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IETF RFC 5489

ECDHE_PSK Cipher Suites for Transport Layer Security (TLS)

Last modified on Friday, March 13th, 2009

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Network Working Group                                           M. Badra
Request for Comments: 5489                         CNRS/LIMOS Laboratory
Category: Informational                                      I. Hajjeh
                                                              INEOVATION
                                                              March 2009


       ECDHE_PSK Cipher Suites for Transport Layer Security (TLS)

 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) 2009 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents in effect on the date of
   publication of this document (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info).
   Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
   and restrictions with respect to this document.

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

 Abstract

   This document extends RFC 4279, RFC 4492, and RFC 4785 and specifies
   a set of cipher suites that use a pre-shared key (PSK) to
   authenticate an Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman exchange with Ephemeral
   keys (ECDHE).  These cipher suites provide Perfect Forward Secrecy
   (PFS).






Badra & Hajjeh               Informational                   PAGE 1 top


RFC 5489 ECDHE_PSK Cipher Suites for TLS March 2009 Table of Contents 1. Introduction ....................................................2 1.1. Applicability Statement ....................................3 1.2. Conventions Used in This Document ..........................3 2. ECDHE_PSK Key Exchange Algorithm ................................3 3. ECDHE_PSK-Based Cipher Suites ...................................4 3.1. ECDHE_PSK Cipher Suites Using the SHA-1 Hash ...............4 3.2. ECDHE_PSK Cipher Suites Using SHA-2 Hashes .................4 4. ECDHE_PSK-Based Cipher Suites with NULL Encryption ..............5 4.1. ECDHE_PSK Cipher Suite Using the SHA-1 Hash with NULL Encryption ............................................5 4.2. ECDHE_PSK Cipher Suites Using SHA-2 Hashes with NULL Encryption ............................................5 5. Security Considerations .........................................5 6. IANA Considerations .............................................6 7. Acknowledgments .................................................6 8. Normative References ............................................6 1. Introduction RFC 4279 specifies cipher suites for supporting TLS using pre-shared symmetric keys that (a) use only symmetric key operations for authentication, (b) use a Diffie-Hellman exchange authenticated with a pre-shared key (PSK), or (c) combine public key authentication of the server with pre-shared key authentication of the client. RFC 4785 specifies authentication-only cipher suites (with no encryption). These cipher suites are useful when authentication and integrity protection is desired, but confidentiality is not needed or not permitted. RFC 4492 defines a set of Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC)-based cipher suites for TLS and describes the use of ECC certificates for client authentication. In particular, it specifies the use of Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) key agreement in a TLS handshake and the use of the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) as a new authentication mechanism. This document specifies a set of cipher suites that use a PSK to authenticate an ECDH exchange. These cipher suites provide Perfect Forward Secrecy. Some of these cipher suites provide authentication only. The reader is expected to become familiar with RFC 4279, RFC 4492, and RFC 4785 prior to studying this document. Badra & Hajjeh Informational PAGE 2 top

RFC 5489 ECDHE_PSK Cipher Suites for TLS March 2009 1.1. Applicability Statement The cipher suites defined in this document can be negotiated, whatever the negotiated TLS version is. The applicability statement in [RFC 4279] applies to this document as well. 1.2. Conventions Used in This Document The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC 2119]. 2. ECDHE_PSK Key Exchange Algorithm The cipher suites described in this document make use of the elliptic curve (EC) parameter negotiation mechanism defined in RFC 4492. When the cipher suites defined in this document are used, the 'ec_diffie_hellman_psk' case inside the ServerKeyExchange and ClientKeyExchange structure MUST be used instead of the 'psk' case defined in [RFC 4279] (i.e., the ServerKeyExchange and ClientKeyExchange messages include the EC Diffie-Hellman parameters in the form specified in Sections 5.4 and 5.7 of [RFC 4492]). The PSK identity and identity hint fields have the same meaning and encoding as specified in [RFC 4279] (note that the ServerKeyExchange message is always sent, even if no PSK identity hint is provided). The format of the ServerKeyExchange and ClientKeyExchange messages is shown below. struct { select (KeyExchangeAlgorithm) { /* other cases for rsa, diffie_hellman, etc. */ case ec_diffie_hellman_psk: /* NEW */ opaque psk_identity_hint<0..2^16-1>; ServerECDHParams params; }; } ServerKeyExchange; struct { select (KeyExchangeAlgorithm) { /* other cases for rsa, diffie_hellman, etc. */ case ec_diffie_hellman_psk: /* NEW */ opaque psk_identity<0..2^16-1>; ClientECDiffieHellmanPublic public; } exchange_keys; } ClientKeyExchange; Badra & Hajjeh Informational PAGE 3 top

RFC 5489 ECDHE_PSK Cipher Suites for TLS March 2009 The premaster secret is formed as follows. First, perform the ECDH computation as described in Section 5.10 of [RFC 4492]. Let Z be the octet string produced by this computation. Next, concatenate a uint16 containing the length of Z (in octets), Z itself, a uint16 containing the length of the PSK (in octets), and the PSK itself. This corresponds to the general structure for the premaster secrets (see Note 1 in Section 2 of [RFC 4279]), with "other_secret" containing Z. struct { opaque other_secret<0..2^16-1>; opaque psk<0..2^16-1>; }; 3. ECDHE_PSK-Based Cipher Suites 3.1. ECDHE_PSK Cipher Suites Using the SHA-1 Hash CipherSuite TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_RC4_128_SHA = {0xC0,0x33}; CipherSuite TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA = {0xC0,0x34}; CipherSuite TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA = {0xC0,0x35}; CipherSuite TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA = {0xC0,0x36}; The above four cipher suites match the cipher suites defined in [RFC 4279], except that they use an Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman exchange [RFC 4492] authenticated with a PSK, and: o The Message Authentication Code (MAC) is the Hashed Message Authentication Code (HMAC) [RFC 2104] with SHA-1 as the hash function. o When negotiated in a version of TLS prior to 1.2, the Pseudo- Random Function (PRF) from that version is used; otherwise, the PRF is the TLS PRF [RFC 5246] with SHA-256 as the hash function. 3.2. ECDHE_PSK Cipher Suites Using SHA-2 Hashes CipherSuite TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 = {0xC0,0x37}; CipherSuite TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384 = {0xC0,0x38}; The above two cipher suites are the same as the corresponding Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) cipher suites in Section 3.1 above, except for the hash and PRF algorithms, which SHALL be as follows: Badra & Hajjeh Informational PAGE 4 top

