Secure Shell Working Group                                   J. Schlyter
Internet-Draft                                      Carlstedt Research &
Expires: September 23, 2003                                   Technology
                                                              W. Griffin
                                         Network Associates Laboratories
                                                          March 25, 2003


           Using DNS to securely publish SSH key fingerprints
                      draft-ietf-secsh-dns-03.txt

Status of this Memo

   This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with
   all provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026.

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   This Internet-Draft will expire on September 23, 2003.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003). All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This document describes a method to verify SSH host keys using
   DNSSEC. The document defines a new DNS resource record that contains
   a standard SSH key fingerprint.










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Table of Contents

   1.    Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   2.    SSH Host Key Verification  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   2.1   Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   2.2   Implementation Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   2.3   Fingerprint Matching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   2.4   Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   3.    The SSHFP Resource Record  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   3.1   The SSHFP RDATA Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   3.1.1 Algorithm Number Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   3.1.2 Fingerprint Type Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   3.1.3 Fingerprint  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   3.2   Presentation Format of the SSHFP RR  . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   4.    Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   5.    IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
         Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
         Informational References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
         Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
   A.    Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
         Intellectual Property and Copyright Statements . . . . . . . 10






























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1. Introduction

   The SSH [5] protocol provides secure remote login and other secure
   network services over an insecure network.  The security of the
   connection relies on the server authenticating itself to the client.

   Server authentication is normally done by presenting the fingerprint
   of an unknown public key to the user for verification. If the user
   decides the fingerprint is correct and accepts the key, the key is
   saved locally and used for verification for all following
   connections.  While some security-conscious users do verify the
   fingerprint out-of-band before accepting the key, the average user
   usually blindly accepts the key presented.

   The method described here can provide out-of-band verification by
   looking up a fingerprint of the server public key in the DNS [1][2]
   and using DNSSEC [4] to verify the lookup.

   In order to distribute the fingerprint using DNS, this document
   defines a new DNS resource record to carry the fingerprint.

   Basic understanding of the DNS system [1][2] and the DNS security
   extensions [4] is assumed by 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 [3].

2. SSH Host Key Verification

2.1 Method

   Upon connection to a SSH server, the SSH client MAY look up the SSHFP
   resource record(s) for the host it is connecting to.  If the
   algorithm and fingerprint of the key received from the SSH server
   matches the algorithm and fingerprint of one of the SSHFP resource
   record(s) returned from DNS, the client MAY accept the identity of
   the server.

2.2 Implementation Notes

   Client implementors SHOULD provide a configurable policy used to
   select the order of methods used to verify a host key and which
   fingerprints to trust ultimately, after user confirmation or not at
   all.

   One specific scenario for having a configurable policy is where
   clients use unqualified host names to connect to servers. In this



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   scenario, the implementation SHOULD verify the host key against a
   local database before verifying the key via the fingerprint returned
   from DNS. This would help prevent an attacker from injecting a DNS
   search path into the local resolver and forcing the client to connect
   to a different host.

2.3 Fingerprint Matching

   The public key and the SSHFP resource record are matched together by
   comparing algorithm number and fingerprint.

2.4 Authentication

   A public key verified using this method MUST only be trusted if the
   SSHFP RR used for verification was authenticated by a trusted SIG RR.

   Clients that do not validate the DNSSEC signatures themselves MUST
   use a secure transport, e.g. TSIG [8], SIG(0) [9] or IPsec [7],
   between themselves and the entity performing the signature
   validation.

3. The SSHFP Resource Record

   The SSHFP resource record (RR) is used to store a fingerprint of a
   SSH public host key that is associated with a Domain Name System
   (DNS) name.

   The RR type code for the SSHFP RR is TBA.

3.1 The SSHFP RDATA Format

   The RDATA for a SSHFP RR consists of an algorithm number, fingerprint
   type and the fingerprint of the public host key.

         1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3
         0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
         +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
         |   algorithm   |    fp type    |                               /
         +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                               /
         /                                                               /
         /                          fingerprint                          /
         /                                                               /
         +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+


3.1.1 Algorithm Number Specification

   This algorithm number octet describes the algorithm of the public



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   key.  The following values are assigned:

          Value    Algorithm name
          -----    --------------
          0        reserved
          1        RSA
          2        DSS

   Reserving other types requires IETF consensus.

3.1.2 Fingerprint Type Specification

   The fingerprint type octet describes the message-digest algorithm
   used to calculate the fingerprint of the public key.  The following
   values are assigned:

          Value    Fingerprint type
          -----    ----------------
          0        reserved
          1        SHA-1

   Reserving other types requires IETF consensus.  For interoperability
   reasons, as few fingerprint types as possible should be reserved.
   The only reason to reserve additional types is to increase security.

3.1.3 Fingerprint

   The fingerprint is calculated over the public key blob as described
   in [6].

3.2 Presentation Format of the SSHFP RR

   The presentation format of the SSHFP resource record consists of two
   numbers (algorithm and fingerprint type) followed by the fingerprint
   itself presented in hex, e.g:

         host.example.  SSHFP 2 1 123456789abcdef67890123456789abcdef67890


4. Security Considerations

   Currently, the amount of trust a user can realistically place in a
   server key is proportional to the amount of attention paid to
   verifying that the key presented is actually the key at the server.
   If a user accepts a key without verifying the fingerprint with
   something learned through a secured channel, the connection is
   vulnerable to a man-in-the-middle attack.




