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diff --git a/doc/rfc/rfc4718.txt b/doc/rfc/rfc4718.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..35ad698 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/rfc/rfc4718.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3251 @@ + + + + + + +Network Working Group P. Eronen +Request for Comments: 4718 Nokia +Category: Informational P. Hoffman + VPN Consortium + October 2006 + + + IKEv2 Clarifications and Implementation Guidelines + +Status of This Memo + + This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does + not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this + memo is unlimited. + +Copyright Notice + + Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006). + +Abstract + + This document clarifies many areas of the IKEv2 specification. It + does not to introduce any changes to the protocol, but rather + provides descriptions that are less prone to ambiguous + interpretations. The purpose of this document is to encourage the + development of interoperable implementations. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 1] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + +Table of Contents + + 1. Introduction ....................................................4 + 2. Creating the IKE_SA .............................................4 + 2.1. SPI Values in IKE_SA_INIT Exchange .........................4 + 2.2. Message IDs for IKE_SA_INIT Messages .......................5 + 2.3. Retransmissions of IKE_SA_INIT Requests ....................5 + 2.4. Interaction of COOKIE and INVALID_KE_PAYLOAD ...............6 + 2.5. Invalid Cookies ............................................8 + 3. Authentication ..................................................9 + 3.1. Data Included in AUTH Payload Calculation ..................9 + 3.2. Hash Function for RSA Signatures ...........................9 + 3.3. Encoding Method for RSA Signatures ........................10 + 3.4. Identification Type for EAP ...............................11 + 3.5. Identity for Policy Lookups When Using EAP ................11 + 3.6. Certificate Encoding Types ................................12 + 3.7. Shared Key Authentication and Fixed PRF Key Size ..........12 + 3.8. EAP Authentication and Fixed PRF Key Size .................13 + 3.9. Matching ID Payloads to Certificate Contents ..............13 + 3.10. Message IDs for IKE_AUTH Messages ........................14 + 4. Creating CHILD_SAs .............................................14 + 4.1. Creating SAs with the CREATE_CHILD_SA Exchange ............14 + 4.2. Creating an IKE_SA without a CHILD_SA .....................16 + 4.3. Diffie-Hellman for First CHILD_SA .........................16 + 4.4. Extended Sequence Numbers (ESN) Transform .................17 + 4.5. Negotiation of ESP_TFC_PADDING_NOT_SUPPORTED ..............17 + 4.6. Negotiation of NON_FIRST_FRAGMENTS_ALSO ...................18 + 4.7. Semantics of Complex Traffic Selector Payloads ............18 + 4.8. ICMP Type/Code in Traffic Selector Payloads ...............19 + 4.9. Mobility Header in Traffic Selector Payloads ..............20 + 4.10. Narrowing the Traffic Selectors ..........................20 + 4.11. SINGLE_PAIR_REQUIRED .....................................21 + 4.12. Traffic Selectors Violating Own Policy ...................21 + 4.13. Traffic Selector Authorization ...........................22 + 5. Rekeying and Deleting SAs ......................................23 + 5.1. Rekeying SAs with the CREATE_CHILD_SA Exchange ............23 + 5.2. Rekeying the IKE_SA vs. Reauthentication ..................24 + 5.3. SPIs When Rekeying the IKE_SA .............................25 + 5.4. SPI When Rekeying a CHILD_SA ..............................25 + 5.5. Changing PRFs When Rekeying the IKE_SA ....................26 + 5.6. Deleting vs. Closing SAs ..................................26 + 5.7. Deleting a CHILD_SA Pair ..................................26 + 5.8. Deleting an IKE_SA ........................................27 + 5.9. Who is the original initiator of IKE_SA ...................27 + 5.10. Comparing Nonces .........................................27 + 5.11. Exchange Collisions ......................................28 + 5.12. Diffie-Hellman and Rekeying the IKE_SA ...................36 + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 2] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + 6. Configuration Payloads .........................................37 + 6.1. Assigning IP Addresses ....................................37 + 6.2. Requesting any INTERNAL_IP4/IP6_ADDRESS ...................38 + 6.3. INTERNAL_IP4_SUBNET/INTERNAL_IP6_SUBNET ...................38 + 6.4. INTERNAL_IP4_NETMASK ......................................41 + 6.5. Configuration Payloads for IPv6 ...........................42 + 6.6. INTERNAL_IP6_NBNS .........................................43 + 6.7. INTERNAL_ADDRESS_EXPIRY ...................................43 + 6.8. Address Assignment Failures ...............................44 + 7. Miscellaneous Issues ...........................................45 + 7.1. Matching ID_IPV4_ADDR and ID_IPV6_ADDR ....................45 + 7.2. Relationship of IKEv2 to RFC 4301 .........................45 + 7.3. Reducing the Window Size ..................................46 + 7.4. Minimum Size of Nonces ....................................46 + 7.5. Initial Zero Octets on Port 4500 ..........................46 + 7.6. Destination Port for NAT Traversal ........................47 + 7.7. SPI Values for Messages outside an IKE_SA .................47 + 7.8. Protocol ID/SPI Fields in Notify Payloads .................48 + 7.9. Which message should contain INITIAL_CONTACT ..............48 + 7.10. Alignment of Payloads ....................................48 + 7.11. Key Length Transform Attribute ...........................48 + 7.12. IPsec IANA Considerations ................................49 + 7.13. Combining ESP and AH .....................................50 + 8. Implementation Mistakes ........................................50 + 9. Security Considerations ........................................51 + 10. Acknowledgments ...............................................51 + 11. References ....................................................51 + 11.1. Normative References .....................................51 + 11.2. Informative References ...................................52 + Appendix A. Exchanges and Payloads ................................54 + A.1. IKE_SA_INIT Exchange ......................................54 + A.2. IKE_AUTH Exchange without EAP .............................54 + A.3. IKE_AUTH Exchange with EAP ................................55 + A.4. CREATE_CHILD_SA Exchange for Creating/Rekeying + CHILD_SAs .................................................56 + A.5. CREATE_CHILD_SA Exchange for Rekeying the IKE_SA ..........56 + A.6. INFORMATIONAL Exchange ....................................56 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 3] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + +1. Introduction + + This document clarifies many areas of the IKEv2 specification that + may be difficult to understand to developers not intimately familiar + with the specification and its history. The clarifications in this + document come from the discussion on the IPsec WG mailing list, from + experience in interoperability testing, and from implementation + issues that have been brought to the editors' attention. + + IKEv2/IPsec can be used for several different purposes, including + IPsec-based remote access (sometimes called the "road warrior" case), + site-to-site virtual private networks (VPNs), and host-to-host + protection of application traffic. While this document attempts to + consider all of these uses, the remote access scenario has perhaps + received more attention here than the other uses. + + This document does not place any requirements on anyone and does not + use [RFC2119] keywords such as "MUST" and "SHOULD", except in + quotations from the original IKEv2 documents. The requirements are + given in the IKEv2 specification [IKEv2] and IKEv2 cryptographic + algorithms document [IKEv2ALG]. + + In this document, references to a numbered section (such as "Section + 2.15") mean that section in [IKEv2]. References to mailing list + messages or threads refer to the IPsec WG mailing list at + ipsec@ietf.org. Archives of the mailing list can be found at + <http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/ipsec/index.html>. + +2. Creating the IKE_SA + +2.1. SPI Values in IKE_SA_INIT Exchange + + Normal IKE messages include the initiator's and responder's Security + Parameter Indexes (SPIs), both of which are non-zero, in the IKE + header. However, there are some corner cases where the IKEv2 + specification is not fully consistent about what values should be + used. + + First, Section 3.1 says that the Responder's SPI "...MUST NOT be zero + in any other message" (than the first message of the IKE_SA_INIT + exchange). However, the figure in Section 2.6 shows the second + IKE_SA_INIT message as "HDR(A,0), N(COOKIE)", contradicting the text + in 3.1. + + Since the responder's SPI identifies security-related state held by + the responder, and in this case no state is created, sending a zero + value seems reasonable. + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 4] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + Second, in addition to cookies, there are several other cases when + the IKE_SA_INIT exchange does not result in the creation of an IKE_SA + (for instance, INVALID_KE_PAYLOAD or NO_PROPOSAL_CHOSEN). What + responder SPI value should be used in the IKE_SA_INIT response in + this case? + + Since the IKE_SA_INIT request always has a zero responder SPI, the + value will not be actually used by the initiator. Thus, we think + sending a zero value is correct also in this case. + + If the responder sends a non-zero responder SPI, the initiator should + not reject the response only for that reason. However, when retrying + the IKE_SA_INIT request, the initiator will use a zero responder SPI, + as described in Section 3.1: "Responder's SPI [...] This value MUST + be zero in the first message of an IKE Initial Exchange (including + repeats of that message including a cookie) [...]". We believe the + intent was to cover repeats of that message due to other reasons, + such as INVALID_KE_PAYLOAD, as well. + + (References: "INVALID_KE_PAYLOAD and clarifications document" thread, + Sep-Oct 2005.) + +2.2. Message IDs for IKE_SA_INIT Messages + + The Message ID for IKE_SA_INIT messages is always zero. This + includes retries of the message due to responses such as COOKIE and + INVALID_KE_PAYLOAD. + + This is because Message IDs are part of the IKE_SA state, and when + the responder replies to IKE_SA_INIT request with N(COOKIE) or + N(INVALID_KE_PAYLOAD), the responder does not allocate any state. + + (References: "Question about N(COOKIE) and N(INVALID_KE_PAYLOAD) + combination" thread, Oct 2004. Tero Kivinen's mail "Comments of + draft-eronen-ipsec-ikev2-clarifications-02.txt", 2005-04-05.) + +2.3. Retransmissions of IKE_SA_INIT Requests + + When a responder receives an IKE_SA_INIT request, it has to determine + whether the packet is a retransmission belonging to an existing + "half-open" IKE_SA (in which case the responder retransmits the same + response), or a new request (in which case the responder creates a + new IKE_SA and sends a fresh response). + + The specification does not describe in detail how this determination + is done. In particular, it is not sufficient to use the initiator's + SPI and/or IP address for this purpose: two different peers behind a + single NAT could choose the same initiator SPI (and the probability + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 5] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + of this happening is not necessarily small, since IKEv2 does not + require SPIs to be chosen randomly). Instead, the responder should + do the IKE_SA lookup using the whole packet or its hash (or at the + minimum, the Ni payload which is always chosen randomly). + + For all other packets than IKE_SA_INIT requests, looking up right + IKE_SA is of course done based on the recipient's SPI (either the + initiator or responder SPI depending on the value of the Initiator + bit in the IKE header). + +2.4. Interaction of COOKIE and INVALID_KE_PAYLOAD + + There are two common reasons why the initiator may have to retry the + IKE_SA_INIT exchange: the responder requests a cookie or wants a + different Diffie-Hellman group than was included in the KEi payload. + Both of these cases are quite simple alone, but it is not totally + obvious what happens when they occur at the same time, that is, the + IKE_SA_INIT exchange is retried several times. + + The main question seems to be the following: if the initiator + receives a cookie from the responder, should it include the cookie in + only the next retry of the IKE_SA_INIT request, or in all subsequent + retries as well? Section 3.10.1 says that: + + "This notification MUST be included in an IKE_SA_INIT request + retry if a COOKIE notification was included in the initial + response." + + This could be interpreted as saying that when a cookie is received in + the initial response, it is included in all retries. On the other + hand, Section 2.6 says that: + + "Initiators who receive such responses MUST retry the + IKE_SA_INIT with a Notify payload of type COOKIE containing + the responder supplied cookie data as the first payload and + all other payloads unchanged." + + Including the same cookie in later retries makes sense only if the + "all other payloads unchanged" restriction applies only to the first + retry, but not to subsequent retries. + + It seems that both interpretations can peacefully coexist. If the + initiator includes the cookie only in the next retry, one additional + roundtrip may be needed in some cases: + + + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 6] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + Initiator Responder + ----------- ----------- + HDR(A,0), SAi1, KEi, Ni --> + <-- HDR(A,0), N(COOKIE) + HDR(A,0), N(COOKIE), SAi1, KEi, Ni --> + <-- HDR(A,0), N(INVALID_KE_PAYLOAD) + HDR(A,0), SAi1, KEi', Ni --> + <-- HDR(A,0), N(COOKIE') + HDR(A,0), N(COOKIE'), SAi1, KEi',Ni --> + <-- HDR(A,B), SAr1, KEr, Nr + + An additional roundtrip is needed also if the initiator includes the + cookie in all retries, but the responder does not support this + functionality. For instance, if the responder includes the SAi1 