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IETF RFC 6278
Use of Static-Static Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman Key Agreement in Cryptographic Message Syntax
Last modified on Friday, June 10th, 2011
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Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) J. Herzog
Request for Comments: 6278 R. Khazan
Category: Informational MIT Lincoln Laboratory
ISSN: 2070-1721 June 2011
Use of Static-Static Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman Key Agreement in
Cryptographic Message Syntax
 Abstract
This document describes how to use the 'static-static Elliptic Curve
Diffie-Hellman key-agreement scheme (i.e., Elliptic Curve Diffie-
Hellman where both participants use static Diffie-Hellman values)
with the Cryptographic Message Syntax. In this form of key
agreement, the Diffie-Hellman values of both the sender and receiver
are long-term values contained in certificates.
Status of This Memo
This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
published for informational purposes.
This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF). It represents the consensus of the IETF community. It has
received public review and has been approved for publication by the
Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Not all documents
approved by the IESG are a candidate for any level of Internet
Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 5741.
Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 6278.
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Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2011 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
(http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
publication of this document. Please review these documents
carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must
include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
described in the Simplified BSD License.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ....................................................2
1.1. Requirements Terminology ...................................5
2. EnvelopedData Using Static-Static ECDH ..........................5
2.1. Fields of the KeyAgreeRecipientInfo ........................5
2.2. Actions of the Sending Agent ...............................6
2.3. Actions of the Receiving Agent .............................7
3. AuthenticatedData Using Static-Static ECDH ......................8
3.1. Fields of the KeyAgreeRecipientInfo ........................8
3.2. Actions of the Sending Agent ...............................8
3.3. Actions of the Receiving Agent .............................9
4. AuthEnvelopedData Using Static-Static ECDH ......................9
4.1. Fields of the KeyAgreeRecipientInfo ........................9
4.2. Actions of the Sending Agent ...............................9
4.3. Actions of the Receiving Agent .............................9
5. Comparison to RFC 5753 ..........................................9
6. Requirements and Recommendations ...............................10
7. Security Considerations ........................................12
8. Acknowledgements ...............................................14
9. References .....................................................14
9.1. Normative References ......................................14
9.2. Informative References ....................................15
1. Introduction
This document describes how to use the static-static Elliptic Curve
Diffie-Hellman key-agreement scheme (i.e., Elliptic Curve Diffie-
Hellman [RFC 6090] where both participants use static Diffie-Hellman
values) in the Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS) [RFC 5652]. The CMS
is a standard notation and representation for cryptographic messages.
The CMS uses ASN.1 notation [X.680] [X.681] [X.682] [X.683] to define
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a number of structures that carry both cryptographically protected
information and key-management information regarding the keys used.
Of particular interest here are three structures:
o EnvelopedData, which holds encrypted (but not necessarily
authenticated) information [RFC 5652],
o AuthenticatedData, which holds authenticated (MACed) information
[RFC 5652], and
o AuthEnvelopedData, which holds information protected by
authenticated encryption: a cryptographic scheme that combines
encryption and authentication [RFC 5083].
All three of these types share the same basic structure. First, a
fresh symmetric key is generated. This symmetric key has a different
name that reflects its usage in each of the three structures.
EnvelopedData uses a content-encryption key (CEK); AuthenticatedData
uses an authentication key; AuthEnvelopedData uses a content-
authenticated-encryption key. The originator uses the symmetric key
to cryptographically protect the content. The symmetric key is then
wrapped for each recipient; only the intended recipient has access to
the private keying material necessary to unwrap the symmetric key.
Once unwrapped, the recipient uses the symmetric key to decrypt the
content, check the authenticity of the content, or both. The CMS
supports several different approaches to symmetric key wrapping,
including:
o key transport: the symmetric key is encrypted using the public
encryption key of some recipient,
o key-encryption key: the symmetric key is encrypted using a
previously distributed symmetric key, and
o key agreement: the symmetric key is encrypted using a key-
encryption key (KEK) created using a key-agreement scheme and a
key-derivation function (KDF).
