Context Token Encapsulate/Decapsulate and OID Comparison Functions for

the Generic Security Service Application Program Interface (GSS-API)

Abstract

This document describes three abstract Generic Security Service Application Program Interface (GSS-API) interfaces used to encapsulate/decapsulate context tokens and compare OIDs. This document also specifies C bindings for the abstract interfaces.

Status of This Memo

This is an Internet Standards Track document.

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). Further information on Internet Standards is available in 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/rfc6339.

Copyright Notice

Copyright © 2011 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the document authors. All rights reserved.

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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
   2.  Conventions Used in This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
   3.  GSS_Encapsulate_token Call  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
     3.1.  gss_encapsulate_token . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
   4.  GSS_Decapsulate_token Call  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
     4.1.  gss_decapsulate_token . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
   5.  GSS_OID_equal Call  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
     5.1.  gss_oid_equal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
   6.  Test Vector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
   7.  Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
   8.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
   9.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
     9.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
     9.2.  Informative Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

1. Introduction

The Generic Security Service Application Program Interface (GSS-API) [RFC2743] is a framework that provides security services to applications using a variety of authentication mechanisms. There are widely implemented C bindings [RFC2744] for the abstract interface.

For initial context tokens, a mechanism-independent token format may be used (see Section 3.1 of [RFC2743]). Some protocols, e.g., Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL) GS2 [RFC5801], need the ability to add and remove this token header, which contains some ASN.1 tags, a length, and the mechanism OID to and from context tokens. This document adds two GSS-API interfaces (GSS_Encapsulate_token and GSS_Decapsulate_token) so that GSS-API libraries can provide this functionality.

Being able to compare OIDs is useful, for example, when validating that a negotiated mechanism matches the requested one. This document adds one GSS-API interface (GSS_OID_equal) for this purpose.

Text from this specification can be used as implementation documentation, and for this reason, Sections 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 should be considered code components.

2. Conventions Used in This Document

The document uses terms from, and is structured in a similar way as, [RFC2743] and [RFC2744]. The normative reference to [RFC5587] is for the C types "gss_const_buffer_t" and "gss_const_OID"; nothing else from that document is required to implement this document.

3. GSS_Encapsulate_token Call

Inputs:

• input_token OCTET STRING -- buffer with token data to encapsulate

• token_oid OBJECT IDENTIFIER -- object identifier of mechanism for the token

Outputs:

• major_status INTEGER

• output_token OCTET STRING -- Encapsulated token data; caller must release with GSS_Release_buffer()

Return major_status codes:

• GSS_S_COMPLETE indicates that completion was successful and that output parameters hold correct information.

• GSS_S_FAILURE indicates that encapsulation failed for reasons unspecified at the GSS-API level.

GSS_Encapsulate_token() is used to add the mechanism-independent token header to GSS-API context token data.

3.1. gss_encapsulate_token

OM_uint32 gss_encapsulate_token (

     gss_const_buffer_t input_token,
     gss_const_OID token_oid,
     gss_buffer_t output_token)

Purpose:

Add the mechanism-independent token header to GSS-API context token data.

Parameters:

   input_token            buffer, opaque, read
   
                          Buffer with GSS-API context token data.
   
   token_oid              Object ID, read
                          Object identifier of token.
   
   output_token           buffer, opaque, modify
                          Encapsulated token data; caller must release
                          with gss_release_buffer().
   
   Function values:       GSS status codes
   
   GSS_S_COMPLETE         Indicates that completion was successful and
                          that output parameters hold correct
                          information.
   
   GSS_S_FAILURE          Indicates that encapsulation failed for
                          reasons unspecified at the GSS-API level.

4. GSS_Decapsulate_token Call

Inputs:

• input_token OCTET STRING -- buffer with token to decapsulate

• token_oid OBJECT IDENTIFIER -- expected object identifier of token

Outputs:

• major_status INTEGER

• output_token OCTET STRING -- Decapsulated token data; caller must release with GSS_Release_buffer()

Return major_status codes:

• GSS_S_COMPLETE indicates that completion was successful and that output parameters hold correct information.

• GSS_S_DEFECTIVE_TOKEN means that the token failed consistency checks (e.g., OID mismatch or ASN.1 DER length errors).

• GSS_S_FAILURE indicates that decapsulation failed for reasons unspecified at the GSS-API level.

GSS_Decapsulate_token() is used to remove the mechanism-independent token header from an initial GSS-API context token.