and + KEi payloads in cookie calculation, it will reject the request by + sending a new cookie (see also Section 2.5 of this document for more + text about invalid cookies): + + + Initiator Responder + ----------- ----------- + HDR(A,0), SAi1, KEi, Ni --> + <-- HDR(A,0), N(COOKIE) + HDR(A,0), N(COOKIE), SAi1, KEi, Ni --> + <-- HDR(A,0), N(INVALID_KE_PAYLOAD) + HDR(A,0), N(COOKIE), SAi1, KEi', Ni --> + <-- HDR(A,0), N(COOKIE') + HDR(A,0), N(COOKIE'), SAi1, KEi',Ni --> + <-- HDR(A,B), SAr1, KEr, Nr + + If both peers support including the cookie in all retries, a slightly + shorter exchange can happen: + + Initiator Responder + ----------- ----------- + HDR(A,0), SAi1, KEi, Ni --> + <-- HDR(A,0), N(COOKIE) + HDR(A,0), N(COOKIE), SAi1, KEi, Ni --> + <-- HDR(A,0), N(INVALID_KE_PAYLOAD) + HDR(A,0), N(COOKIE), SAi1, KEi', Ni --> + <-- HDR(A,B), SAr1, KEr, Nr + + This document recommends that implementations should support this + shorter exchange, but it must not be assumed the other peer also + supports the shorter exchange. + + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 7] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + In theory, even this exchange has one unnecessary roundtrip, as both + the cookie and Diffie-Hellman group could be checked at the same + time: + + Initiator Responder + ----------- ----------- + HDR(A,0), SAi1, KEi, Ni --> + <-- HDR(A,0), N(COOKIE), + N(INVALID_KE_PAYLOAD) + HDR(A,0), N(COOKIE), SAi1, KEi',Ni --> + <-- HDR(A,B), SAr1, KEr, Nr + + However, it is clear that this case is not allowed by the text in + Section 2.6, since "all other payloads" clearly includes the KEi + payload as well. + + (References: "INVALID_KE_PAYLOAD and clarifications document" thread, + Sep-Oct 2005.) + +2.5. Invalid Cookies + + There has been some confusion what should be done when an IKE_SA_INIT + request containing an invalid cookie is received ("invalid" in the + sense that its contents do not match the value expected by the + responder). + + The correct action is to ignore the cookie and process the message as + if no cookie had been included (usually this means sending a response + containing a new cookie). This is shown in Section 2.6 when it says + "The responder in that case MAY reject the message by sending another + response with a new cookie [...]". + + Other possible actions, such as ignoring the whole request (or even + all requests from this IP address for some time), create strange + failure modes even in the absence of any malicious attackers and do + not provide any additional protection against DoS attacks. + + (References: "Invalid Cookie" thread, Sep-Oct 2005.) + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 8] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + +3. Authentication + +3.1. Data Included in AUTH Payload Calculation + + Section 2.15 describes how the AUTH payloads are calculated; this + calculation involves values prf(SK_pi,IDi') and prf(SK_pr,IDr'). The + text describes the method in words, but does not give clear + definitions of what is signed or MACed (i.e., protected with a + message authentication code). + + The initiator's signed octets can be described as: + + InitiatorSignedOctets = RealMessage1 | NonceRData | MACedIDForI + GenIKEHDR = [ four octets 0 if using port 4500 ] | RealIKEHDR + RealIKEHDR = SPIi | SPIr | . . . | Length + RealMessage1 = RealIKEHDR | RestOfMessage1 + NonceRPayload = PayloadHeader | NonceRData + InitiatorIDPayload = PayloadHeader | RestOfIDPayload + RestOfInitIDPayload = IDType | RESERVED | InitIDData + MACedIDForI = prf(SK_pi, RestOfInitIDPayload) + + The responder's signed octets can be described as: + + ResponderSignedOctets = RealMessage2 | NonceIData | MACedIDForR + GenIKEHDR = [ four octets 0 if using port 4500 ] | RealIKEHDR + RealIKEHDR = SPIi | SPIr | . . . | Length + RealMessage2 = RealIKEHDR | RestOfMessage2 + NonceIPayload = PayloadHeader | NonceIData + ResponderIDPayload = PayloadHeader | RestOfIDPayload + RestOfRespIDPayload = IDType | RESERVED | InitIDData + MACedIDForR = prf(SK_pr, RestOfRespIDPayload) + +3.2. Hash Function for RSA Signatures + + Section 3.8 says that RSA digital signature is "Computed as specified + in section 2.15 using an RSA private key over a PKCS#1 padded hash." + + Unlike IKEv1, IKEv2 does not negotiate a hash function for the + IKE_SA. The algorithm for signatures is selected by the signing + party who, in general, may not know beforehand what algorithms the + verifying party supports. Furthermore, [IKEv2ALG] does not say what + algorithms implementations are required or recommended to support. + This clearly has a potential for causing interoperability problems, + since authentication will fail if the signing party selects an + algorithm that is not supported by the verifying party, or not + acceptable according to the verifying party's policy. + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 9] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + This document recommends that all implementations support SHA-1 and + use SHA-1 as the default hash function when generating the + signatures, unless there are good reasons (such as explicit manual + configuration) to believe that the peer supports something else. + + Note that hash function collision attacks are not important for the + AUTH payloads, since they are not intended for third-party + verification, and the data includes fresh nonces. See [HashUse] for + more discussion about hash function attacks and IPsec. + + Another reasonable choice would be to use the hash function that was + used by the CA when signing the peer certificate. However, this does + not guarantee that the IKEv2 peer would be able to validate the AUTH + payload, because the same code might not be used to validate + certificate signatures and IKEv2 message signatures, and these two + routines may support a different set of hash algorithms. The peer + could be configured with a fingerprint of the certificate, or + certificate validation could be performed by an external entity using + [SCVP]. Furthermore, not all CERT payloads types include a + signature, and the certificate could be signed with some algorithm + other than RSA. + + Note that unlike IKEv1, IKEv2 uses the PKCS#1 v1.5 [PKCS1v20] + signature encoding method (see next section for details), which + includes the algorithm identifier for the hash algorithm. Thus, when + the verifying party receives the AUTH payload it can at least + determine which hash function was used. + + (References: Magnus Alstrom's mail "RE:", 2005-01-03. Pasi Eronen's + reply, 2005-01-04. Tero Kivinen's reply, 2005-01-04. "First draft + of IKEv2.1" thread, Dec 2005/Jan 2006.) + +3.3. Encoding Method for RSA Signatures + + Section 3.8 says that the RSA digital signature is "Computed as + specified in section 2.15 using an RSA private key over a PKCS#1 + padded hash." + + The PKCS#1 specification [PKCS1v21] defines two different encoding + methods (ways of "padding the hash") for signatures. However, the + Internet-Draft approved by the IESG had a reference to the older + PKCS#1 v2.0 [PKCS1v20]. That version has only one encoding method + for signatures (EMSA-PKCS1-v1_5), and thus there is no ambiguity. + + + + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 10] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + Note that this encoding method is different from the encoding method + used in IKEv1. If future revisions of IKEv2 provide support for + other encoding methods (such as EMSA-PSS), they will be given new + Auth Method numbers. + + (References: Pasi Eronen's mail "RE:", 2005-01-04.) + +3.4. Identification Type for EAP + + Section 3.5 defines several different types for identification + payloads, including, e.g., ID_FQDN, ID_RFC822_ADDR, and ID_KEY_ID. + EAP [EAP] does not mandate the use of any particular type of + identifier, but often EAP is used with Network Access Identifiers + (NAIs) defined in [NAI]. Although NAIs look a bit like email + addresses (e.g., "joe@example.com"), the syntax is not exactly the + same as the syntax of email address in [RFC822]. This raises the + question of which identification type should be used. + + This document recommends that ID_RFC822_ADDR identification type is + used for those NAIs that include the realm component. Therefore, + responder implementations should not attempt to verify that the + contents actually conform to the exact syntax given in [RFC822] or + [RFC2822], but instead should accept any reasonable looking NAI. + + For NAIs that do not include the realm component, this document + recommends using the ID_KEY_ID identification type. + + (References: "need your help on this IKEv2/i18n/EAP issue" and "IKEv2 + identifier issue with EAP" threads, Aug 2004.) + +3.5. Identity for Policy Lookups When Using EAP + + When the initiator authentication uses EAP, it is possible that the + contents of the IDi payload is used only for AAA routing purposes and + selecting which EAP method to use. This value may be different from + the identity authenticated by the EAP method (see [EAP], Sections 5.1 + and 7.3). + + It is important that policy lookups and access control decisions use + the actual authenticated identity. Often the EAP server is + implemented in a separate AAA server that communicates with the IKEv2 + responder using, e.g., RADIUS [RADEAP]. In this case, the + authenticated identity has to be sent from the AAA server to the + IKEv2 responder. + + (References: Pasi Eronen's mail "RE: Reauthentication in IKEv2", + 2004-10-28. "Policy lookups" thread, Oct/Nov 2004. RFC 3748, + Section 7.3.) + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 11] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + +3.6. Certificate Encoding Types + + Section 3.6 defines a total of twelve different certificate encoding + types, and continues that "Specific syntax is for some of the + certificate type codes above is not defined in this document." + However, the text does not provide references to other documents that + would contain information about the exact contents and use of those + values. + + Without this information, it is not possible to develop interoperable + implementations. Therefore, this document recommends that the + following certificate encoding values should not be used before new + specifications that specify their use are available. + + PKCS #7 wrapped X.509 certificate 1 + PGP Certificate 2 + DNS Signed Key 3 + Kerberos Token 6 + SPKI Certificate 9 + + This document recommends that most implementations should use only + those values that are "MUST"/"SHOULD" requirements in [IKEv2]; i.e., + "X.509 Certificate - Signature" (4), "Raw RSA Key" (11), "Hash and + URL of X.509 certificate" (12), and "Hash and URL of X.509 bundle" + (13). + + Furthermore, Section 3.7 says that the "Certificate Encoding" field + for the Certificate Request payload uses the same values as for + Certificate payload. However, the contents of the "Certification + Authority" field are defined only for X.509 certificates (presumably + covering at least types 4, 10, 12, and 13). This document recommends + that other values should not be used before new specifications that + specify their use are available. + + The "Raw RSA Key" type needs one additional clarification. Section + 3.6 says it contains "a PKCS #1 encoded RSA key". What this means is + a DER-encoded RSAPublicKey structure from PKCS#1 [PKCS1v21]. + +3.7. Shared Key Authentication and Fixed PRF Key Size + + Section 2.15 says that "If the negotiated prf takes a fixed-size key, + the shared secret MUST be of that fixed size". This statement is + correct: the shared secret must be of the correct size. If it is + not, it cannot be used; there is no padding, truncation, or other + processing involved to force it to that correct size. + + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 12] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + This requirement means that it is difficult to use these pseudo- + random functions (PRFs) with shared key authentication. The authors + think this part of the specification was very poorly thought out, and + using PRFs with a fixed key size is likely to result in + interoperability problems. Thus, we recommend that such PRFs should + not be used with shared key authentication. PRF_AES128_XCBC + [RFC3664] originally used fixed key sizes; that RFC has been updated + to handle variable key sizes in [RFC4434]. + + Note that Section 2.13 also contains text that is related to PRFs + with fixed key size: "When the key for the prf function has fixed + length, the data provided as a key is truncated or padded with zeros + as necessary unless exceptional processing is explained following the + formula". However, this text applies only to the prf+ construction, + so it does not contradict the text in Section 2.15. + + (References: Paul Hoffman's mail "Re: ikev2-07: last nits", + 2003-05-02. Hugo Krawczyk's reply, 2003-05-12. Thread "Question + about PRFs with fixed size key", Jan 2005.) + +3.8. EAP Authentication and Fixed PRF Key Size + + As described in the previous section, PRFs with a fixed key size + require a shared secret of exactly that size. This restriction + applies also to EAP authentication. For instance, a PRF that + requires a 128-bit key cannot be used with EAP since [EAP] specifies + that the MSK is at least 512 bits long. + + (References: Thread "Question about PRFs with fixed size key", Jan + 2005.) + +3.9. Matching ID Payloads to Certificate Contents + + In IKEv1, there was some confusion about whether or not the + identities in certificates used to authenticate IKE were required to + match the contents of the ID payloads. The PKI4IPsec Working Group + produced the document [PKI4IPsec] which covers this topic in much + more detail. However, Section 3.5 of [IKEv2] explicitly says that + the ID payload "does not necessarily have to match anything in the + CERT payload". + + + + + + + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 13] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + +3.10. Message IDs for IKE_AUTH Messages + + According to Section 2.2, "The IKE_SA initial setup messages will + always be numbered 0 and 1." That is true when the IKE_AUTH exchange + does not use EAP. When EAP is used, each pair of messages has their + message numbers incremented. The first pair of AUTH messages will + have an ID of 1, the second will be 2, and so on. + + (References: "Question about MsgID in AUTH exchange" thread, April + 2005.) + +4. Creating CHILD_SAs + +4.1. Creating SAs with the CREATE_CHILD_SA Exchange + + Section 1.3's organization does not lead to clear