One such key-agreement scheme is the Diffie-Hellman algorithm
[RFC 2631], which uses group theory to produce a value known only to
its two participants. In this case, the participants are the
originator and one of the recipients. Each participant produces a
private value and a public value, and each participant can produce
the shared secret value from their own private value and their
counterpart's public value. There are some variations on the basic
algorithm:
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o The basic algorithm typically uses the group 'Z mod p', meaning
the set of integers modulo some prime p. One can also use an
elliptic curve group, which allows for shorter messages.
o Over elliptic curve groups, the standard algorithm can be extended
to incorporate the 'cofactor' of the group. This method, called
'cofactor Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman' [SP800-56A] can prevent
certain attacks possible in the elliptic curve group.
o The participants can generate fresh new public/private values
(called ephemeral values) for each run of the algorithm, or they
can re-use long-term values (called static values). Ephemeral
values add randomness to the resulting private value, while static
values can be embedded in certificates. The two participants do
not need to use the same kind of value: either participant can use
either type. In 'ephemeral-static' Diffie-Hellman, for example,
the sender uses an ephemeral public/private pair value while the
receiver uses a static pair. In 'static-static' Diffie-Hellman,
on the other hand, both participants use static pairs. (Receivers
cannot use ephemeral values in this setting, and so we ignore
ephemeral-ephemeral and static-ephemeral Diffie-Hellman in this
document.)
Several of these variations are already described in existing CMS
standards; for example, [RFC 3370] contains the conventions for using
ephemeral-static and static-static Diffie-Hellman over the 'basic' (Z
mod p) group. [RFC 5753] contains the conventions for using
ephemeral-static Diffie-Hellman over elliptic curves (both standard
and cofactor methods). It does not, however, contain conventions for
using either method of static-static Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman,
preferring to discuss the Elliptic Curve Menezes-Qu-Vanstone (ECMQV)
algorithm instead.
In this document, we specify the conventions for using static-static
Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) for both standard and cofactor
methods. Our motivation stems from the fact that ECMQV has been
removed from the National Security Agency's Suite B of cryptographic
algorithms and will therefore be unavailable to some participants.
These participants can use ephemeral-static Elliptic Curve Diffie-
Hellman, of course, but ephemeral-static Diffie-Hellman does not
provide source authentication. The CMS does allow the application of
digital signatures for source authentication, but this alternative is
available only to those participants with certified signature keys.
By specifying conventions for static-static Elliptic Curve Diffie-
Hellman in this document, we present a third alternative for source
authentication, available to those participants with certified
Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman keys.
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We note that like ephemeral-static ECDH, static-static ECDH creates a
secret key shared by the sender and receiver. Unlike ephemeral-
static ECDH, however, static-static ECDH uses a static key pair for
the sender. Each of the three CMS structures discussed in this
document (EnvelopedData, AuthenticatedData, and AuthEnvelopedData)
uses static-static ECDH to achieve different goals:
o EnvelopedData uses static-static ECDH to provide data
confidentiality. It will not necessarily, however, provide data
authenticity.
o AuthenticatedData uses static-static ECDH to provide data
authenticity. It will not provide data confidentiality.
o AuthEnvelopedData uses static-static ECDH to provide both
confidentiality and data authenticity.
1.1. Requirements Terminology
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. EnvelopedData Using Static-Static ECDH
If an implementation uses static-static ECDH with the CMS
EnvelopedData, then the following techniques and formats MUST be
used. The fields of EnvelopedData are as in [RFC 5652]; as static-
static ECDH is a key-agreement algorithm, the RecipientInfo 'kari'
choice is used. When using static-static ECDH, the EnvelopedData
originatorInfo field MAY include the certificate(s) for the EC public
key(s) used in the formation of the pairwise key.
2.1. Fields of the KeyAgreeRecipientInfo
When using static-static ECDH with EnvelopedData, the fields of
KeyAgreeRecipientInfo [RFC 5652] are as follows:
o version MUST be 3.
o originator identifies the static EC public key of the sender. It
MUST be either issuerAndSerialNumber or subjectKeyIdentifier, and
it MUST point to one of the sending agent's certificates.
o ukm MAY be present or absent. However, message originators SHOULD
include the ukm and SHOULD ensure that the value of ukm is unique
to the message being sent. As specified in [RFC 5652],
implementations MUST support ukm message recipient processing, so
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interoperability is not a concern if the ukm is present or absent.
