Skip to main content

Security of Messages Exchanged Between Servers and Relay Agents
draft-volz-dhc-relay-server-security-01

The information below is for an old version of the document.
Document Type
This is an older version of an Internet-Draft whose latest revision state is "Replaced".
Authors Bernie Volz , Yogendra Pal
Last updated 2016-09-07 (Latest revision 2016-06-21)
Replaced by draft-ietf-dhc-relay-server-security, RFC 8213
RFC stream Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
Formats
Additional resources Mailing list discussion
Stream WG state Candidate for WG Adoption
Document shepherd (None)
IESG IESG state I-D Exists
Consensus boilerplate Unknown
Telechat date (None)
Responsible AD (None)
Send notices to (None)
draft-volz-dhc-relay-server-security-01
Network Working Group                                            B. Volz
Internet-Draft                                             Cisco Systems
Updates: 1542, 3315 (if approved)                                 Y. Pal
Intended status: Standards Track                     Cisco Systems, Inc.
Expires: December 23, 2016                                 June 21, 2016

    Security of Messages Exchanged Between Servers and Relay Agents
              draft-volz-dhc-relay-server-security-01.txt

Abstract

   The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for IPv4 (DHCPv4) has no
   guidance for how to secure messages exchanged between servers and
   relay agents.  The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for IPv6
   (DHCPv6) states that IPsec should be used to secure messages
   exchanged between servers and relay agents, but does not recommend
   encryption.  And, with recent concerns about pervasive monitoring it
   is appropriate to provide recommendations for DHCPv4 and also improve
   the recommendations for DHCPv6.  This document updates RFC1542 and
   RFC3315.

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 http://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 December 23, 2016.

Copyright Notice

   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

Volz & Pal              Expires December 23, 2016               [Page 1]
Internet-Draft         DHCP Relay/Server Security              June 2016

   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.

   This document may contain material from IETF Documents or IETF
   Contributions published or made publicly available before November
   10, 2008.  The person(s) controlling the copyright in some of this
   material may not have granted the IETF Trust the right to allow
   modifications of such material outside the IETF Standards Process.
   Without obtaining an adequate license from the person(s) controlling
   the copyright in such materials, this document may not be modified
   outside the IETF Standards Process, and derivative works of it may
   not be created outside the IETF Standards Process, except to format
   it for publication as an RFC or to translate it into languages other
   than English.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  Security of Messages Exchanged Between Servers and Relay
       Agents  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   4.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   5.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   6.  Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   7.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     7.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     7.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7

1.  Introduction

   The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for IPv4 (DHCPv4) [RFC2131]
   and [RFC1542] has no guidance for how to secure messages exchanged
   between servers and relay agents.  The Dynamic Host Configuration
   Protocol for IPv6 (DHCPv6) [RFC3315] states that IPsec should be used
   to secure messages exchanged between servers and relay agents, but
   does not recommend encryption.  And, with recent concerns about
   pervasive monitoring [RFC7258], it is appropriate to provide
   recommendations for DHCPv4 and also improve the recommendations for
   DHCPv6.

Volz & Pal              Expires December 23, 2016               [Page 2]
Internet-Draft         DHCP Relay/Server Security              June 2016

2.  Terminology

   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
   [RFC2119].

   This document uses terminology from [RFC1542], [RFC2131], and
   [RFC3315].

3.  Security of Messages Exchanged Between Servers and Relay Agents

   The following text replaces the text in RFC3315 section 21.1 and also
   applies to DHCPv4 (RFC1542).  This revised text essentially adds
   encryption as relay agents may forward unencrypted client messages as
   well as include additional sensitive information, such as vendor-
   specific information (for example, [CableLabs-DHCP]) and [RFC7839].
   While IPsec is not mandated for relay to relay, relay to server, and
   server to relay communication, it is highly recommended unless some
   other security mechanisms are already in place (such as VPN tunnels)
   that protect this potentially sensitive traffic from pervasive
   monitoring.