understanding of + what is needed in which environment. The section can be reorganized + with subsections for each use of the CREATE_CHILD_SA exchange + (creating child SAs, rekeying IKE SAs, and rekeying child SAs.) + + The new Section 1.3 with subsections and the above changes might look + like the following. + + NEW-1.3 The CREATE_CHILD_SA Exchange + + The CREATE_CHILD_SA Exchange is used to create new CHILD_SAs and + to rekey both IKE_SAs and CHILD_SAs. This exchange consists of + a single request/response pair, and some of its function was + referred to as a phase 2 exchange in IKEv1. It MAY be initiated + by either end of the IKE_SA after the initial exchanges are + completed. + + All messages following the initial exchange are + cryptographically protected using the cryptographic algorithms + and keys negotiated in the first two messages of the IKE + exchange. These subsequent messages use the syntax of the + Encrypted Payload described in section 3.14. All subsequent + messages include an Encrypted Payload, even if they are referred + to in the text as "empty". + + The CREATE_CHILD_SA is used for rekeying IKE_SAs and CHILD_SAs. + This section describes the first part of rekeying, the creation + of new SAs; Section 2.8 covers the mechanics of rekeying, + including moving traffic from old to new SAs and the deletion of + the old SAs. The two sections must be read together to + understand the entire process of rekeying. + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 14] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + Either endpoint may initiate a CREATE_CHILD_SA exchange, so in + this section the term initiator refers to the endpoint + initiating this exchange. An implementation MAY refuse all + CREATE_CHILD_SA requests within an IKE_SA. + + The CREATE_CHILD_SA request MAY optionally contain a KE payload + for an additional Diffie-Hellman exchange to enable stronger + guarantees of forward secrecy for the CHILD_SA or IKE_SA. The + keying material for the SA is a function of SK_d established + during the establishment of the IKE_SA, the nonces exchanged + during the CREATE_CHILD_SA exchange, and the Diffie-Hellman + value (if KE payloads are included in the CREATE_CHILD_SA + exchange). The details are described in sections 2.17 and 2.18. + + If a CREATE_CHILD_SA exchange includes a KEi payload, at least + one of the SA offers MUST include the Diffie-Hellman group of + the KEi. The Diffie-Hellman group of the KEi MUST be an element + of the group the initiator expects the responder to accept + (additional Diffie-Hellman groups can be proposed). If the + responder rejects the Diffie-Hellman group of the KEi payload, + the responder MUST reject the request and indicate its preferred + Diffie-Hellman group in the INVALID_KE_PAYLOAD Notification + payload. In the case of such a rejection, the CREATE_CHILD_SA + exchange fails, and the initiator SHOULD retry the exchange with + a Diffie-Hellman proposal and KEi in the group that the + responder gave in the INVALID_KE_PAYLOAD. + + NEW-1.3.1 Creating New CHILD_SAs with the CREATE_CHILD_SA Exchange + + A CHILD_SA may be created by sending a CREATE_CHILD_SA request. + The CREATE_CHILD_SA request for creating a new CHILD_SA is: + + Initiator Responder + ----------- ----------- + HDR, SK {[N+], SA, Ni, [KEi], + TSi, TSr} --> + + The initiator sends SA offer(s) in the SA payload, a nonce in + the Ni payload, optionally a Diffie-Hellman value in the KEi + payload, and the proposed traffic selectors for the proposed + CHILD_SA in the TSi and TSr payloads. The request can also + contain Notify payloads that specify additional details for the + CHILD_SA: these include IPCOMP_SUPPORTED, USE_TRANSPORT_MODE, + ESP_TFC_PADDING_NOT_SUPPORTED, and NON_FIRST_FRAGMENTS_ALSO. + + + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 15] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + The CREATE_CHILD_SA response for creating a new CHILD_SA is: + + <-- HDR, SK {[N+], SA, Nr, + [KEr], TSi, TSr} + + The responder replies with the accepted offer in an SA payload, + and a Diffie-Hellman value in the KEr payload if KEi was + included in the request and the selected cryptographic suite + includes that group. As with the request, optional Notification + payloads can specify additional details for the CHILD_SA. + + The traffic selectors for traffic to be sent on that SA are + specified in the TS payloads in the response, which may be a + subset of what the initiator of the CHILD_SA proposed. + + The text about rekeying SAs can be found in Section 5.1 of this + document. + +4.2. Creating an IKE_SA without a CHILD_SA + + CHILD_SAs can be created either by being piggybacked on the IKE_AUTH + exchange, or using a separate CREATE_CHILD_SA exchange. The + specification is not clear about what happens if creating the + CHILD_SA during the IKE_AUTH exchange fails for some reason. + + Our recommendation in this situation is that the IKE_SA is created as + usual. This is also in line with how the CREATE_CHILD_SA exchange + works: a failure to create a CHILD_SA does not close the IKE_SA. + + The list of responses in the IKE_AUTH exchange that do not prevent an + IKE_SA from being set up include at least the following: + NO_PROPOSAL_CHOSEN, TS_UNACCEPTABLE, SINGLE_PAIR_REQUIRED, + INTERNAL_ADDRESS_FAILURE, and FAILED_CP_REQUIRED. + + (References: "Questions about internal address" thread, April 2005.) + +4.3. Diffie-Hellman for First CHILD_SA + + Section 1.2 shows that IKE_AUTH messages do not contain KEi/KEr or + Ni/Nr payloads. This implies that the SA payload in IKE_AUTH + exchange cannot contain Transform Type 4 (Diffie-Hellman Group) with + any other value than NONE. Implementations should probably leave the + transform out entirely in this case. + + + + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 16] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + +4.4. Extended Sequence Numbers (ESN) Transform + + The description of the ESN transform in Section 3.3 has be proved + difficult to understand. The ESN transform has the following + meaning: + + o A proposal containing one ESN transform with value 0 means "do not + use extended sequence numbers". + + o A proposal containing one ESN transform with value 1 means "use + extended sequence numbers". + + o A proposal containing two ESN transforms with values 0 and 1 means + "I support both normal and extended sequence numbers, you choose". + (Obviously this case is only allowed in requests; the response + will contain only one ESN transform.) + + In most cases, the exchange initiator will include either the first + or third alternative in its SA payload. The second alternative is + rarely useful for the initiator: it means that using normal sequence + numbers is not acceptable (so if the responder does not support ESNs, + the exchange will fail with NO_PROPOSAL_CHOSEN). + + Note that including the ESN transform is mandatory when creating + ESP/AH SAs (it was optional in earlier drafts of the IKEv2 + specification). + + (References: "Technical change needed to IKEv2 before publication", + "STRAW POLL: Dealing with the ESN negotiation interop issue in IKEv2" + and "Results of straw poll regarding: IKEv2 interoperability issue" + threads, March-April 2005.) + +4.5. Negotiation of ESP_TFC_PADDING_NOT_SUPPORTED + + The description of ESP_TFC_PADDING_NOT_SUPPORTED notification in + Section 3.10.1 says that "This notification asserts that the sending + endpoint will NOT accept packets that contain Flow Confidentiality + (TFC) padding". + + However, the text does not say in which messages this notification + should be included, or whether the scope of this notification is a + single CHILD_SA or all CHILD_SAs of the peer. + + Our interpretation is that the scope is a single CHILD_SA, and thus + this notification is included in messages containing an SA payload + negotiating a CHILD_SA. If neither endpoint accepts TFC padding, + this notification will be included in both the request proposing an + SA and the response accepting it. If this notification is included + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 17] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + in only one of the messages, TFC padding can still be sent in one + direction. + +4.6. Negotiation of NON_FIRST_FRAGMENTS_ALSO + + NON_FIRST_FRAGMENTS_ALSO notification is described in Section 3.10.1 + simply as "Used for fragmentation control. See [RFC4301] for + explanation." + + [RFC4301] says "Implementations that will transmit non-initial + fragments on a tunnel mode SA that makes use of non-trivial port (or + ICMP type/code or MH type) selectors MUST notify a peer via the IKE + NOTIFY NON_FIRST_FRAGMENTS_ALSO payload. The peer MUST reject this + proposal if it will not accept non-initial fragments in this context. + If an implementation does not successfully negotiate transmission of + non-initial fragments for such an SA, it MUST NOT send such fragments + over the SA." + + However, it is not clear exactly how the negotiation works. Our + interpretation is that the negotiation works the same way as for + IPCOMP_SUPPORTED and USE_TRANSPORT_MODE: sending non-first fragments + is enabled only if NON_FIRST_FRAGMENTS_ALSO notification is included + in both the request proposing an SA and the response accepting it. + In other words, if the peer "rejects this proposal", it only omits + NON_FIRST_FRAGMENTS_ALSO notification from the response, but does not + reject the whole CHILD_SA creation. + +4.7. Semantics of Complex Traffic Selector Payloads + + As described in Section 3.13, the TSi/TSr payloads can include one or + more individual traffic selectors. + + There is no requirement that TSi and TSr contain the same number of + individual traffic selectors. Thus, they are interpreted as follows: + a packet matches a given TSi/TSr if it matches at least one of the + individual selectors in TSi, and at least one of the individual + selectors in TSr. + + For instance, the following traffic selectors: + + TSi = ((17, 100, 192.0.1.66-192.0.1.66), + (17, 200, 192.0.1.66-192.0.1.66)) + TSr = ((17, 300, 0.0.0.0-255.255.255.255), + (17, 400, 0.0.0.0-255.255.255.255)) + + would match UDP packets from 192.0.1.66 to anywhere, with any of the + four combinations of source/destination ports (100,300), (100,400), + (200,300), and (200, 400). + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 18] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + This implies that some types of policies may require several CHILD_SA + pairs. For instance, a policy matching only source/destination ports + (100,300) and (200,400), but not the other two combinations, cannot + be negotiated as a single CHILD_SA pair using IKEv2. + + (References: "IKEv2 Traffic Selectors?" thread, Feb 2005.) + +4.8. ICMP Type/Code in Traffic Selector Payloads + + The traffic selector types 7 and 8 can also refer to ICMP type and + code fields. As described in Section 3.13.1, "For the ICMP protocol, + the two one-octet fields Type and Code are treated as a single 16-bit + integer (with Type in the most significant eight bits and Code in the + least significant eight bits) port number for the purposes of + filtering based on this field." + + Since ICMP packets do not have separate source and destination port + fields, there is some room for confusion what exactly the four TS + payloads (two in the request, two in the response, each containing + both start and end port fields) should contain. + + The answer to this question can be found from [RFC4301] Section + 4.4.1.3. + + To give a concrete example, if a host at 192.0.1.234 wants to create + a transport mode SA for sending "Destination Unreachable" packets + (ICMPv4 type 3) to 192.0.2.155, but is not willing to receive them + over this SA pair, the CREATE_CHILD_SA exchange would look like this: + + Initiator Responder + ----------- ----------- + HDR, SK { N(USE_TRANSPORT_MODE), SA, Ni, + TSi(1, 0x0300-0x03FF, 192.0.1.234-192.0.1.234), + TSr(1, 65535-0, 192.0.2.155-192.0.2.155) } --> + + <-- HDR, SK { N(USE_TRANSPORT_MODE), SA, Nr, + TSi(1, 0x0300-0x03FF, 192.0.1.234-192.0.1.234), + TSr(1, 65535-0, 192.0.2.155-192.0.2.155) } + + Since IKEv2 always creates IPsec SAs in pairs, two SAs are also + created in this case, even though the second SA is never used for + data traffic. + + An exchange creating an SA pair that can be used both for sending and + receiving "Destination Unreachable" places the same value in all the + port: + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 19] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + Initiator Responder + ----------- ----------- + HDR, SK { N(USE_TRANSPORT_MODE), SA, Ni, + TSi(1, 0x0300-0x03FF, 192.0.1.234-192.0.1.234), + TSr(1, 0x0300-0x03FF, 192.0.2.155-192.0.2.155) } --> + + <-- HDR, SK { N(USE_TRANSPORT_MODE), SA, Nr, + TSi(1, 0x0300-0x03FF, 192.0.1.234-192.0.1.234), + TSr(1, 0x0300-0x03FF, 192.0.2.155-192.0.2.155) } + + (References: "ICMP and MH TSs for IKEv2" thread, Sep 2005.) + +4.9. Mobility Header in Traffic Selector Payloads + + Traffic selectors can use IP Protocol ID 135 to match the IPv6 + mobility header [MIPv6]. However, the IKEv2 specification does not + define how to represent the "MH Type" field in traffic selectors. + + At some point, it was expected that this will be defined in a + separate document later. However, [RFC4301] says that "For IKE, the + IPv6 mobility header message type (MH type) is placed in the most + significant eight bits of the 16 bit local "port" selector". The + direction semantics of TSi/TSr port fields are the same as for ICMP + and are described in the previous section. + + (References: Tero Kivinen's mail "Issue #86: Add IPv6 mobility header + message type as selector", 2003-10-14. "ICMP and MH TSs for IKEv2" + thread, Sep 2005.) + +4.10. Narrowing the Traffic Selectors + + Section 2.9 describes how traffic selectors are negotiated when + creating a CHILD_SA. A more concise summary of the narrowing process + is presented below. + + o If the responder's policy does not allow any part of the traffic + covered by TSi/TSr, it responds with TS_UNACCEPTABLE. + + o If the responder's policy allows the entire set of traffic covered + by TSi/TSr, no narrowing is necessary, and the responder can + return the same TSi/TSr values. + + o Otherwise, narrowing is needed. If the responder's policy allows + all traffic covered by TSi[1]/TSr[1] (the first traffic selectors + in TSi/TSr) but not entire TSi/TSr, the responder narrows to an + acceptable subset of TSi/TSr that includes TSi[1]/TSr[1]. + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 20] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + o If the responder's policy does not allow all traffic covered by + TSi[1]/TSr[1], but does allow some parts of TSi/TSr, it narrows to + an acceptable subset of TSi/TSr. + + In the last two cases, there may be several subsets that are + acceptable (but their union is not); in this case, the responder + arbitrarily chooses one of them and includes ADDITIONAL_TS_POSSIBLE + notification in the response. + +4.11. SINGLE_PAIR_REQUIRED + + The description of the SINGLE_PAIR_REQUIRED notify payload in + Sections 2.9 and 3.10.1 is not fully consistent. + + We do not attempt to describe this payload in this document either, + since it is expected that most implementations will not have policies + that require separate SAs for each address pair. + + Thus, if only some part (or parts) of the TSi/TSr proposed by the + initiator is (are) acceptable to the responder, most responders + should simply narrow TSi/TSr to an acceptable subset (as described in + the last two paragraphs of Section 2.9), rather than use + SINGLE_PAIR_REQUIRED. + +4.12. Traffic Selectors Violating Own Policy + + Section 2.9 describes traffic selector negotiation in great detail. + One aspect of this negotiation that may need some clarification is + that when creating a new SA, the initiator should not propose traffic + selectors that violate its own policy. If this rule is not followed, + valid traffic may be dropped. + + This is best illustrated by an example. Suppose that host A has a + policy whose effect is that traffic to 192.0.1.66 is sent via host B + encrypted using Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), and traffic to + all other hosts in 192.0.1.0/24 is also sent via B, but encrypted + using Triple Data Encryption Standard (3DES). Suppose also that host + B accepts any combination of AES and 3DES. + + If host A now proposes an SA that uses 3DES, and includes TSr + containing (192.0.1.0-192.0.1.0.255), this will be accepted by host + B. Now, host B can also use this SA to send traffic from 192.0.1.66, + but those packets will be dropped by A since it requires the use of + AES for those traffic. Even if host A creates a new SA only for + 192.0.1.66 that uses AES, host B may freely continue to use the first + SA for the traffic. In this situation, when proposing the SA, host A + should have followed its own policy, and included a TSr containing + ((192.0.1.0-192.0.1.65),(192.0.1.67-192.0.1.255)) instead. + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 21] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + In general, if (1) the initiator makes a proposal "for traffic X + (TSi/TSr), do SA", and (2) for some subset X' of X, the initiator + does not actually accept traffic X' with SA, and (3) the initiator + would be willing to accept traffic X' with some SA' (!=SA), valid + traffic can be unnecessarily dropped since the responder can apply + either SA or SA' to traffic X'. + + (References: "Question about "narrowing" ..." thread, Feb 2005. + "IKEv2 needs a "policy usage mode"..." thread, Feb 2005. "IKEv2 + Traffic Selectors?" thread, Feb 2005. "IKEv2 traffic selector + negotiation examples", 2004-08-08.) + +4.13. Traffic Selector Authorization + + IKEv2 relies on information in the Peer Authorization Database (PAD) + when determining what kind of IPsec SAs a peer is allowed to create. + This process is described in [RFC4301] Section 4.4.3. When a peer + requests the creation of an IPsec SA with some traffic selectors, the + PAD must contain "Child SA Authorization Data" linking the identity + authenticated by IKEv2 and the addresses permitted for traffic + selectors. + + For example, the PAD might be configured so that authenticated + identity "sgw23.example.com" is allowed to create IPsec SAs for + 192.0.2.0/24, meaning this security gateway is a valid + "representative" for these addresses. Host-to-host IPsec requires + similar entries, linking, for example, "fooserver4.example.com" with + 192.0.1.66/32, meaning this identity a valid "owner" or + "representative" of the address in question. + + As noted in [RFC4301], "It is necessary to impose these constraints + on creation of child SAs to prevent an authenticated peer from + spoofing IDs associated with other, legitimate peers." In the + example given above, a correct configuration of the PAD prevents + sgw23 from creating IPsec SAs with address 192.0.1.66 and prevents + fooserver4 from creating IPsec SAs with addresses from 192.0.2.0/24. + + It is important to note that simply sending IKEv2 packets using some + particular address does not imply a permission to create IPsec SAs + with that address in the traffic selectors. For example, even if + sgw23 would be able to spoof its IP address as 192.0.1.66, it could + not create IPsec SAs matching fooserver4's traffic. + + The IKEv2 specification does not specify how exactly IP address + assignment using configuration payloads interacts with the PAD. Our + interpretation is that when a security gateway assigns an address + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 22] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + using configuration payloads, it also creates a temporary PAD entry + linking the authenticated peer identity and the newly allocated inner + address. + + It has been recognized that configuring the PAD correctly may be + difficult in some environments. For instance, if IPsec is used + between a pair of hosts whose addresses are allocated dynamically + using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), it is extremely + difficult to ensure that the PAD specifies the correct "owner" for + each IP address. This would require a mechanism to securely convey + address assignments from the DHCP server and link them to identities + authenticated using IKEv2. + + Due to this limitation, some vendors have been known to configure + their PADs to allow an authenticated peer to create IPsec SAs with + traffic selectors containing the same address that was used for the + IKEv2 packets. In environments where IP spoofing is possible (i.e., + almost everywhere) this essentially allows any peer to create IPsec + SAs with any traffic selectors. This is not an appropriate or secure + configuration in most circumstances. See [Aura05] for an extensive + discussion about this issue, and the limitations of host-to-host + IPsec in general. + +5. Rekeying and Deleting SAs + +5.1. Rekeying SAs with the CREATE_CHILD_SA Exchange + + Continued from Section 4.1 of this document. + + NEW-1.3.2 Rekeying IKE_SAs with the CREATE_CHILD_SA Exchange + + The CREATE_CHILD_SA request for rekeying an IKE_SA is: + + Initiator Responder + ----------- ----------- + HDR, SK {SA, Ni, [KEi]} --> + + The initiator sends SA offer(s) in the SA payload, a nonce in + the Ni payload, and optionally a Diffie-Hellman value in the KEi + payload. + + The CREATE_CHILD_SA response for rekeying an IKE_SA is: + + <-- HDR, SK {SA, Nr, [KEr]} + + + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 23] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + The responder replies (using the same Message ID to respond) + with the accepted offer in an SA payload, a nonce in the Nr + payload, and, optionally, a Diffie-Hellman value in the KEr + payload. + + The new IKE_SA has its message counters set to 0, regardless of + what they were in the earlier IKE_SA. The window size starts at + 1 for any new IKE_SA. The new initiator and responder SPIs are + supplied in the SPI fields of the SA payloads. + + NEW-1.3.3 Rekeying CHILD_SAs with the CREATE_CHILD_SA Exchange + + The CREATE_CHILD_SA request for rekeying a CHILD_SA is: + + Initiator Responder + ----------- ----------- + HDR, SK {N(REKEY_SA), [N+], SA, + Ni, [KEi], TSi, TSr} --> + + The leading Notify payload of type REKEY_SA identifies the + CHILD_SA being rekeyed, and it contains the SPI that the initiator + expects in the headers of inbound packets. In addition, the + initiator sends SA offer(s) in the SA payload, a nonce in the Ni + payload, optionally a Diffie-Hellman value in the KEi payload, + and the proposed traffic selectors in the TSi and TSr payloads. + The request can also contain Notify payloads that specify + additional details for the CHILD_SA. + + The CREATE_CHILD_SA response for rekeying a CHILD_SA is: + + <-- HDR, SK {[N+], SA, Nr, + [KEr], TSi, TSr} + + The responder replies with the accepted offer in an SA payload, + and a Diffie-Hellman value in the KEr payload if KEi was + included in the request and the selected cryptographic suite + includes that group. + + The traffic selectors for traffic to be sent on that SA are + specified in the TS payloads in the response, which may be a + subset of what the initiator of the CHILD_SA proposed. + +5.2. Rekeying the IKE_SA vs. Reauthentication + + Rekeying the IKE_SA and reauthentication are different concepts in + IKEv2. Rekeying the IKE_SA establishes new keys for the IKE_SA and + resets the Message ID counters, but it does not authenticate the + parties again (no AUTH or EAP payloads are involved). + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 24] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + While rekeying the IKE_SA may be important in some environments, + reauthentication (the verification that the parties still have access + to the long-term credentials) is often more important. + + IKEv2 does not have any special support for reauthentication. + Reauthentication is done by creating a new IKE_SA from scratch (using + IKE_SA_INIT/IKE_AUTH exchanges, without any REKEY_SA notify + payloads), creating new CHILD_SAs within the new IKE_SA (without + REKEY_SA notify payloads), and finally deleting the old IKE_SA (which + deletes the old CHILD_SAs as well). + + This means that reauthentication also establishes new keys for the + IKE_SA and CHILD_SAs. Therefore, while rekeying can be performed + more often than reauthentication, the situation where "authentication + lifetime" is shorter than "key lifetime" does not make sense. + + While creation of a new IKE_SA can be initiated by either party + (initiator or responder in the original IKE_SA), the use of EAP + authentication and/or configuration payloads means in practice that + reauthentication has to be initiated by the same party as the + original IKE_SA. IKEv2 base specification does not allow the + responder to request reauthentication in this case; however, this + functionality is added in [ReAuth]. + + (References: "Reauthentication in IKEv2" thread, Oct/Nov 2004.) + +5.3. SPIs When Rekeying the IKE_SA + + Section 2.18 says that "New initiator and responder SPIs are supplied + in the SPI fields". This refers to the SPI fields in the Proposal + structures inside the Security Association (SA) payloads, not the SPI + fields in the IKE header. + + (References: Tom Stiemerling's mail "Rekey IKE SA", 2005-01-24. + Geoffrey Huang's reply, 2005-01-24.) + +5.4. SPI When Rekeying a CHILD_SA + + Section 3.10.1 says that in REKEY_SA notifications, "The SPI field + identifies the SA being rekeyed." + + Since CHILD_SAs always exist in pairs, there are two different SPIs. + The SPI placed in the REKEY_SA notification is the SPI the exchange + initiator would expect in inbound ESP or AH packets (just as in + Delete payloads). + + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 25] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + +5.5. Changing PRFs When Rekeying the IKE_SA + + When rekeying the IKE_SA, Section 2.18 says that "SKEYSEED for the + new IKE_SA is computed using SK_d from the existing IKE_SA as + follows: + + SKEYSEED = prf(SK_d (old), [g^ir (new)] | Ni | Nr)" + + If the old and new IKE_SA selected a different PRF, it is not totally + clear which PRF should be used. + + Since the rekeying exchange belongs to the old IKE_SA, it is the old + IKE_SA's PRF that is used. This also follows the principle that the + same key (the old SK_d) should not be used with multiple + cryptographic algorithms. + + Note that this may work poorly if the new IKE_SA's PRF has a fixed + key size, since the output of the PRF may not be of the correct size. + This supports our opinion earlier in the document that the use of + PRFs with a fixed key size is a bad idea. + + (References: "Changing PRFs when rekeying the IKE_SA" thread, June + 2005.) + +5.6. Deleting vs. Closing SAs + + The IKEv2 specification talks about "closing" and "deleting" SAs, but + it is not always clear what exactly is meant. However, other parts + of the specification make it clear that when local state related to a + CHILD_SA is removed, the SA must also be actively deleted with a + Delete payload. + + In particular, Section 2.4 says that "If an IKE endpoint chooses to + delete CHILD_SAs, it MUST send Delete payloads to the other end + notifying it of the deletion". Section 1.4 also explains that "ESP + and AH SAs always exist in pairs, with one SA in each direction. + When an SA is closed, both members of the pair MUST be closed." + +5.7. Deleting a CHILD_SA Pair + + Section 1.4 describes how to delete SA pairs using the Informational + exchange: "To delete an SA, an INFORMATIONAL exchange with one or + more delete payloads is sent listing the SPIs (as they would be + expected in the headers of inbound packets) of the SAs to be deleted. + The recipient MUST close the designated SAs." + + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 26] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + The "one or more delete payloads" phrase has caused some confusion. + You never send delete payloads for the two sides of an SA in a single + message. If you have many SAs to delete at the same time (such as + the nested example given in that paragraph), you include delete + payloads for the inbound half of each SA in your Informational + exchange. + +5.8. Deleting an IKE_SA + + Since IKE_SAs do not exist in pairs, it is not totally clear what the + response message should contain when the request deleted the IKE_SA. + + Since there is no information that needs to be sent to the other side + (except that the request was received), an empty Informational + response seems like the most logical choice. + + (References: "Question about delete IKE SA" thread, May 2005.) + +5.9. Who is the original initiator of IKE_SA + + In the IKEv2 document, "initiator" refers to the party who initiated + the exchange being described, and "original initiator" refers to the + party who initiated the whole IKE_SA. However, there is some + potential for confusion because the IKE_SA can be rekeyed by either + party. + + To clear up this confusion, we propose that "original initiator" + always