The use of a fresh value for ukm will ensure that a different key
is generated for each message between the same sender and
receiver. The ukm, if present, is placed in the entityUInfo field
of the ECC-CMS-SharedInfo structure [RFC 5753] and therefore used
as an input to the key-derivation function.
o keyEncryptionAlgorithm MUST contain the object identifier of the
key-encryption algorithm, which in this case is a key-agreement
algorithm (see Section 5). The parameters field contains
KeyWrapAlgorithm. The KeyWrapAlgorithm is the algorithm
identifier that indicates the symmetric encryption algorithm used
to encrypt the content-encryption key (CEK) with the key-
encryption key (KEK) and any associated parameters (see
Section 5).
o recipientEncryptedKeys contains an identifier and an encrypted CEK
for each recipient. The RecipientEncryptedKey
KeyAgreeRecipientIdentifier MUST contain either the
issuerAndSerialNumber identifying the recipient's certificate or
the RecipientKeyIdentifier containing the subject key identifier
from the recipient's certificate. In both cases, the recipient's
certificate contains the recipient's static ECDH public key.
RecipientEncryptedKey EncryptedKey MUST contain the content-
encryption key encrypted with the static-static ECDH-generated
pairwise key-encryption key using the algorithm specified by the
KeyWrapAlgorithm.
2.2. Actions of the Sending Agent
When using static-static ECDH with EnvelopedData, the sending agent
first obtains the EC public key(s) and domain parameters contained in
the recipient's certificate. It MUST confirm the following at least
once per recipient-certificate:
o that both certificates (the recipient's certificate and its own)
contain public-key values with the same curve parameters, and
o that both of these public-key values are marked as appropriate for
ECDH (that is, marked with algorithm identifiers id-ecPublicKey or
id-ecDH [RFC 5480]).
The sender then determines whether to use standard or cofactor
Diffie-Hellman. After doing so, the sender then determines which
hash algorithms to use for the key-derivation function. It then
chooses the keyEncryptionAlgorithm value that reflects these choices.
It then determines:
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o an integer "keydatalen", which is the KeyWrapAlgorithm symmetric
key size in bits, and
o the value of ukm, if used.
The sender then determines a bit string "SharedInfo", which is the
DER encoding of ECC-CMS-SharedInfo (see Section 7.2 of [RFC 5753]).
The sending agent then performs either the Elliptic Curve Diffie-
Hellman operation of [RFC 6090] (for standard Diffie-Hellman) or the
Elliptic Curve Cryptography Cofactor Diffie-Hellman (ECC CDH)
Primitive of [SP800-56A] (for cofactor Diffie-Hellman). The sending
agent then applies the simple hash-function construct of [X963]
(using the hash algorithm identified in the key-agreement algorithm)
to the results of the Diffie-Hellman operation and the SharedInfo
string. (This construct is also described in Section 3.6.1 of
[SEC1].) As a result, the sending agent obtains a shared secret bit
string "K", which is used as the pairwise key-encryption key (KEK) to
wrap the CEK for that recipient, as specified in [RFC 5652].
2.3. Actions of the Receiving Agent
When using static-static ECDH with EnvelopedData, the receiving agent
retrieves keyEncryptionAlgorithm to determine the key-agreement
algorithm chosen by the sender, which will identify:
o the domain parameters of the curve used,
o whether standard or cofactor Diffie-Hellman was used, and
o which hash function was used for the KDF.
The receiver then retrieves the sender's certificate identified in
the rid field and extracts the EC public key(s) and domain parameters
contained therein. It MUST confirm the following at least once per
sender certificate:
o that both certificates (the sender's certificate and its own)
contain public-key values with the same curve parameters, and
o that both of these public-key values are marked as appropriate for
ECDH (that is, marked with algorithm identifiers id-ecPublicKey or
id-ecDH [RFC 5480]).