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   The approach suggested here shifts the burden of key checking from
   each user of a machine to the key checking performed by the
   administrator of the DNS recursive server used to resolve the host
   information.  Hopefully, by reducing the number of times that keys
   need to be verified by hand, each verification is performed more
   completely.  Furthermore, by requiring an administrator do the
   checking, the result may be more reliable than placing this task in
   the hands of an application user.

   The overall security of using SSHFP for SSH host key verification is
   dependent on detailed aspects of how verification is done in SSH
   implementations.  One such aspect is in which order fingerprints are
   looked up (e.g. first checking local file and then SSHFP).  We note
   that in addition to protecting the first-time transfer of host keys,
   SSHFP can optionally be used for stronger host key protection.

      If SSHFP is checked first, new SSH host keys may be distributed by
      replacing the corresponding SSHFP in DNS.

      If SSH host key verification can be configured to require SSHFP,
      we can implement SSH host key revocation by removing the
      corresponding SSHFP from DNS.

   As stated in Section 2.2, we recommend that SSH implementors provide
   a policy mechanism to control the order of methods used for host key
   verification. One specific scenario for having a configurable policy
   is where clients use unqualified host names to connect to servers. In
   this case, we recommend that SSH implementations check the host key
   against a local database before verifying the key via the fingerprint
   returned from DNS. This would help prevent an attacker from injecting
   a DNS search path into the local resolver and forcing the client to
   connect to a different host.

   A different approach to solve the DNS search path issue would be for
   clients to use a trusted DNS search path, i.e., one not acquired
   through DHCP or other autoconfiguration mechanisms. Since there is no
   way with current DNS lookup APIs to tell whether a search path is
   from a trusted source, the entire client system would need to be
   configured with this trusted DNS search path.

   Another dependency is on the implementation of DNSSEC itself.  As
   stated in Section 2.4, we mandate the use of secure methods for
   lookup and that SSHFP RRs are authenticated by trusted SIG RRs.  This
   is especially important if SSHFP is to be used as a basis for host
   key rollover and/or revocation, as described above.

   Since DNSSEC only protects the integrity of the host key fingerprint
   after it is signed by the DNS zone administrator, the fingerprint



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   must be transferred securely from the SSH host administrator to the
   DNS zone administrator.  This could be done manually between the
   administrators or automatically using secure DNS dynamic update [10]
   between the SSH server and the nameserver.  We note that this is no
   different from other key enrollment situations, e.g. a client sending
   a certificate request to a certificate authority for signing.

5. IANA Considerations

   IANA needs to allocate a RR type code for SSHFP from the standard RR
   type space (type 44 requested).

   IANA needs to open a new registry for the SSHFP RR type for public
   key algorithms.  Defined types are:

         0 is reserved
         1 is RSA
         2 is DSA

    Adding new reservations requires IETF consensus.

   IANA needs to open a new registry for the SSHFP RR type for
   fingerprint types.  Defined types are:

         0 is reserved
         1 is SHA-1

    Adding new reservations requires IETF consensus.

Normative References

   [1]  Mockapetris, P., "Domain names - concepts and facilities", STD
        13, RFC 1034, November 1987.

   [2]  Mockapetris, P., "Domain names - implementation and
        specification", STD 13, RFC 1035, November 1987.

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

   [4]  Eastlake, D., "Domain Name System Security Extensions", RFC
        2535, March 1999.

   [5]  Rinne, T., Ylonen, T., Kivinen, T. and S. Lehtinen, "SSH
        Protocol Architecture", draft-ietf-secsh-architecture-13 (work
        in progress), September 2002.

   [6]  Rinne, T., Ylonen, T., Kivinen, T., Saarinen, M. and S.



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        Lehtinen, "SSH Transport Layer Protocol",
        draft-ietf-secsh-transport-15 (work in progress), September
        2002.

Informational References

   [7]   Thayer, R., Doraswamy, N. and R. Glenn, "IP Security Document
         Roadmap", RFC 2411, November 1998.

   [8]   Vixie, P., Gudmundsson, O., Eastlake, D. and B. Wellington,
         "Secret Key Transaction Authentication for DNS (TSIG)", RFC
         2845, May 2000.

   [9]   Eastlake, D., "DNS Request and Transaction Signatures (
         SIG(0)s)", RFC 2931, September 2000.

   [10]  Wellington, B., "Secure Domain Name System (DNS) Dynamic
         Update", RFC 3007, November 2000.


Authors' Addresses

   Jakob Schlyter
   Carlstedt Research & Technology
   Stora Badhusgatan 18-20
   Goteborg  SE-411 21
   Sweden

   EMail: jakob@crt.se
   URI:   http://www.crt.se/~jakob/


   Wesley Griffin
   Network Associates Laboratories
   15204 Omega Drive Suite 300
   Rockville, MD  20850
   USA

   EMail: wgriffin@tislabs.com
   URI:   http://www.nailabs.com/

Appendix A. Acknowledgements

   The authors gratefully acknowledges, in no particular order, the
   contributions of the following persons:

      Martin Fredriksson




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      Olafur Gudmundsson

      Edward Lewis

      Bill Sommerfeld














































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