4.1. gss_decapsulate_token

OM_uint32
gss_decapsulate_token (

     gss_const_buffer_t input_token,
     gss_const_OID token_oid,
     gss_buffer_t output_token)

Purpose:

Remove the mechanism-independent token header from an initial GSS-API context token.

Parameters:

   input_token            buffer, opaque, read
                          Buffer with GSS-API context token.
   
   token_oid              Object ID, read
                          Expected object identifier of token.
   
   output_token           buffer, opaque, modify
                          Decapsulated token data; caller must release
                          with gss_release_buffer().
   
   Function values:       GSS status codes
   
   GSS_S_COMPLETE         Indicates that completion was successful and
                          that output parameters hold correct
                          information.
   
   GSS_S_DEFECTIVE_TOKEN  Means that the token failed consistency checks
                          (e.g., OID mismatch or ASN.1 DER length
                          errors).
   
   GSS_S_FAILURE          Indicates that decapsulation failed for
                          reasons unspecified at the GSS-API level.

5. GSS_OID_equal Call

Inputs:

• first_oid OBJECT IDENTIFIER -- first object identifier to compare

• second_oid OBJECT IDENTIFIER -- second object identifier to compare

Return codes:

• non-0 when neither OID is GSS_C_NO_OID and the two OIDs are equal.

• 0 when the two OIDs are not identical or either OID is equal to GSS_C_NO_OID.

GSS_OID_equal() is used to add compare two OIDs for equality. The value GSS_C_NO_OID will not match any OID, including GSS_C_NO_OID itself.

5.1. gss_oid_equal

   extern int
   gss_oid_equal (
     gss_const_OID first_oid,
     gss_const_OID second_oid
   )

Purpose:

Compare two OIDs for equality. The value GSS_C_NO_OID will not match any OID, including GSS_C_NO_OID itself.

Parameters:

   first_oid              Object ID, read
                          First object identifier to compare.
   
   second_oid             Object ID, read
                          Second object identifier to compare.
   
   Function values:       GSS status codes
   
   non-0                  Neither OID is GSS_C_NO_OID, and the two OIDs
                          are equal.
   
   0                      The two OIDs are not identical, or either OID
                          is equal to GSS_C_NO_OID.

6. Test Vector

For the GSS_Encapsulate_token function, if the "input_token" buffer is the 3-byte octet sequence "foo" and the "token_oid" OID is 1.2.840.113554.1.2.2, which encoded corresponds to the 9-byte-long octet sequence (using C notation) "\x2a\x86\x48\x86\xf7\x12\x01\x02\x02", the output should be the 16-byte-long octet sequence (again in C notation) "\x60\x0e\x06\x09\x2a\x86\x48\x86\xf7\x12\x01\x02\x02\x66\x6f\x6f". These values may also be used to test the GSS_Decapsulate_token interface.

7. Acknowledgements

Greg Hudson pointed out the 'const' problem with the C bindings in earlier versions of this document, and Luke Howard suggested to resolve it by using the [RFC5587] types. Stephen Farrell suggested several editorial improvements and the security consideration regarding absent security features of the encapsulation function. Chris Lonvick suggested some improvements.

8. Security Considerations

The security considerations of the base GSS-API specification ([RFC2743]) and the base C bindings ([RFC2744]) are inherited.

Encapsulation of data does not provide any kind of integrity or confidentiality.

Implementations need to treat input as potentially untrustworthy for purposes of dereferencing memory objects to avoid security vulnerabilities. In particular, ASN.1 DER length fields are a common source of mistakes.

9. References

9.1. Normative References

   [RFC2743]  Linn, J., "Generic Security Service Application Program
   
              Interface Version 2, Update 1", RFC 2743, January 2000.
   
   [RFC2744]  Wray, J., "Generic Security Service API Version 2 :
              C-bindings", RFC 2744, January 2000.
   
   [RFC5587]  Williams, N., "Extended Generic Security Service Mechanism
              Inquiry APIs", RFC 5587, July 2009.

9.2. Informative Reference

   [RFC5801]  Josefsson, S. and N. Williams, "Using Generic Security
              Service Application Program Interface (GSS-API) Mechanisms
              in Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL): The
              GS2 Mechanism Family", RFC 5801, July 2010.

Authors' Addresses

   Simon Josefsson
   SJD AB
   Hagagatan 24
   Stockholm  113 47
   SE
   
   EMail: simon@josefsson.org
   URI:   http://josefsson.org/

Love Hornquist Astrand
Apple, Inc.

EMail:

          lha@apple.com