The receiver then determines whether standard or cofactor Diffie-
Hellman was used. The receiver then determines a bit string
"SharedInfo", which is the DER encoding of ECC-CMS-SharedInfo (see
Section 7.2 of [RFC 5753]). The receiving agent then performs either
the Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman operation of [RFC 6090] (for
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standard Diffie-Hellman) or the Elliptic Curve Cryptography Cofactor
Diffie-Hellman (ECC CDH) Primitive of [SP800-56A] (for cofactor
Diffie-Hellman). The receiving agent then applies the simple hash-
function construct of [X963] (using the hash algorithm identified in
the key-agreement algorithm) to the results of the Diffie-Hellman
operation and the SharedInfo string. (This construct is also
described in Section 3.6.1 of [SEC1].) As a result, the receiving
agent obtains a shared secret bit string "K", which it uses as the
pairwise key-encryption key to unwrap the CEK.
3. AuthenticatedData Using Static-Static ECDH
This section describes how to use the static-static ECDH key-
agreement algorithm with AuthenticatedData. When using static-static
ECDH with AuthenticatedData, the fields of AuthenticatedData are as
in [RFC 5652], but with the following restrictions:
o macAlgorithm MUST contain the algorithm identifier of the message
authentication code (MAC) algorithm. This algorithm SHOULD be one
of the following -- id-hmacWITHSHA224, id-hmacWITHSHA256,
id-hmacWITHSHA384, or id-hmacWITHSHA512 -- and SHOULD NOT be
hmac-SHA1. (See Section 5.)
o digestAlgorithm MUST contain the algorithm identifier of the hash
algorithm. This algorithm SHOULD be one of the following --
id-sha224, id-sha256, id-sha384, or id-sha512 -- and SHOULD NOT be
id-sha1. (See Section 5.)
As static-static ECDH is a key-agreement algorithm, the RecipientInfo
kari choice is used in the AuthenticatedData. When using static-
static ECDH, the AuthenticatedData originatorInfo field MAY include
the certificate(s) for the EC public key(s) used in the formation of
the pairwise key.
3.1. Fields of the KeyAgreeRecipientInfo
The AuthenticatedData KeyAgreeRecipientInfo fields are used in the
same manner as the fields for the corresponding EnvelopedData
KeyAgreeRecipientInfo fields of Section 2.1 of this document. The
authentication key is wrapped in the same manner as is described
there for the content-encryption key.
3.2. Actions of the Sending Agent
The sending agent uses the same actions as for EnvelopedData with
static-static ECDH, as specified in Section 2.2 of this document.
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3.3. Actions of the Receiving Agent
The receiving agent uses the same actions as for EnvelopedData with
static-static ECDH, as specified in Section 2.3 of this document.
4. AuthEnvelopedData Using Static-Static ECDH
When using static-static ECDH with AuthEnvelopedData, the fields of
AuthEnvelopedData are as in [RFC 5083]. As static-static ECDH is a
key-agreement algorithm, the RecipientInfo kari choice is used. When
using static-static ECDH, the AuthEnvelopedData originatorInfo field
MAY include the certificate(s) for the EC public key used in the
formation of the pairwise key.
4.1. Fields of the KeyAgreeRecipientInfo
The AuthEnvelopedData KeyAgreeRecipientInfo fields are used in the
same manner as the fields for the corresponding EnvelopedData
KeyAgreeRecipientInfo fields of Section 2.1 of this document. The
content-authenticated-encryption key is wrapped in the same manner as
is described there for the content-encryption key.
4.2. Actions of the Sending Agent
The sending agent uses the same actions as for EnvelopedData with
static-static ECDH, as specified in Section 2.2 of this document.
4.3. Actions of the Receiving Agent
The receiving agent uses the same actions as for EnvelopedData with
static-static ECDH, as specified in Section 2.3 of this document.
5. Comparison to RFC 5753
This document defines the use of static-static ECDH for
EnvelopedData, AuthenticatedData, and AuthEnvelopedData. [RFC 5753]
defines ephemeral-static ECDH for EnvelopedData only.
