Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) Early Authentication Problem Statement
RFC 5836

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Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                           Y. Ohba
Request for Comments: 5836                                       Toshiba
Category: Informational                                       Q. Wu, Ed.
ISSN: 2070-1721                                                   Huawei
                                                            G. Zorn, Ed.
                                                             Network Zen
                                                              April 2010

                Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP)
                 Early Authentication Problem Statement

Abstract

   Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) early authentication may be
   defined as the use of EAP by a mobile device to establish
   authenticated keying material on a target attachment point prior to
   its arrival.  This document discusses the EAP early authentication
   problem in detail.

Status of This Memo

   This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
   published for informational purposes.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
   received public review and has been approved for publication by the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Not all documents
   approved by the IESG are a candidate for any level of Internet
   Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 5741.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5836.

Ohba, et al.                  Informational                     [Page 1]
RFC 5836                 Early Authentication PS              April 2010

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2010 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
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   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
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   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.

Ohba, et al.                  Informational                     [Page 2]
RFC 5836                 Early Authentication PS              April 2010

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ....................................................3
   2. Terminology .....................................................4
   3. Problem Statement ...............................................6
      3.1. Handover Preparation .......................................6
      3.2. Handover Execution .........................................6
           3.2.1. Examples ............................................7
      3.3. Solution Space .............................................7
           3.3.1. Context Transfer ....................................7
           3.3.2. Early Authentication ................................8
   4. System Overview .................................................8
   5. Topological Classification of Handover Scenarios ................9
   6. Models of Early Authentication .................................10
      6.1. EAP Pre-Authentication Usage Models .......................10
           6.1.1. The Direct Pre-Authentication Model ................11
           6.1.2. The Indirect Pre-Authentication Usage Model ........11
      6.2. The Authenticated Anticipatory Keying Usage Model .........13
   7. Architectural Considerations ...................................13
      7.1. Authenticator Discovery ...................................13
      7.2. Context Binding ...........................................14
   8. AAA Issues .....................................................14
   9. Security Considerations ........................................16
   10. Acknowledgments ...............................................17