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Re: [eap] Issue 404: Peer-Id & Server-Id in Tunneled Methods




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2007-10-21 10:40:53
Re: Issue 404: Peer-Id & Server-Id in Tunneled Methods
Here is some revised text on the Peer-Id and Server-Id:

For Section 1.4:

   Peer-Id

      If an EAP method that generates keys authenticates one
or more
      method-specific peer identities, those identities are
exported by
      the method as the Peer-Id(s).  It is possible for more
than one
      Peer-Id to be exported by an EAP method.  Not all EAP
methods
      provide a method-specific peer identity; where this is
not
      defined, the Peer-Id is the null string.  In EAP
methods that do
      not support key generation, the Peer-Id MUST be the
null string.
      Where an EAP method that derives keys does not provide
a Peer-Id,
      the EAP server will not authenticate the identity of
the EAP peer
      with which it derived keying material.

   Server-Id

      If an EAP method that generates keys authenticates one
or more
      method-specific server identities, those identities
are exported
      by the method as the Server-Id(s).  It is possible for
more than
      one Server-Id to be exported by an EAP method.  Not
all EAP
      methods provide a method-specific server identity;
where this is
      not defined, the Server-Id is the null string.  If the
EAP method
      not generate keying material, the Server-Id MUST be
the null
      string.  Where an EAP method that derives keys does
not provide a
      Server-Id, the EAP peer will not authenticate the
identity of the
      EAP server with which it derived EAP keying material.

For Sections 2.4 and 2.5:

2.4.  Peer Identification

   As described in [RFC3748] Section 7.3, the peer identity
provided in
   the EAP-Response/Identity can be different from the peer
identities
   authenticated by the EAP method.  For example, the
identity provided
   in the EAP-Response/Identity can be a privacy identifier
as described
   in "The Network Access Identifier" [RFC4282]
Section 2.  As noted in
   [RFC4284], it is also possible to utilize a Network
Access Identifier
   (NAI) for the purposes of source routing; an NAI utilized
for source
   routing is said to be "decorated" as described
in [RFC4282] Section
   2.7.

   When EAP peer provides the Network Access Identity (NAI)
within the
   EAP-Response/Identity, as described in [RFC3579], the
authenticator
   copies the NAI included in the EAP-Response/Identity into
the User-
   Name attribute included within the Access-Request.  As
the Access-
   Request is forwarded toward the backend authentication
server, AAA
   proxies remove decoration from the NAI included in the
User-Name
   Attribute; the NAI included within the
EAP-Response/Identity
   encapsulated in the Access-Request remains unchanged.  As
a result,
   when the Access-Request arrives at the backend
authentication server,
   the EAP-Response/Identity can differ from the User-Name
Attribute
   (which can have some or all of the decoration removed). 
In the
   absence of a Peer-Id, the backend authentication server
SHOULD use
   the contents of the User-Name Attribute, rather than the
EAP-
   Response/Identity as the peer identity.

   It is possible for more than one Peer-Id to be exported
by an EAP
   method.  For example, a peer certificate can contain more
than one
   peer identity; in a tunnel method peer identities can be
   authenticated both within an outer and inner exchange and
these
   identities could be different in type and contents.  For
example, an
   outer exchange could provide a Peer-Id in the form of an
RDN, whereas
   an inner exchange could identify the peer via its NAI or
MAC address.
   Where EAP keying material is determined solely from the
outer
   exchange, only the outer Peer-Id(s) are exported; where
the EAP
   keying material is determined from both the inner and
outer
   exchanges, then both the inner and outer Peer-Id(s) are
exported by
   the tunnel method.

2.5.  Server Identification

   It is possible for more than one Server-Id to be exported
by an EAP
   method.  For example, a server certificate can contain
more than one
   server identity; in a tunnel method server identities
could be
   authenticated both within an outer and inner exchange and
these
   identities could be different in type and contents.  For
example, an
   outer exchange could provide a Server-Id in the form of
an IP
   address, whereas an inner exchange could identify the
server via its
   FQDN or hostname.  Where EAP keying material is
determined solely
   from the outer exchange, only the outer Server-Id(s) are
exported by
   the EAP method; where the EAP keying material is
determined from both
   the inner and outer exchanges, then both the inner and
outer Server-
   Id(s) are exported by the EAP method.