   Relay agents and servers that exchange messages securely use the
   IPsec mechanisms for IPv6 [RFC4301].  If a client message is relayed
   through multiple relay agents, each of the relay agents must have
   established independent, pairwise trust relationships.  That is, if
   messages from client C will be relayed by relay agent A to relay
   agent B and then to the server, relay agents A and B must be
   configured to use IPsec for the messages they exchange, and relay
   agent B and the server must be configured to use IPsec for the
   messages they exchange.

   Selectors               Relay agents are manually configured with the
                           addresses of the relay agent or server to
                           which DHCP messages are to be forwarded.
                           Each relay agent and server that will be
                           using IPsec for securing DHCP messages must
                           also be configured with a list of the relay
                           agents to which messages will be returned.
                           The selectors for the relay agents and
                           servers will be the pairs of addresses
                           defining relay agents and servers and the
                           direction of DHCP message exchange on DHCPv4
                           UDP port 67 or DHCPv6 UDP port 547.

Volz & Pal              Expires December 23, 2016               [Page 3]
Internet-Draft         DHCP Relay/Server Security              June 2016

   Mode                    Relay agents and servers MUST use IPsec in
                           transport mode and Encapsulating Security
                           Payload (ESP).

   Encryption and authentication algorithms
                           This document recommends combined mode
                           algorithms for ESP authenticated encryption,
                           ESP encryption algorithms, and ESP
                           authentication algorithms as per section 2.1,
                           2.2, and 2.3 of [RFC7321] respectively.
                           Encryption is recommended as relay agents may
                           forward unencrypted client messages as well
                           as include additional sensitive information,
                           such as vendor-specific information (for
                           example, [CableLabs-DHCP]) and [RFC7839].

   Key management          Because the relay agents and servers are used
                           within an organization, public key schemes
                           are not necessary.  Because the relay agents
                           and servers must be manually configured,
                           manually configured key management may
                           suffice, but does not provide defense against
                           replayed messages.  Accordingly, IKE with
                           preshared secrets SHOULD be supported.  IKE
                           with public keys MAY be supported.

   Security policy         DHCP messages between relay agents and
                           servers should only be accepted from DHCP
                           peers as identified in the local
                           configuration.

   Authentication          Shared keys, indexed to the source IP address
                           of the received DHCP message, are adequate in
                           this application.

   Availability            Appropriate IPsec implementations are likely
                           to be available for servers and for relay
                           agents in more full featured devices used in
                           enterprise and core ISP networks.  IPsec is
                           less likely to be available for relay agents
                           in low end devices primarily used in the home
                           or small office markets.

4.  Security Considerations

   This entire document is about security considerations and thus there
   is little else to add in this particular section.

Volz & Pal              Expires December 23, 2016               [Page 4]
Internet-Draft         DHCP Relay/Server Security              June 2016

   As this document addresses securing messages exchanged between relay
   agents and servers, the message exchanges between clients and the
   first hop relay agent or server are not secured.  Clients may follow
   the recommendations in [RFC7844] to minimize what information they
   expose or make use of [I-D.ietf-dhc-sedhcpv6] to secure communication
   between the client and server.

   As mentioned in [RFC4552] section 14, the following are known
   limitations of the usage of manual keys:

   o  As the sequence numbers cannot be negotiated, replay protection
      cannot be provided.  This leaves DHCP insecure against all the
      attacks that can be performed by replaying DHCP packets.

   o  Manual keys are usually long lived (changing them often is a
      tedious task).  This gives an attacker enough time to discover the
      keys.

   It should be noted if the recommendations in this document are
   followed, while the DHCP traffic on the wire between relays and
   servers is encrypted, the unencrypted data may still be available
   through other attacks on the DHCP servers, relays, and related
   systems.  Securing these systems and the data in databases and logs
   also needs to be considered - on the systems themselves and if
   transferred over a network (i.e., to network attached storage, for
   backups, or to operational support systems).

