< draft-ietf-ipsec-isakmp-02.txt   draft-ietf-ipsec-isakmp-03.txt >
IPSEC Working Group Douglas Maughan, Barbara Patrick, Mark Schertler IPSEC Working Group Douglas Maughan, Mark Schertler
INTERNET-DRAFT National Security Agency INTERNET-DRAFT National Security Agency
draft-ietf-ipsec-isakmp-02.txt, .ps October 31, 1995 draft-ietf-ipsec-isakmp-03.txt, .ps November 21, 1995
Internet Security Association and Key Management Protocol (ISAKMP) Internet Security Association and Key Management Protocol (ISAKMP)
Abstract Abstract
This memo describes a protocol utilizing security concepts This memo describes a protocol utilizing security concepts
necessary for establishing Security Associations (SA) and crypto- necessary for establishing Security Associations (SA) and crypto-
graphic keys in an Internet environment. A Security Association graphic keys in an Internet environment. A Security Association
protocol that negotiates, establishes, modifies and deletes protocol that negotiates, establishes, modifies and deletes
Security Associations and their attributes is required for an Security Associations and their attributes is required for an
skipping to change at page 3, line 7 skipping to change at page 3, line 7
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Distribution of this document is unlimited. Distribution of this document is unlimited.
Contents Contents
1 Introduction 4 1 Introduction 5
1.1 Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.1 Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1.1.1Certificate Authorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.1.2Entity Naming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.1.3ISAKMP Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2 Security Associations and Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.2.1Security Associations and Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.2.2ISAKMP Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.3 Public Key Cryptography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.3.1Key Exchange Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.3.2ISAKMP Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.4 ISAKMP Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.4.1Anti-Clogging (Denial of Service) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.4.2Connection Hijacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.4.3Man-in-the-Middle Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.5 Multicast Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.2 Security Associations and Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2 Description of the Protocol 12
2.1 ISAKMP Header Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1.1General Message Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.2 ISAKMP Packet Exchanges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.2.1Base Exchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.2.2Identity Protection Exchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.2.3Authentication Only Exchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.3 ISAKMP Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.3.1Security Association Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.3.2Transport Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.3.3RESERVED Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.3.4Anti-Clogging Token (``Cookie'') Creation . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.3.5SA Flags Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3 Security Association Establishment 22
3.1 Security Association Initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.1.1SA Initialization Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.2 Authentication and Key Exchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.2.1Authentication Payload Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.2.2Key Exchange Payload Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.2.3Authentication and Key Exchange Procedures . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.3 Security Association Negotiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3.3.1SA Negotiation Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.4 SA Negotiation Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3.4.1SA Negotiation Conclusion Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
1.3 Public Key Cryptography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 4 Security Association Modification 36
4.1 Modification Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
5 Security Association Deletion 36
5.1 Deletion Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
1.4 Back Traffic Protection / Perfect Forward Secrecy . . . . . . . . 6 6 Notification Message 39
6.1 Notification Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
1.5 Anti-Clogging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 7 Conclusions 41
1.5.1Anti-Clogging Token Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 A ISAKMP Scenarios 43
A.1 Initial ISAKMP Daemon Scenerio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
A.2 Virtual Private Network Scenario . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
B Security Association Attributes 47
1.6 Multicast Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 C Security Association Examples 51
C.1 ISAKMP SA Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
C.1.1ISAKMP SA Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
C.2 ESP SA and AH SA Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
C.2.1ESP and AH SA Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
C.2.2Fortezza SA Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
2 Description of the Protocol 8 1 Introduction
2.1 ISAKMP Header Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 This document describes an Internet Security Association and Key Manage-
ment Protocol (ISAKMP). ISAKMP combines the security concepts of authen-
tication, key management, and security associations to establish the re-
quired security for government, commercial, and private communications on
the Internet. ISAKMP extends the assertion in [DOW92] that authentica-
tion and key exchanges must be combined for better security to include se-
curity association exchanges. The security required for communications
depends on the individual network configurations and environments. Orga-
nizations are setting up Virtual Private Networks (VPN) that will require
one set of security functions for communications within the VPN and possi-
bly many different security functions for communications outside the VPN
to support geographically separate organizational components, customers,
suppliers, sub-contractors (with their own VPNs), government, and others.
Departments within large organizations may require a number of security
associations to separate and protect data (e.g. personnel data, company
proprietary data, medical) on internal networks and other security associ-
ations to communicate inter-department. Nomadic users wanting to ``phone
home'' represent another set of security requirements. These requirements
must be tempered with bandwidth challenges. Smaller groups of people may
meet their security requirements by setting up ``Webs of Trust''. ISAKMP
exchanges provide these assorted networking communities the ability to
present peers with the security functionality it supports in an authen-
ticated and protected manner for agreement upon a common interoperable se-
curity association.
2.1.1General Message Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Security associations must support different encryption algorithms, au-
thentication mechanisms, and key establishment algorithms for other secu-
rity protocols, as well as IP Security. Security associations must also
support host-oriented certificates for lower layer protocols and user-
oriented certificates for higher level protocols. Algorithm and mecha-
nism independence is required in applications such as e-mail, remote lo-
gin, and file transfer, as well as in session oriented protocols, routing
protocols, and link layer protocols. ISAKMP provides a common security
association and key establishment protocol for this wide range of security
protocols, applications, security requirements, and network environments.
2.2 ISAKMP Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 ISAKMP is not bound to any specific cryptographic algorithm, key gener-
ation technique, or security mechanism. This flexibility is beneficial
for a number of reasons. First, it supports the dynamic communications
environment described above. Second, the independence from specific secu-
rity mechanisms and algorithms provides a forward migration path to better
mechanisms and algorithms. When improved security mechanisms are devel-
oped or new attacks against current encryption algorithms, authentica-
tion mechanisms and key exchanges are discovered, ISAKMP will allow the
updating of the algorithms and mechanisms without having to develop a com-
pletely new KMP or patch the current one.
2.2.1Security Association Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 ISAKMP has basic requirements for its authentication and key exchanges
components. These requirements guard against denial of service, replay /
reflection, man-in-the-middle, and connection hijacking attacks. This is
important because these are the types of attacks that are targeted against
protocols. Complete Security Association (SA) support, which provides
mechanism and algorithm independence, and protection from protocol threats
are the strengths of ISAKMP.
2.2.2Transport Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 1.1 Authentication
2.2.3RESERVED Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 A very important step in establishing secure network communications is au-
thentication of the entity at the other end of the communication. Many
authentication mechanisms are available. Authentication mechanisms fall
into two catagories of strength - weak and strong. Passwords are an exam-
ple of a mechanism that provides weak authentication. Reasons for this
include the fact that most users pick easy to guess passwords and when
used over an unprotected network are easily read by network sniffers.
Digital signatures, such as the Digital Signature Standard (DSS) and the
Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) signature, are public key based strong authen-
tication mechanisms. When using digital signatures each entity requires a
public and a private key. Certificates are an essential part of a digital
signature authentication mechanism. Certificates bind a specific enti-
ties identity (be it host, network, user, or application) to its public
keys and possibly other security-related information such as privileges,
clearances, and compartments. Authentication based on digital signatures
requires a trusted third party or certificate authority to create, sign
and properly distribute certificates. For more detailed information on
digital signatures, such as DSS and RSA, and certificates see [Schn94].
2.3 Security Association Establishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 1.1.1 Certificate Authorities
2.3.1Security Association Initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Certificates require an infrastructure for generation, verification, man-
agement and distribution. The Internet Policy Registration Authority
(IPRA) [RFC-1422] has been established to direct this infrastructure for
the IETF. The IPRA certifies Policy Certification Authorities (PCA). PCAs
control Certificate Authorities (CA) which certify users and subordinate
entities. Current certificate related work includes the Domain Name Sys-
tem (DNS) Security Extensions [EK94] which will provide signed entity keys
in the DNS. The Public Key Infrastucture (PKIX) working group is speci-
fying an Internet profile for X.509 certificates. There is also work go-
ing on in industry to develop X.500 Directory Services which would provide
X.509 certificates to users. The U.S. Post Office is developing a (CA)
hierarchy. The NIST Public Key Infrastructure Working Group has also been
doing work in this area. The DOD Multi Level Information System Security
Initiative (MISSI) program has begun deploying a certificate infrastruc-
ture for the U.S. Government. Alternatively, if no infrastructure exists,
the PGP Web of Trust certificates can be used to provide user authentica-
tion and privacy in a community of users who know and trust each other.
2.3.2Key and Authentication Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 1.1.2 Entity Naming
2.3.3Security Association Negotiation Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 An entity's name is its identity and is bound to its public keys in cer-
tificates. The CA MUST define the naming semantics for the certificates
it issues. See the UNINETT PCA Policy Statements [Berg] for an example
of how a CA defines its naming policy. When the certificate is verified,
the name is verified and that name will have meaning within the realm of
that CA. An example is the DNS security extensions which make DNS servers
CAs for the zones and nodes they serve. Resource records are provided for
public keys and signatures on those keys. The names associatied with the
keys are IP addresses and domain names which have meaning to entities ac-
cessing the DNS for this information. A Web of Trust is another example.
When webs of trust are set up, names are bound with the public keys. In
PGP the name is usaully the entities e-mail address which has meaning to
those, and only those, who understand e-mail (Do MCI and AOL e-mail ad-
dresses tell the casual e-mailer anything about identity?). Another web
could use an entirely different naming scheme.
2.3.4Packet Exchanges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 1.1.3 ISAKMP Requirements
2.4 Security Association Modification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Strong authentication MUST be provided on ISAKMP exchanges. Without being
able to authenticate the entity at the other end, the Security Association
(SA) and session key established are suspect. Without authentication you
are unable to trust an entity's identification, this makes access control
questionable. Encryption (e.g. ESP) and integrity (e.g. AH) will pro-
tect subsequent communications from passive eavesdroppers, but the SA and
key may be established with an adversary who performed an active man-in-
the-middle attack and is now stealing all your personnal data.
2.5 Security Association Deletion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 A digital signature algorithm MUST be used within ISAKMP's authentication
component. However, ISAKMP does not mandate a specific mechanism. ISAKMP
allows an entity initiating communications to indicate which signature al-
gorithms it supports. After selection of a common algorithm, the protocol
provides the messages required to support the actual authentication ex-
change. As an example, if the DSA is selected as the signature algorithm,
then the protocol provides a facility for identification of different cer-
tificate authorities, certificate types (e.g. X.509v1 certificates, PKCS
#7), and the exchange of the certificates identified.
2.6 Notification Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 ISAKMP utilizes digital signatures, based on public cryptography, for au-
thentication. There are other strong authentication systems available,
which could be specified as additional optional authentication mechanisms
for ISAKMP. Some of these authentication systems rely on a trusted third
party called a key distribution center (KDC) to distribute secret session
keys. An example is Kerberos, where the trusted third party is the Ker-
beros server, which holds secret keys for all clients and servers within
it's network domain. A clients proof it holds it's secret key provides
its authenticaton to a server.
3 Conclusions 29 The ISAKMP specification does not specify the protocol for communicating
A Key Exchange Examples 30 with the trusted third parties (TTP) or certificate directory services.
These protocols are defined by the TTP and directory service themselves
and are outside the scope of this specification.
A.1 Photuris KE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 1.2 Security Associations and Management
A.2 FORTEZZA Key Exchange Algorithm (KEA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 A Security Association (SA) is a relationship between two or more entities
that describes how the entities will utilize security services to communi-
cate securely. This relationship is represented by a set of information
that can be considered a contract between the entities. The information
must be agreed upon and shared between all the entities. Sometimes the
information alone is referred to as an SA, but this is just a physical in-
stantiation of the existing relationship. The existence of this relation-
ship, represented by the information, is what provides the agreed upon se-
curity information needed by entities to securely interoperate. All enti-
ties must adhere to the SA for secure communications to be possible. When
accessing SA attributes, entities use a pointer or identifier refered to
as the Security Parameter Index (SPI).
B Security Association Attributes 32 1.2.1 Security Associations and Registration
1 Introduction
This document describes an Internet Security Association and Key Manage- The SA attributes required and recommended for the IP Security (AH, ESP)
ment Protocol (ISAKMP). ISAKMP combines the security concepts of authenti- are defined in [RFC-1825]. The attributes specified for an IP Security SA
cation, key management, and security associations to establish the desired include, but are not limited to, authentication mechanism, cryptographic
security for government, commercial, and private communications on the In- algorithm, algorithm mode, key length, and Initialization Vector (IV).
ternet. ISAKMP does not bind itself to any specific cryptographic algo- Other protocols that provide algorithm and mechanism independent security
rithm, key generation technique, or security mechanism. This flexibility MUST define their SA attributes requirements. The separation of ISAKMP
is beneficial because new attacks are constantly being developed that make from a specific SA definition is important to ensure ISAKMP can establish
today's security certainties obsolete. ISAKMP will guard against denial SAs for all possible security protocols and applications.
of service, replay, and connection hijacking attacks. This is important
because these are the types of attacks that are targeted against proto-
cols. Independence from specific security mechanisms that will eventually
be replaced by better ones and protection from protocol threats are the
strengths of ISAKMP.
1.1 Authentication NOTE: See Appendix B for a discussion of SA attributes that should be con-
sidered when defining a security protocol or application.
A very important step in establishing secure communications is authentica- In order to facilitate easy identification of specific attributes (e.g.
tion of the entity at the other end of the communication. There are many a specific encryption algorithm) among different network entites the at-
authentication mechanisms for this purpose. An example of weak authen- tributes must be assigned identifiers and these identifiers must be reg-
tication is the use of passwords. Digital signatures such as the Digi- istered by a central authority. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
tal Signature Standard (DSS) and Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) signature are (IANA) provides this function for the Internet.
public key based strong authentication mechanisms that require a trusted
third party to sign and properly distribute certificates. Kerberos is an
example of an authentication system that relies on a trusted third party
during the authentication. ISAKMP allows a party initiating communica-
tions to indicate which authentication mechanism it is using and support
the message exchanges required by that mechanism.
Certificates bind a specific identity (host, network, user, application) 1.2.2 ISAKMP Requirements
to public keys, privileges, clearances, compartments and other security-
related information. Certificates are an essential part of strong authen-
tication mechanisms. There must be an infrastructure available to verify,
manage and distribute certificates. Currently, Domain Name System (DNS)
Security Extensions [EK94] are being developed which will provide signed
host keys in DNS. There is also work going on in industry to develop X.500
Directory Services which would provide X.509 certificates to users. The
NIST Public Key Infrastructure Working Group has also been doing work in
this area. Alternatively, if no infrastructure exists, the PGP Web of
Trust could be used to provide user authentication in a community of users
who know and trust each other.
ISAKMP does not specify a specific certificate authority or type (e.g. Security Association (SA) establishment MUST be part of the key manage-
X.509 certificates), but it must allow the identification of different ment protocol defined for IP based networks. The SA concept is required
certificate authorities and types and facilitate the exchange of the cho- to support security protocols in a diverse and dynamic networking envi-
sen certificate type. This protocol supports the use of a variety of dig- ronment. Just as authentication and key exchange must be linked to pro-
ital signatures to provide the strong authentication function. The DSS vide assurance that the key is established with the authenticated party
and RSA are examples of digital signatures which provide strong authenti- [DOW92], SA establishment must be linked with the authentication and the
cation. There are many others, as well. Details of DSS, RSA, and other key exchange protocol.
signature algorithms may be found in [Schn94].
