Common Authentication Technology (cat)

This Working Group did not meet

NOTE: This charter is a snapshot of the 54th IETF Meeting in Yokohama, Japan. It may now be out-of-date.

Last Modifield: 07/31/2001

Chair(s):
John Linn <jlinn@rsasecurity.com>
Security Area Director(s):
Jeffrey Schiller <jis@mit.edu>
Steve Bellovin <smb@research.att.com>
Security Area Advisor:
Jeffrey Schiller <jis@mit.edu>
Mailing Lists:
General Discussion: ietf-cat-wg@lists.stanford.edu
To Subscribe: ietf-cat-wg-request@lists.stanford.edu
Archive: ftp://ftp.ietf.org/ietf-mail-archive/cat/
Description of Working Group:
The goal of the Common Authentication Technology (CAT) Working Group is to provide distributed security services (which have included authentication, integrity, and confidentiality, and may broaden to include authorization) to a variety of protocol callers in a manner which insulates those callers from the specifics of underlying security mechanisms.

By separating security implementation tasks from the tasks of integrating security data elements into caller protocols, those tasks can be partitioned and performed separately by implementors with different areas of xpertise. This provides leverage for the IETF community's security-oriented resources, and allows protocol implementors to focus on the functions their protocols are designed to provide rather than on characteristics of security mechanisms. CAT seeks to encourage uniformity and modularity in security approaches, supporting the use of common techniques and accommodating evolution of underlying technologies.

In support of these goals, the working group pursues several interrelated tasks. We have defined a common service interface (GSS-API) allowing callers to invoke security services in association-oriented environments, with an associated token format identifying the security mechanism being employed. Existing documents provide C language bindings for GSS-API; currently ongoing work is defining bindings for Java. Authorization interfaces are currently being evaluated as a related area for follow-on work, with the level of achievable portability an important consideration. The CAT Working Group also defines supporting mechanisms to provide security services; current activity includes specification of "low-infrastructure" mechanisms to support ease of deployment and use.

Goals and Milestones:
Done  Preliminary BOF session at IETF meeting, discussions with TELNET and Network Printing Working Groups.
Done  Distribute Generic Security Service Application Program Interface (GSS-API) documentation through Internet-Draft process.
Done  First IETF meeting as full working group: review charter distribute documents, and status of related implementation, integration, and consulting liaison activities. Schedule follow-on tasks, including documentation plan for specific CAT-supporting security mechanisms.
Done  Update mechanism-independent Internet-Drafts in response to issues raised, distribute additional mechanism-specific documentation including Distributed Authentication Services architectural description and terms/conditions for use of the technology documented therein.
Done  Second IETF meeting: Review distributed documents and status of related activities, continue consulting liaisons. Discuss features and characteristics of underlying mechanisms. Define scope and schedule for follow-on work.
Done  Submit service interface specification to to the IESG for consideration as a Proposed Standard.
Done  Submit GSS-V2 to IESG for consideration as a Proposed Standard.
Done  Plan next phase of activities, with particular attention to scope and tasking for authorization, store and forward protection support, and additional mechanisms.
Done  Issue Internet-Draft representing updated version of RFC-2078, aligned with GSS-V2 C bindings Internet-Draft.
Done  Submit Negotiated Mechanism document to IESG for consideration as a Proposed Standard
Done  Submit GSS-V2 C bindings document to IESG for consideration as a Proposed Standard.
Done  Progress Internet-Draft and RFC publication of mechanism-level documents to support independent, interoperable implementations of CAT-supporting mechanisms.
Done  Determine direction and intent re progressing authorization interfaces.
Done  Determine direction and intent re progressing low-infrastructure mechanism definitions.
Done  Submit GSS-V2 Java bindings specification to IESG for consideration as Proposed Standard.
Done  Submit GSS-V2 Java service provider interface document to IESG for consideration as Proposed Standard.
Done  Review status of ongoing active projects.
No Current Internet-Drafts
Request For Comments:
RFCStatusTitle
RFC1507 E DASS - Distributed Authentication Security Service
RFC1508 PS Generic Security Service Application Program Interface
RFC1509 PS Generic Security Service API : C-bindings
RFC1511 I Common Authentication Technology Overview
RFC1510 PS The Kerberos Network Authentication Service (V5)
RFC1964 PS The Kerberos Version 5 GSS-API Mechanism
RFC2025 PS The Simple Public-Key GSS-API Mechanism (SPKM)
RFC2078 PS Generic Security Service Application Program Interface, Version 2
RFC2228 PS FTP Security Extensions
RFC2478 PS The Simple and Protected GSS-API Negotiation Mechanism
RFC2479 I Independent Data Unit Protection Generic Security Service Application Program Interface (IDUP-GSS-API)
RFC2743 PS Generic Security Service Application Program Interface Version 2, Update 1
RFC2744 PS Generic Security Service API Version 2 : C-bindings
RFC2773 E Encryption using KEA and SKIPJACK
RFC2847 PS LIPKEY - A Low Infrastructure Public Key Mechanism Using SPKM
RFC2853 PS Generic Security Service API Version 2 : Java bindings

Current Meeting Report

None received.

Slides

None received.