   Use of IPsec as described herein is also applicable to Lightweight
   DHCPv6 Relay Agents [RFC6221], as they have a link-local address
   which can be used to secure communication with their next hop
   relay(s).

5.  IANA Considerations

   This document has no requests of the fantastic IANA team.

6.  Acknowledgments

   The motivation for this document was several IESG discusses on recent
   DHCP relay agent options.

   Thanks to Kim Kinnear and Jinmei Tatuya for reviewing drafts and
   helping to improve the document.  And, thanks to the authors of
   [RFC3315] for the original Section 21.1 text.

Volz & Pal              Expires December 23, 2016               [Page 5]
Internet-Draft         DHCP Relay/Server Security              June 2016

7.  References

7.1.  Normative References

   [RFC1542]  Wimer, W., "Clarifications and Extensions for the
              Bootstrap Protocol", RFC 1542, DOI 10.17487/RFC1542,
              October 1993, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1542>.

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

   [RFC2131]  Droms, R., "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol",
              RFC 2131, DOI 10.17487/RFC2131, March 1997,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2131>.

   [RFC3315]  Droms, R., Ed., Bound, J., Volz, B., Lemon, T., Perkins,
              C., and M. Carney, "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
              for IPv6 (DHCPv6)", RFC 3315, DOI 10.17487/RFC3315, July
              2003, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3315>.

   [RFC4301]  Kent, S. and K. Seo, "Security Architecture for the
              Internet Protocol", RFC 4301, DOI 10.17487/RFC4301,
              December 2005, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4301>.

   [RFC7321]  McGrew, D. and P. Hoffman, "Cryptographic Algorithm
              Implementation Requirements and Usage Guidance for
              Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) and Authentication
              Header (AH)", RFC 7321, DOI 10.17487/RFC7321, August 2014,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7321>.

7.2.  Informative References

   [CableLabs-DHCP]
              "CableLabs' DHCP Options Registry",
              <http://www.cablelabs.com/specification/
              cablelabs-dhcp-options-registry-2/>.

   [I-D.ietf-dhc-sedhcpv6]
              Jiang, S., Li, L., Cui, Y., Jinmei, T., Lemon, T., and D.
              Zhang, "Secure DHCPv6", draft-ietf-dhc-sedhcpv6-12 (work
              in progress), April 2016.

   [RFC4552]  Gupta, M. and N. Melam, "Authentication/Confidentiality
              for OSPFv3", RFC 4552, DOI 10.17487/RFC4552, June 2006,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4552>.

Volz & Pal              Expires December 23, 2016               [Page 6]
Internet-Draft         DHCP Relay/Server Security              June 2016

   [RFC6221]  Miles, D., Ed., Ooghe, S., Dec, W., Krishnan, S., and A.
              Kavanagh, "Lightweight DHCPv6 Relay Agent", RFC 6221,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC6221, May 2011,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6221>.

   [RFC7258]  Farrell, S. and H. Tschofenig, "Pervasive Monitoring Is an
              Attack", BCP 188, RFC 7258, DOI 10.17487/RFC7258, May
              2014, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7258>.

   [RFC7839]  Bhandari, S., Gundavelli, S., Grayson, M., Volz, B., and
              J. Korhonen, "Access-Network-Identifier Option in DHCP",
              RFC 7839, DOI 10.17487/RFC7839, June 2016,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7839>.

   [RFC7844]  Huitema, C., Mrugalski, T., and S. Krishnan, "Anonymity
              Profiles for DHCP Clients", RFC 7844,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC7844, May 2016,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7844>.

Authors' Addresses

   Bernie Volz
   Cisco Systems, Inc.
   1414 Massachusetts Ave
   Boxborough, MA  01719
   USA

   Email: volz@cisco.com

   Yogendra Pal
   Cisco Systems, Inc.
   Cessna Business Park,
   Varthur Hobli, Outer Ring Road,
   Bangalore, Karnataka  560103
   India

   Email: yogpal@cisco.com

Volz & Pal              Expires December 23, 2016               [Page 7]