   As shown in Figure 3, an authenticator can be configured
to
   communicate with multiple EAP servers; the EAP server
that an
   authenticator communicates with can vary according to
configuration
   and network and server availability.  While the EAP peer
can assume
   that all EAP servers within a realm have access to the
credentials
   necessary to validate an authentication attempt, it
cannot assume
   that all EAP servers share persistent state.

   Authenticators can be configured with different primary
or secondary
   EAP servers, in order to balance the load.  Also, the
authenticator
   can dynamically determine the EAP server to which
requests will be
   sent; in event of a communication failure, the
authenticator can fail
   over to another EAP server.  For example, in Figure 3,
Authenticator2
   can be initially configured with EAP server1 as its
primary backend
   authentication server, and EAP server2 as the backup, but
if EAP
   server1 becomes unavailable, EAP server2 can become the
primary
   server.

   In general, the EAP peer cannot direct an authentication
attempt to a
   particular EAP server within a realm; this decision is
made by AAA
   clients.  Nor can the peer determine which EAP server it
will be
   communicating with, prior to the start of the EAP method
   conversation.  The Server-Id is not included in the EAP-
   Request/Identity, and since the EAP server may be
determined
   dynamically, it typically is not possible for the
authenticator to
   advertise the Server-Id during the discovery phase.  Some
EAP methods
   do not export the Server-Id so that is is possible that
the EAP peer
   will not learn which server it was conversing with after
the EAP
   conversation completes successfully.

   As a result, an EAP peer, on connecting to a new
authenticator or
   reconnecting to the same authenticator, can find itself
communicating
   with a different EAP server.  Fast reconnect, defined in
[RFC3748]
   Section 7.2, can fail if the EAP server that the peer
communicates
   with is not the same one with which it initially
established a
   security association.  For example, an EAP peer
attempting an EAP-TLS
   session resume can find that the new EAP-TLS server will
not have
   access to the TLS Master Key identified by the TLS
Session-Id, and
   therefore the session resumption attempt will fail,
requiring
   completion of a full EAP-TLS exchange.

   EAP methods that export the Server-Id MUST authenticate
the server.
   However, not all EAP methods supporting mutual
authentication provide
   a non-null Server-Id; some methods only enable the EAP
peer to verify
   that the EAP server possesses a long-term secret, but do
not provide
   the identity of the EAP server.  In this case the EAP
peer will know
   that an authenticator has been authorized by an EAP
server, but will
   not confirm the identity of the EAP server.  Where the
EAP method
   does not provide a Server-Id, the peer cannot identify
the EAP server
   with which it generated keying material.  This can make
it difficult
   for the EAP peer to identity the location of a key
possessed by that
   EAP server.

   As noted in [I-D.simon-emu-rfc2716bis] Section 5.2,  EAP
methods
   supporting authentication using server certificates can
determine the
   Server-Id from the subject or subjectAltName fields in
the server
   certificate.  Validating the EAP server identity can help
the EAP
   peer to decide whether a specific EAP server is
authorized.  In some
   cases, such as where the certificate extensions defined
in [RFC4334]
   are included in the server certificate, it can even be
possible for
   the peer to verify some Channel Binding parameters from
the server
   certificate.

   It is possible for problems to arise in situations where
the EAP
   server identifies itself differently to the EAP peer and
   authenticator.  For example, it is possible that the
Server-Id
   exported by EAP methods will not be identical to the
Fully Qualified
   Domain Name (FQDN) of the backend authentication server. 
Where
   certificate-based authentication is used within RADIUS or
Diameter,
   it is possible that the subjectAltName used in the
backend
   authentication server certificate will not be identical
to the
   Server-Id or backend authentication server FQDN.

   Where the backend authentication server FQDN differs from
the
   subjectAltName in the backend authentication server
certificate, it
   is possible that the AAA client will not be able to
determine whether
   it is talking to the correct backend authentication
server.  Where
   the Server-Id and backend server FQDN differ, it is
possible that the
   combination of the key scope (Peer-Id(s), Server- Id(s))
and EAP
   conversation identifier (Session-Id) will not be
sufficient to
   determine where the key resides.  For example, the
authenticator can
   identify backend servers by their IP address (as occurs
in RADIUS),
   or using a Fully Qualified Domain Name (as in Diameter). 
If the
   Server-Id does not correspond to the IP address or FQDN
of a known
   backend authentication server, then it may not be
possible to locate
   which backend authentication server possesses the key.


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