With regard to EnvelopedData, this document and [RFC 5753] greatly
parallel each other. Both specify how to apply Elliptic Curve
Diffie-Hellman and differ only on how the sender's public value is to
be communicated to the recipient. In [RFC 5753], the sender provides
the public value explicitly by including an OriginatorPublicKey value
in the originator field of KeyAgreeRecipientInfo. In this document,
the sender includes a reference to a (certified) public value by
including either an IssuerAndSerialNumber or SubjectKeyIdentifier
value in the same field. Put another way, [RFC 5753] provides an
interpretation of a KeyAgreeRecipientInfo structure where:
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o the keyEncryptionAlgorithm value indicates Elliptic Curve Diffie-
Hellman, and
o the originator field contains an OriginatorPublicKey value.
This document, on the other hand, provides an interpretation of a
KeyAgreeRecipientInfo structure where:
o the keyEncryptionAlgorithm value indicates Elliptic Curve Diffie-
Hellman, and
o the originator field contains either an IssuerAndSerialNumber
value or a SubjectKeyIdentifier value.
AuthenticatedData or AuthEnvelopedData messages, on the other hand,
are not given any form of ECDH by [RFC 5753]. This is appropriate:
that document only defines ephemeral-static Diffie-Hellman, and this
form of Diffie-Hellman does not (inherently) provide any form of data
authentication or data-origin authentication. This document, on the
other hand, requires that the sender use a certified public value.
Thus, this form of key agreement provides implicit key authentication
and, under some limited circumstances, data-origin authentication.
(See Section 7.)
This document does not define any new ASN.1 structures or algorithm
identifiers. It provides new ways to interpret structures from
[RFC 5652] and [RFC 5753], and it allows previously defined algorithms
to be used under these new interpretations. Specifically:
o The ECDH key-agreement algorithm identifiers from [RFC 5753] define
only how Diffie-Hellman values are processed, and not where these
values are created. Therefore, they can be used for static-static
ECDH with no changes.
o The key-wrap, MAC, and digest algorithms referenced in [RFC 5753]
describe how the secret key is to be used but not created.
Therefore, they can be used with keys from static-static ECDH
without modification.
6. Requirements and Recommendations
It is RECOMMENDED that implementations of this specification support
AuthenticatedData and EnvelopedData. Support for AuthEnvelopedData
is OPTIONAL.
Implementations that support this specification MUST support standard
Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman, and these implementations MAY also
support cofactor Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman.
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In order to encourage interoperability, implementations SHOULD use
the elliptic curve domain parameters specified by [RFC 5480].
Implementations that support standard static-static Elliptic Curve
Diffie-Hellman:
o MUST support the dhSinglePass-stdDH-sha256kdf-scheme key-
agreement algorithm;
o MAY support the dhSinglePass-stdDH-sha224kdf-scheme,
dhSinglePass-stdDH-sha384kdf-scheme, and
dhSinglePass-stdDH-sha512kdf-scheme key-agreement algorithms; and
o SHOULD NOT support the dhSinglePass-stdDH-sha1kdf-scheme
algorithm.
Other algorithms MAY also be supported.
Implementations that support cofactor static-static Elliptic Curve
Diffie-Hellman:
o MUST support the dhSinglePass-cofactorDH-sha256kdf-scheme key-
agreement algorithm;
o MAY support the dhSinglePass-cofactorDH-sha224kdf-scheme,
dhSinglePass-cofactorDH-sha384kdf-scheme, and
dhSinglePass-cofactorDH-sha512kdf-scheme key-agreement algorithms;
and
o SHOULD NOT support the dhSinglePass-cofactorDH-sha1kdf-scheme
algorithm.
In addition, all implementations:
o MUST support the id-aes128-wrap key-wrap algorithm and the
id-aes128-cbc content-encryption algorithm;
o MAY support:
* the id-aes192-wrap and id-aes256-wrap key-wrap algorithms;
* the id-aes128-CCM, id-aes192-CCM, id-aes256-CCM, id-aes128-GCM,
id-aes192-GCM, and id-aes256-GCM authenticated-encryption
algorithms; and
* the id-aes192-cbc and id-aes256-cbc content-encryption
algorithms.
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o SHOULD NOT support the id-alg-CMS3DESwrap key-wrap algorithm or
the des-ede3-cbc content-encryption algorithms.
(All algorithms above are defined in [RFC 3370], [RFC 3565], [RFC 5084],
and [RFC 5753].) Unless otherwise noted above, other algorithms MAY
also be supported.
