[TLS] Decryption_failed alert in TLS 1.1
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[TLS] Decryption_failed alert in TLS 1.1
Hi,
I'm going through unverified errata for various SEC area RFCs,
and came to errata ID 117 for RFC 4346 (TLS 1.1), available
from here:
http://www.rfc-editor.org/errata_search.php?rfc=4346
Currently, Section 7.2.2 of RFC 4346 says:
bad_record_mac
This alert is returned if a record is received with an incorrect
MAC. This alert also MUST be returned if an alert is sent because
a TLSCiphertext decrypted in an invalid way: either it wasn't an
even multiple of the block length, or its padding values, when
checked, weren't correct. This message is always fatal.
and then continues:
decryption_failed
This alert MAY be returned if a TLSCiphertext decrypted in an
invalid way: either it wasn't an even multiple of the block
length, or its padding values, when checked, weren't correct.
This message is always fatal.
Note: Differentiating between bad_record_mac and decryption_failed
alerts may permit certain attacks against CBC mode as used in
TLS [CBCATT]. It is preferable to uniformly use the
bad_record_mac alert to hide the specific type of the error.
These two contradict each other; it first says "bad_record_mac MUST be
sent", but then says decryption_failed "MAY be returned", and using
bad_record_mac is "preferable".
Does anyone recall what the intent here was? Early drafts (until -09)
said "bad_record_mac SHOULD be returned", but that was later changed
to "MUST". Should the errata fix this to something like this?
decryption_failed
This alert was used in TLS 1.0 if a TLSCiphertext decrypted
in an invalid way. It MUST NOT be sent in TLS 1.1.
(TLS 1.2 is very clear about this; decryption_failed MUST NOT
be sent.)
Best regards,
Pasi
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