1.2 Security Associations and Management ISAKMP provides the protocol exchanges to establish a security association
between entities. First, an initial protocol exchange allows a basic set
of security attributes to be agreed upon. This basic set provides protec-
tion for subsequent ISAKMP exchanges. It also indicates the authentica-
tion method and key exchange that will be performed as part of the ISAKMP
protocol. If a basic set of security attributes is already in place on
the communicating entities the initial ISAKMP exchange may be skipped and
the key and authentication exchanges issued directly. After the basic set
of security attributes has been agreed upon, initial identity authenti-
cated, and required keys generated, another security attribute exchange
takes place to establish the complete SA which will be used for subsequent
communications by the entity that invoked ISAKMP. The basic set of SA at-
tributes that MUST be implemented to provide ISAKMP interoperability are
defined in Appendix C. *These atributes will be moved to a separate docu-
ment to maintain separation of protocol and attributes.*
A Security Association (SA) is a relationship between two or more enti- 1.3 Public Key Cryptography
ties. The relationship describes how the entities will utilize security
services to communicate securely. This relationship is represented by a
set of information that can be considered a contract between the entities.
The information must be agreed upon and shared between all the entities.
Sometimes the information alone is referred to as an SA, but this is just
a physical instantiation of the existing relationship. The existence of
the relationship, represented by the information, is what allows the en-
tities to communicate securely. All entities must adhere to the SA for
secure communications to be possible. The Security Parameter Index (SPI)
is a pointer or identifier an entity uses to name the SA.
The types of information needed to represent an SA include, but are not Public key cryptography is the most flexible, scalable, and efficient way
limited to, authentication mechanisms, cryptographic algorithms, algorithm for users to obtain the shared secrets and session keys needed to support
mode, key length, Initialization Vector (IV), integrity mechanisms, hash the large number of ways Internet users will interoperate. Many key gen-
algorithms, etc. . ISAKMP allows communicating entities to negotiate the eration algorithms, that have different properties, are available to users
information needed to create an SA. It includes the ability to establish, (see [DOW92] and [ANSI94]). Properties of key exchange protocols include
modify and delete an SA and negotiate the SA attributes. the key establishment method, authentication, symmetry, perfect forward
secrecy, and back traffic protection.
NOTE: See Appendix B for example lists of SA attributes. 1.3.1 Key Exchange Properties
1.3 Public Key Cryptography Key Establishment (Key Generation / Key Transport) The two common methods
of using public key cryptography for key establishment are key transport
and key generation. An example of key transport is the use of the RSA al-
gorithm to encrypt a randomly generated session key (for encrypting subse-
quent communications) with the recipient's public key. The encrypted ran-
dom key is then sent to the recipient, who decrypts it using his private
key. At this point both sides have the same session key, however it was
created based on input from only one side of the communications. The ben-
efit of the key transport method is that it has less computational over-
head then the following method. The Diffie-Hellman (D-H) algorithm illus-
trates key generation using public key cryptography. The D-H algorithm is
begun by two users exchanging public information. Each user then mathe-
matically combines the other's public information along with their own se-
cret information to compute a shared secret value. This secret value can
be used as a session key or as a key encryption key for encrypting a ran-
domly generated session key. This method generates a session key based on
public and secret information held by both users. The benefit of the D-H
algorithm is that the key used for encrypting messages is based on infor-
mation held by both users. Assuming checks for weak values neither party
can force the session key to a predetermined value. Detailed descrip-
tions of these algorithms can be found in [Schn94]. There are a number
of variations on these two key generation schemes and these variations do
not necessarily interoperate.
In an Internet environment with large numbers of users, there are many Key Exchange Authentication Key exchanges may be authenticated during the
ways those users can interconnect. There are also many key management protocol or after protocol completion. Authentication of the key exchange
techniques and algorithms available to the users of the network. All during the protocol is provide when each party provides proof it has the
users will not choose the same combination of capabilities. Therefore, secret session key before the end of the protocol. Proof can be provided
users need a way to determine the capabilities of the entities with which by encrypting known data in the secret session key during the protocol ex-
they want to communicate. ISAKMP is intended to provide that service. change. Authentication after the protocol must occur in subsequent commu-
nications. Authentication during the protocol is preferred so subsequent
communications are not initiated if the secret session key is not estab-
lished with the desired party.
Because of the large number of different ways Internet users can connect, Key Exchange Symmetry A key exchange provides symmetry if either party can
the use of public key cryptography is the most flexible and efficient way initiate the exchange and exchanged messages can cross in transit with-
for users to obtain the keys they need. out effecting the key that is generated. This is desirable so that com-
putation of the keys does not require either party to know who initiated
the exchange. While key exchange symmetry is desirable, symmetry in the
entire KMP may provide a vulnerablity to reflection attacks. The entire
ISAKMP SA establishment is asymetrical.
There are two methods for using public key cryptography to place keys. In Back Traffic Protection / Perfect Forward Secrecy Perfect forward secrecy
the first method, user A generates a random key. The random key is then is provided by a key exchange protocol if disclosure of long-term cryp-
encrypted, using a public key algorithm (e.g. RSA), with user B's pub- tographic keying material (e.g. public signature keys) does not compro-
lic key. The encrypted random key is then sent to user B. In the second mise previously generated keys. Back traffic protection is provided by
method, users A and B use a public key algorithm (e.g. Diffie-Hellman) to the independent generation of each key such that subsequent keys are not
exchange public information. Then, they each use the other's public in- dependent on any previous key. There is a subtle difference. Past ses-
formation along with their own secret keys to compute the same value which sion keys will NOT be obtainable is the long-term key is compromised in
they use as the session key or the key encryption key for encrypting the perfect forward secrecy; Past session keys will NOT be obtainable if the
session key. current session key is compromised in back traffic protecion.
If public key cryptography is used in this way for exchanging or agree- The difficulty of numerical factoring of large numbers has proven that
ing upon a new key each time they communicate, then both back traffic pro- cryptographic keys can protect information for a considerable length of
tection and perfect forward secrecy will be provided. Each key is inde- time. However, this is based on the assumption that keys used for protec-
pendent and the compromise of one key will not automatically compromise tion of communications are destroyed after use and not kept for any rea-
any other keys. The second method described above is preferred as the key son.
used for encrypting messages is based on information held by both A and B.
1.4 Back Traffic Protection / Perfect Forward Secrecy 1.3.2 ISAKMP Requirements
The concept of back traffic protection is concerned with the cryptographic An authenticate key exchange MUST be supported by ISAKMP. Users SHOULD
protection of previous traffic, even when cryptographic keys used to en- choose additional key establishment algorithms based on their require-
crypt future traffic are compromised. The use of public key cryptography ments. ISAKMP does not specify a specific key exchange. Requirements
for the establishment of cryptographic keys provides back traffic protec- that should be evaluated when choosing a key establishment algorithm in-
tion. The difficulty of numerical factoring of large numbers has proven clude establishment method (generation vs. transport), perfect forward
that cryptographic keys can protect information for a considerable length secrecy, back traffic protection, computational overhead, key escrow, and
of time. However, this is based on the assumption that keys used for pro- key strength. Based on user requirements, ISAKMP allows an entity initi-
tection of communications are destroyed after use and not kept for any ating communications to indicate which key exchanges it supports. After
reason. This concept of back traffic protection is provided by the inde- selection of a key exchange, the protocol provides the messages required
pendent generation of each key such that subsequent keys are not dependent to support the actual key establishment.
on any previous key.
The concept of perfect forward secrecy is aimed at guaranteeing future 1.4 ISAKMP Protection
communications are cryptographically protected, even in the event of com-
promise of current cryptographic keys. This concept of perfect forward
secrecy is provided by the independent generation of each key such that
subsequent keys are not dependent on any previous key.
1.5 Anti-Clogging 1.4.1 Anti-Clogging (Denial of Service)
Of the numerous security services available, protection against denial Of the numerous security services available, protection against denial
of service always seems to be one of the most difficult to address. Phil of service always seems to be one of the most difficult to address. Phil
Karn in his Internet-Draft [Karn95] has introduced a mechanism to provide Karn in his Internet-Draft [Karn95] has introduced a mechanism to provide
a measure of denial of service protection through the use of a ``cookie'' a measure of denial of service protection through the use of a ``cookie''
exchange. This anti-clogging token (ACT) is aimed at protecting the com- exchange. This anti-clogging token (ACT) is aimed at protecting the com-
puting resources from attack without spending excessive CPU resources to puting resources from attack without spending excessive CPU resources to
determine its authenticity. As described in [Karn95], an exchange prior determine its authenticity. As described in [Karn95], an exchange prior
to CPU-intensive public key operations can thwart some denial of service to CPU-intensive public key operations can thwart some denial of service
attempts (e.g. simple flooding with bogus IP source addresses). As noted attempts (e.g. simple flooding with bogus IP source addresses). As noted
by Karn, absolute protection against denial of service is impossible, but by Karn, absolute protection against denial of service is impossible, but
this anti-clogging token provides a technique for making it easier to han- this anti-clogging token provides a technique for making it easier to han-
dle. dle.
1.5.1 Anti-Clogging Token Creation 1.4.2 Connection Hijacking
Phil Karn's Internet Draft [Karn95] states that cookie generation is im-
plementation dependent, but must satisfy some basic requirements:
1. The cookie must depend on the specific parties. This prevents
an attacker from obtaining a cookie using a real IP address and
UDP port, and then using it to swamp the victim with Diffie-
Hellman requests from randomly chosen IP addresses or ports.
2. It must not be possible for anyone other than the issuing ISAKMP prevents connection hijacking by linking the authentication, key
entity to generate cookies that will be accepted by that exchange and security association exchanges. This linking prevent an at-
entity. This implies that the issuing entity must use local tacker from allowing the authentication to complete and then jumping in
secret information in the generation and subsequent and impersonating one entity to the other during the key and security as-
verification of a cookie. It must not be possible to deduce sociation exchanges.
this secret information from any particular cookie.
3. The cookie generation function must be fast to thwart attacks 1.4.3 Man-in-the-Middle Attacks
intended to sabotage CPU resources.
Karn's suggested method for creating the cookie is to perform a fast hash Man-in-the-Middle attacks include interception, insertion, deletion, and
(e.g. MD5) over the IP Source and Destination Address, the UDP Source and modification of messages, reflecting messages back at the sender, re-
Destination Ports and a locally generated secret random value. ISAKMP playing old messages and redirecting messages. ISAKMP features prevent
requires that the cookie be unique for each SA establishment, SA modify these types of attacks from being successful. The linking of the ISAKMP
and SA delete to help prevent replay attacks, therefore we suggest adding exchanges prevents the insertion of messages in the protocol exchange.
the date and time to the information hashed. The ISAKMP protocol state machine is defined so deleted messages will not
cause a partial SA to be created, the state machine will clear all state
and return to idle. The state machine also prevents reflection of a mes-
sage from causing harm. The requirement for a new cookie with time vari-
ant material for each new SA establishment prevents attacks that involve
replaying old messages. The ISAKMP strong authentication requirement pre-
vents an SA from being established with other then the intended party.
Messages may be redirected to a different destination or modified but this
will be detected and an SA will not be established. The ISAKMP specifica-
tion defines where abnormal processing has occurred and recommends notify-
ing the appropriate party of this abnormality.
1.6 Multicast Communications 1.5 Multicast Communications
While future communications will increasingly be of a multicast nature, While future Internet communications will increasingly be of a multicast
this document is presenting a security association and key management nature, this document is presenting a security association and key man-
protocol from the unicast point of view. It is expected that multicast agement protocol from the unicast point of view. It is expected that mul-
communications will require the same security services as unicast commu- ticast communications will require the same security services as unicast
nications and may introduce the need for additional security services. communications and may introduce the need for additional security ser-
The issues of distributing SPIs for multicast traffic are presented in vices. The issues of distributing SPIs for multicast traffic are pre-
[Atki95]. Upon agreement and implementation of a security association sented in [RFC-1825]. Upon agreement and implementation of a security
protocol for the Internet unicast environment, we fully intend to examine association protocol for the Internet unicast environment, we fully intend
any additional security requirements for multicast communications. For to examine any additional security requirements for multicast communica-
an introduction to the issues related to multicast security consult the tions. For an introduction to the issues related to multicast security
Internet Drafts, [Spar94a] and [Spar94b], describing Sparta's research in consult the Internet Drafts, [Spar94a] and [Spar94b], describing Sparta's
this area. research in this area.
2 Description of the Protocol 2 Description of the Protocol
The Internet Security Association and Key Management Protocol (ISAKMP) de- The Internet Security Association and Key Management Protocol (ISAKMP) de-
fines procedures and packet formats to establish (including negotiate), fines procedures and packet formats to establish, negotiate, modify and
modify and delete Security Associations (SA). SAs contain all the infor- delete Security Associations (SA). SAs contain all the information re-
mation required for execution of IP security services, such as the IP Au- quired for execution of IP security services, such as the IP Authentica-
thentication Header (AH), the IP Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP), and tion Header (AH), the IP Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP), and routing
routing protocol authentication mechanisms. ISAKMP includes packet for- protocol authentication mechanisms. ISAKMP includes packet formats for
mats for exchanging key generation and authentication data. These formats exchanging key generation and authentication data. These formats provide
provide a consistent method of transferring key and authentication data a consistent method of transferring key and authentication data that is
that is independent of the key generation technique, encryption algorithm independent of the key generation technique, encryption algorithm or au-
or authentication mechanism. These generic packets provide flexibility by thentication mechanism.
allowing the protocol to be independent of key generation techniques and
authentication mechanisms used to establish SAs.
The following sections contain the details of ISAKMP. Sections 2.1 through The following sections contain the details of ISAKMP. Sections 2.1 through
2.2 cover details that are pertinent to the entire protocol. Sections 2.3 2.3 cover details that are pertinent to the entire protocol. Sections 3
through 2.6 define the establishment, modification, and deletion services, through 6 define the establishment, modification, and deletion services,
defined as exchanges, offered by the protocol. The appendices provide defined as exchanges, offered by the protocol. The appendices provide
examples of SAs and key exchanges. examples of SAs and key exchanges.
2.1 ISAKMP Header Format 2.1 ISAKMP Header Format
ISAKMP has a fixed header format. A fixed header simplifies parsing, pro- ISAKMP has a fixed header format (shown in Figure 1) followed by a vari-
viding the benefit of less complex and easier to implement parsing soft- able length payload, optional digital signature, and optional padding. A
ware. The fixed header contains the information required by the protocol fixed header simplifies parsing, providing the benefit of protocol parsing
to maintain state, process payloads and prevent attacks (e.g. denial of software that is less complex and easier to implement. The fixed header
service and replay). Based on the message type each header is followed by contains the information required by the protocol to maintain state, pro-
a payload specific to the message type. The payload for each message is cess payloads and prevent attacks (e.g. denial of service and replay).
define in sections 2.3 through 2.6. Based on the message type, each header is followed by a payload specific
to the message type. The payload for each message is defined in sections
3 through 6. Following the payload portion of the ISAKMP packet is a dig-
ital signature. This field is dependent on the negotiation of Security
Association attributes and may not be present.
0 1 2 3 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
! Message Type ! Exchange ! Length ! ! Message Type ! Exch ! Vers ! Length !
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
! SPI ! ! Security Parameter Index (SPI) !
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
! Initiator-Cookie ! ! !
~ ~ ~ Initiator-Cookie ~
! ! ! !
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
! Responder-Cookie ! ! !
~ ~ ~ Responder-Cookie ~
! ! ! !
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
! Payload ! ! !
~ ~ ~ Payload ~
! !
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
! !