refers to the party who initiated the exchange that resulted + in the current IKE_SA. In other words, if the "original responder" + starts rekeying the IKE_SA, that party becomes the "original + initiator" of the new IKE_SA. + + (References: Paul Hoffman's mail "Original initiator in IKEv2", + 2005-04-21.) + +5.10. Comparing Nonces + + Section 2.8 about rekeying says that "If redundant SAs are created + though such a collision, the SA created with the lowest of the four + nonces used in the two exchanges SHOULD be closed by the endpoint + that created it." + + + + + + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 27] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + Here "lowest" uses an octet-by-octet (lexicographical) comparison + (instead of, for instance, comparing the nonces as large integers). + In other words, start by comparing the first octet; if they're equal, + move to the next octet, and so on. If you reach the end of one + nonce, that nonce is the lower one. + + (References: "IKEv2 rekeying question" thread, July 2005.) + +5.11. Exchange Collisions + + Since IKEv2 exchanges can be initiated by both peers, it is possible + that two exchanges affecting the same SA partly overlap. This can + lead to a situation where the SA state information is temporarily not + synchronized, and a peer can receive a request it cannot process in a + normal fashion. Some of these corner cases are discussed in the + specification, some are not. + + Obviously, using a window size greater than one leads to infinitely + more complex situations, especially if requests are processed out of + order. In this section, we concentrate on problems that can arise + even with window size 1. + + (References: "IKEv2: invalid SPI in DELETE payload" thread, Dec 2005/ + Jan 2006. "Problem with exchanges collisions" thread, Dec 2005.) + +5.11.1. Simultaneous CHILD_SA Close + + Probably the simplest case happens if both peers decide to close the + same CHILD_SA pair at the same time: + + Host A Host B + -------- -------- + send req1: D(SPIa) --> + <-- send req2: D(SPIb) + --> recv req1 + <-- send resp1: () + recv resp1 + recv req2 + send resp2: () --> + --> recv resp2 + + This case is described in Section 1.4 and is handled by omitting the + Delete payloads from the response messages. + + + + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 28] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + +5.11.2. Simultaneous IKE_SA Close + + Both peers can also decide to close the IKE_SA at the same time. The + desired end result is obvious; however, in certain cases the final + exchanges may not be fully completed. + + Host A Host B + -------- -------- + send req1: D() --> + <-- send req2: D() + --> recv req1 + + At this point, host B should reply as usual (with empty Informational + response), close the IKE_SA, and stop retransmitting req2. This is + because once host A receives resp1, it may not be able to reply any + longer. The situation is symmetric, so host A should behave the same + way. + + Host A Host B + -------- -------- + <-- send resp1: () + send resp2: () + + Even if neither resp1 nor resp2 ever arrives, the end result is still + correct: the IKE_SA is gone. The same happens if host A never + receives req2. + +5.11.3. Simultaneous CHILD_SA Rekeying + + Another case that is described in the specification is simultaneous + rekeying. Section 2.8 says + + "If the two ends have the same lifetime policies, it is possible + that both will initiate a rekeying at the same time (which will + result in redundant SAs). To reduce the probability of this + happening, the timing of rekeying requests SHOULD be jittered + (delayed by a random amount of time after the need for rekeying is + noticed). + + This form of rekeying may temporarily result in multiple similar + SAs between the same pairs of nodes. When there are two SAs + eligible to receive packets, a node MUST accept incoming packets + through either SA. If redundant SAs are created though such a + collision, the SA created with the lowest of the four nonces used + in the two exchanges SHOULD be closed by the endpoint that created + it." + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 29] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + However, a better explanation on what impact this has on + implementations is needed. Assume that hosts A and B have an + existing IPsec SA pair with SPIs (SPIa1,SPIb1), and both start + rekeying it at the same time: + + Host A Host B + -------- -------- + send req1: N(REKEY_SA,SPIa1), + SA(..,SPIa2,..),Ni1,.. --> + <-- send req2: N(REKEY_SA,SPIb1), + SA(..,SPIb2,..),Ni2,.. + recv req2 <-- + + At this point, A knows there is a simultaneous rekeying going on. + However, it cannot yet know which of the exchanges will have the + lowest nonce, so it will just note the situation and respond as + usual. + + send resp2: SA(..,SPIa3,..),Nr1,.. --> + --> recv req1 + + Now B also knows that simultaneous rekeying is going on. Similarly + as host A, it has to respond as usual. + + <-- send resp1: SA(..,SPIb3,..),Nr2,.. + recv resp1 <-- + --> recv resp2 + + At this point, there are three CHILD_SA pairs between A and B (the + old one and two new ones). A and B can now compare the nonces. + Suppose that the lowest nonce was Nr1 in message resp2; in this case, + B (the sender of req2) deletes the redundant new SA, and A (the node + that initiated the surviving rekeyed SA) deletes the old one. + + send req3: D(SPIa1) --> + <-- send req4: D(SPIb2) + --> recv req3 + <-- send resp4: D(SPIb1) + recv req4 <-- + send resp4: D(SPIa3) --> + + The rekeying is now finished. + + However, there is a second possible sequence of events that can + happen if some packets are lost in the network, resulting in + retransmissions. The rekeying begins as usual, but A's first packet + (req1) is lost. + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 30] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + Host A Host B + -------- -------- + send req1: N(REKEY_SA,SPIa1), + SA(..,SPIa2,..),Ni1,.. --> (lost) + <-- send req2: N(REKEY_SA,SPIb1), + SA(..,SPIb2,..),Ni2,.. + recv req2 <-- + send resp2: SA(..,SPIa3,..),Nr1,.. --> + --> recv resp2 + <-- send req3: D(SPIb1) + recv req3 <-- + send resp3: D(SPIa1) --> + --> recv resp3 + + From B's point of view, the rekeying is now completed, and since it + has not yet received A's req1, it does not even know that these was + simultaneous rekeying. However, A will continue retransmitting the + message, and eventually it will reach B. + + resend req1 --> + --> recv req1 + + What should B do in this point? To B, it looks like A is trying to + rekey an SA that no longer exists; thus failing the request with + something non-fatal such as NO_PROPOSAL_CHOSEN seems like a + reasonable approach. + + <-- send resp1: N(NO_PROPOSAL_CHOSEN) + recv resp1 <-- + + When A receives this error, it already knows there was simultaneous + rekeying, so it can ignore the error message. + +5.11.4. Simultaneous IKE_SA Rekeying + + Probably the most complex case occurs when both peers try to rekey + the IKE_SA at the same time. Basically, the text in Section 2.8 + applies to this case as well; however, it is important to ensure that + the CHILD_SAs are inherited by the right IKE_SA. + + The case where both endpoints notice the simultaneous rekeying works + the same way as with CHILD_SAs. After the CREATE_CHILD_SA exchanges, + three IKE_SAs exist between A and B; the one containing the lowest + nonce inherits the CHILD_SAs. + + However, there is a twist to the other case where one rekeying + finishes first: + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 31] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + Host A Host B + -------- -------- + send req1: + SA(..,SPIa1,..),Ni1,.. --> + <-- send req2: SA(..,SPIb1,..),Ni2,.. + --> recv req1 + <-- send resp1: SA(..,SPIb2,..),Nr2,.. + recv resp1 <-- + send req3: D() --> + --> recv req3 + + At this point, host B sees a request to close the IKE_SA. There's + not much more to do than to reply as usual. However, at this point + host B should stop retransmitting req2, since once host A receives + resp3, it will delete all the state associated with the old IKE_SA + and will not be able to reply to it. + + <-- send resp3: () + +5.11.5. Closing and Rekeying a CHILD_SA + + A case similar to simultaneous rekeying can occur if one peer decides + to close an SA and the other peer tries to rekey it: + + Host A Host B + -------- -------- + send req1: D(SPIa) --> + <-- send req2: N(REKEY_SA,SPIb),SA,.. + --> recv req1 + + At this point, host B notices that host A is trying to close an SA + that host B is currently rekeying. Replying as usual is probably the + best choice: + + <-- send resp1: D(SPIb) + + Depending on in which order req2 and resp1 arrive, host A sees either + a request to rekey an SA that it is currently closing, or a request + to rekey an SA that does not exist. In both cases, + NO_PROPOSAL_CHOSEN is probably fine. + + recv req2 + recv resp1 + send resp2: N(NO_PROPOSAL_CHOSEN) --> + --> recv resp2 + + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 32] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + +5.11.6. Closing a New CHILD_SA + + Yet another case occurs when host A creates a CHILD_SA pair, but soon + thereafter host B decides to delete it (possible because its policy + changed): + + Host A Host B + -------- -------- + send req1: [N(REKEY_SA,SPIa1)], + SA(..,SPIa2,..),.. --> + --> recv req1 + (lost) <-- send resp1: SA(..,SPIb2,..),.. + + <-- send req2: D(SPIb2) + recv req2 + + At this point, host A has not yet received message resp1 (and is + retransmitting message req1), so it does not recognize SPIb in + message req2. What should host A do? + + One option would be to reply with an empty Informational response. + However, this same reply would also be sent if host A has received + resp1, but has already sent a new request to delete the SA that was + just created. This would lead to a situation where the peers are no + longer in sync about which SAs exist between them. However, host B + would eventually notice that the other half of the CHILD_SA pair has + not been deleted. Section 1.4 describes this case and notes that "a + node SHOULD regard half-closed connections as anomalous and audit + their existence should they persist", and continues that "if + connection state becomes sufficiently messed up, a node MAY close the + IKE_SA". + + Another solution that has been proposed is to reply with an + INVALID_SPI notification that contains SPIb. This would explicitly + tell host B that the SA was not deleted, so host B could try deleting + it again later. However, this usage is not part of the IKEv2 + specification and would not be in line with normal use of the + INVALID_SPI notification where the data field contains the SPI the + recipient of the notification would put in outbound packets. + + Yet another solution would be to ignore req2 at this time and wait + until we have received resp1. However, this alternative has not been + fully analyzed at this time; in general, ignoring valid requests is + always a bit dangerous, because both endpoints could do it, leading + to a deadlock. + + This document recommends the first alternative. + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 33] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + +5.11.7. Rekeying a New CHILD_SA + + Yet another case occurs when a CHILD_SA is rekeyed soon after it has + been created: + + Host A Host B + -------- -------- + send req1: [N(REKEY_SA,SPIa1)], + SA(..,SPIa2,..),.. --> + (lost) <-- send resp1: SA(..,SPIb2,..),.. + + <-- send req2: N(REKEY_SA,SPIb2), + SA(..,SPIb3,..),.. + recv req2 <-- + + To host A, this looks like a request to rekey an SA that does not + exist. Like in the simultaneous rekeying case, replying with + NO_PROPOSAL_CHOSEN is probably reasonable: + + send resp2: N(NO_PROPOSAL_CHOSEN) --> + recv resp1 + +5.11.8. Collisions with IKE_SA Rekeying + + Another set of cases occurs when one peer starts rekeying the IKE_SA + at the same time the other peer starts creating, rekeying, or closing + a CHILD_SA. Suppose that host B starts creating a CHILD_SA, and soon + after, host A starts rekeying the IKE_SA: + + Host A Host B + -------- -------- + <-- send req1: SA,Ni1,TSi,TSr + send req2: SA,Ni2,.. --> + --> recv req2 + + What should host B do at this point? Replying as usual would seem + like a reasonable choice: + + <-- send resp2: SA,Ni2,.. + recv resp2 <-- + send req3: D() --> + --> recv req3 + + Now, a problem arises: If host B now replies normally with an empty + Informational response, this will cause host A to delete state + associated with the IKE_SA. This means host B should stop + retransmitting req1. However, host B cannot know whether or not host + A has received req1. If host A did receive it, it will move the + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 34] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + CHILD_SA to the new IKE_SA as usual, and the state information will + then be out of sync. + + It seems this situation is tricky to handle correctly. Our proposal + is as follows: if a host receives a request to rekey the IKE_SA when + it has CHILD_SAs in "half-open" state (currently being created or + rekeyed), it should reply with NO_PROPOSAL_CHOSEN. If a host + receives a request to create or rekey a CHILD_SA after it has started + rekeying the IKE_SA, it should reply with NO_ADDITIONAL_SAS. + + The case where CHILD_SAs are being closed is even worse. Our + recommendation is that if a host receives a request to rekey the + IKE_SA when it has CHILD_SAs in "half-closed" state (currently being + closed), it should reply with NO_PROPOSAL_CHOSEN. And if a host + receives a request to close a CHILD_SA after it has started rekeying + the IKE_SA, it should reply with an empty Informational response. + This ensures that at least the other peer will eventually notice that + the CHILD_SA is still in "half-closed" state and will start a new + IKE_SA from scratch. + +5.11.9. Closing and Rekeying the IKE_SA + + The final case considered in this section occurs if one peer decides + to close the IKE_SA while the other peer tries to rekey it. + + Host A Host B + -------- -------- + send req1: SA(..,SPIa1,..),Ni1 --> + <-- send req2: D() + --> recv req1 + recv req2 <-- + + At this point, host B should probably reply with NO_PROPOSAL_CHOSEN, + and host A should reply as usual, close the IKE_SA, and stop + retransmitting req1. + + <-- send resp1: N(NO_PROPOSAL_CHOSEN) + send resp2: () + + If host A wants to continue communication with B, it can now start a + new IKE_SA. + +5.11.10. Summary + + If a host receives a request to rekey: + + o a CHILD_SA pair that the host is currently trying to close: reply + with NO_PROPOSAL_CHOSEN. + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 35] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + o a CHILD_SA pair that the host is currently rekeying: reply as + usual, but prepare to close redundant SAs later based on the + nonces. + + o a CHILD_SA pair that does not exist: reply with + NO_PROPOSAL_CHOSEN. + + o the IKE_SA, and the host is currently rekeying the IKE_SA: reply + as usual, but prepare to close redundant SAs and move inherited + CHILD_SAs later based on the nonces. + + o the IKE_SA, and the host is currently creating, rekeying, or + closing a CHILD_SA: reply with NO_PROPOSAL_CHOSEN. + + o the IKE_SA, and the host is currently trying to close the IKE_SA: + reply with NO_PROPOSAL_CHOSEN. + + If a host receives a request to close: + + o a CHILD_SA pair that the host is currently trying to close: reply + without Delete payloads. + + o a CHILD_SA pair that the host is currently rekeying: reply as + usual, with Delete payload. + + o a CHILD_SA pair that does not exist: reply without Delete + payloads. + + o the IKE_SA, and the host is currently rekeying the IKE_SA: reply + as usual, and forget about our own rekeying request. + + o the IKE_SA, and the host is currently trying to close the IKE_SA: + reply as usual, and forget about our own close request. + + If a host receives a request to create or rekey a CHILD_SA when it is + currently rekeying the IKE_SA: reply with NO_ADDITIONAL_SAS. + + If a host receives a request to delete a CHILD_SA when it is + currently rekeying the IKE_SA: reply without Delete payloads. + +5.12. Diffie-Hellman and Rekeying the IKE_SA + + There has been some confusion whether doing a new Diffie-Hellman + exchange is mandatory when the IKE_SA is rekeyed. + + It seems that this case is allowed by the IKEv2 specification. + Section 2.18 shows the Diffie-Hellman term (g^ir) in brackets. + Section 3.3.3 does not contradict this when it says that including + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 36] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + the D-H transform is mandatory: although including the transform is + mandatory, it can contain the value "NONE". + + However, having the option to skip the Diffie-Hellman exchange when + rekeying the IKE_SA does not add useful functionality to the + protocol. The main purpose of rekeying the IKE_SA is to ensure that + the compromise of old keying material does not provide information + about the current keys, or vice versa. This requires performing the + Diffie-Hellman exchange when rekeying. Furthermore, it is likely + that this option would have been removed from the protocol as + unnecessary complexity had it been discussed earlier. + + Given this, we recommend that implementations should have a hard- + coded policy that requires performing a new Diffie-Hellman exchange + when rekeying the IKE_SA. In other words, the initiator should not + propose the value "NONE" for the D-H transform, and the responder + should not accept such a proposal. This policy also implies that a + successful exchange rekeying the IKE_SA always includes the KEi/KEr + payloads. + + (References: "Rekeying IKE_SAs with the CREATE_CHILD_SA exhange" + thread, Oct 2005. "Comments of + draft-eronen-ipsec-ikev2-clarifications-02.txt" thread, Apr 2005.) + +6. Configuration Payloads + +6.1. Assigning IP Addresses + + Section 2.9 talks about traffic selector negotiation and mentions + that "In support of the scenario described in section 1.1.3, an + initiator may request that the responder assign an IP address and + tell the initiator what it is." + + This sentence is correct, but its placement is slightly confusing. + IKEv2 does allow the initiator to request assignment of an IP address + from the responder, but this is done using configuration payloads, + not traffic selector payloads. An address in a TSi payload in a + response does not mean that the responder has assigned that address + to the initiator; it only means that if packets matching these + traffic selectors are sent by the initiator, IPsec processing can be + performed as agreed for this SA. The TSi payload itself does not + give the initiator permission to configure the initiator's TCP/IP + stack with the address and use it as its source address. + + In other words, IKEv2 does not have two different mechanisms for + assigning addresses, but only one: configuration payloads. In the + scenario described in Section 1.1.3, both configuration and traffic + selector payloads are usually included in the same message, and they + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 37] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + often contain the same information in the response message (see + Section 6.3 of this document for some examples). However, their + semantics are still different. + +6.2. Requesting any INTERNAL_IP4/IP6_ADDRESS + + When describing the INTERNAL_IP4/IP6_ADDRESS attributes, Section + 3.15.1 says that "In a request message, the address specified is a + requested address (or zero if no specific address is requested)". + The question here is whether "zero" means an address "0.0.0.0" or a + zero-length string. + + Earlier, the same section also says that "If an attribute in the + CFG_REQUEST Configuration Payload is not zero-length, it is taken as + a suggestion for that attribute". Also, the table of configuration + attributes shows that the length of INTERNAL_IP4_ADDRESS is either "0 + or 4 octets", and likewise, INTERNAL_IP6_ADDRESS is either "0 or 17 + octets". + + Thus, if the client does not request a specific address, it includes + a zero-length INTERNAL_IP4/IP6_ADDRESS attribute, not an attribute + containing an all-zeroes address. The example in 2.19 is thus + incorrect, since it shows the attribute as + "INTERNAL_ADDRESS(0.0.0.0)". + + However, since the value is only a suggestion, implementations are + recommended to ignore suggestions they do not accept; or in other + words, to treat the same way a zero-length INTERNAL_IP4_ADDRESS, + "0.0.0.0", and any other addresses the implementation does not + recognize as a reasonable suggestion. + +6.3. INTERNAL_IP4_SUBNET/INTERNAL_IP6_SUBNET + + Section 3.15.1 describes the INTERNAL_IP4_SUBNET as "The protected + sub-networks that this edge-device protects. This attribute is made + up of two fields: the first is an IP address and the second is a + netmask. Multiple sub-networks MAY be requested. The responder MAY + respond with zero or more sub-network attributes." + INTERNAL_IP6_SUBNET is defined in a similar manner. + + This raises two questions: first, since this information is usually + included in the TSr payload, what functionality does this attribute + add? And second, what does this attribute mean in CFG_REQUESTs? + + For the first question, there seem to be two sensible + interpretations. Clearly TSr (in IKE_AUTH or CREATE_CHILD_SA + response) indicates which subnets are accessible through the SA that + was just created. + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 38] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + The first interpretation of the INTERNAL_IP4/6_SUBNET attributes is + that they indicate additional subnets that can be reached through + this gateway, but need a separate SA. According to this + interpretation, the INTERNAL_IP4/6_SUBNET attributes are useful + mainly when they contain addresses not included in TSr. + + The second interpretation is that the INTERNAL_IP4/6_SUBNET + attributes express the gateway's policy about what traffic should be + sent through the gateway. The client can choose whether other + traffic (covered by TSr, but not in INTERNAL_IP4/6_SUBNET) is sent + through the gateway or directly to the destination. According to + this interpretation, the attributes are useful mainly when TSr + contains addresses not included in the INTERNAL_IP4/6_SUBNET + attributes. + + It turns out that these two interpretations are not incompatible, but + rather two sides of the same principle: traffic to the addresses + listed in the INTERNAL_IP4/6_SUBNET attributes should be sent via + this gateway. If there are no existing IPsec SAs whose traffic + selectors cover the address in question, new SAs have to be created. + + A couple of examples are given below. For instance, if there are two + subnets, 192.0.1.0/26 and 192.0.2.0/24, and the client's request + contains the following: + + CP(CFG_REQUEST) = + INTERNAL_IP4_ADDRESS() + TSi = (0, 0-65535, 0.0.0.0-255.255.255.255) + TSr = (0, 0-65535, 0.0.0.0-255.255.255.255) + + Then a valid response could be the following (in which TSr and + INTERNAL_IP4_SUBNET contain the same information): + + CP(CFG_REPLY) = + INTERNAL_IP4_ADDRESS(192.0.1.234) + INTERNAL_IP4_SUBNET(192.0.1.0/255.255.255.192) + INTERNAL_IP4_SUBNET(192.0.2.0/255.255.255.0) + TSi = (0, 0-65535, 192.0.1.234-192.0.1.234) + TSr = ((0, 0-65535, 192.0.1.0-192.0.1.63), + (0, 0-65535, 192.0.2.0-192.0.2.255)) + + In these cases, the INTERNAL_IP4_SUBNET does not really carry any + useful information. Another possible reply would have been this: + + CP(CFG_REPLY) = + INTERNAL_IP4_ADDRESS(192.0.1.234) + INTERNAL_IP4_SUBNET(192.0.1.0/255.255.255.192) + INTERNAL_IP4_SUBNET(192.0.2.0/255.255.255.0) + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 39] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + TSi = (0, 0-65535, 192.0.1.234-192.0.1.234) + TSr = (0, 0-65535, 0.0.0.0-255.255.255.255) + + This would mean that the client can send all its traffic through the + gateway, but the gateway does not mind if the client sends traffic + not included by INTERNAL_IP4_SUBNET directly to the destination + (without going through the gateway). + + A different situation arises if the gateway has a policy that + requires the traffic for the two subnets to be carried in separate + SAs. Then a response like this would indicate to the client that if + it wants access to the second subnet, it needs to create a separate + SA: + + CP(CFG_REPLY) = + INTERNAL_IP4_ADDRESS(192.0.1.234) + INTERNAL_IP4_SUBNET(192.0.1.0/255.255.255.192) + INTERNAL_IP4_SUBNET(192.0.2.0/255.255.255.0) + TSi = (0, 0-65535, 192.0.1.234-192.0.1.234) + TSr = (0, 0-65535, 192.0.1.0-192.0.1.63) + + INTERNAL_IP4_SUBNET can also be useful if the client's TSr included + only part of the address space. For instance, if the client requests + the following: + + CP(CFG_REQUEST) = + INTERNAL_IP4_ADDRESS() + TSi = (0, 0-65535, 0.0.0.0-255.255.255.255) + TSr = (0, 0-65535, 192.0.2.155-192.0.2.155) + + Then the gateway's reply could be this: + + CP(CFG_REPLY) = + INTERNAL_IP4_ADDRESS(192.0.1.234) + INTERNAL_IP4_SUBNET(192.0.1.0/255.255.255.192) + INTERNAL_IP4_SUBNET(192.0.2.0/255.255.255.0) + TSi = (0, 0-65535, 192.0.1.234-192.0.1.234) + TSr = (0, 0-65535, 192.0.2.155-192.0.2.155) + + It is less clear what the attributes mean in CFG_REQUESTs, and + whether other lengths than zero make sense in this situation (but for + INTERNAL_IP6_SUBNET, zero length is not allowed at all!). This + document recommends that implementations should not include + INTERNAL_IP4_SUBNET or INTERNAL_IP6_SUBNET attributes in + CFG_REQUESTs. + + For the IPv4 case, this document recommends using only netmasks + consisting of some amount of "1" bits followed by "0" bits; for + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 40] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + instance, "255.0.255.0" would not be a valid netmask for + INTERNAL_IP4_SUBNET. + + It is also worthwhile to note that the contents of the INTERNAL_IP4/ + 6_SUBNET attributes do not imply link boundaries. For instance, a + gateway providing access to a large company intranet using addresses + from the 10.0.0.0/8 block can send a single INTERNAL_IP4_SUBNET + attribute (10.0.0.0/255.0.0.0) even if the intranet has hundreds of + routers and separate links. + + (References: Tero Kivinen's mail "Intent of couple of attributes in + Configuration Payload in IKEv2?", 2004-11-19. Srinivasa Rao + Addepalli's mail "INTERNAL_IP4_SUBNET and INTERNAL_IP6_SUBNET in + IKEv2", 2004-09-10. Yoav Nir's mail "Re: New I-D: IKEv2 + Clarifications and Implementation Guidelines", 2005-02-07. + "Clarifications open issue: INTERNAL_IP4_SUBNET/NETMASK" thread, + April 2005.) + +6.4. INTERNAL_IP4_NETMASK + + Section 3.15.1 defines the INTERNAL_IP4_NETMASK attribute and says + that "The internal network's netmask. Only one netmask is allowed in + the request and reply messages (e.g., 255.255.255.0) and it MUST be + used only with an INTERNAL_IP4_ADDRESS attribute". + + However, it is not clear what exactly this attribute means, as the + concept of "netmask" is not very well defined for point-to-point + links (unlike multi-access links, where it means "you can reach hosts + inside this netmask directly using layer 2, instead of sending + packets via a router"). Even if the operating system's TCP/IP stack + requires a netmask to be configured, for point-to-point links it + could be just set to 255.255.255.255. So, why is this information + sent in IKEv2? + + One possible interpretation would be that the host is given a whole + block of IP addresses instead of a single address. This is also what + Framed-IP-Netmask does in [RADIUS], the IPCP "subnet mask" extension + does in PPP [IPCPSubnet], and the prefix length in the IPv6 Framed- + IPv6-Prefix attribute does in [RADIUS6]. However, nothing in the + specification supports this interpretation, and discussions on the + IPsec WG mailing list have confirmed it was not intended. Section + 3.15.1 also says that multiple addresses are assigned using multiple + INTERNAL_IP4/6_ADDRESS attributes. + + Currently, this document's interpretation is the following: + INTERNAL_IP4_NETMASK in a CFG_REPLY means roughly the same thing as + INTERNAL_IP4_SUBNET containing the same information ("send traffic to + these addresses through me"), but also implies a link boundary. For + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 41] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + instance, the client could use its own address and the netmask to + calculate the broadcast address of the link. (Whether the gateway + will actually deliver broadcast packets to other VPN clients and/or + other nodes connected to this link is another matter.) + + An empty INTERNAL_IP4_NETMASK attribute can be included in a + CFG_REQUEST to request this information (although the gateway can + send the information even when not requested). However, it seems + that non-empty values for this