA.

   (2)  PDSN sends a Mobile IP challenge to the MN on PPP link (RFC
        3012).

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                 [Page 11]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

   (3)  MN sends a MIP registration request (RRQ), which includes the
        users NAI, challenge and a MN-AAA extension which has challenge
        response and a MN-HA extension which is generated based on the
        MN-HA key.

   (4)  PDSN extracts the MIP NAI/Challenge and response from MIP MN-AAA
        extension sends an Access Request to F-AAA (challenge/response
        using MD5).

   (5)  F-AAA may forward it to H-AAA if needed (based on realm).

   (6)  AAA authenticates the chap-challenge/response and returns
        "success" if authentication succeeds.

   (7)  PDSN forwards Registration Request (RRQ) to HA.

   (8)  HA authenticates the RRQ (MHAE extension).  HA may optionally
        authenticate with AAA infrastructure (just like PDSN as in #4).

   (9)  If authentication is successful, HA creates a binding and sends
        a success Registration Reply (RRP) to PDSN.

   (10) PDSN creates a visitor entry and forwards the RRP to MN.

6.2.  IPv6 based mobility architecture in cdma2000 networks

   Due to the need for co-existence with MIPv4, and having the same
   operational model, the 3GPP2 standards body is adopting the following
   mobility architecture for MIPv6.

                        Access Domain                  Home Domain
                  +--------------+           +----------------------+
                  |   +------+   |           |   +------+           |
                  |   |      |   |           |   |      |           |
                  |   |F-AAA |   |           |   |H-AAA |           |
                  |   |      +-------------------+      |           |
                  |   +---+--+   |           |   +--+---+           |
                  |       |      |           |      |               |
                  |       |      |           |      |               |
       +------+   |   +---+--+   |           |   +--+---+           |
       |      |   |   |      |   |           |   |      |           |
       |  MN  +- -|- -+ PDSN + --  --  --  --  - +  HA  |           |
       |      |   |   |  /AR |   |           |   |      |           |
       +------+   |   +------+   |           |   +------+           |
                  |              |           |                      |
                  +--------------+           +----------------------+

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                 [Page 12]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

   Figure 2: cdma2000 packet data network architecture with Mobile IPv6

   The Mobile is configured with an NAI (Network Access Identifier) and
   a MN-AAA Key. The MN-AAA key is a shared Key between the MN and the
   Home AAA server.

6.2.1.  Overview of the mobility operation in IPv6 based cdma2000
        networks

   The following steps explain at a very generic level the operation of
   IP mobility in cdma2000 networks:

   (1)  The MN performs Link Layer establishment.  This includes setting
        up the PPP link.  PPP-Chap authentication is performed.  This is
        authenticated by the PDSN/AR by sending an Access Request to the
        F-AAA (and to the H-AAA when/if needed).  Optionally, the MN
        acquires bootstrap information from the Home Network (via the
        PDSN; PDSN receives this information in Access Accept).  The
        bootstrap information includes Home address and Home agent
        assignment.  The MN uses stateless DHCPv6 [RFC3736] to obtain
        the bootstrap information from the PDSN.

   (2)  The MN begins to use the HoA that was assigned in step 1.  If no
        HoA was assigned at step 1, the MN generates (auto-configures)
        an IPv6 global unicast address based on the prefix information
        received at step 1.

   (3)  At this step the MN sends a Binding Update to the selected Home
        Agent.  In the BU, the MN includes the NAI option, timestamp
        option and MN-AAA auth option.

   (4)  The HA extracts the NAI, authenticator etc. from the BU and
        sends an access request to the Home RADIUS server.

   (5)  The Home RADIUS server authenticates and authorizes the user and
        sends back a RADIUS Access-Accept to the HA indicating
        successful authentication and authorization.

   (6)  At this step the HA performs a replay check with the ID field in
        the received BU.  The HA also performs proxy Duplicate Address
        Detection (DAD) on the MN's home address (global) using proxy
        Neighbor Solicitation as specified in RFC 2461.

   (7)  Assuming that proxy DAD is successful, the HA sends back a
        Binding Acknowledgment to the MN.  In this BA message the HA
        includes the MN-HA mobility option, NAI mobility option and the
        ID mobility option.

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                 [Page 13]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

6.2.2.  Authentication and Security details

   Access Link Setup, Access Authentication and Bootstrapping:

   (1)  MN brings up PPP session.  PDSN triggers the MN to perform CHAP
        authentication, as part of access authentication, while bringing
        up PPP link.