~ Digital Signature ~
! !
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
! !
~ Padding ~
! ! ! !
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
ISAKMP Header Format Figure 1: ISAKMP Header Format
o Message Type (1 octet) - Indicates the type of message. A suffix of o Message Type (1 octet) - Indicates the type of message. A suffix of
REQ denotes a message of type request and RESP suffix denotes a REQ denotes a Request message type and an RESP suffix denotes a
message of type response. The format and processing for each message Response message type. The format and processing for each message is
is defined in sections 2.3 through 2.6. defined in sections 3 through 6.
__ISAKMP_Message__Message_Type_ __ISAKMP_Message__Message_Type_
RESERVED 0
ISA_INIT_REQ 1 ISA_INIT_REQ 1
ISA_INIT_RESP 2 ISA_INIT_RESP 2
ISA_KE_REQ 3 ISA_KE_REQ 3
ISA_KE_RESP 4 ISA_KE_RESP 4
ISA_AUTH_REQ 5 ISA_AUTH_REQ 5
ISA_AUTH_RESP 6 ISA_AUTH_RESP 6
ISA_AUTH&KE_REQ 7 ISA_AUTH&KE_REQ 7
ISA_AUTH&KE_RESP 8 ISA_AUTH&KE_RESP 8
ISA_NEG_REQ 9 ISA_NEG_REQ 9
ISA_NEG_RESP 10 ISA_NEG_RESP 10
ISA_MODIFY_REQ 11 ISA_MODIFY_REQ 11
ISA_MODIFY_RESP 12 ISA_MODIFY_RESP 12
ISA_NOTIFY 13 ISA_NOTIFY 13
ISA_DELETE 14 ISA_DELETE 14
ISA_COMMIT 15 ISA_COMMIT 15
IANA Use 16-127
Future Use 128-255
o Exchange (1 octet) - indicates the type of exchange, see Sections o Exchange (4 bits) - indicates the type of exchange, see section 2.2
2.3.4 and 2.3.4 for a description of the Message Types exchanged in each of these
Exchange Types.
___ISAKMP_Exchange___Exchange_Type__ ___ISAKMP_Exchange___Exchange_Type__
RESERVED 0
Base 1 Base 1
Identity Protection 2 Identity Protection 2
Authentication Only 3
Future Use 4 - 15
o Version (4 bits) - indicates the version of the ISAKMP protocol in
use.
o Length (2 octets) - Length of total message (header + payload) in o Length (2 octets) - Length of total message (header + payload) in
octets. octets.
o SPI (4 octets) - Security Parameter Index. The receiving entity's o SPI (4 octets) - Security Parameter Index. The receiving entity's
SPI is always in this field, except for the ISA_INIT packets. The SPI is always in this field, except for the ISA_INIT packets. The
ISA_INIT packets contain the SPI the issuer expects to receive in all ISA_INIT packets contain the SPI the initiator expects to receive in
subsequest packets. all subsequent packets.
o Initiator Cookie (16 octets) - Cookie of entity that initiated SA o Initiator Cookie (16 octets) - Cookie of entity that initiated SA
establishment, SA modify or SA delete. establishment, SA modify or SA delete.
o Responder Cookie (16 octets) - Cookie of entity that is responding to o Responder Cookie (16 octets) - Cookie of entity that is responding to
SA establishment, SA modify or SA delete request an SA establishment, SA modify or SA delete request.
o Payload (variable) - The format of the payload is based on the o Payload (variable) - The format of the payload is based on the
message type and defined in sections 2.3 through 2.6. message type. These are defined in sections 3 through 6.
o Signature - The digital signature of the initiator of the ISAKMP
message. This field will not be included on all packets and will be
determined by the negotiated SA attributes.
o Padding - This is an optional field that may be added depending on
the type of encryption algorithm. If the encryption mechanism is
based on block encryption, then this field may be necessary to ensure
the packet is a specific size.
2.1.1 General Message Processing 2.1.1 General Message Processing
Every ISAKMP message has basic processing applied to insure protocol re- Every ISAKMP message has basic processing applied to insure protocol re-
liability and minimize threats, such as denial of service and replay at- liability, and to minimize threats, such as denial of service and replay
tacks. attacks.
When issuing an ISAKMP packet: When transmitting an ISAKMP packet, the transmitting entity (initiator or
responder) does the following:
1. Sets a timer and initializes a retry counter 1. Sets a timer and initializes a retry counter.
2. If timer expires the message is resent and the retry counter 2. If the timer expires, the ISAKMP packet is resent and the retry
decremented. counter is decremented.
3. If the retry counter reaches zero (0), the event is logged in the 3. If the retry counter reaches zero (0), the event, RETRY LIMIT
appropriate system file. REACHED, is logged in the appropriate system audit file.
4. Clears all state and return to IDLE. 4. The ISAKMP protocol machine clears all states and returns to IDLE.
When an ISAKMP packet is received: When an ISAKMP packet is received, the receiving entity (initiator or re-
sponder) does the following:
1. Verify the appropriate ``cookie''. 1. Verifies the Initiator and Responder ``cookies''. If the cookie
validation fails, the message is discarded and the following actions
are taken:
2. Check exchange type and message fields to confirm they are valid (a) The event, INVALID COOKIE, is logged in the appropriate system
types. audit file.
3. Check SPI to ensure it is valid for the exchange being preformed. (b) No response is sent to the initiating entity. This will cause
the transmission timer of the initiating entity to expire and
force retransmission of the message.
4. If any of these fields fails its check, the message is discarded. 2. Check the Message Type field to confirm it is valid. If the Message
Type field validation fails, the message is discarded and the
following actions are taken:
Log Event in the appropriate system file. (a) The event, INVALID MESSAGE TYPE, is logged in the appropriate
system audit file.
No response is sent to the message orginator. (b) No response is sent to the initiating entity. This will cause
the transmission timer of the initiating entity to expire and
force retransmission of the message.
5. If all fields pass the checks, the message payload is processed. 3. Check the Exchange field to confirm it is valid for the Message Type
requested. If the Exchange field validation fails, the message is
discarded and the following actions are taken:
Individual message processing (described in sections 2.3 through 2.6) (a) The event, INVALID EXCHANGE TYPE, is logged in the appropriate
may result in the message being invalidated, in which case: system audit file.
Log Event in the appropriate system file. (b) No response is sent to the initiating entity. This will cause
the transmission timer of the initiating entity to expire and
force retransmission of the message.
No response is sent to the message orginator. 4. Check SPI to ensure it is valid for the Message Type and Exchange
being performed. If the SPI validation fails, the message is
discarded and the following actions are taken:
A valid message results in a response being sent to the message (a) The event, INVALID SPI, is logged in the appropriate system audit
orginator. file.
2.2 ISAKMP Details (b) No response is sent to the initiating entity. This will cause
the transmission timer of the initiating entity to expire and
force retransmission of the message.
2.2.1 Security Association Attributes 5. The message payload is processed. Individual message processing is
described in sections 3 through 6. Depending on the Message Type, a
valid message results in a response being sent to the transmitting
entity (message originator). The procedures for sending these
responses are also outline in sections 3 through 6.
A Security Association (SA) is a relationship between two enities that 2.2 ISAKMP Packet Exchanges
The Exchange field in the ISAKMP header currently has three values de-
fined: the base exchange, the identity protection exchange, and the au-
thentication only exchange. These exchanges define the flow of the ISAKMP
packets during SA establishment. The diagrams in 2.2.1, 2.2.2, and 2.2.3
show the packet exchange ordering for each exchange type and provide basic
notes describing what has happened after each packet exchange.
2.2.1 Base Exchange
Sections 3.1 through 3.3 describe the three basic phases: SA Initial-
ization, Key Exchange and Authentication, and SA Negotiation, that com-
prise the base exchange. The base exchange contains the minimum number of
packet exchanges in order to reduce latency associated with SA establish-
ment.
Base Exchange
____Initiator____Direction_____Responder____ Note
ISA_INIT_REQ =>
<= ISA_INIT_RESP
Basic SA selected
ISA_AUTH&KE_REQ =>
<= ISA_AUTH&KE_RESP
Identity Verified
Key Generated
Encryption Begun
ISA_NEG_REQ =>
<= ISA_NEG_RESP SA Completed
(optional) ISA_COMMIT =>
2.2.2 Identity Protection Exchange
The identity protection exchange starts and ends the same as the base ex-
change, but separates the key exchange payload and the authentication pay-
loads into separate packets. In this exchange, the key exchange is trans-
mitted first followed by the strong authentication exchange. The benefit
of this exchange is the ability to communicate with a person without dis-
closing either party's identity to passive attackers on the network.
The ISA_KE_REQ and ISA_KE_RESP packets used for the key exchange portion of
this exchange contain an ISAKMP header followed by the key exchange pay-
load. The ISA_AUTH_REQ and ISA_AUTH_RESP packet used for the authentication
portion of this exchange contain an ISAKMP header followed by the authen-
tication payload.
Identity Protection Exchange
__Initiator___Direction___Responder___ Note
ISA_INIT_REQ =>
<= ISA_INIT_RESP
Basic SA selected
ISA_KE_REQ =>
<= ISA_KE_RESP
Key Generated
Encryption Begun
ISA_AUTH_REQ =>
<= ISA_AUTH_RESP
Identity Verified
ISA_NEG_REQ =>
<= ISA_NEG_RESP SA Completed
(optional) ISA_COMMIT =>
2.2.3 Authentication Only Exchange
The authentication only exchange starts and ends the same as the base ex-
change. In this exchange, the authentication information is the only in-
formation transmitted. The benefit of this exchange is the ability to
perform only an authentication exchange without the computational expense
of computing keys. Using this exchange, none of the transmitted informa-
tion will be encrypted.
The ISA_AUTH_REQ and ISA_AUTH_RESP packet used for the authentication only
exchange contain an ISAKMP header followed by the authentication payload.
Identity Protection Exchange
__Initiator___Direction___Responder___ Note
ISA_INIT_REQ =>
<= ISA_INIT_RESP
Basic SA selected
ISA_AUTH_REQ =>
<= ISA_AUTH_RESP
Identity Verified
ISA_NEG_REQ =>
<= ISA_NEG_RESP SA Completed
(optional) ISA_COMMIT =>
2.3 ISAKMP Details
2.3.1 Security Association Attributes
A Security Association (SA) is a relationship between two entities that
describes how they will utilize security services. This relationship is describes how they will utilize security services. This relationship is
represented by a collection of security related information. The SA At- represented by a collection of security related information. The SA At-
tributes are the individual elements that comprise all security relevant tributes are the individual elements that comprise all security relevant
information necessary to form the SA. information necessary to form the SA.
The following syntax encodes the security attributes to be exchanged by The following syntax defines the security attributes to be exchanged by
ISAKMP. This syntax is used in the ISA_INIT_REQ, ISA_INIT_RESP, ISA_NEG_REQ, ISAKMP. This syntax is used in the ISA_INIT_REQ, ISA_INIT_RESP, ISA_NEG_REQ,
ISA_NEG_RESP, ISA_MOD_REQ, and ISA_MOD_RESP messages. The syntax groups se- ISA_NEG_RESP, ISA_MOD_REQ, and ISA_MOD_RESP messages. The syntax groups se-
curity attributes needed to perform a security function into an SA set or curity attributes needed to perform a security function into either an SA
SA list format. The set format must be supported by ISAKMP implementa- set or SA list format. The set format MUST be supported by ISAKMP imple-
tions. The list format is an optional format. mentations. The list format is an optional format.
The set format groups all necessary attributes together. Each set has a Security Associations Sets The set format groups all necessary attributes
unique identifier (Set Number), supported security service (Supports), together. Each set has a unique identifier (Set Number), supported secu-
such as IP AH, IP ESP, OSPF authentication, and a list of Attribute rity service (Supports), such as IP AH, IP ESP, OSPF authentication, and
Classes and Attribute Types. The Attribute Class is the broad category a list of Attribute Classes and Attribute Types. The Attribute Class is
of Attribute Type, such as encryption algorithms. Attribute Type is a the broad category of Attribute Type, such as encryption algorithms. At-
specific attribute identifier. DES is an example of an attribute type tribute Type is a specific attribute identifier. DES is an example of an
for the encryption algorithm attribute class. A set has only one instance attribute type for the encryption algorithm attribute class. A set has
of an Attribute Class and one type for that class. This syntax maintains only one instance of an Attribute Class and one type for that class. This
flexibility by allowing many different (and some still undefined) types of syntax maintains flexibility by allowing many different (and some still
SA attributes to be exchanged. undefined) types of SA attributes to be exchanged.
The figure below depicts the syntax for exchanging security attributes us- Figure 2 depicts the syntax for exchanging security attributes using
ing the set format. It shows a single set from which multiple sets would the set format. It shows a single set from which multiple sets would be
be grouped for a specific message type. grouped for a specific message type.
1 2 3 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
! Set Number ! Supports ! Number of Attr ! ! Set Number ! Supports ! Num of Attr !
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
! Attribute Class ! Attribute Type ! ! Attribute Class ! Attribute Type !
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ ~ ~ ..... ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
! Attribute Class ! Attribute Type ! ! Attribute Class ! Attribute Type !
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Generic Set Exchange Format Figure 2: Generic Set Exchange Format
o Set number (1 octet) - Unique identifier for each proposed set o Set number (1 octet) - Unique identifier for each proposed set
o Supports (1 octet) - Security service proposed set supports. o Supports (2 octets) - Security service proposed set supports.
Examples are IP AH, IP ESP, and OSPF authentication Examples are IP AH, IP ESP, and OSPF authentication
o Number of Attributes (2 octets) - Number of attributes contained in o Number of Attributes (1 octet) - Number of attribute classes
the proposed set contained in the proposed set
o Attribute Class (2 octets) - examples are Encryption Algorithms, Key o Attribute Class (2 octets) - examples are Encryption Algorithms, Key
Exchange Algorithms Exchange Algorithms, Authentication Mechanisms
o Attribute Type (2 octets) - examples of attribute type for the o Attribute Type (2 octets) - examples of attribute types for the
encryption algorithms attribute class are DES, Triple DES, and IDEA. encryption algorithms attribute class are DES, Triple DES, and IDEA.
The size of a set formatted exchange is 4 octets + (Number of Attrs * 4 The size of a set formatted exchange is 4 octets + (Number of Attribute
octets). Computing the size of a particular set allows determining the Classes * 4 octets). Computing the size of a particular set allows the
beginning of the next set without completely parsing the current set, determination of the beginning of the next set without completely parsing
should it not be an acceptable SA set. the current set. This is necessary when it is determined that the current
set is not an acceptable SA set. This will improve the performance of SA
Attribute determination.
The SA list format presents several attribute types for an attribute Security Association Lists The SA list format presents several attribute
class. Each type within the class is then ordered to indicate its prece- types for an attribute class. Each type within the class is then ordered
dence. Specifically, the first attribute type is the highest priority to indicate its precedence. Specifically, the first attribute type is the
type, followed by other choices. Each subsequent choice are listed in highest priority type, followed by other choices. Each subsequent choice
descending priority order. An attribute type must be chosen from each at- is listed in descending priority order. An attribute type must be chosen
tribute class to establish a complete SA. for each attribute class to establish a complete SA.
The figure below shows the sytax for the optional list exchange format. Figure 3 shows the syntax for the optional list exchange format. The num-
Note that multiple attribute types appear within an attribute class. The ber of types is determined by the Count field. The number of Attribute
number of types is determined from the Count field. Types within an Attribute Class will depend on what is supported by the
local machine.