attribute do not make sense in + CFG_REQUESTs. + + Fortunately, Section 4 clearly says that a minimal implementation + does not need to include or understand the INTERNAL_IP4_NETMASK + attribute, and thus this document recommends that implementations + should not use the INTERNAL_IP4_NETMASK attribute or assume that the + other peer supports it. + + (References: Charlie Kaufman's mail "RE: Proposed Last Call based + revisions to IKEv2", 2004-05-27. Email discussion with Tero Kivinen, + Jan 2005. Yoav Nir's mail "Re: New I-D: IKEv2 Clarifications and + Implementation Guidelines", 2005-02-07. "Clarifications open issue: + INTERNAL_IP4_SUBNET/NETMASK" thread, April 2005.) + +6.5. Configuration Payloads for IPv6 + + IKEv2 also defines configuration payloads for IPv6. However, they + are based on the corresponding IPv4 payloads and do not fully follow + the "normal IPv6 way of doing things". + + A client can be assigned an IPv6 address using the + INTERNAL_IP6_ADDRESS configuration payload. A minimal exchange could + look like this: + + CP(CFG_REQUEST) = + INTERNAL_IP6_ADDRESS() + INTERNAL_IP6_DNS() + TSi = (0, 0-65535, :: - FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF) + TSr = (0, 0-65535, :: - FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF) + + CP(CFG_REPLY) = + INTERNAL_IP6_ADDRESS(2001:DB8:0:1:2:3:4:5/64) + INTERNAL_IP6_DNS(2001:DB8:99:88:77:66:55:44) + TSi = (0, 0-65535, 2001:DB8:0:1:2:3:4:5 - 2001:DB8:0:1:2:3:4:5) + TSr = (0, 0-65535, :: - FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF) + + In particular, IPv6 stateless autoconfiguration or router + advertisement messages are not used; neither is neighbor discovery. + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 42] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + The client can also send a non-empty INTERNAL_IP6_ADDRESS attribute + in the CFG_REQUEST to request a specific address or interface + identifier. The gateway first checks if the specified address is + acceptable, and if it is, returns that one. If the address was not + acceptable, the gateway will attempt to use the interface identifier + with some other prefix; if even that fails, the gateway will select + another interface identifier. + + The INTERNAL_IP6_ADDRESS attribute also contains a prefix length + field. When used in a CFG_REPLY, this corresponds to the + INTERNAL_IP4_NETMASK attribute in the IPv4 case (and indeed, was + called INTERNAL_IP6_NETMASK in earlier versions of the IKEv2 draft). + See the previous section for more details. + + While this approach to configuring IPv6 addresses is reasonably + simple, it has some limitations: IPsec tunnels configured using IKEv2 + are not fully-featured "interfaces" in the IPv6 addressing + architecture [IPv6Addr] sense. In particular, they do not + necessarily have link-local addresses, and this may complicate the + use of protocols that assume them, such as [MLDv2]. (Whether they + are called "interfaces" in some particular operating system is a + different issue.) + + (References: "VPN remote host configuration IPv6 ?" thread, May 2004. + "Clarifications open issue: INTERNAL_IP4_SUBNET/NETMASK" thread, + April 2005.) + +6.6. INTERNAL_IP6_NBNS + + Section 3.15.1 defines the INTERNAL_IP6_NBNS attribute for sending + the IPv6 address of NetBIOS name servers. + + However, NetBIOS is not defined for IPv6 and probably never will be. + Thus, this attribute most likely does not make much sense. + + (Pointed out by Bernard Aboba in the IP Configuration Security (ICOS) + BoF at IETF62.) + +6.7. INTERNAL_ADDRESS_EXPIRY + + Section 3.15.1 defines the INTERNAL_ADDRESS_EXPIRY attribute as + "Specifies the number of seconds that the host can use the internal + IP address. The host MUST renew the IP address before this expiry + time. Only one of these attributes MAY be present in the reply." + + Expiry times and explicit renewals are primarily useful in + environments like DHCP, where the server cannot reliably know when + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 43] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + the client has gone away. However, in IKEv2 this is known, and the + gateway can simply free the address when the IKE_SA is deleted. + + Also, Section 4 says that supporting renewals is not mandatory. + Given that this functionality is usually not needed, we recommend + that gateways should not send the INTERNAL_ADDRESS_EXPIRY attribute. + (And since this attribute does not seem to make much sense for + CFG_REQUESTs, clients should not send it either.) + + Note that according to Section 4, clients are required to understand + INTERNAL_ADDRESS_EXPIRY if they receive it. A minimum implementation + would use the value to limit the lifetime of the IKE_SA. + + (References: Tero Kivinen's mail "Comments of + draft-eronen-ipsec-ikev2-clarifications-02.txt", 2005-04-05. + "Questions about internal address" thread, April 2005.) + +6.8. Address Assignment Failures + + If the responder encounters an error while attempting to assign an IP + address to the initiator, it responds with an + INTERNAL_ADDRESS_FAILURE notification as described in Section 3.10.1. + However, there are some more complex error cases. + + First, if the responder does not support configuration payloads at + all, it can simply ignore all configuration payloads. This type of + implementation never sends INTERNAL_ADDRESS_FAILURE notifications. + If the initiator requires the assignment of an IP address, it will + treat a response without CFG_REPLY as an error. + + A second case is where the responder does support configuration + payloads, but only for particular type of addresses (IPv4 or IPv6). + Section 4 says that "A minimal IPv4 responder implementation will + ignore the contents of the CP payload except to determine that it + includes an INTERNAL_IP4_ADDRESS attribute". If, for instance, the + initiator includes both INTERNAL_IP4_ADDRESS and INTERNAL_IP6_ADDRESS + in the CFG_REQUEST, an IPv4-only responder can thus simply ignore the + IPv6 part and process the IPv4 request as usual. + + A third case is where the initiator requests multiple addresses of a + type that the responder supports: what should happen if some (but not + all) of the requests fail? It seems that an optimistic approach + would be the best one here: if the responder is able to assign at + least one address, it replies with those; it sends + INTERNAL_ADDRESS_FAILURE only if no addresses can be assigned. + + (References: "ikev2 and internal_ivpn_address" thread, June 2005.) + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 44] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + +7. Miscellaneous Issues + +7.1. Matching ID_IPV4_ADDR and ID_IPV6_ADDR + + When using the ID_IPV4_ADDR/ID_IPV6_ADDR identity types in IDi/IDr + payloads, IKEv2 does not require this address to match anything in + the TSi/TSr payloads. For example, in a site-to-site VPN between two + security gateways, the gateways could authenticate each other as + ID_IPV4_ADDR(192.0.1.1) and ID_IPV4_ADDR(192.0.2.1), and then create + a CHILD_SA for protecting traffic between 192.0.1.55/32 (a host + behind the first security gateway) and 192.0.2.240/28 (a network + behind the second security gateway). The authenticated identities + (IDi/IDr) are linked to the authorized traffic selectors (TSi/TSr) + using "Child SA Authorization Data" in the Peer Authorization + Database (PAD). + + Furthermore, IKEv2 does not require that the addresses in + ID_IPV4_ADDR/ID_IPV6_ADDR match the address in the IP header of the + IKE packets. However, other specifications may place additional + requirements regarding this. For example, [PKI4IPsec] requires that + implementation must be capable of comparing the addresses in the + ID_IPV4_ADDR/ID_IPV6_ADDR with the addresses in the IP header of the + IKE packets, and this comparison must be enabled by default. + + (References: "Identities types IP address,FQDN/user FQDN and DN and + its usage in preshared key authentication" thread, Jan 2005. + "Matching ID_IPV4_ADDR and ID_IPV6_ADDR" thread, May 2006.) + +7.2. Relationship of IKEv2 to RFC 4301 + + The IKEv2 specification refers to [RFC4301], but it never clearly + defines the exact relationship. + + However, there are some requirements in the specification that make + it clear that IKEv2 requires [RFC4301]. In other words, an + implementation that does IPsec processing strictly according to + [RFC2401] cannot be compliant with the IKEv2 specification. + + One such example can be found in Section 2.24: "Specifically, tunnel + encapsulators and decapsulators for all tunnel-mode SAs created by + IKEv2 [...] MUST implement the tunnel encapsulation and + decapsulation processing specified in [RFC4301] to prevent discarding + of ECN congestion indications." + + Nevertheless, the changes required to existing [RFC2401] + implementations are not very large, especially since supporting many + of the new features (such as Extended Sequence Numbers) is optional. + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 45] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + +7.3. Reducing the Window Size + + In IKEv2, the window size is assumed to be a (possibly configurable) + property of a particular implementation and is not related to + congestion control (unlike the window size in TCP, for instance). + + In particular, it is not defined what the responder should do when it + receives a SET_WINDOW_SIZE notification containing a smaller value + than is currently in effect. Thus, there is currently no way to + reduce the window size of an existing IKE_SA. However, when rekeying + an IKE_SA, the new IKE_SA starts with window size 1 until it is + explicitly increased by sending a new SET_WINDOW_SIZE notification. + + (References: Tero Kivinen's mail "Comments of + draft-eronen-ipsec-ikev2-clarifications-02.txt", 2005-04-05.) + +7.4. Minimum Size of Nonces + + Section 2.10 says that "Nonces used in IKEv2 MUST be randomly chosen, + MUST be at least 128 bits in size, and MUST be at least half the key + size of the negotiated prf." + + However, the initiator chooses the nonce before the outcome of the + negotiation is known. In this case, the nonce has to be long enough + for all the PRFs being proposed. + +7.5. Initial Zero Octets on Port 4500 + + It is not clear whether a peer sending an IKE_SA_INIT request on port + 4500 should include the initial four zero octets. Section 2.23 talks + about how to upgrade to tunneling over port 4500 after message 2, but + it does not say what to do if message 1 is sent on port 4500. + + IKE MUST listen on port 4500 as well as port 500. + + [...] + + The IKE initiator MUST check these payloads if present and if + they do not match the addresses in the outer packet MUST tunnel + all future IKE and ESP packets associated with this IKE_SA over + UDP port 4500. + + To tunnel IKE packets over UDP port 4500, the IKE header has four + octets of zero prepended and the result immediately follows the + UDP header. [...] + + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 46] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + The very beginning of Section 2 says "... though IKE messages may + also be received on UDP port 4500 with a slightly different format + (see section 2.23)." + + That "slightly different format" is only described in discussing what + to do after changing to port 4500. However, [RFC3948] shows clearly + the format has the initial zeros even for initiators on port 4500. + Furthermore, without the initial zeros, the processing engine cannot + determine whether the packet is an IKE packet or an ESP packet. + + Thus, all packets sent on port 4500 need the four-zero prefix; + otherwise, the receiver won't know how to handle them. + +7.6. Destination Port for NAT Traversal + + Section 2.23 says that "an IPsec endpoint that discovers a NAT + between it and its correspondent MUST send all subsequent traffic to + and from port 4500". + + This sentence is misleading. The peer "outside" the NAT uses source + port 4500 for the traffic it sends, but the destination port is, of + course, taken from packets sent by the peer behind the NAT. This + port number is usually dynamically allocated by the NAT. + +7.7. SPI Values for Messages outside an IKE_SA + + The IKEv2 specification is not quite clear what SPI values should be + used in the IKE header for the small number of notifications that are + allowed to be sent outside an IKE_SA. Note that such notifications + are explicitly not Informational exchanges; Section 1.5 makes it + clear that these are one-way messages that must not be responded to. + + There are two cases when such a one-way notification can be sent: + INVALID_IKE_SPI and INVALID_SPI. + + In case of INVALID_IKE_SPI, the message sent is a response message, + and Section 2.21 says that "If a response is sent, the response MUST + be sent to the IP address and port from whence it came with the same + IKE SPIs and the Message ID copied." + + In case of INVALID_SPI, however, there are no IKE SPI values that + would be meaningful to the recipient of such a notification. Also, + the message sent is now an INFORMATIONAL request. A strict + interpretation of the specification would require the sender to + invent garbage values for the SPI fields. However, we think this was + not the intention, and using zero values is acceptable. + + (References: "INVALID_IKE_SPI" thread, June 2005.) + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 47] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + +7.8. Protocol ID/SPI Fields in Notify Payloads + + Section 3.10 says that the Protocol ID field in Notify payloads "For + notifications that do not relate to an existing SA, this field MUST + be sent as zero and MUST be ignored on receipt". However, the + specification does not clearly say which notifications are related to + existing SAs and which are not. + + Since the main purpose of the Protocol ID field is to specify the + type of the SPI, our interpretation is that the Protocol ID field + should be non-zero only when the SPI field is non-empty. + + There are currently only two notifications where this is the case: + INVALID_SELECTORS and REKEY_SA. + +7.9. Which message should contain INITIAL_CONTACT + + The description of the INITIAL_CONTACT notification in Section 3.10.1 + says that "This notification asserts that this IKE_SA is the only + IKE_SA currently active between the authenticated identities". + However, neither Section 2.4 nor 3.10.1 says in which message this + payload should be placed. + + The general agreement is that INITIAL_CONTACT is best communicated in + the first