7. Security Considerations
All security considerations in Section 9 of [RFC 5753] apply.
Extreme care must be used when using static-static Diffie-Hellman
(either standard or cofactor) without the use of some per-message
value in the ukm. As described in [RFC 5753], the ukm value (if
present) will be embedded in an ECC-CMS-SharedInfo structure, and the
DER encoding of this structure will be used as the 'SharedInfo' input
to the key-derivation function of [X963]. The purpose of this input
is to add a message-unique value to the key-distribution function so
that two different sessions of static-static ECDH between a given
pair of agents result in independent keys. If the ukm value is not
used or is re-used, on the other hand, then the ECC-CMS-SharedInfo
structure (and 'SharedInfo' input) will likely not vary from message
to message. In this case, the two agents will re-use the same keying
material across multiple messages. This is considered to be bad
cryptographic practice and may open the sender to attacks on Diffie-
Hellman (e.g., the 'small subgroup' attack [MenezesUstaoglu] or
other, yet-undiscovered attacks).
It is for these reasons that Section 2.1 states that message senders
SHOULD include the ukm and SHOULD ensure that the value of ukm is
unique to the message being sent. One way to ensure the uniqueness
of the ukm is for the message sender to choose a 'sufficiently long'
random string for each message (where, as a rule of thumb, a
'sufficiently long' string is one at least as long as the keys used
by the key-wrap algorithm identified in the keyEncryptionAlgorithm
field of the KeyAgreeRecipientInfo structure). However, other
methods (such as a counter) are possible. Also, applications that
cannot tolerate the inclusion of per-message information in the ukm
(due to bandwidth requirements, for example) SHOULD NOT use static-
static ECDH for a recipient without ascertaining that the recipient
knows the private value associated with their certified Diffie-
Hellman value.
Static-static Diffie-Hellman, when used as described in this
document, does not necessarily provide data-origin authentication.
Consider, for example, the following sequence of events:
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o Alice sends an AuthEnvelopedData message to both Bob and Mallory.
Furthermore, Alice uses a static-static DH method to transport the
content-authenticated-encryption key to Bob, and some arbitrary
method to transport the same key to Mallory.
o Mallory intercepts the message and prevents Bob from receiving it.
o Mallory recovers the content-authenticated-encryption key from the
message received from Alice. Mallory then creates new plaintext
of her choice, and encrypts it using the same authenticated-
encryption algorithm and the same content-authenticated-encryption
key used by Alice.
o Mallory then replaces the EncryptedContentInfo and
MessageAuthenticationCode fields of Alice's message with the
values Mallory just generated. She may additionally remove her
RecipientInfo value from Alice's message.
o Mallory sends the modified message to Bob.
o Bob receives the message, validates the static-static DH values,
and decrypts/authenticates the message.
At this point, Bob has received and validated a message that appears
to have been sent by Alice, but whose content was chosen by Mallory.
Mallory may not even be an apparent receiver of the modified message.
Thus, this use of static-static Diffie-Hellman does not necessarily
provide data-origin authentication. (We note that this example does
not also contradict either confidentiality or data authentication:
Alice's message was not received by anyone not intended by Alice, and
Mallory's message was not modified before reaching Bob.)
More generally, the data origin may not be authenticated unless:
o it is a priori guaranteed that the message in question was sent to
exactly one recipient, or
o data-origin authentication is provided by some other mechanism
(such as digital signatures).
However, we also note that this lack of authentication is not a
product of static-static ECDH per se, but is inherent in the way key-
agreement schemes are used in the AuthenticatedData and
AuthEnvelopedData structures of the CMS.
When two parties are communicating using static-static ECDH as
described in this document, and either party's asymmetric keys have
been centrally generated, it is possible for that party's central
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infrastructure to decrypt the communication (for application-layer
network monitoring or filtering, for example). By way of contrast:
were ephemeral-static ECDH to be used instead, such decryption by the
sender's infrastructure would not be possible (though it would remain
possible for the infrastructure of any recipient).
8. Acknowledgements and Disclaimer
This work is sponsored by the United States Air Force under Air Force
Contract FA8721-05-C-0002. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions
and recommendations are those of the authors and are not necessarily
endorsed by the United States Government.