1 2 3 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
! Attribute Class ! Count ! ! Attribute Class ! Count !
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
! Attribute Type ! Attribute Type ! ! Attribute Type ! Attribute Type !
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ ~ ~ ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
! Attribute Type ! Attribute Type ! ! Attribute Type ! Attribute Type !
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Generic List Exchange Format Figure 3: Generic List Exchange Format
o Attribute Class (2 octets) - Examples are Encryption Algorithms, Key o Attribute Class (2 octets) - Examples are Encryption Algorithms, Key
Exchange Algorithms Exchange Algorithms
o Count - Number of proposed types for a class o Count - Number of proposed Attribute Types for the given Attribute
Class
o Attribute Type (2 octets) - Presented in priority order o Attribute Type (2 octets) - Presented in descending priority order
Appendix B presents an outline containing a more comprehensive set of SA Appendix B presents an outline containing a comprehensive listing of SA
attributes. These sets of attributes are initial definitions and are pre- attributes. This listing of attributes are initial definitions and are
sented to stimulate thought and discussion on SAs. The final set of SA presented to stimulate thought and discussion on SAs. The final SA for
attributes should be defined in a separate RFC so additions or modifica- a protocol SHOULD be defined in that protocol so additions or modifica-
tions to the attributes do not require a modification to the Internet Key tions to the attributes do not require a modification to the Internet Key
Management Protocol (IKMP) RFC and vice versa. An SA container object and Management Protocol (IKMP) RFC and vice versa. For example, Appendix C
SA attribute definitions should become part of the Management Information describes the sample security associations for ISAKMP and IPSP ESP and AH.
Base (MIB), see [RFC-1213], in a separate protected section called the Se-
curity MIB. IKMP should emulate the SNMP concept of separate RFCs for the
protocol and the information managed. SA attribute identifiers MAY be de-
fined using the syntax in [RFC-1155] and [RFC-1212].
2.2.2 Transport Protocol 2.3.2 Transport Protocol
The User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is the transport protocol for ISAKMP. UDP The User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is the transport protocol for ISAKMP. UDP
checksumming discards UDP packets with an incorrect or zero (0) checksum. checksumming discards UDP packets with an incorrect or zero (0) checksum.
ISAKMP is unaware of the discard, but will resend the packet when its re- ISAKMP is unaware of the discard, but will resend the packet when its re-
send timer expires. send timer expires.
2.2.3 RESERVED Fields 2.3.3 RESERVED Fields
All RESERVED fields in the ISAKMP protocol MUST be set to zero (0) when a The existence of RESERVED fields are strictly used to preserve byte
packet is issued. The receiver SHOULD check the RESERVED fields for zero alignement. All RESERVED fields in the ISAKMP protocol MUST be set to
(0) and discard the packet if other values are found. zero (0) when a packet is issued. The receiver SHOULD check the RESERVED
fields for zero (0) and discard the packet if other values are found.
2.3 Security Association Establishment 2.3.4 Anti-Clogging Token (``Cookie'') Creation
SA Establishment is the process of agreeing upon and exchanging all the Phil Karn's Internet Draft [Karn95] states that cookie generation is im-
security information that is required in an SA. The following sections, plementation dependent, but must satisfy some basic requirements:
2.3.1 to 2.3.3, describe the three basic phases, -- SA Initialization,
key and Authentication information exchange, and SA Negotiation --, that
comprise SA Establishment.
2.3.1 Security Association Initialization 1. The cookie must depend on the specific parties. This prevents
an attacker from obtaining a cookie using a real IP address and
UDP port, and then using it to swamp the victim with Diffie-
Hellman requests from randomly chosen IP addresses or ports.
2. It must not be possible for anyone other than the issuing
entity to generate cookies that will be accepted by that
entity. This implies that the issuing entity must use local
secret information in the generation and subsequent
verification of a cookie. It must not be possible to deduce
this secret information from any particular cookie.
3. The cookie generation function must be fast to thwart attacks
intended to sabotage CPU resources.
Karn's suggested method for creating the cookie is to perform a fast hash
(e.g. MD5) over the IP Source and Destination Address, the UDP Source and
Destination Ports and a locally generated secret random value. ISAKMP
requires that the cookie be unique for each SA establishment, SA modify
and SA delete to help prevent replay attacks, therefore the date and time
MUST be added to the information hashed.
2.3.5 SA Flags Field
The SA Flags field may be set by the entity that initiated the negotia-
tion to indicate that the ISA_COMMIT packet will follow the completion of
the protocol exchange. The SA Flags field exists only in the ISA_INIT and
ISA_NEG packets. If the initiating entity sets the flag, the responding
entity cannot reset it. If the initiating entity does not set the flag,
the responding entity may set it, thereby, forcing the initiating entity
to issue an ISA_COMMIT packet. If neither entity sets the flag, then the
ISA_COMMIT packet will not be issued. To set the flag the Least Signifi-
cant Bit (LSB) in the SA Flags field is set to one (1) . All other bits
in the SA Flags field are zero (0).
3 Security Association Establishment
Security Association (SA) Establishment is the process of agreeing upon
and exchanging all the security information that is required in an SA. The
following sections, 3.1 to 3.3, describe the three basic phases that com-
prise SA Establishment: SA Initialization, Key and Authentication infor-
mation exchange, and SA Negotiation.
3.1 Security Association Initialization
The initialization exchange of SA establishment is composed of the The initialization exchange of SA establishment is composed of the
ISA_INIT_REQ and ISA_INIT_RESP packets. The ISA_INIT packets exchange ISA_INIT_REQ and ISA_INIT_RESP packets shown in figure 4. The ISA_INIT pack-
``cookies'', and options for a key generation technique, an encryption ets exchange ``cookies'', and options for a key generation technique, an
algorithm and an authentication mechanism. The ``cookies'' are used to encryption algorithm and an authentication mechanism. The ``cookies''
prevent replay and denial of service attacks. Authentication and encryp- are used to prevent replay and denial of service attacks. Authentication
tion for the ISAKMP exchanges is provided by the authentication mechanism and encryption for the ISAKMP exchanges are provided by the authentication
and encryption algorithm selected. The key generation technique selected mechanism and encryption algorithm selected. The key generation technique
creates keys for use by the authentication mechanism and encryption al- selected creates keys for use by the authentication mechanism and encryp-
gorithm. The keys may also be used either as the session keys, to create tion algorithm. The keys may also be used as any of the following: ac-
the session keys, or protect the exchange of the actual session keys for tual session keys, to create the session keys, or to protect the exchange
the SA. If the key, encryption algorithm, and authentication mechanism are of the actual session keys for the SA. If the key, encryption algorithm,
only used to protect ISAKMP exchanges then new options can be picked dur- and authentication mechanism are only used to protect ISAKMP exchanges,
ing the negotiation phase (described in Section 2.3.3) for use in protect- then new options can be picked during the negotiation phase (described in
ing the actual data communications. If encryption is not required for the Section 3.3) for use in protecting the actual data communications. If en-
SA the encryption algorithm options need not be exchanged. cryption is not required for the SA, the encryption algorithm options are
not exchanged.
1 2 3 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ ISAKMP Header ~ ~ ISAKMP Header ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
! SA Syntax Type! SA Flags ! Num of Sets ! RESERVED ! ! SA Syntax Type! SA Flags ! # Sets/Lists ! RESERVED !
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ SA Attribute Set #1 ~ ~ SA Attribute Set/List #1 ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ SA Attribute Set #2 ~ ~ SA Attribute Set/List #2 ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ ... ~ ~ ... ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ SA Attribute Set #N ~ ~ SA Attribute Set/List #N ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
ISA_INIT_REQ and ISA_INIT_RESP Packet Format Figure 4: ISA_INIT_REQ and ISA_INIT_RESP Packet Format
o SAKMP Header - Described in Section 2.1 o ISAKMP Header - Described in Section 2.1
o SA Syntax Type (1 octet) - Presentation format of SAs o SA Syntax Type (1 octet) - Presentation format of SAs
_SA_Syntax__SA_Syntax_Type_ _SA_Syntax__SA_Syntax_Type_
RESERVED 0
Set 1 Set 1
List 2 List 2
o SA Flags (1 octet) - Flags specific to an SA service. The SA Flags o SA Flags (1 octet) - Flags specific to an SA service. See section
field is zero (0) for the ISA_INIT messages. 2.3.5 for details.
o Number of Sets (1 octet) - Number of SA Attribute Sets being proposed o Number of Sets (1 octet) - Number of SA Attribute Sets being proposed
o SA Attributes (variable) - A list of SA Attributes. The SA Attribute
specifications are discussed in Section 2.3.1.
o SA Attributes (variable) - A list of SA Attributes. SA Attribute 3.1.1 SA Initialization Procedures
specifications are discussed in Section 2.2.1.
Initialization Procedures
When issuing an ISA_INIT_REQ message: When issuing an ISA_INIT_REQ message, the initiating entity does the fol-
lowing:
1. Create initiator cookie. See Section 1.5.1 for details. 1. Create initiator cookie. See Section 2.3.4 for details.
2. Generate a unique pseudo-random SPI for future communications with 2. Generate a unique pseudo-random SPI. See Section 2.1 for details.
the initiating host.
3. Construct an ISA_INIT_REQ packet. 3. Construct an ISA_INIT_REQ packet. If the initiator will send an
ISA_COMMIT message upon completion of the SA establishment, then the
SA Flags field MUST be set (see section 2.3.5 and 3.4).
4. Send the packet to the destination host as described in Section 4. Transmit the packet to the destination host as described in Section
2.1.1. 2.1.1.
When an ISA_INIT_REQ message is received: When an ISA_INIT_REQ message is received, the receiving entity does the
following:
1. Check the ISAKMP header as described in Section 2.1.1. 1. Check the ISAKMP header as described in Section 2.1.1.
2. Unpack ISA_INIT_REQ payload and determine the highest priority 2. Unpack the ISA_INIT_REQ payload and determine the highest priority
attribute set supported. attribute set (or attribute list) supported. If the proposed
attribute set (or list) is rejected, then the protocol machine must
clear all state and return to IDLE.
3. Create responder cookie. 3. Create responder cookie. See Section 2.3.4 for details.
4. Create a unique pseudo-random SPI for future communications with the 4. Generate a unique pseudo-random SPI. See Section 2.1 for details.
responding host.
5. Construct an ISA_INIT_RESP packet. 5. Construct an ISA_INIT_RESP packet. If the responder wants to request
that an ISA_COMMIT message be sent upon completion of the SA
establishment, then the SA Flags field MUST be set (see section 2.3.5
and 3.4).
6. Send the packet to the initiating host as described in Section 2.1.1. 6. Transmit the packet to the initiating host as described in Section
2.1.1.
When an ISA_INIT_RESP message is received: When an ISA_INIT_RESP message is received, the receiving entity (original
initiator) does the following:
1. Check the ISAKMP header as described in Section 2.1.1. 1. Check the ISAKMP header as described in Section 2.1.1.
2. Unpack ISA_INIT_RESP payload. 2. Unpack the ISA_INIT_RESP payload.
3. Determine if attribute set selected is valid. If attribute set is 3. Determine if the attribute set (or list) selected by the responder is
invalid or responder rejected all proposed attribute sets: valid. If the attribute set (or list) is invalid or the responder
rejected all proposed attribute sets (or lists), the receiving entity
does the following:
Log Event in the appropriate system file. (a) The event, INVALID ATTRIBUTES, is logged in the appropriate
system audit file.
Clear all state and return to IDLE. (b) Clear all state and return to IDLE. Any further communication
must start the SA initialization procedures from the beginning.
4. Configure protocol machine based on attribute set selected. If the attribute set (or list) is valid, the receiving entity does
the following:
5. Transition to Key and Authentication Phase. (a) Configure protocol machine based on attribute set selected.
2.3.2 Key and Authentication Phase (b) Transition to Authentication and Key Exchange (see Section 3.2).
The authentication and key exchange phase exchange information required 3.2 Authentication and Key Exchange
to confirm the identities of the parties wishing to establish the SA and
establish a session key for use during the SA establishment. Based on
user preferences the key may be used during data communications or a new
one may be created/exchanged during the negotiation phase, described in
section 2.3.3, for use in protecting the actual data communications.
The authentication and key payloads are general formats which support many During the authentication and key exchange phase, information required to
types of key exchange and authentication. The detailed specification of confirm the identities of the parties wishing to establish the SA and es-
these fields are specified in companion RFCs. These companion RFCs will tablish a session key for use during the SA establishment is exchanged.
define the standard authentication and key exchange mechanisms that need Depending on the key exchange algorithm, the original key may be used dur-
to be implemented and assure compliance with this specification. ing data communications or a new one may be created and exchanged during
the negotiation phase (described in section 3.3). This original or new
key would be used in protecting the actual data communications.
The packets that carry the authentication and key exchange payloads have The packets that carry the authentication and key exchange payloads have
the format shown below. When the ISA_AUTH&KE_REQ and ISA_AUTH&KE_RESP pack- the format shown in Figure 5. When the ISA_AUTH&KE_REQ and ISA_AUTH&KE_RESP
ets are used the authentication payload SHOULD be processed first to packets are used, the Authentication Payload SHOULD be processed first to
strongly authenticate the packet issuer, before the key generation pro- strongly authenticate the packet issuer, followed by the processing of
cessing is executed. In the ISA_AUTH_REQ and ISA_AUTH_RESP packets the key the Key Exchange Payload. The authentication and key exchange payloads
exchange payload is not present. In the ISA_KE_REQ and ISA_KE_RESP packets (shown in Figures 6 and 7) are general formats which support many types
the authentication payload is not present. of authentication and key exchange mechanisms. The detailed specification
of these fields will be specified in companion RFCs. These companion RFCs
will define the standard authentication and key exchange mechanisms that
need to be implemented to assure compliance with this specification.
1 2 3 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ ISAKMP Header ~ ~ ISAKMP Header ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ ~ ~ ~
! Authentication Payload ! ! Authentication Payload !
~ ~ ~ ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ ~ ~ ~
! Key Exchange Payload ! ! Key Exchange Payload !
~ ~ ~ ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
ISA_AUTH&KE_REQ and ISA_AUTH&KE_RESP Packet Format Figure 5: ISA_AUTH&KE_REQ and ISA_AUTH&KE_RESP Packet Format
Strong Authentication Details 3.2.1 Authentication Payload Format
This section specifies the encoding of the authentication payload for the This section specifies the encoding of the authentication payload for the
ISA_AUTH_REQ, ISA_AUTH_RESP, ISA_AUTH&KE_REQ, and ISA_AUTH&KE_RESP messages. ISA_AUTH_REQ, ISA_AUTH_RESP, ISA_AUTH&KE_REQ, and ISA_AUTH&KE_RESP messages.
As described in section 2.2.3, when the ISA_AUTH_REQ and ISA_AUTH_RESP pack-
ets are transmitted alone, the key exchange payload is not present. The
format of these messages is shown in Figure 6.
1 2 3 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
! Authentication Authority ! Reserved ! ! Authentication Authority ! Reserved !
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
! Authentication Type ! Length ! ! Authentication Type ! Length !
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ ~ ~ ~
! Authentication Data ! ! Authentication Data !