   (2)  The MN is authenticated using PPP-CHAP by the H-AAA (Home AAA),
        via the F-AAA (Foreign AAA).

   (3)  H-AAA may optionally send HoA and HA IP address to the PDSN for
        bootstrapping the MN (skipping details).

   Mobile IPv6 Authentication:

   The Call Flow for the initial authentication (the number in the
   parenthesis corresponds to the explanation below)

     MN                                    HA                    H-AAA
      |              BU to HA (4)           | RADIUS Access-ReQ(5)
      |------------------------------------>|------------------->|(6)
      | (includes NAI option, MN-ID option, |                    |
      | Mesg ID option, MN-AAA Auth Option) |RADIUS Access-Accept|(7)
      |
                                            |<-------------------|
      |                                     |                    |
      |                             HA/AAAH authenticates MN
      |
      |                                     |(8)
      |
      |                                     |
      |
      |              BA to MN    (9)        |
      |
      |<------------------------------------|--------------------|
      | (including MN-ID option,            | (10)
      |  Message ID option,                 |
      |  MN-HA auth options)                |                    |

             Figure 3: Flow diagram for initial authentication

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                 [Page 14]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

   (4)  MN sends Binding Update (BU) to the HA.  Binding Update is
        authenticated using MN-AAA option.  The authenticator in MN-AAA
        option is calculated using hash of BU and MN-AAA shared key.  It
        uses HMAC_SHA1 algorithm.  The SPI field in MN-AAA is set to 3
        (defined in the draft) BU also includes NAI and timestamp among
        other details.  The hash of BU includes the 'timestamp' option
        and thus provides proof of liveness to prevent replay.

   (5)  HA on receiving the BU, extracts the NAI, timestamp,
        authenticator from MN-AAA option and generates hash of BU.  HA
        sends an Access Request to the AAA and puts this information in
        3gpp2 defined VSAs (Vendor Specific Attributes).  The NAI is put
        in username in Access Request.  The other attributes sent are:
        timestamp option, hash of the BU (till SPI field of MN-AAA auth
        option) and the authentication data from MN-AAA auth option.

   (6)  AAA (Radius server which interprets these attributes),
        authenticates the MN based on the hash of BU and authenticator.
        Proceed to step 7

   (7)  AAA calculates a session key based on MN-AAA shared secret and
        timestamp and sends this to HA in Access-Accept (in a 3gpp2
        defined VSA).

   (8)  (skipping details for timestamp processing at HA) HA creates a
        binding and a security association per Authentication Protocol
        for MIP6 [RFC4285].  The key for this association is retrieved
        from Access Accept and is referred to as session key.  HA
        associates a fixed SPI of 5 with this SA and is associated with
        the binding for the MN

   (9)  HA sends a Binding Acknowledgement (BA) to the MN.  BA has the
        MN-HA authentication option, authenticated using the session
        key.  This option has the SPI set to 5.

   (10) On receiving a BA, MN calculates the session-key (using same
        method as AAA) and associates it with SPI value of 5.

   MN derives the session key and SA using the timestamp in the BU that
   the MN sent and the MN-AAA shared key.  The MN uses this key to
   authenticate the MN-HA option in Binding Ack. If authentication is
   successful, MN creates a security association with SPI=5.  This key
   is used to authenticate further BU to the HA using the MN-HA auth
   option.  Once the binding lifetime expires and binding is deleted,
   the binding as well as the security association based on the
   Integrity Key is removed at the MN and HA.

   Migration from MobileIPv4 to MobileIPv6 utilizes the same network

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                 [Page 15]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

   architecture and specially the same AAA infrastructure.  Thus, it is
   natural to have similar signaling in MIP6 as in MIP4, specifically
   the authentication with AAA infrastructure.

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                 [Page 16]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

7.  Limitations of the Authentication Protocol option

   While the authentication protocol as specified in [RFC4285] provides
   Mobile IPv6 [RFC3775] deployments a certain degree of flexibility it
   does have a few disadvantages as well.  These are:

   (1)  The route optimization feature specified in RFC3775 requires a
        secure transport (IPsec/ESP mode) between the MN and HA.  In
        cases where the authentication protocol (RFC4285) is used as the
        means for securing the MIP6 signaling between the MN and HA,
        route optimization should be switched off unless the security of
        the signaling between the MN and HA can be guaranteed via other
        means (such as link layer security in the case of 3GPP2
        networks).

   (2)  The MIP6 protocol is responsible for the security of the
        signaling messages as opposed to relying on IPsec for providing
        the security.