The authors would like to thank Jim Schaad, Russ Housley, Sean
Turner, Brian Weis, Rene Struik, Brian Carpenter, David McGrew, and
Stephen Farrell for their helpful comments and suggestions. We would
also like to thank Jim Schaad for describing to us the attack
described in Section 7.
9. References
9.1. Normative References
[RFC 2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
[RFC 3370] Housley, R., "Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS)
Algorithms", RFC 3370, August 2002.
[RFC 3565] Schaad, J., "Use of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)
Encryption Algorithm in Cryptographic Message Syntax
(CMS)", RFC 3565, July 2003.
[RFC 5083] Housley, R., "Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS)
Authenticated-Enveloped-Data Content Type", RFC 5083,
November 2007.
[RFC 5084] Housley, R., "Using AES-CCM and AES-GCM Authenticated
Encryption in the Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS)",
RFC 5084, November 2007.
[RFC 5480] Turner, S., Brown, D., Yiu, K., Housley, R., and T. Polk,
"Elliptic Curve Cryptography Subject Public Key
Information", RFC 5480, March 2009.
[RFC 5652] Housley, R., "Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS)", STD 70,
RFC 5652, September 2009.
Herzog & Khazan Informational PAGE 14
RFC 6278 Static-Static ECDH in CMS June 2011
[RFC 5753] Turner, S. and D. Brown, "Use of Elliptic Curve
Cryptography (ECC) Algorithms in Cryptographic Message
Syntax (CMS)", RFC 5753, January 2010.
[RFC 6090] McGrew, D., Igoe, K., and M. Salter, "Fundamental Elliptic
Curve Cryptography Algorithms", RFC 6090, February 2011.
[SP800-56A]
Barker, E., Johnson, D., and M. Smid, "Recommendation for
Pair-Wise Key Establishment Schemes Using Discrete
Logarithm Cryptography (Revised)", NIST Special
Publication (SP) 800-56A, March 2007.
[X963] "Public Key Cryptography for the Financial Services
Industry, Key Agreement and Key Transport Using Elliptic
Curve Cryptography", ANSI X9.63, 2001.
9.2. Informative References
[MenezesUstaoglu]
Menezes, A. and B. Ustaoglu, "On Reusing Ephemeral Keys in
Diffie-Hellman Key Agreement Protocols", International
Journal of Applied Cryptography, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 154-
158, 2010.
[RFC 2631] Rescorla, E., "Diffie-Hellman Key Agreement Method",
RFC 2631, June 1999.
[SEC1] Standards for Efficient Cryptography Group (SECG), "SEC 1:
Elliptic Curve Cryptography", Version 2.0, May 2009.
[X.680] ITU-T, "Information Technology - Abstract Syntax Notation
One: Specification of Basic Notation",
Recommendation X.680, ISO/IEC 8824-1:2002, 2002.
[X.681] ITU-T, "Information Technology - Abstract Syntax Notation
One: Information Object Specification",
Recommendation X.681, ISO/IEC 8824-2:2002, 2002.
[X.682] ITU-T, "Information Technology - Abstract Syntax Notation
One: Constraint Specification", Recommendation X.682, ISO/
IEC 8824-3:2002, 2002.
[X.683] ITU-T, "Information Technology - Abstract Syntax Notation
One: Parameterization of ASN.1 Specifications",
Recommendation X.683, ISO/IEC 8824-4:2002, 2002.
Herzog & Khazan Informational PAGE 15
RFC 6278 Static-Static ECDH in CMS June 2011
Authors' Addresses
Jonathan C. Herzog
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
244 Wood St.
Lexington, MA 02144
USA
EMail: jherzog@ll.mit.edu
Roger Khazan
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
244 Wood St.
Lexington, MA 02144
USA
EMail: rkh@ll.mit.edu
Herzog & Khazan Informational PAGE 16
Use of Static-Static Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman Key Agreement in Cryptographic Message Syntax
RFC TOTAL SIZE: 36593 bytes
PUBLICATION DATE: Friday, June 10th, 2011
LEGAL RIGHTS: The IETF Trust (see BCP 78)
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