~ ~ ~ ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Authentication Payload Format Figure 6: Authentication Payload Format
o Authentication Authority (2 octets) - Indentifies the party that o Authentication Authority (2 octets) - This field identifies the party
generated the certificates used for authentication. Authorities must that generated the certificates used for authentication. Authorities
be assigned an identifier by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority must be assigned an identifier by the Internet Assigned Numbers
(IANA). Before being assigned an identifier, an authority must Authority (IANA). Before being assigned an identifier, an authority
publish an RFC defining the authority's domain. must publish an RFC defining the authority's domain. [RFC-1422]
describes the Internet Policy Registration Authority (IPRA) and the
procedures for achieving this registration.
If PGP certificates, based on the ``web of trust'', are carried in If PGP certificates, based on the ``web of trust'', are carried in
the authentication payload the Authentication Authority value is one the authentication payload the Authentication Authority value is one
(1). (1).
Examples certificate authorities that would have to register for an Example certificate authorities that would have to register for an
identifier are: identifier are:
-- RSA Commercial Certificate Authority -- RSA Commercial Certificate Authority
(https://www_csc.rsa.com/netsite) (http://www_csc.rsa.com/netsite)
-- Stable Large E-mail Database (SLED) (http://www.four11.com) -- Stable Large E-mail Database (SLED) (http://www.four11.com)
-- U.S. Postal Service. -- U.S. Postal Service.
o Authentication Type (2 octets) - Indicates the authentication payload o Authentication Type (2 octets) - This field indicates the
format. This field is used by authentication authorities that authentication payload format. This field is used by authentication
support more than one certificate type. The authentication types authorities that support more than one certificate type. The
supported by an authentication authority must be defined in the RFC authentication types supported by an authentication authority must be
required for authentication authority registration. Examples are: defined in the RFC required for authentication authority
registration. Examples are:
-- RSA certificates -- RSA certificates
-- PGP certificates -- PGP certificates
-- DSS certificates -- DSS certificates
-- DNS Signed Keys -- DNS Signed Keys
-- Kerberos Tokens -- Kerberos Tokens
-- X.509 certificates -- X.509 certificates
o Length (2 octets) - Length of the Authentication Data field in o Length (2 octets) - Length of the Authentication Data field in
octets. octets.
o Authentication Data (variable) - Actual authentication data. Type of o Authentication Data (variable) - Actual authentication data. The
certificate is indicated by the Authentication type field. type of certificate is indicated by the Authentication Type field.
Key Exchange Details 3.2.2 Key Exchange Payload Format
A variety of key exchanges can be supported in the key exchange phase. A variety of key exchanges can be supported in the key exchange phase.
Some examples of key exchanges which may be used in this protocol are Some examples of key exchanges which may be used in this protocol are
Diffie-Hellman, the enhanced Diffie-Hellman key exchange described in Diffie-Hellman, the enhanced Diffie-Hellman key exchange described in
X9.42 [ANSI94], the key exchange on the FORTEZZA card, and the RSA-based X9.42 [ANSI94], the key exchange on the FORTEZZA card, and the RSA-based
key exchange used by PGP. This protocol will also support the government key exchange used by PGP. This protocol will also support key exchanges
key escrow requirement, but does not mandate its use. that include key escrow or data recovery techniques, but does not mandate
their use.
The encoding of the key exchange payload is dependent on the specific key The encoding of the key exchange payload is dependent on the specific key
exchange and therefore is not specified in this Internet draft. There exchange and, therefore, is not specified in this Internet draft. Each
can be both public and private key generation techniques. Both types must key exchange must define the following information: (a) System parame-
register with IANA to obtain a Key Exchange Identifier (KEI). Before pub- ters, (b) Key establishment algorithm, and (c) Key derivation procedure
lic key exchanges can obtain a KEI, an RFC defining the key exchange pay- (dependent on key exchange type).
load format and key generation procedures MUST be submitted. Private key
exchanges are not REQUIRED to provide an RFC when registering for a KEI.
Example key exchange payload encodings are shown in Appendix A. There can be both public and private key generation techniques. Both
types must register with IANA to obtain a Key Exchange Identifier (KEI).
Before published public key exchanges can obtain a KEI, an RFC defining
the key exchange payload format and key generation procedures MUST be sub-
mitted. Private key exchanges SHOULD be documented in an RFC when regis-
tering for a KEI.
As described in section 2.2.2, when the ISA_KE_REQ and ISA_KE_RESP packets
are transmitted alone, the authentication payload is not present. Once
the key exchange is completed, then the authentication payload is sent
separately using the format described in section 3.2.1
1 2 3 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
! KEI ! Length ! ! KEI ! Length !
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ ~ ~ ~
! Key Exchange Payload ! ! Key Exchange Payload !
~ ~ ~ ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Key Exchange Payload Format Figure 7: Key Exchange Payload Format
KEI (2 octets) - Key Exchange Identifier o KEI (2 octets) - Key Exchange Identifier
Length (2 octets) - Length of payload in octets o Length (2 octets) - Length of payload in octets
Key Exchange Payload (variable) - Data (i.e. public values) required to o Key Exchange Payload (variable) - Data (i.e. public values) required
create session key. to create session key.
ISA_AUTH&KE Procedures 3.2.3 Authentication and Key Exchange Procedures
When issuing an ISA_AUTH&KE_REQ packet: When issuing an ISA_AUTH&KE_REQ packet, the initiating entity will do the
following:
1. Generate an authentication signature using the authentication 1. Create the ISAKMP Header.
attributes and options selected in initialization phase.
2. Create key exchange payload based on KEI. 2. Create the authentication payload.
3. Construct an ISA_AUTH&KE_REQ packet. 3. Create the key exchange payload based on KEI.
4. Send the packet to the responding host as described in Section 2.1.1. 4. Construct an ISA_AUTH&KE_REQ packet.
When an ISA_AUTH&KE_REQ packet is received: 5. Generate an authentication signature using the authentication
attributes and options selected in the initialization phase.
1. Check the ISAKMP header as described in Section 2.1.1. 6. Transmit the packet to the responding host as described in Section
2.1.1.
2. Unpack ISA_AUTH&KE_REQ packet. When an ISA_AUTH&KE_REQ packet is received, the receiving entity will do
the following:
3. Verify Initiator's signature. 1. Check the ISAKMP header as described in Section 2.1.1.
If verification fails 2. Verify the initiator's signature. The ISA_AUTH&KE_REQ packet is
Log Event in the appropriate system file. processed and the calculated signature is compared to the signature
contained in the ISA_AUTH&KE_REQ packet. If these signatures are not
identical, the message is discarded and the following actions are
taken:
Terminate with error. (a) The event, INVALID SIGNATURE, is logged in the appropriate system
audit file.
ELSE (b) No response is sent to the initiating entity. This will cause
the transmission timer of the initiating entity to expire and
force retransmission of the message.
Discard packet. 3. Unpack the ISA_AUTH&KE_REQ packet.
Log Event in the appropriate system file. 4. Create the ISAKMP Header.
RETURN to WAIT for ISA_AUTH&KE_REQ state. 5. Create the authentication payload.
4. Generate an authentication signature, to authenticate responder to 6. Create the key exchange payload based on KEI.
initiator, using the authentication attributes and options selected.
5. Create key exchange payload for initiator based on KEI. 7. Construct an ISA_AUTH&KE_RESP packet.
6. Construct an ISA_AUTH&KE_RESP packet. 8. Generate an authentication signature, to authenticate responder to
initiator, using the authentication attributes and options selected.
7. Send the packet to the initiating host as described in Section 2.1.1. 9. Transmit the packet to the initiating host as described in Section
2.1.1.
8. Begin key calculation in the background. 10. Begin key calculation in the background, if necessary.
When an ISA_AUTH&KE_RESP message is received: When an ISA_AUTH&KE_RESP message is received, the receiving entity (origi-
nal initiator) will do the following:
1. Check the ISAKMP header as described in Section 2.1.1. 1. Check the ISAKMP header as described in Section 2.1.1.
2. Verify Responder's signature. 2. Verify the initiator's signature. The ISA_AUTH&KE_RESP packet is
processed and the calculated signature is compared to the signature
contained in the ISA_AUTH&KE_RESP packet. If these signatures are not
identical, the message is discarded and the following actions are
taken:
If verification fails, either: (a) The event, INVALID SIGNATURE, is logged in the appropriate system
audit file.
Log Event in the appropriate system file. (b) No response is sent to the initiating entity. This will cause
the transmission timer of the initiating entity to expire and
force retransmission of the message.
Terminate with error. 3. Calculate key, if necessary.
ELSE 4. Transition to Security Association Negotiation.
Discard packet. 3.3 Security Association Negotiation
Log Event in the appropriate system file. The SA Negotiation phase allows the initiating entity to present SA at-
tributes that it wishes to use for secure communications to a respond-
ing entity. These SA attributes may include additional options for the
attributes agreed upon during the initialization phase, as well as ad-
ditional attributes required for an SA. As an example, the SA parame-
ters for the IP AH and IP ESP security mechanisms are cited in the Secu-
rity Architecture for the Internet Protocol [RFC-1825]. The format for
the ISA_NEG_REQ and ISA_NEG_RESP packets is the same as the ISA_INIT_REQ and
ISA_INIT_RESP shown in Figure 4. All fields shown in Figure 4 exist for
the ISA_NEG_REQ and ISA_NEG_RESP packets.
RETURN to WAIT for ISA_AUTH&KE_RESP state. 3.3.1 SA Negotiation Procedures
3. Calculate key. When issuing an ISA_NEG_REQ packet, the initiating entity does the follow-
ing:
4. Transition to Security Association Negotiation Phase. 1. Determine SA attributes to be negotiated. This may include changing
some attributes from the original SA initialization.
2.3.3 Security Association Negotiation Phase 2. Construct an ISA_NEG_REQ packet. If the initiator will send an
ISA_COMMIT message upon completion of the SA establishment, then the
SA Flags field MUST be set (see section 2.3.5 and 3.4).
The SA Negotiation phase allows the initiating entity to present SA at- 3. Depending on the SA Attributes established in the SA initialization
tributes, that it wishes to use for secure communications, to a responding phase, apply the agreed upon security services.
entity. These SA attributes may included additional options for the at-
tributes agreed upon during the initialization phase, as well as selection
of the additional attributes required for an SA. The REQUIRED and REC-
OMMENDED SA parameters for the IP AH and IP ESP security mechanisms are
cited in the Security Architecture for the Internet Protocol [Atki95].
1 2 3 (a) If the SA requires authentication, the ISA_NEG_REQ packet is pro-
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 cessed (or signed) and the signature placed as noted in Figure 1.
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ ISAKMP Header ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
! SA Syntax Type! Num of Sets ! SA Flags ! RESERVED !
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ SA Attribute Set #1 ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ SA Attribute Set #2 ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ ... ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ SA Attribute Set #N ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
ISA_NEG_REQ and ISA_NEG_RESP Packet Format (b) If the SA requires encryption and the encryption algorithm is a
block encryption algorithm, then padding up to the block size
MUST be placed as noted in Figure 1.
o SA Msg Type (1 octet) - Defined in Section 2.3.1. (c) If the SA requires encryption, the ISA_NEG_REQ payload and
Signature are encrypted.
o Num of Sets (1 octet) - Number of Attribute Sets being proposed 4. Transmit the packet to the responding host as described in Section
2.1.1.
o SA Flags (1 octet) - Flags specific to an SA service. See Section When an ISA_NEG_REQ packet is received, the receiving entity does the fol-
2.3.3 for flag settings in the ISA_NEG messages. lowing:
o SA Attributes (variable) - A list of SA attributes. SA Attribute 1. Check the ISAKMP header as described in Section 2.1.1.
specifications are discussed in section 2.2.1.
SA Negotiation Procedures 2. Depending on the SA Attributes, apply the agreed upon security
services.
When issuing an ISA_NEG_REQ packet: (a) If the SA requires encryption, decrypt the ISA_NEG_REQ payload and
Signature. If the decryption fails, the message is discarded and
the following actions are taken:
1. Determine SA attributes to be negotiated. This may include changing i. The event, DECRYPTION FAILED, is logged in the appropriate
or confirming the attributes from the SA initialization phase. system audit file.
2. Encrypt and/or sign ISA_NEG_REQ payload only (not header). ii. No response is sent to the initiating entity. This will
cause the transmission timer of the initiating entity to
expire and force retransmission of the message.
3. Construct an ISA_NEG_REQ packet. (b) If the SA requires authentication, the ISA_NEG_REQ packet is
processed and the calculated signature is compared to the
signature contained in the ISA_NEG_REQ packet. If these signatures
are not identical, the message is discarded and the following
actions are taken:
4. Send the packet to the responding host as described in Section 2.1.1. i. The event, INVALID SIGNATURE, is logged in the appropriate
system audit file.
When an ISA_NEG_REQ packet is received: ii. No response is sent to the initiating entity. This will
cause the transmission timer of the initiating entity to
expire and force retransmission of the message.
1. Check the ISAKMP header as described in Section 2.1.1. 3. Unpack the ISA_NEG_REQ packet payload and determine the highest
priority SA attributes supported. If none of the SA attribute
options are supported, the ISA_NEG_RESP packet will have the value zero
(0) in the Number of Sets field and an SA will not be established.
2. Decrypt ISA_NEG_REQ payload and verify signature. 4. If the SA negotiation is requesting a key change or new
authentication mechanism, then generate the appropriate information
and include it as an attribute in the ISA_NEG_RESP payload.
3. Unpack ISA_NEG_REQ packet payload and determine the highest priority SA 5. Construct an ISA_NEG_RESP packet. If the responder wants to request
attributes supported. that an ISA_COMMIT message be sent upon completion of the SA
establishment, then the SA Flags field MUST be set (see section 2.3.5
and 3.4).
If none of the SA attribute options are supported, the ISA_NEG_RESP 6. Depending on the SA Attributes, apply the agreed upon security
will have the value zero (0) in the Number of Sets field and an SA services.
will not be established.
4. If the SA negotiation is requesting a key change or new (a) If the SA requires authentication, the ISA_NEG_RESP packet is
authentication mechanism, then, generate appropriate information and processed and the signature placed as noted in Figure 1.
include it as an attribute/option in the ISA_NEG_RESP payload.
5. Encrypt and/or sign ISA_NEG_RESP payload only (not header). (b) If the SA requires encryption and the encryption algorithm is a
block encryption algorithm, then padding up to the block size
MUST be placed as noted in Figure 1.
6. Construct an ISA_NEG_RESP packet. (c) If the SA requires encryption, the ISA_NEG_RESP payload and
Signature are encrypted.
7. Send the packet to the initiating host as described in Section 2.1.1. 7. Transmit the packet to the initiating host as described in Section
2.1.1.
8. If required, begin calculation of the new session key in the 8. If required, begin calculation of the new session key in the
background. background.
9. Transition to SA Negotation Conclusion. 9. Transition to SA Negotation Conclusion (see Section 3.4).
When an ISA_NEG_RESP message is received: When an ISA_NEG_RESP message is received, the receiving entity (original
initiator) does the following:
1. Check the ISAKMP header as described in Section 2.1.1. 1. Check the ISAKMP header as described in Section 2.1.1.
2. Decrypt ISA_NEG_RESP payload and verify signature. 2. Depending on the SA Attributes, apply the agreed upon security
services.
3. Unpack ISA_NEG_RESP payload and verify the SA attributes selected by (a) If the SA requires encryption, decrypt the ISA_NEG_RESP payload and
responder are valid. Signature. If the decryption fails, the message is discarded and
the following actions are taken:
If response is invalid or responder rejected all proposed SA i. The event, DECRYPTION FAILED, is logged in the appropriate
Attributes: system audit file.