   (3)  In 3GPP2 networks, link-layer security mechanisms, ingress
        filtering at the PDSN, and various network domain security
        mechanisms largely ensure that reverse tunnelled packets
        received by the HA do not have spoofed source addresses, and
        their contents have not been modified.  This implies the HA can
        determine the specific MN which sent the packet simply by
        verifying the outer source IP address matches the currently
        registered care-of address.  Authentication of payload packets
        can be necessary for e.g.:

        -     Authenticating signalling messages other than BU/BAck
              between the MN and HA, such as ICMPv6, MLD, and DHCPv6.

        -     Enforcing access control to the network behind the HA.

        -     Accounting or other flow-specific processing performed by
              the HA.

              This means the authentication option is of limited
              applicability in environments where the HA can received
              reverse tunneled packets with spoofed source IP addresses
              and/or modified contents.

   (4)  As described in [RFC4285], the authentication option assumes
        that the MN-AAA shared key and security association are created
        by out-of-band mechanisms.  These mechanisms are specific to
        specific deployment environments.  IKEv2, on the other hand,
        supports a wide range of authentication mechanisms, such as
        certificates and EAP methods, and is independent of the access

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                 [Page 17]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

        network technology being used.  However, it would be possible to
        specify a similar authentication and key management protocol for
        the authentication option in the future.

   (5)  Sending the long-term user identity (NAI) in clear raises
        privacy concerns.  These concerns are addressed by access
        network and network domain security mechanisms in 3GPP2
        networks, but do limit the applicability in networks where
        sniffing other users' traffic is possible.

   (6)  RFC 4285 does not specify a mechanism for creating the MN-HA
        shared key and SA from the MN-AAA SA (unlike similar Mobile IPv4
        mechanisms defined in [RFC3957], and thus rely on deployment
        specific mechanisms not standardized in IETF.

   (7)  The authentication option does not support negotiation of
        cryptographic algorithms.

   (8)  The replay protection mechanisms in [RFC4285] rely on
        timestamps, and thus requires reasonably synchronized clocks (by
        default, +/- 7 seconds).  This assumes the MN implements, and is
        configured to use, some mechanism for synchronizing its clock.

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                 [Page 18]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

8.  Security Considerations

   When MIP6 signaling messages use IPsec with ESP encapsulation, they
   are accorded privacy on the links over which the messages traverse.
   When MIP6 signaling messages are secured using the authentication
   protocol, such ciphering capability will have to be enabled by the
   underlying link layers.  It should be noted that the MIP6 signaling
   messages are susceptible to snooping/sniffing when the authentication
   protocol [RFC4285] is used.  Route optimization messages need to be
   secured between the MN and HA and this is not possible with the
   authentication protocol.  Howver route optimization is not supported
   in the current specification of the authentication protocol in
   [RFC4285].

   Security issues with RFC4285 are specifically:

   1.  Key length.  This is being addressed in the 4285bis I-D
       [I-D.ietf-mip6-rfc4285bis] at the present time.

   2.  The keys used for securing the signaling between the MN and HA
       are derived from a security association that exists between the
       MN and AAA.  The MIP6 keys which are bootstrapped from the MN-AAA
       SA are transient.  Limiting the lifetime of the keys to shorter
       periods should be recommended.

   3.  Location privacy is an issue in the absence of lower layer
       security in the case of shared links.

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                 [Page 19]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

9.  IANA Considerations

   This document has no actions for IANA.

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                 [Page 20]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

10.  Conclusion

   Mobile IPv6 has been published as a standards track RFC [RFC3775] in
   2004.  Deployment of this protocol on a large scale is in the
   interest of the IETF and the working group as well as that of many
   people who have worked on this.  A rigid model for deployment will
   cause the protocol to be limited to an academic exercise only.  It is
   extremely critical that the working group consider the needs of the
   industry and the deployment scenarios and address them accordingly.
   This document captures the reasoning behind the need for the
   authentication protocol which has been published as RFC 4285.
   RFC4877 has alleviated some of the issues that have been of primary
   concern and motivators for the authentication protocol.  However the
   IETF should consider the architectures of networks such as 3GPP2 and
   WiMAX and their security models and enable deployment of Mobile IPv6
   without requiring IPsec.