IKE_AUTH request, not as a separate exchange afterwards. + + (References: "Clarifying the use of INITIAL_CONTACT in IKEv2" thread, + April 2005. "Initial Contact messages" thread, December 2004. + "IKEv2 and Initial Contact" thread, September 2004 and April 2005.) + +7.10. Alignment of Payloads + + Many IKEv2 payloads contain fields marked as "RESERVED", mostly + because IKEv1 had them, and partly because they make the pictures + easier to draw. In particular, payloads in IKEv2 are not, in + general, aligned to 4-octet boundaries. (Note that payloads were not + aligned to 4-octet boundaries in IKEv1 either.) + + (References: "IKEv2: potential 4-byte alignment problem" thread, June + 2004.) + +7.11. Key Length Transform Attribute + + Section 3.3.5 says that "The only algorithms defined in this document + that accept attributes are the AES based encryption, integrity, and + pseudo-random functions, which require a single attribute specifying + key width." + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 48] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + This is incorrect. The AES-based integrity and pseudo-random + functions defined in [IKEv2] always use a 128-bit key. In fact, + there are currently no integrity or PRF algorithms that use the key + length attribute (and we recommend that they should not be defined in + the future either). + + For encryption algorithms, the situation is slightly more complex + since there are three different types of algorithms: + + o The key length attribute is never used with algorithms that use a + fixed length key, such as DES and IDEA. + + o The key length attribute is always included for the currently + defined AES-based algorithms (Cipher Block Chaining (CBC), Counter + (CTR) Mode, Counter with CBC-MAC (CCM), and Galois/Counter Mode + (GCM)). Omitting the key length attribute is not allowed; if the + proposal does not contain it, the proposal has to be rejected. + + o For other algorithms, the key length attribute can be included but + is not mandatory. These algorithms include, e.g., RC5, CAST, and + BLOWFISH. If the key length attribute is not included, the + default value specified in [RFC2451] is used. + +7.12. IPsec IANA Considerations + + There are currently three different IANA registry files that contain + important numbers for IPsec: ikev2-registry, isakmp-registry, and + ipsec-registry. Implementers should note that IKEv2 may use numbers + different from those of IKEv1 for a particular algorithm. + + For instance, an encryption algorithm can have up to three different + numbers: the IKEv2 "Transform Type 1" identifier in ikev2-registry, + the IKEv1 phase 1 "Encryption Algorithm" identifier in ipsec- + registry, and the IKEv1 phase 2 "IPSEC ESP Transform Identifier" + isakmp-registry. Although some algorithms have the same number in + all three registries, the registries are not identical. + + Similarly, an integrity algorithm can have at least the IKEv2 + "Transform Type 3" identifier in ikev2-registry, the IKEv1 phase 2 + "IPSEC AH Transform Identifier" in isakmp-registry, and the IKEv1 + phase 2 ESP "Authentication Algorithm Security Association Attribute" + identifier in isakmp-registry. And there is also the IKEv1 phase 1 + "Hash Algorithm" list in ipsec-registry. + + This issue needs special care also when writing a specification for + how a new algorithm is used with IPsec. + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 49] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + +7.13. Combining ESP and AH + + The IKEv2 specification contains some misleading text about how ESP + and AH can be combined. + + IKEv2 is based on [RFC4301], which does not include "SA bundles" that + were part of [RFC2401]. While a single packet can go through IPsec + processing multiple times, each of these passes uses a separate SA, + and the passes are coordinated by the forwarding tables. In IKEv2, + each of these SAs has to be created using a separate CREATE_CHILD_SA + exchange. Thus, the text in Section 2.7 about a single proposal + containing both ESP and AH is incorrect. + + Moreover, the combination of ESP and AH (between the same endpoints) + had already become largely obsolete in 1998 when RFC 2406 was + published. Our recommendation is that IKEv2 implementations should + not support this combination, and implementers should not assume the + combination can be made to work in an interoperable manner. + + (References: "Rekeying SA bundles" thread, Oct 2005.) + +8. Implementation Mistakes + + Some implementers at the early IKEv2 bakeoffs didn't do everything + correctly. This may seem like an obvious statement, but it is + probably useful to list a few things that were clear in the document, + but that some implementers didn't do. All of these things caused + interoperability problems. + + o Some implementations continued to send traffic on a CHILD_SA after + it was rekeyed, even after receiving an DELETE payload. + + o After rekeying an IKE_SA, some implementations did not reset their + message counters to zero. One set the counter to 2, another did + not reset the counter at all. + + o Some implementations could only handle a single pair of traffic + selectors or would only process the first pair in the proposal. + + o Some implementations responded to a delete request by sending an + empty INFORMATIONAL response and then initiated their own + INFORMATIONAL exchange with the pair of SAs to delete. + + o Although this did not happen at the bakeoff, from the discussion + there, it is clear that some people had not implemented message + window sizes correctly. Some implementations might have sent + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 50] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + messages that did not fit into the responder's message windows, + and some implementations may not have torn down an SA if they did + not ever receive a message that they know they should have. + +9. Security Considerations + + This document does not introduce any new security considerations to + IKEv2. If anything, clarifying complex areas of the specification + can reduce the likelihood of implementation problems that may have + security implications. + +10. Acknowledgments + + This document is mainly based on conversations on the IPsec WG + mailing list. The authors would especially like to thank Bernard + Aboba, Jari Arkko, Vijay Devarapalli, William Dixon, Francis Dupont, + Alfred Hoenes, Mika Joutsenvirta, Charlie Kaufman, Stephen Kent, Tero + Kivinen, Yoav Nir, Michael Richardson, and Joel Snyder for their + contributions. + + In addition, the authors would like to thank all the participants of + the first public IKEv2 bakeoff, held in Santa Clara in February 2005, + for their questions and proposed clarifications. + +11. References + +11.1. Normative References + + [IKEv2] Kaufman, C., Ed., "Internet Key Exchange (IKEv2) + Protocol", RFC 4306, December 2005. + + [IKEv2ALG] Schiller, J., "Cryptographic Algorithms for Use in the + Internet Key Exchange Version 2 (IKEv2)", RFC 4307, + December 2005. + + [PKCS1v20] Kaliski, B. and J. Staddon, "PKCS #1: RSA Cryptography + Specifications Version 2.0", RFC 2437, October 1998. + + [PKCS1v21] Jonsson, J. and B. Kaliski, "Public-Key Cryptography + Standards (PKCS) #1: RSA Cryptography Specifications + Version 2.1", RFC 3447, February 2003. + + [RFC2401] Kent, S. and R. Atkinson, "Security Architecture for + the Internet Protocol", RFC 2401, November 1998. + + [RFC4301] Kent, S. and K. Seo, "Security Architecture for the + Internet Protocol", RFC 4301, December 2005. + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 51] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + +11.2. Informative References + + [Aura05] Aura, T., Roe, M., and A. Mohammed, "Experiences with + Host-to-Host IPsec", 13th International Workshop on + Security Protocols, Cambridge, UK, April 2005. + + [EAP] Aboba, B., Blunk, L., Vollbrecht, J., Carlson, J., and + H. Levkowetz, "Extensible Authentication Protocol + (EAP)", RFC 3748, June 2004. + + [HashUse] Hoffman, P., "Use of Hash Algorithms in IKE and IPsec", + Work in Progress, July 2006. + + [IPCPSubnet] Cisco Systems, Inc., "IPCP Subnet Mask Support + Enhancements", http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/ + doc/product/software/ios121/121newft/121limit/121dc/ + 121dc3/ipcp_msk.htm, January 2003. + + [IPv6Addr] Hinden, R. and S. Deering, "IP Version 6 Addressing + Architecture", RFC 4291, February 2006. + + [MIPv6] Johnson, D., Perkins, C., and J. Arkko, "Mobility + Support in IPv6", RFC 3775, June 2004. + + [MLDv2] Vida, R. and L. Costa, "Multicast Listener Discovery + Version 2 (MLDv2) for IPv6", RFC 3810, June 2004. + + [NAI] Aboba, B., Beadles, M., Arkko, J., and P. Eronen, "The + Network Access Identifier", RFC 4282, December 2005. + + [PKI4IPsec] Korver, B., "Internet PKI Profile of IKEv1/ISAKMP, + IKEv2, and PKIX", Work in Progress, April 2006. + + [RADEAP] Aboba, B. and P. Calhoun, "RADIUS (Remote + Authentication Dial In User Service) Support For + Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP)", RFC 3579, + September 2003. + + [RADIUS] Rigney, C., Willens, S., Rubens, A., and W. Simpson, + "Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS)", + RFC 2865, June 2000. + + [RADIUS6] Aboba, B., Zorn, G., and D. Mitton, "RADIUS and IPv6", + RFC 3162, August 2001. + + [RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate + Requirement Levels", RFC 2119, March 1997. + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 52] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + [RFC2451] Pereira, R. and R. Adams, "The ESP CBC-Mode Cipher + Algorithms", RFC 2451, November 1998. + + [RFC2822] Resnick, P., "Internet Message Format", RFC 2822, + April 2001. + + [RFC3664] Hoffman, P., "The AES-XCBC-PRF-128 Algorithm for the + Internet Key Exchange Protocol (IKE)", RFC 3664, + January 2004. + + [RFC3948] Huttunen, A., Swander, B., Volpe, V., DiBurro, L., and + M. Stenberg, "UDP Encapsulation of IPsec ESP Packets", + RFC 3948, January 2005. + + [RFC4434] Hoffman, P., "The AES-XCBC-PRF-128 Algorithm for the + Internet Key Exchange Protocol (IKE)", RFC 4434, + February 2006. + + [RFC822] Crocker, D., "Standard for the format of ARPA Internet + text messages", RFC 822, August 1982. + + [ReAuth] Nir, Y., "Repeated Authentication in Internet Key + Exchange (IKEv2) Protocol", RFC 4478, April 2006. + + [SCVP] Freeman, T., Housley, R., Malpani, A., Cooper, D., and + T. Polk, "Simple Certificate Validation Protocol + (SCVP)", Work in Progress, June 2006. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 53] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + +Appendix A. Exchanges and Payloads + + This appendix contains a short summary of the IKEv2 exchanges, and + what payloads can appear in which message. This appendix is purely + informative; if it disagrees with the body of this document or the + IKEv2 specification, the other text is considered correct. + + Vendor-ID (V) payloads may be included in any place in any message. + This sequence shows what are, in our opinion, the most logical places + for them. + + The specification does not say which messages can contain + N(SET_WINDOW_SIZE). It can possibly be included in any message, but + it is not yet shown below. + +A.1. IKE_SA_INIT Exchange + + request --> [N(COOKIE)], + SA, KE, Ni, + [N(NAT_DETECTION_SOURCE_IP)+, + N(NAT_DETECTION_DESTINATION_IP)], + [V+] + + normal response <-- SA, KE, Nr, + (no cookie) [N(NAT_DETECTION_SOURCE_IP), + N(NAT_DETECTION_DESTINATION_IP)], + [[N(HTTP_CERT_LOOKUP_SUPPORTED)], CERTREQ+], + [V+] + +A.2. IKE_AUTH Exchange without EAP + + request --> IDi, [CERT+], + [N(INITIAL_CONTACT)], + [[N(HTTP_CERT_LOOKUP_SUPPORTED)], CERTREQ+], + [IDr], + AUTH, + [CP(CFG_REQUEST)], + [N(IPCOMP_SUPPORTED)+], + [N(USE_TRANSPORT_MODE)], + [N(ESP_TFC_PADDING_NOT_SUPPORTED)], + [N(NON_FIRST_FRAGMENTS_ALSO)], + SA, TSi, TSr, + [V+] + + + + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 54] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + + response <-- IDr, [CERT+], + AUTH, + [CP(CFG_REPLY)], + [N(IPCOMP_SUPPORTED)], + [N(USE_TRANSPORT_MODE)], + [N(ESP_TFC_PADDING_NOT_SUPPORTED)], + [N(NON_FIRST_FRAGMENTS_ALSO)], + SA, TSi, TSr, + [N(ADDITIONAL_TS_POSSIBLE)], + [V+] + +A.3. IKE_AUTH Exchange with EAP + + first request --> IDi, + [N(INITIAL_CONTACT)], + [[N(HTTP_CERT_LOOKUP_SUPPORTED)], CERTREQ+], + [IDr], + [CP(CFG_REQUEST)], + [N(IPCOMP_SUPPORTED)+], + [N(USE_TRANSPORT_MODE)], + [N(ESP_TFC_PADDING_NOT_SUPPORTED)], + [N(NON_FIRST_FRAGMENTS_ALSO)], + SA, TSi, TSr, + [V+] + + first response <-- IDr, [CERT+], AUTH, + EAP, + [V+] + + / --> EAP + repeat 1..N times | + \ <-- EAP + + last request --> AUTH + + last response <-- AUTH, + [CP(CFG_REPLY)], + [N(IPCOMP_SUPPORTED)], + [N(USE_TRANSPORT_MODE)], + [N(ESP_TFC_PADDING_NOT_SUPPORTED)], + [N(NON_FIRST_FRAGMENTS_ALSO)], + SA, TSi, TSr, + [N(ADDITIONAL_TS_POSSIBLE)], + [V+] + + + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 55] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + +A.4. CREATE_CHILD_SA Exchange for Creating/Rekeying CHILD_SAs + + request --> [N(REKEY_SA)], + [N(IPCOMP_SUPPORTED)+], + [N(USE_TRANSPORT_MODE)], + [N(ESP_TFC_PADDING_NOT_SUPPORTED)], + [N(NON_FIRST_FRAGMENTS_ALSO)], + SA, Ni, [KEi], TSi, TSr + + response <-- [N(IPCOMP_SUPPORTED)], + [N(USE_TRANSPORT_MODE)], + [N(ESP_TFC_PADDING_NOT_SUPPORTED)], + [N(NON_FIRST_FRAGMENTS_ALSO)], + SA, Nr, [KEr], TSi, TSr, + [N(ADDITIONAL_TS_POSSIBLE)] + +A.5. CREATE_CHILD_SA Exchange for Rekeying the IKE_SA + + request --> SA, Ni, [KEi] + + response <-- SA, Nr, [KEr] + +A.6. INFORMATIONAL Exchange + + request --> [N+], + [D+], + [CP(CFG_REQUEST)] + + response <-- [N+], + [D+], + [CP(CFG_REPLY)] + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 56] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + +Authors' Addresses + + Pasi Eronen + Nokia Research Center + P.O. Box 407 + FIN-00045 Nokia Group + Finland + + EMail: pasi.eronen@nokia.com + + + Paul Hoffman + VPN Consortium + 127 Segre Place + Santa Cruz, CA 95060 + USA + + EMail: paul.hoffman@vpnc.org + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 57] + +RFC 4718 IKEv2 Clarifications October 2006 + + +Full Copyright Statement + + Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006). + + 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 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. + +Acknowledgement + + Funding for the RFC Editor function is provided by the IETF + Administrative Support Activity (IASA). + + + + + + + +Eronen & Hoffman Informational [Page 58] + |