Log Event in the appropriate system file. ii. No response is sent to the initiating entity. This will
cause the transmission timer of the initiating entity to
expire and force retransmission of the message.
Clear all state and return to an IDLE. (b) If the SA requires authentication, the ISA_NEG_RESP packet is
processed and the calculated signature is compared to the
signature contained in the ISA_NEG_RESP packet. If these
signatures are not identical, the message is discarded and the
following actions are taken:
4. If required, begin calculation of the new session key in the i. The event, INVALID SIGNATURE, is logged in the appropriate
background. system audit file.
5. Transition to SA Negotiation Conclusion. ii. No response is sent to the initiating entity. This will
cause the transmission timer of the initiating entity to
expire and force retransmission of the message.
SA Negotiation Conclusion 3. Unpack the ISA_NEG_RESP payload and verify the SA attributes selected
by responder are valid. If the attribute sets (or lists) are invalid
or the responder rejected all proposed attribute sets (or lists), the
receiving entity does the following:
SA Commit Message The SA Commit message allows the initiating entity to (a) The event, INVALID ATTRIBUTES, is logged in the appropriate
inform the responding party that it has completed the processing required system audit file.
to set-up the SA and therefore, secure communications may begin.
The Least Significant Bit (LSB) in the SA Flags field is set to one (1) (b) Clear all state and return to IDLE.
in the ISA_NEG packet if an ISA_COMMIT packet is issued and zero (0) if the
ISA_COMMIT packet is not issued. All other bits in the SA Flags field are
zero (0).
The SA Flags field may be set by the entity that initiated the negotia- If the attribute set (or list) is valid, the receiving entity does
tion to indicate that the ISA_COMMIT packet will follow the negotiation the following:
exchange. If the initiating entity sets the flag the responding entity
can not reset it. If the initiating entity does not set the flag the re-
sponding entity may set it, thereby forcing the initiating entity to issue
an ISA_COMMIT packet. If neither entity sets the flag then the ISA_COMMIT
packet will not be issued.
The ISA_COMMIT packet is the ISAKMP header with no payload. (a) Configure the protocol machine based on the attribute set (or
list) selected.
The SPI is set to the Responder SPI. 4. If required, begin calculation of the new session key in the
background.
Transmiting ISA_COMMIT packet is optional and determined by the policy of 5. Transition to SA Negotiation Conclusion (see Section 3.4).
the parties establishing the SA. All implementations MUST be able to gen-
erate, transmit, and receive this message.
SA_Negotiation Conclusion Procedures 3.4 SA Negotiation Conclusion
1. Both initiator and responder place SA in appropriate database for the The SA negotiation concludes with the transmittal of the optional
security service it supports. SA_COMMIT packet. This is determined by the setting of the SA Flags
field. The SA_COMMIT message allows the initiating entity to inform the
responding party that it has completed the processing required to set-up
the SA and therefore, secure communications may begin. If the entity ini-
tiating the SA establishment does not have the ability to queue incoming
data it may receive prior to its completion of SA establishment process-
ing, then it requires the responding entity to wait for an SA_COMMIT mes-
sage before sending data. The transmittal of the ISA_COMMIT packet is op-
tional and determined by the policy of the parties establishing the SA.
All implementations MUST be able to generate, transmit, and receive this
message.
2. Based on the SA Flags field, the initiator constructs an ISA_COMMIT The ISA_COMMIT packet is the ISAKMP header, described in section 2.1, with
packet. no payload.
3. Initiator sends the packet to the responding host as described in 3.4.1 SA Negotiation Conclusion Procedures
Section 2.1.1.
4. When responder received ISA_COMMIT packet it checks the ISAKMP header When issuing an ISA_COMMIT packet, the initiating entity does the follow-
as described in Section 2.1.1. ing:
5. Clear all state and return to IDLE. 1. Construct an ISA_COMMIT packet (ISAKMP Header).
2.3.4 Packet Exchanges 2. Depending on the SA Attributes established in the SA initialization
phase, apply the agreed upon security services.
The ``Exchange'' field in the ISAKMP header currently has two values de- (a) If the SA requires authentication, the ISA_COMMIT packet is pro-
fined, the base exchange (BASE) and the anonomous exchange (ANON). These cessed (or signed) and the signature placed as noted in Figure 1.
exchanges define the flow of the ISAKMP packets during SA establishment.
The diagrams in 2.3.4 and 2.3.4 shows the packet exchange ordering for
each exchange type and provides basic notes describing what has happened
after each packet exchange.
Base Exchange (b) If the SA requires encryption and the encryption algorithm is a
block encryption algorithm, then padding up to the block size
MUST be placed as noted in Figure 1.
The previous sections, 2.3.1 to 2.3.3, described the three basic phases, (c) If the SA requires encryption, the ISA_COMMIT Signature is
SA negotiation --, that comprise the BASE exchange. The base exchange encrypted.
contains the minimum number of packet exchanges in order to reduce latency
associated with SA establishment.
Base Exchange 3. Transmit the packet to the responding host as described in Section
___Initiator___________Responder_____ Note 2.1.1.
ISA_INIT_REQ =>
<= ISA_INIT_RESP
Basic SA selected
ISA_AUTH&KE_REQ =>
<= ISA_AUTH&KE_RESP
Identity Verified
Key Generated
Encryption Begun
ISA_NEG_REQ =>
<= ISA_NEG_RESP SA Completed
(optional) ISA_COMMIT =>
Identity Protection SA Establishment Variation 4. Clear all state and return to IDLE.
The identity protect exchange starts and ends the same as the base ex- When an ISA_COMMIT packet is received, the receiving entity does the fol-
change, but separates the key exchange payload and the authentication pay- lowing:
loads into separate packets. In this exchange the key exchange is trans-
mited first followed by the strong authentication exchange. The benefit
of this exchange is the ability to communicate with a person without dis-
closing either party's identity to passive attackers on the network.
The ISA_KE_REQ and ISA_KE_RESP packets used for the key exchange in this 1. Check the ISAKMP header as described in section 2.1.1.
variation contain an ISAKMP header followed by the key exchange payload.
The ISA_AUTH_REQ and ISA_AUTH_RESP packet used for the authentication ex- 2. Depending on the SA Attributes, apply the agreed upon security
change in this variation contain an ISAKMP header followed by the authen- services.
tication payload.
Identity Protection Exchange (a) If the SA requires encryption, decrypt the ISA_COMMIT Signature.
__Initiator________Responder___ Note If the decryption fails, the message is discarded and the
ISA_INIT_REQ => following actions are taken:
<= ISA_INIT_RESP
Basic SA selected
ISA_KE_REQ =>
<= ISA_KE_RESP
Key Generated
Encryption Begun
ISA_AUTH_REQ =>
<= ISA_AUTH_RESP
Identity Verified
ISA_NEG_REQ =>
<= ISA_NEG_RESP SA Completed
(optional) ISA_COMMIT =>
2.4 Security Association Modification i. The event, DECRYPTION FAILED, is logged in the appropriate
system audit file.
SA modification provides the ability to update attributes and parameters ii. Because the ISA_COMMIT packet is a unidirectional message a
within an existing SA. The most common use of this exchange will be to re- retransmission will not be performed. Because the SA is
key an SA. established, we recommend that communications can proceed,
however, the local security policy will dictate the
procedures for continuing. We recommend that an ISA_NOTIFY
packet with an Error Message Type (see Section 6) be sent to
the originator of the ISA_COMMIT packet.
1 2 3 (b) If the SA requires authentication, the ISA_COMMIT packet is
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 processed and the calculated signature is compared to the
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ signature contained in the ISA_COMMIT packet. If these signatures
~ ISAKMP Header ~ are not identical, the message is discarded and the following
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ actions are taken:
! SA Syntax Type! Num of Sets ! SA Flags ! RESERVED !
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ SA Attribute Set #1 ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ SA Attribute Set #2 ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ ... ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ SA Attribute Set #N ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
ISA_MODIFY_REQ and ISA_MODIFY_RESP Packet Format i. The event, INVALID SIGNATURE, is logged in the appropriate
system audit file.
o SA Syntax Type (1 octet) - Defined in Section 2.3.1. ii. Because the ISA_COMMIT packet is a unidirectional message a
retransmission will not be performed. Because the SA is
established, we recommend that communications can proceed,
however, the local security policy will dictate the
procedures for continuing. We recommend that an ISA_NOTIFY
packet with an Error Message Type (see Section 6) be sent to
the originator of the ISA_COMMIT packet.
o Num of Sets (1 octet) - Number of Attribute Sets being modified. 3. Clear all state and return to IDLE.
o SA Flags (1 octet) - Flags specific to an SA service. Currently the 4 Security Association Modification
SA Flags field is set to zero (0) for the ISA_MODIFY packets.
o SA Attributes (variable) - A list of SA attributes. SA Attributes Security Association modification provides the ability to update security
field contains only those attributes being updated. SA Attribute association attributes and parameters within an existing SA without having
specifications are discussed in section 2.2.1. to establish a new SA. The use of this exchange can provide performance
benefits without sacrificing the security of the existing communication.
The most common use of this exchange will be to re-key an existing SA.
The format for the ISA_MODIFY packet is the same as the ISA_INIT_REQ and
ISA_INIT_RESP shown in Figure 4. All fields shown in Figure 4 exist for
the ISA_MODIFY packets.
4.1 Modification Procedures
The procedure for exchanging information to modify an SA are similiar to The procedure for exchanging information to modify an SA are similiar to
the SA negotiation exchange. The details of SA modification will be de- the SA negotiation exchange. The details of SA modification will be de-
scribed in this section as they are solidified during prototype develop- scribed in this section as they are solidified during prototype develop-
ment. ment.
2.5 Security Association Deletion 5 Security Association Deletion
The ISA_DELETE packet provide a controlled method of informing a peer During communications it is possible that hosts may be compromised or that
entity that the initiating entity has deleted an SA(s). The ISA_DELETE information may be intercepted during transmission. Determining whether
packet provides for the deletion of any number of SAs. The receiving en- this has occurred is not an easy task and is outside the scope of this
tity SHOULD clean up its SA database. The receiving entity may be us- Internet-Draft. However, if it is discovered that transmissions are being
ing the SA for secure communications with more than one party and would compromised, then it is necessary to delete the current SA and establish a
not want to actually delete the SA from it's database, however, upon re- new SA.
ceipt of an ISA_DELETE packet the SAs in the packet can not be used with
the initiating entity. The SA Establishment must be repeated to resume The ISA_DELETE packet (shown in Figure 8) provides a controlled method of
secure communications. informing a peer entity that the initiating entity has deleted an SA(s).
The ISA_DELETE packet allows for the deletion of any number of SAs with
a single message. The receiving entity SHOULD clean up its local SA
database. The receiving entity may be using the SA for secure communi-
cations with more than one party and would not want to actually delete the
SA from its database in this case. However, upon receipt of an ISA_DELETE
packet the SAs listed in the SPIs field of the packet cannot be used with
the initiating entity. The SA Establishment procedure must be invoked to
re-establish secure communications.
1 2 3 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ ISAKMP Header ~ ~ ISAKMP Header ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
! SPI Count ! Length ! ! SPI Count ! Length !
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ ~ ~ ~
! SPIs ! ! SPIs !
~ ~ ~ ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
SA Delete Payload Format Figure 8: SA Delete Payload Format
o SPI Count - Number of security associations to be deleted o SPI Count - Number of security associations to be deleted
o Length - length of payload in octets o Length - length of payload in octets
o SPIs - Initiator's Security Parameter Index(s) to be deleted o SPIs - Initiator's Security Parameter Index(s) to be deleted
Deletion Procedures 5.1 Deletion Procedures
When issuing an ISA_DELETE message: When issuing an ISA_DELETE packet, the issuing entity (initiator or re-
sponder) does the following:
1. Create initiator cookie. See Section 1.5.1 for details. 1. Create initiator cookie. See Section 2.3.4 for details.
2. Determine SPI of receiving entity. 2. Determine SPI of receiving entity.
3. Construct ISA_DELETE packet. 3. Construct the ISA_DELETE packet.
4. Send the packet to the destination host as described in Section 4. Depending on the SA Attributes, apply the agreed upon security
services.
(a) If the SA requires authentication, the ISA_DELETE packet is
processed and the signature placed as noted in Figure 1.
(b) If the SA requires encryption, the ISA_DELETE payload and
Signature are encrypted.
5. Transmit the packet to the destination host as described in Section
2.1.1. 2.1.1.
Upon receipt of an ISA_DELETE message: 6. Update the local SA database to reflect the SPI deletions.
Upon receipt of an ISA_DELETE packet, the receiving entity (initiator or
responder) does the following:
1. Check the ISAKMP header as described in Section 2.1.1. 1. Check the ISAKMP header as described in Section 2.1.1.
2. Unpack ISA_DELETE payload. 2. Depending on the SA Attributes, apply the agreed upon security
services in the following order.
2.6 Notification Message (a) If the SA requires encryption, decrypt the ISA_DELETE payload and
Signature. If the decryption fails, the message is discarded and
the following actions are taken:
ISAKMP ISA_NOTIFY packet contains information one party wants to send to i. The event is logged in the appropriate system audit file.
another. Notification information can be error messages specifying why a
SA could not be established. It can also be status data that a process ii. Because the ISA_DELETE packet is a unidirectional message a
managing an SA database, such would be required on a security gateway, retransmission will not be performed. The local security
wishes to communicate with a peer process. The ISA_NOTIFY packet is uni- policy will dictate the procedures for continuing. However,
directional. we recommend that the SPIs in the ISA_DELETE packet be checked
to see if the originator was the communicating party. If so,
then these SAs can be deleted from the local SA database. We
also recommend that an ISA_NOTIFY packet with an Error Message
Type (see Section 6) be sent to the originator of the
ISA_DELETE packet. If the SPIs do not match those of the
originator, then no further action should be taken.
(b) If the SA requires authentication, the ISA_DELETE packet is
processed and the calculated signature is compared to the
signature contained in the ISA_DELETE packet. If these signatures
are not identical, the message is discarded and the following
actions are taken:
i. The event is logged in the appropriate system audit file.
ii. Because the ISA_DELETE packet is a unidirectional message a
retransmission will not be performed. The local security
policy will dictate the procedures for continuing. However,
we recommend that the SPIs in the ISA_DELETE packet be checked
to see if the originator was the communicating party. If so,
then these SAs can be deleted from the local SA database. We
also recommend that an ISA_NOTIFY packet with an Error Message
Type (see Section 6) be sent to the originator of the
ISA_DELETE packet. If the SPIs do not match those of the
originator, then no further action should be taken.
3. Unpack the ISA_DELETE payload.
4. Update the local SA database to reflect the SPI deletions.
6 Notification Message
The ISAKMP ISA_NOTIFY packet contains information one party wants to send
to another. Notification information can be error messages specifying
why a SA could not be established. It can also be status data that a
process managing an SA database wishes to communicate with a peer pro-
cess. For example, a secure front end or security gateway may use the
ISA_NOTIFY message to synchronize SA communication (see Appendix A.2).
The ISA_NOTIFY packet is unidirectional.
1 2 3 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ ISAKMP Header ~ ~ ISAKMP Header ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
! Notify Message Type ! Length ! ! Notify Message Type ! Length !
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
~ ~ ~ ~
! Notify Payload ! ! Notify Payload !