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                 [Page 21]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

11.  Acknowledgements

   The authors would like to thank Alpesh Patel, AC Mahendra, Kuntal
   Chowdhury and Vijay Devarapalli for their input and discussions.
   Jari Arkko has reviewed the ID and provided valuable feedback.
   Thomas Narten has provided valuable reviews and made significant
   improvements to the text in this document.  In his role as the IETF
   liaison to 3GPP2, Thomas Narten has ensured that the IETF understands
   the 3GPP2 requirements.  Pasi Eronen in his role as the Security AD
   has reviewed and helped improve the document.  Vidya Narayanan has
   reviewed the document from a security directorate perspective and
   provided input that has been incorporated.

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                 [Page 22]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

12.  References

12.1.  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement  Levels", RFC 2119, March 1997,
              <ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2119>.

   [RFC3775]  Johnson, D., Perkins, C., and J. Arkko, "Mobility Support
              in IPv6", RFC 3775, June 2004.

   [RFC3776]  Arkko, J., Devarapalli, V., and F. Dupont, "Using IPsec to
              Protect Mobile IPv6 Signaling Between Mobile Nodes and
              Home Agents", RFC 3776, June 2004.

   [RFC3736]  Droms, R., "Stateless Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
              (DHCP) Service for IPv6", RFC 3736, April 2004.

   [RFC4283]  Patel, A., Leung, K., Khalil, M., Akhtar, H., and K.
              Chowdhury, "Mobile Node Identifier Option for Mobile IPv6
              (MIPv6)", RFC 4283, November 2005.

   [I-D.ietf-mip6-rfc4285bis]
              Patel, A., Leung, K., Khalil, M., Akhtar, H., and K.
              Chowdhury, "Authentication Protocol for Mobile IPv6",
              draft-ietf-mip6-rfc4285bis-03 (work in progress),
              July 2008.

12.2.  Informative References

   [RFC4285]  Patel, A., Leung, K., Khalil, M., Akhtar, H., and K.
              Chowdhury, "Authentication Protocol for Mobile IPv6",
              RFC 4285, January 2006.

   [RFC4877]  Devarapalli, V. and F. Dupont, "Mobile IPv6 Operation with
              IKEv2 and the Revised IPsec Architecture", RFC 4877,
              April 2007.

   [RFC5026]  Giaretta, G., Kempf, J., and V. Devarapalli, "Mobile IPv6
              Bootstrapping in Split Scenario", RFC 5026, October 2007.

   [RFC3957]  Perkins, C. and P. Calhoun, "Authentication,
              Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) Registration Keys for
              Mobile IPv4", RFC 3957, March 2005.

   [I-D.ietf-mip6-bootstrapping-integrated-dhc]
              Chowdhury, K. and A. Yegin, "MIP6-bootstrapping for the
              Integrated Scenario",

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                 [Page 23]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

              draft-ietf-mip6-bootstrapping-integrated-dhc-06 (work in
              progress), April 2008.

   [3GPP2 X.S0011-002-D]
              "3GPP2 X.S0011-002-D "cdma2000 Wireless IP Network
              Standard: Simple IP and Mobile IP Access Services; http://
              www.3gpp2.org/Public_html/specs/
              X.S0011-002-D_v1.0_060301.pdf "", February 2006.

   [WiMAX-NWG]
              "WiMAX End-to-End Network Systems Architecture http://
              www.wimaxforum.org/technology/documents/
              WiMAX_Forum_Network_Architecture_Stage_2-3_Rel_1v1.2.zip",
              May 2008.

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                 [Page 24]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

Authors' Addresses

   Basavaraj Patil
   Nokia
   6021 Connection Drive
   Irving, TX  75039
   USA

   Email: basavaraj.patil@nokia.com

   Gopal Dommety
   Cisco
   170 West Tasman Drive
   San Jose, CA  95134
   USA

   Email: gdommety@cisco.com

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                 [Page 25]
Internet-Draft        Why authdata option for MIP6         November 2008

Full Copyright Statement

   Copyright (C) The IETF Trust (2008).

   This document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions
   contained in BCP 78, and except as set forth therein, the authors
   retain all their rights.

   This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
   "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS
   OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY, THE IETF TRUST AND
   THE INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS
   OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF
   THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED
   WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Intellectual Property

   The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
   Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to
   pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
   this document or the extent to which any license under such rights
   might or might not be available; nor does it represent that it has
   made any independent effort to identify any such rights.  Information
   on the procedures with respect to rights in RFC documents can be
   found in BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any
   assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an
   attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use of
   such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this
   specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository at
   http://www.ietf.org/ipr.

   The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
   copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary
   rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement
   this standard.  Please address the information to the IETF at
   ietf-ipr@ietf.org.

Patil & Dommety            Expires May 6, 2009                 [Page 26]