RFC 5489 ECDHE_PSK Cipher Suites for TLS March 2009 o For the cipher suite TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256: * The MAC is HMAC [RFC 2104] with SHA-256 as the hash function. * When negotiated in a version of TLS prior to 1.2, the PRF from that version is used; otherwise, the PRF is the TLS PRF [RFC 5246] with SHA-256 as the hash function. o For the cipher suite TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384: * The MAC is HMAC [RFC 2104] with SHA-384 as the hash function. * When negotiated in a version of TLS prior to 1.2, the PRF from that version is used; otherwise the PRF is the TLS PRF [RFC 5246] with SHA-384 as the hash function. 4. ECDHE_PSK-Based Cipher Suites with NULL Encryption 4.1. ECDHE_PSK Cipher Suite Using the SHA-1 Hash with NULL Encryption The following cipher suite matches the cipher suites defined in Section 3.1, except that we define a suite with NULL encryption. CipherSuite TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_NULL_SHA = {0xC0,0x39}; 4.2. ECDHE_PSK Cipher Suites Using SHA-2 Hashes with NULL Encryption The following two cipher suites are the same as the corresponding cipher suites in Section 3.2, but with NULL encryption (instead of AES). CipherSuite TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_NULL_SHA256 = {0xC0,0x3A}; CipherSuite TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_NULL_SHA384 = {0xC0,0x3B}; 5. Security Considerations The security considerations described throughout [RFC 5246], [RFC 4785], [RFC 4492], and [RFC 4279] apply here as well. In particular, as the authentication-only cipher suites (with no encryption) defined here do not support confidentiality, care should be taken not to send sensitive information (such as passwords) over connections protected with one of the cipher suites with NULL encryption defined in Section 4 of this document. Badra & Hajjeh Informational PAGE 5 top

RFC 5489 ECDHE_PSK Cipher Suites for TLS March 2009 Implementers and administrators should monitor the general statements on recommended cryptographic algorithms (e.g., SHA-1 hash function) that are published from time to time by various forums, including the IETF, as a base for the portfolio they support and the policies for strength of function acceptable for the cipher suites they set. 6. IANA Considerations This document defines the following new cipher suites, whose values have been assigned from the TLS Cipher Suite registry defined in [RFC 5246]. CipherSuite TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_RC4_128_SHA = {0xC0,0x33}; CipherSuite TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA = {0xC0,0x34}; CipherSuite TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA = {0xC0,0x35}; CipherSuite TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA = {0xC0,0x36}; CipherSuite TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 = {0xC0,0x37}; CipherSuite TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384 = {0xC0,0x38}; CipherSuite TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_NULL_SHA = {0xC0,0x39}; CipherSuite TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_NULL_SHA256 = {0xC0,0x3A}; CipherSuite TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_NULL_SHA384 = {0xC0,0x3B}; 7. Acknowledgments The author appreciates Alfred Hoenes for his detailed review and effort on resolving issues in discussion. The author would like to acknowledge Bodo Moeller, Simon Josefsson, Uri Blumenthal, Pasi Eronen, Paul Hoffman, Joseph Salowey, Mark Tillinghast, and the TLS mailing list members for their comments on the document. 8. Normative References [RFC 2104] Krawczyk, H., Bellare, M., and R. Canetti, "HMAC: Keyed- Hashing for Message Authentication", RFC 2104, February 1997. [RFC 2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997. [RFC 4279] Eronen, P. and H. Tschofenig, "Pre-Shared Key Ciphersuites for Transport Layer Security (TLS)", RFC 4279, December 2005. [RFC 4492] Blake-Wilson, S., Bolyard, N., Gupta, V., Hawk, C., and B. Moeller, "Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) Cipher Suites for Transport Layer Security (TLS)", RFC 4492, May 2006. Badra & Hajjeh Informational PAGE 6 top

RFC 5489 ECDHE_PSK Cipher Suites for TLS March 2009 [RFC 4785] Blumenthal, U. and P. Goel, "Pre-Shared Key (PSK) Ciphersuites with NULL Encryption for Transport Layer Security (TLS)", RFC 4785, January 2007. [RFC 5246] Dierks, T. and E. Rescorla, "The Transport Layer Security (TLS) Protocol Version 1.2", RFC 5246, August 2008. Authors' Addresses Mohamad Badra CNRS/LIMOS Laboratory Campus de cezeaux, Bat. ISIMA Aubiere 63170 France EMail: badra@isima.fr Ibrahim Hajjeh INEOVATION France EMail: ibrahim.hajjeh@ineovation.fr Badra & Hajjeh Informational PAGE 7 top

ECDHE_PSK Cipher Suites for Transport Layer Security (TLS) RFC TOTAL SIZE: 14194 bytes PUBLICATION DATE: Friday, March 13th, 2009 LEGAL RIGHTS: The IETF Trust (see BCP 78)


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