~ ~ ~ ~
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
SA NOTIFY Payload Format Figure 9: ISA NOTIFY Payload Format
o Notify Message Type (2 octets) o Notify Message Type (2 octets)
_Notification__Notify_Message_Type_ _Notification__Notify_Message_Type_
Error 1 Error 1
Status 2 Status 2
o Length (2 octets) - length of payload in octets o Length (2 octets) - length of payload in octets
o Notify Payload (variable) - Value dependent on the Notify Message o Notify Payload (variable) - Value dependent on the Notify Message
Type Type
3 Conclusions 6.1 Notification Procedures
The ISAKMP provides the flexibility needed to support multiple key ex- When issuing an ISA_NOTIFY message, the issuing entity (initiator or re-
change techniques, encryption algorithms, authentication mechanisms, se- sponder) does the following:
curity services, and security attributes. These item may be publicly or
privately defined. The added benefit of supporting multiple techniques is
that as new techniques are developed they can easily be added to the pro-
tocol. This provided a path for the growth of Internet security services.
A Key Exchange Examples 1. Create initiator cookie. See Section 2.3.4 for details.
Two key exchanges examples are presented to help illustrate the ISAKMP's 2. Determine SPI of receiving entity.
ability to support multiple key exchanges.
A.1 Photuris KE 3. Construct ISA_NOTIFY packet.
Based on [Karn95] an example of how the Photuris Key Exchange could be 4. Depending on the SA Attributes, apply the agreed upon security
accomplished in ISAKMP is presented. services.
1. Photuris ``groups'', K-Transform, and S-Transform would be exchanged (a) If the SA requires authentication, the ISA_NOTIFY packet is
in the ISA_INIT packets. processed and the signature placed as noted in Figure 1.
2. The following Photuris fields would be in the ISA_KE packets. (b) If the SA requires encryption, the ISA_NOTIFY payload and
Signature are encrypted.
_ISAKMP_Packet__________Value__________ 5. Transmit the packet to the destination host as described in Section
ISA_KE_REQ Initiator-Public-Value 2.1.1.
ISA_KE_RESP Responder-Public-Value
3. The following Photuris fields would be in the ISA_AUTH packets. Upon receipt of an ISA_NOTIFY message, the receiving entity (initiator or
responder) does the following:
_ISAKMP_Packet__________Value___________ 1. Check the ISAKMP header as described in Section 2.1.1.
ISA_AUTH_REQ Signature [Initiator]
ISA_AUTH_REQ Certificate [Initiator]
ISA_AUTH_RESP Signature [Responder]
ISA_AUTH_RESP Certificate [Resonder]
4. The session key would be created as described in [Karn95] after each 2. Depending on the SA Attributes, apply the agreed upon security
key exchange payload is received. services in the following order.
5. Finally the Transforms, I-Transform and Parameters, R-Transform and (a) If the SA requires encryption, decrypt the ISA_NOTIFY payload and
Parameters, and Lifetime would be exchanged in the ISA_NEG packets. Signature. If the decryption fails, the message is discarded and
the following actions are taken:
A.2 FORTEZZA Key Exchange Algorithm (KEA) i. The event is logged in the appropriate system audit file.
One of the benefits of ISAKMP is that it is not limited to one key ex- ii. Because the ISA_NOTIFY packet is a unidirectional message a
change. An example of how the FORTEZZA KEA is accomplished in ISAKMP is retransmission will not be performed. The local security
now presented. policy will dictate the procedures for continuing.
1. Options for Encryption algorithm, Authentication Authority and Key (b) If the SA requires authentication, the ISA_NOTIFY packet is
Exchange Algorithm would be exchanged in the ISA_INIT packets. processed and the calculated signature is compared to the
signature contained in the ISA_NOTIFY packet. If these signatures
are not identical, the message is discarded and the following
actions are taken:
2. The following FORTEZZA fields would be in the ISA_AUTH&KE packets. i. The event is logged in the appropriate system audit file.
_____Packet_Payload__________________________FORTEZZA_Value_______________________ ii. Because the ISA_NOTIFY packet is a unidirectional message a
Authentication Payload Signed Information [Initiator] retransmission will not be performed. The local security
Authentication Payload FORTEZZA Certificate [Initiator] policy will dictate the procedures for continuing.
Authentication Payload Signed Information [Responder]
Authentication Payload FORTEZZA Certificate [Resonder]
Key Exchange Payload Message Encryption Key encrypted in Token Encryption Key
Key Exchange Payload Initiator-Random-Value
Key Exchange Payload Responder-Random-Value
3. The Token Encryption Key is generated. 3. Unpack the ISA_NOTIFY payload.
4. Message Encryption Key is decrypted. 4. Depending on the Notify Message Type, additional processing may be
necessary.
5. Additional Fortezza attributes would be exchanged in the ISA_NEG 7 Conclusions
packets.
Another benefit of ISAKMP is that classified key exchanges, such as the The Internet Security Association and Key Management Protocol (ISAKMP) is
FORTEZZA KEA, can be performed using a public KMP without revealing the a well designed protocol aimed at the Internet of the future. The massive
algorithm. This is an important Department of Defense requirement. growth of the Internet will lead to great diversity in network utiliza-
tion, communications, and security requirements. ISAKMP contains all the
features that will be needed for this dynamic and expanding communications
environment.
ISAKMP's Security Association (SA) feature coupled with authentication
and key establishment provides the security and flexibility that will be
needed for future growth and diversity. This security diversity of multi-
ple key exchange techniques, encryption algorithms, authentication mecha-
nisms, security services, and security attributes will allow users to se-
lect the appropriate security for their network, communications, and secu-
rity needs. The SA feature allows users to specify and negotiate security
requirements with other users. An additional benefit of supporting multi-
ple techniques in a single protocol is that as new techniques are devel-
oped they can easily be added to the protocol. This provides a path for
the growth of Internet security services. ISAKMP supports both publicly
or privately defined SAs, making it ideal for government, commercial, and
private communications.
ISAKMP provides the ability to establish SAs for multiple security proto-
cols and applications. These protocols and applications may be session-
oriented or sessionless. Having one SA establishment protocol that sup-
ports multiple security protocols eliminates the need for multiple, nearly
identical authentication, key exchange and SA establishment protocols when
more than one security protocol is in use or desired. Just as IP has pro-
vided the common networking layer for the Internet, a common security es-
tablishment protocol is needed if security is to become a reality on the
Internet. ISAKMP provides the common base that allows all other security
protocols to interoperate.
ISAKMP follows good security design principles. It is not coupled to
other insecure transport protocols, therefore it is not vulnerable or
weakened by attacks on other protocols. Also, when more secure transport
protocols are developed, ISAKMP can be easily migrated to them. ISAKMP
also provides protection against protocol related attacks. This protec-
tion provides the assurance that the SAs and keys established are with the
desired party and not with an attacker.
ISAKMP also follows good protocol design principles. Protocol specific
information only is in the protocol header, following the design prin-
ciples of IPv6. The data transported by the protocol is separated into
functional payloads. As the Internet grows and evolves, new payloads to
support new security functionality can be added without modifying the en-
tire protocol.
A ISAKMP Scenarios
Examples scenerios are are presented to help illustrate the ISAKMP's abil-
ity to support multiple authentication methods and key exchanges.
A.1 Initial ISAKMP Daemon Scenerio
This example steps through two ISAKMP daemons establishing an SA between
themselves. This SA uses DNS Security Extentions [EK94] for authentica-
tion and a Photuris [Karn95] compliant key exchange. Following the SA es-
tablishment between the daemons, SAs are established for ESP and AH commu-
nications between user processes.
1. The initiating daemon sends an ISA_INIT_REQ messages with ISAKMP SA #3,
#2, and #1 (in priority order). These SAs are defined in C.1.1.
2. The responding daemon sends an ISA_INIT_RESP message indicating that
ISAKMP SA #2 was selected, which requires DNS Signature and Key
Records and a Photuris compliant key exchange [DOW92].
3. The initiating daemon sends an ISA_KE_REQ packet with an index into
well-known table of generator / prime pairs and it's public value.
4. Upon receipt of ISA_KE_REQ packet the responding daemon computes the
shared secret and session key.
5. The responding daemon sends an ISA_KE_RESP packet with an its public
value and both the initiator and responders public values signed
using its Private (Signature) Key and encrypted in the session key
created.
6. Upon receipt of ISA_KE_REQ packet the initiating daemon computes the
shared secret and session key.
7. The initiating daemon sends an ISA_AUTH_REQ packet with both the
initiator and responders public values signed using its Private
(Signature) Key and it's DNS name and Public (Verification) Key
signed by it nameserver. All encrypted in the session key created.
8. The responding daemon sends an ISA_AUTH_RESP packet with it's DNS name
and Public (Verification) signed by it Secure DNS nameserver and
encrypted in the session key created.
9. The initiating daemon sends an ISA_NEG_REQ packet with ESP SA #2, ESP
SA #1, AH SA #1, and AH SA #2. These SAs are defined in C.2.1.
10. The responding daemon sends an ISA_NEG_RESP packet indicating that ESP
SA #2, and AH SA #1 was selected.
A.2 Virtual Private Network Scenario
This scenario show how ISAKMP can be used in a Virtual Public Network
(VPN). The ability to establish SAs for more than just ESP and AH and one
of the uses of the ISA_NOTIFY message are also illustrated.
___________________________Virtual_Public_Network_Scenario_______________________
End System#1 SFE#1 INTERNET SFE#2 End System #2
_______ _______
Establish ES#1 To | | | |
SFE#1 Connection | | | |
SYN | | | |
===> | | | |
| |Establish Connection Between SFEs | |
| | | |
| | SYN | |
| | ===> | |
| | SYN, ACK | |
| | <======= | |
| | ACK | |
| | ===> | |
| | | |
| | Establish SA Between SFEs | |
| | | |
| | ISA_INIT_REQ | |
| | ============> | |
| | ISA_INIT_RESP | |
| | <============ | |
| | ISA_KE&AUTH_REQ | |
| | ==============> | |
| | ISA_KE&AUTH_RESP | |
| | <=============== | |
| | Secure Connection | |Establish SFE#2
| | Between SFEs | |to ES#2 Connection
| | | |
| | | |SYN
| | | |===>
| | | |SYN, ACK
| | | |<=======
| | | |ACK
| | | |===>
| | ISA_NOTIFY(Status == Connected) | |
SYN, ACK | | <==================== | |
<======= | | | |
ACK | | | |
===> | | | |
| | | |
| | Protected Traffic | |
| | ES#1 to ES#2 | |
|_______| <==============> |_______|
The diagram shows an End System (ES) using a connection oriented proto-
col (we use TCP as an example) establishing a connection with another ES.
Both ES are behind Secure Front Ends (SFE) (e.g. firewalls). The connec-
tion establishment from End System #1 (ES#1) is intercepted by its Secure
Front End (SFE #1). SFE#1 establishes a connection and then a Security
Association (SA), using normal ISAKMP SA establishment procedures, with
SFE #2. Next SFE #2 establishes a connection with ES #2. Upon successful
completion SFE #2 sends an SA_NOTIFY with Status equal Connected. SFE #1
completes it's connection with ES #1 and normal end to end communications
takes place secured between SFE #1 and SFE #2. If SFE #2 had been unable
to establish a connection with ES #2 it would have returned an SA_NOTIFY
with Status equal Not Connected with an optional reason code.
B Security Association Attributes B Security Association Attributes
This appendix is based upon an e-mail message [Kent94] to the IPSEC mail This appendix contains a list of security attributes that should be con-
list from Steve Kent and is reproduced here to start a discussion on SA sidered when defining a Security Association (SA) for a security proto-
attributes. The authors welcome input on what are meaningful security col or application. As an example, the security attributes culled from
attributes for an SA. this list and required for an IP Security (AH, ESP) SA are defined in
[RFC-1825]. The separation of ISAKMP from a specific SA definition is im-
portant to ensure ISAKMP can establish SAs for all possible security func-
tionality. Each security function will be required to maintain a database
of current SAs. This list is based upon an e-mail message [Kent94] to the
IPSEC mail list from Steve Kent.
The following is a set of possible parameters for each security associ- The authors welcome input on what are meaningful security attributes for
ation (SA), e.g., candidate MIB data items where each SA has its own MIB an SA.
entry. They may be negotiated or pre-determined, but all are important
for each SA in the most general case.
1. SAID.INBOUND 1. SAID.INBOUND
2. SAID.OUTBOUND 2. SAID.OUTBOUND
3. ENCAPSULATION 3. ENCAPSULATION
4. INBOUND-CRITERIA 4. INBOUND-CRITERIA
(a) IP-DESTINATION-ADDRESS (a) IP-DESTINATION-ADDRESS
skipping to change at page 33, line 39 skipping to change at page 47, line 42
(c) NEXT-PROTOCOL (c) NEXT-PROTOCOL
(d) IP-SECURITY-LABEL (d) IP-SECURITY-LABEL
(e) TRANSPORT-DESTINATION-PORT (e) TRANSPORT-DESTINATION-PORT
(f) TRANSPORT-SOURCE-PORT (f) TRANSPORT-SOURCE-PORT
5. PEER-ADDRESS 5. PEER-ADDRESS
6. ENCRYPTION 6. AUTHENTICATION
(a) ENABLED
(b) MECHANISM
o DIGITAL SIGNATURE
i. KEY.INBOUND (Peer's Public Key)
ii. KEY.OUTBOUND (Initator's Private Key)
7. ENCRYPTION
(a) ENABLED (a) ENABLED
(b) ALGORTIHM (b) ALGORTIHM
(c) KEY.INBOUND (c) KEY.INBOUND
(d) KEY.OUTBOUND (d) KEY.OUTBOUND
(e) IV.INBOUND (e) IV.INBOUND
skipping to change at page 34, line 4 skipping to change at page 48, line 19
(a) ENABLED (a) ENABLED
(b) ALGORTIHM (b) ALGORTIHM
(c) KEY.INBOUND (c) KEY.INBOUND
(d) KEY.OUTBOUND (d) KEY.OUTBOUND
(e) IV.INBOUND (e) IV.INBOUND
(f) IV.OUTBOUND (f) IV.OUTBOUND
7. INTEGRITY 8. INTEGRITY
(a) ENABLED (a) ENABLED
(b) PLAINTEXT (b) PLAINTEXT
(c) DIRECTION.ENABLED (c) DIRECTION.ENABLED
(d) DIRECTION.VALUE (d) DIRECTION.VALUE
(e) ALGORITHM (e) ALGORITHM
(f) KEY.OUTBOUND (f) KEY.OUTBOUND
(g) KEY.INBOUND (g) KEY.INBOUND
8. COMPRESSION 9. COMPRESSION
(a) ENABLED (a) ENABLED
(b) ALGORITHM (b) ALGORITHM
9. REPLAY 10. REPLAY
(a) ENABLED (a) ENABLED
(b) SIZE (b) SIZE
(c) NUMBER.OUTBOUND (c) NUMBER.OUTBOUND
(d) NUMBER.INBOUND (d) NUMBER.INBOUND
(e) WINDOW.SIZE (e) WINDOW.SIZE
(f) WINDOW (f) WINDOW
10. FRAGMENTATION 11. FRAGMENTATION
(a) INBOUND (a) INBOUND
(b) OUTBOUND (b) OUTBOUND
11. KEY-MANAGEMENT 12. KEY-MANAGEMENT
(a) NEGOTIATED (a) NEGOTIATED
(b) TECHNIQUE (b) TECHNIQUE
(c) PARAMETERS (c) PARAMETERS
(d) REKEY (d) REKEY
i. GRACE o GRACE
ii. NEXT-SA o NEXT-SA
iii. TIME-BASED o TIME-BASED
A. ENABLE i. ENABLE
B. TRIGGER ii. TRIGGER
iv. TRAFFIC-BASED o TRAFFIC-BASED
A. ENABLE i. ENABLE
B. PACKET-COUNT.INBOUND ii. PACKET-COUNT.INBOUND
C. PACKET-COUNT.OUTBOUND iii. PACKET-COUNT.OUTBOUND
iv. TRIGGER.INBOUND
D. TRIGGER.INBOUND v. TRIGGER.OUTBOUND
E. TRIGGER.OUTBOUND C Security Association Examples
C.1 ISAKMP SA Definition
The ISAKMP SA contains the SA attributes that are exchanged in the
ISA_INIT messages.
ISAKMP Security Association
_______________________SA_Attributes_______________________Requirement__
Peer ISAKMP Daemon Address REQUIRED
Security Association Lifetime REQUIRED
Certificate Authority REQUIRED
Digital Signature Algorithm REQUIRED
Signature Key(s) REQUIRED
Security Association Lifetime REQUIRED
Key Establishment Algorithm REQUIRED
Cookie Generation Algorithm REQUIRED
Sensitivity Level (e.g. Secret, Unclassified) RECOMMENDED
Encryption Algorithm RECOMMENDED
Encryption Mode RECOMMENDED
Encryption Transform RECOMMENDED
Encryption Key(s) RECOMMENDED
Key Lifetime or Key Rollover RECOMMENDED
Presence / Absence of cryptographic synchronization or IV RECOMMENDED
Size of cryptographic synchronization or IV RECOMMENDED
C.1.1 ISAKMP SA Examples
ISAKMP SA #1
_________________________SA_Class_________________________________SA_Type_________
Peer ISAKMP Daemon Address N/A
Security Association Lifetime 86400 seconds (1day)
Certificate Authority DMS Root CAW
Certificate Type X.509v1m
Digital Signature Algorithm DSA
Signature Key(s) N/A
Security Association Lifetime 86400 seconds (1day)
Key Establishment Algorithm Fortezza KEA
Cookie Generation Algorithm SHA_1
Sensitivity Level (e.g. Secret, Unclassified) Unclassified
Encryption Algorithm Skipjack
Encryption Mode CDC
Encryption Transform NULL
Encryption Key(s) N/A
Key Lifetime or Key Rollover 3600 seconds (1 hour)
Presence / Absence of cryptographic synchronization or IV Present
Size of cryptographic synchronization or IV 64 bits
ISAKMP SA #2
_________________________SA_Class___________________________________SA_Type__________
Peer ISAKMP Daemon Address N/A
Security Association Lifetime 86400 seconds (1day)
Certificate Authority DNSSEC janeway.ncsc.mil
Certificate Type RR
Digital Signature Algorithm RSA
Signature Key(s) N/A
Security Association Lifetime 86400 seconds (1day)
Key Establishment Algorithm X9.42_STS
Cookie Generation Algorithm MD5
Sensitivity Level (e.g. Secret, Unclassified) N/A
Encryption Algorithm DES
Encryption Mode CDC
Encryption Transform RFC-1829
Encryption Key(s) N/A
Key Lifetime or Key Rollover 600 seconds (10 minutes)
Presence / Absence of cryptographic synchronization or IV Present
Size of cryptographic synchronization or IV 64 bits
ISAKMP SA #3
_________________________SA_Class___________________________________SA_Type__________
Peer ISAKMP Daemon Address N/A
Security Association Lifetime 86400 seconds (1day)
Certificate Authority IPRA PCA UNINETT
Certificate Type X.509v1
Digital Signature Algorithm RSA
Signature Key(s) N/A
Security Association Lifetime 86400 seconds (1day)
Key Establishment Algorithm STS
Cookie Generation Algorithm MD5
Sensitivity Level (e.g. Secret, Unclassified) N/A
Encryption Algorithm DES
Encryption Mode CDC
Encryption Transform RFC-1829
Encryption Key(s) N/A
Key Lifetime or Key Rollover 600 seconds (10 minutes)
Presence / Absence of cryptographic synchronization or IV Present
Size of cryptographic synchronization or IV 64 bits
C.2 ESP SA and AH SA Definitions
The following SAs are defined in [RFC-1825] and are presented here for
comparative and completeness purposes.
AH Security Association
__________________SA_Attributes__________________Requirement_
Authentication Algorithm REQUIRED
Authentication Mode REQUIRED
Authentication Key(s) REQUIRED
Key Lifetime or Key Rollover RECOMMENDED
Security Association Lifetime RECOMMENDED
Sensitivity Level (e.g. Secret, Unclassified) RECOMMENDED
ESP Security Association
_______________________SA_Attributes_______________________Requirement__
Encryption Algorithm REQUIRED
Encryption Mode REQUIRED
Encryption Transform REQUIRED
Encryption Key(s) REQUIRED
Presence / Absence of cryptographic synchronization or IV REQUIRED
Size of cryptographic synchronization or IV REQUIRED
Authentication Algorithm RECOMMENDED
Authentication Mode RECOMMENDED
Authentication Key(s) RECOMMENDED
Key Lifetime or Key Rollover RECOMMENDED
Security Association Lifetime RECOMMENDED
Sensitivity Level (e.g. Secret, Unclassified) RECOMMENDED
C.2.1 ESP and AH SA Examples
AH SA #1
____________________SA_Class_____________________________SA_Type__________
Authentication Algorithm MD5
Authentication Mode Keyed
Authentication Key(s) Photuris
Key Lifetime or Key Rollover 600 seconds (10 minutes)
Security Association Lifetime 3600 seconds (1 hour)
Sensitivity Level (e.g. Secret, Unclassified) N/A
AH SA #2
____________________SA_Class_____________________________SA_Type__________
Authentication Algorithm SHA
Authentication Mode NULL
Authentication Key(s) NULL
Key Lifetime or Key Rollover 600 seconds (10 minutes)
Security Association Lifetime 3600 seconds (1 hour)
Sensitivity Level (e.g. Secret, Unclassified) N/A
ESP SA #1
_________________________SA_Class___________________________________SA_Type__________
Encryption Algorithm DES
Encryption Mode CBC
Encryption Transform RFC-1829
Encryption Key(s) Phutoris Generated
Presence / Absence of cryptographic synchronization or IV Present
Size of cryptographic synchronization or IV 64 bits
Authentication Algorithm NULL
Authentication Mode NULL
Authentication Key(s) NULL
Key Lifetime or Key Rollover 600 seconds (10 minutes)
Security Association Lifetime 3600 seconds (1 hour)
Sensitivity Level (e.g. Secret, Unclassified) N/A
ESP SA #2
_________________________SA_Class___________________________________SA_Type__________
Encryption Algorithm DES
Encryption Mode CBC
Encryption Transform RFC-1829
Encryption Key(s) X9.42_DH Generated
Presence / Absence of cryptographic synchronization or IV Present
Size of cryptographic synchronization or IV 64 bits
Authentication Algorithm NULL
Authentication Mode NULL
Authentication Key(s) NULL
Key Lifetime or Key Rollover 600 seconds (10 minutes)
Security Association Lifetime 3600 seconds (1 hour)
Sensitivity Level (e.g. Secret, Unclassified) N/A
C.2.2 Fortezza SA Examples
Fortezza AH SA
____________________SA_Class___________________________SA_Type________
Authentication Algorithm SHA
Authentication Mode NULL
Authentication Key(s) DMS Root CAW
Key Lifetime or Key Rollover 86400 seconds (1day)
Security Association Lifetime 86400 seconds (1day)
Sensitivity Level (e.g. Secret, Unclassified) N/A
Fortezza ESP SA
_________________________SA_Class__________________________________SA_Type_________
Encryption Algorithm Skipjack
Encryption Mode CBC
Encryption Transform NULL
Encryption Key(s) Fortezza KEA Generated
Presence / Absence of cryptographic synchronization or IV Present
Size of cryptographic synchronization or IV 64 bits
Authentication Algorithm DSA
Authentication Mode NULL
Authentication Key(s) DMS Root CAW
Key Lifetime or Key Rollover 3600 seconds (1 hour)
Security Association Lifetime 86400 seconds (1day)
Sensitivity Level (e.g. Secret, Unclassified) Unclassified
Security Considerations Security Considerations
Cryptographic analysis techniques are improving at a steady pace. The Cryptographic analysis techniques are improving at a steady pace. The
continuing improvement in processing power makes once computational pro- continuing improvement in processing power makes once computational pro-
hibitive cryptographic attacks more realistic. New cryptographic algo- hibitive cryptographic attacks more realistic. New cryptographic algo-
rithms and public key generation techniques are also being developed at a rithms and public key generation techniques are also being developed at a
steady pace. New security services and mechanisms are being developed at steady pace. New security services and mechanisms are being developed at
an accelerated pace. A consistent method of choosing from a variety of an accelerated pace. A consistent method of choosing from a variety of
security services and mechanisms and to exchange attributes required by security services and mechanisms and to exchange attributes required by
the mechanisms is important to security in the complex structure of the the mechanisms is important to security in the complex structure of the
skipping to change at page 36, line 31 skipping to change at page 57, line 30
but a key management protocol must be reliable, the reliability is built but a key management protocol must be reliable, the reliability is built
into ISAKMP. While ISAKMP utilizes UDP as its transport mechanism, it into ISAKMP. While ISAKMP utilizes UDP as its transport mechanism, it
doesn't soley rely on any UDP information (e.g. checksum, length) for its doesn't soley rely on any UDP information (e.g. checksum, length) for its
processing. processing.
Another issue that must be considered in the development of IKMP is the Another issue that must be considered in the development of IKMP is the
effect of firewalls on the protocol. Many firewalls filter out all UDP effect of firewalls on the protocol. Many firewalls filter out all UDP
packets, making reliance on UDP questionable in certian environments. packets, making reliance on UDP questionable in certian environments.
A number of very important security considerations are presented in A number of very important security considerations are presented in
[Atki95]. One bares repeating. Once a private session key is created it [RFC-1825]. One bares repeating. Once a private session key is created
must be safely stored. Failure to properly protect the private key from it must be safely stored. Failure to properly protect the private key
access both internal and external to the system completely nullifies any from access both internal and external to the system completely nullifies
protect provided by the IP Security services. any protect provided by the IP Security services.
Acknowledgements Acknowledgements
Marsha Gross, Mike Oehler, Mark Schneider, and Pete Sell provided signifi- Marsha Gross, Bill Kutz, Mike Oehler, Mark Schneider, and Pete Sell pro-
cant input and review to this document. vided significant input and review to this document.
Thanks to Carl Muckenhirn of SPARTA, Inc. for his assistance with LaTeX. Thanks to Carl Muckenhirn of SPARTA, Inc. for his assistance with LaTeX.
References References
[ANSI94] ANSI, X9.42: Public Key Cryptography Using Irreversible [ANSI94] ANSI, X9.42: Public Key Cryptography for the Financial Services
Algorithms for the Financial Services Industry -- Management of Industry -- Establishment of Symmetric Algorithm Keys Using
Symmetric Keys Using Diffie-Hellman, Draft, September, 1994. Diffie-Hellman, Working Draft, October 26, 1995.
[Atki95] Randell Atkinson, Security Architecture for the Internet [DOW92] W. Diffie, M.Wiener, P. Van Oorschot, Authtication and
Protocol, Internet-Draft, working in progress, 8 May, 1995. Authenticated Key Exchanges, Designs, Codes, and Cryptography, 2,
107-125, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1992.
[EK94] Eastlake III, D. and c. Kaufman, Domain Name System Protocol Secu- [Berg] Berge, N.H., UNINETT PCA Policy Statements, Internet-Draft, work
rity Extensions, Internet-Draft, working in progress, March, 1994. in progress, November, 1995.
[EK94] Eastlake III, D. and C. Kaufman, Domain Name System Protocol
Security Extensions, Internet-Draft, work in progress, Oct, 1995.
[Karn95] Karn P. and B. Simpson, The Photuris Key Management Protocol, [Karn95] Karn P. and B. Simpson, The Photuris Key Management Protocol,
Internet-Draft, working in progress, March, 1995. Internet-Draft, work in progress, November, 1995.
[Kent94] Steve Kent, IPSEC SMIB, e-mail to ipsec@ans.net, August 10, [Kent94] Steve Kent, IPSEC SMIB, e-mail to ipsec@ans.net, August 10,
1994. 1994.
[RFC-1155] Rose M. and K. McCloghrie, Structure and Identification of [RFC-1155] Rose M. and K. McCloghrie, Structure and Identification of
Management Information for TCP/IP-based Internets, RFC-1155, May, Management Information for TCP/IP-based Internets, RFC-1155, May,
1990. 1990.
[RFC-1212] McCloghrie K. and M. Rose, Concise MIB Definitions, RFC-1212, [RFC-1212] McCloghrie K. and M. Rose, Concise MIB Definitions, RFC-1212,
March 26, 1991. March 26, 1991.
[RFC-1213] McCloghrie K. and M. Rose, Management Information Base for [RFC-1213] McCloghrie K. and M. Rose, Management Information Base for
Network Management of TCP/IP-based Internets: MIB-II, RFC-1213, Network Management of TCP/IP-based Internets: MIB-II, RFC-1213,
March 26, 1991. March 26, 1991.
[RFC-1422] Steve Kent, Privacy Enhancement for Internet Electronic Mail:
Part II: Certificate-Based Key Management, RFC-1422, February 1993.
[RFC-1825] Randell Atkinson, Security Architecture for the Internet
Protocol, RFC-1825, August, 1995.
[Secu] SECUREWARE INC., Peer Authentication and Key Management Protocol
Specification, Version 2.2, October 27, 1995.
[Schn94] Bruce Schneier, Applied Cryptography - Protocols, Algorithms, [Schn94] Bruce Schneier, Applied Cryptography - Protocols, Algorithms,
and Source Code in C, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1994. and Source Code in C, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1994.
[Spar94a] Harney H., C. Muckenhirn, and T. Rivers, Group Key Management [Spar94a] Harney H., C. Muckenhirn, and T. Rivers, Group Key Management
(GKMP) Architecture, SPARTA, Inc., Internet-Draft, September, 1994. (GKMP) Architecture, SPARTA, Inc., Internet-Draft, September, 1994.
[Spar94b] Harney H., C. Muckenhirn, and T. Rivers, Group Key Management [Spar94b] Harney H., C. Muckenhirn, and T. Rivers, Group Key Management
(GKMP) Specification, SPARTA, Inc., Internet-Draft, September, 1994. (GKMP) Specification, SPARTA, Inc., Internet-Draft, September, 1994.
Addresses of Authors Addresses of Authors
The three authors are with: The two authors are with:
National Security Agency National Security Agency
ATTN: R2 ATTN: R23
9800 Savage Road 9800 Savage Road
Ft. Meade, MD. 20755-6000 Ft. Meade, MD. 20755-6000
Douglas Maughan Douglas Maughan
Phone: 301-688-0847 Phone: 301-688-0847
E-mail:wdmaugh@tycho.ncsc.mil E-mail:wdmaugh@tycho.ncsc.mil
Barbara Patrick
Phone: 301-688-0298
E-mail:bspatri@orion.ncsc.mil
Mark Schertler Mark Schertler
Phone: 301-688-0849 Phone: 301-688-0849
E-mail:mjs@tycho.ncsc.mil E-mail:mjs@tycho.ncsc.mil
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