Network Working Group                                           A. Chiu
Request for Comments: 2695                             Sun Microsystems
Category: Informational                                  September 1999


                Authentication Mechanisms for ONC RPC

Status of this Memo

  This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
  not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
  memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

  Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999).  All Rights Reserved.

ABSTRACT

  This document describes two authentication mechanisms created by Sun
  Microsystems that are commonly used in conjunction with the ONC
  Remote Procedure Call (ONC RPC Version 2) protocol.

WARNING

  The DH authentication as defined in Section 2 in this document refers
  to the authentication mechanism with flavor AUTH_DH currently
  implemented in ONC RPC.  It uses the underlying Diffie-Hellman
  algorithm for key exchange.  The DH authentication defined in this
  document is flawed due to the selection of a small prime for the BASE
  field (Section 2.5). To avoid the flaw a new DH authentication
  mechanism could be defined with a larger prime.  However, the new DH
  authentication would not be interoperable with the existing DH
  authentication.

  As illustrated in [10], a large number of attacks are possible on ONC
  RPC system services that use non-secure authentication mechanisms.
  Other secure authentication mechanisms need to be developed for ONC
  RPC.  RFC 2203 describes the RPCSEC_GSS ONC RPC security flavor, a
  secure authentication mechanism that enables RPC protocols to use
  Generic Security Service Application Program Interface (RFC 2078) to
  provide security services, integrity and privacy, that are
  independent of the underlying security mechanisms.








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RFC 2695         Authentication Mechanisms for ONC RPC    September 1999


Table of Contents

     1. Introduction ............................................... 2
     2. Diffie-Hellman Authentication .............................. 2
     2.1 Naming .................................................... 3
     2.2 DH Authentication Verifiers ............................... 3
     2.3 Nicknames and Clock Synchronization ....................... 5
     2.4 DH Authentication Protocol Specification .................. 5
     2.4.1 The Full Network Name Credential and Verifier (Client) .. 6
     2.4.2 The Nickname Credential and Verifier (Client) ........... 8
     2.4.3 The Nickname Verifier (Server) .......................... 9
     2.5 Diffie-Hellman Encryption ................................. 9
     3. Kerberos-based Authentication ............................. 10
     3.1 Naming ................................................... 11
     3.2 Kerberos-based Authentication Protocol Specification ..... 11
     3.2.1 The Full Network Name Credential and Verifier (Client) . 12
     3.2.2 The Nickname Credential and Verifier (Client) .......... 14
     3.2.3 The Nickname Verifier (Server) ......................... 15
     3.2.4 Kerberos-specific Authentication Status Values ......... 15
     4. Security Considerations ................................... 16
     5. REFERENCES ................................................ 16
     6. AUTHOR'S ADDRESS .......................................... 17
     7. FULL COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ...................................18

1. Introduction

  The ONC RPC protocol provides the fields necessary for a client to
  identify itself to a service, and vice-versa, in each call and reply
  message.  Security and access control mechanisms can be built on top
  of this message authentication.  Several different authentication
  protocols can be supported.

  This document specifies two authentication protocols created by Sun
  Microsystems that are commonly used: Diffie-Hellman (DH)
  authentication and Kerberos (Version 4) based authentication.

  As a prerequisite to reading this document, the reader is expected to
  be familiar with [1] and [2].  This document uses terminology and
  definitions from [1] and [2].

2. Diffie-Hellman Authentication

  System authentication (defined in [1]) suffers from some problems.
  It is very UNIX oriented, and can be easily faked (there is no
  attempt to provide cryptographically secure authentication).






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  DH authentication was created to address these problems.  However, it
  has been compromised [9] due to the selection of a small length for
  the prime in the ONC RPC implementation.  While the information
  provided here will be useful for implementors to ensure
  interoperability with existing applications that use DH
  authentication, it is strongly recommended that new applications use
  more secure authentication, and that existing applications that
  currently use DH authentication migrate to more robust authentication
  mechanisms.

2.1 Naming

  The client is addressed by a simple string of characters instead of
  by an operating system specific integer.  This string of characters
  is known as the "netname" or network name of the client. The server
  is not allowed to interpret the contents of the client's name in any
  other way except to identify the client.  Thus, netnames should be
  unique for every client in the Internet.

  It is up to each operating system's implementation of DH
  authentication to generate netnames for its users that insure this
  uniqueness when they call upon remote servers.  Operating systems
  already know how to distinguish users local to their systems. It is
  usually a simple matter to extend this mechanism to the network.  For
  example, a UNIX(tm) user at Sun with a user ID of 515 might be
  assigned the following netname: "[email protected]".  This netname
  contains three items that serve to insure it is unique.  Going
  backwards, there is only one naming domain called "sun.com" in the
  Internet.  Within this domain, there is only one UNIX(tm) user with
  user ID 515.  However, there may be another user on another operating
  system, for example VMS, within the same naming domain that, by
  coincidence, happens to have the same user ID. To insure that these
  two users can be distinguished we add the operating system name. So
  one user is "[email protected]" and the other is "[email protected]".
  The first field is actually a naming method rather than an operating
  system name.  It happens that today there is almost a one-to-one
  correspondence between naming methods and operating systems.  If the
  world could agree on a naming standard, the first field could be the
  name of that standard, instead of an operating system name.

2.2 DH Authentication Verifiers

  Unlike System authentication, DH authentication does have a verifier
  so the server can validate the client's credential (and vice-versa).
  The contents of this verifier are primarily an encrypted timestamp.
  The server can decrypt this timestamp, and if it is within an
  accepted range relative to the current time, then the client must
  have encrypted it correctly.  The only way the client could encrypt



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  it correctly is to know the "conversation key" of the RPC session,
  and if the client knows the conversation key, then it must be the
  real client.

  The conversation key is a DES [5] key which the client generates and
  passes to the server in the first RPC call of a session.  The
  conversation key is encrypted using a public key scheme in this first
  transaction.  The particular public key scheme used in DH
  authentication is Diffie-Hellman [3] with 192-bit keys.  The details
  of this encryption method are described later.

  The client and the server need the same notion of the current time in
  order for all of this to work, perhaps by using the Network Time
  Protocol [4].  If network time synchronization cannot be guaranteed,
  then the client can determine the server's time before beginning the
  conversation using a time request protocol.

  The way a server determines if a client timestamp is valid is
  somewhat complicated. For any other transaction but the first, the
  server just checks for two things:

  (1) the timestamp is greater than the one previously seen from the
  same client.  (2) the timestamp has not expired.

  A timestamp is expired if the server's time is later than the sum of
  the client's timestamp plus what is known as the client's "ttl"
  (standing for "time-to-live" - you can think of this as the lifetime
  for the client's credential).  The "ttl" is a number the client
  passes (encrypted) to the server in its first transaction.

  In the first transaction, the server checks only that the timestamp
  has not expired.  Also, as an added check, the client sends an
  encrypted item in the first transaction known as the "ttl verifier"
  which must be equal to the time-to-live minus 1, or the server will
  reject the credential.  If either check fails, the server rejects the
  credential with an authentication status of AUTH_BADCRED, however if
  the timestamp is earlier than the previous one seen, the server
  returns an authentication status of AUTH_REJECTEDCRED.

  The client too must check the verifier returned from the server to be
  sure it is legitimate.  The server sends back to the client the
  timestamp it received from the client, minus one second, encrypted
  with the conversation key.  If the client gets anything different
  than this, it will reject it, returning an AUTH_INVALIDRESP
  authentication status to the user.






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2.3 Nicknames and Clock Synchronization

  After the first transaction, the server's DH authentication subsystem
  returns in its verifier to the client an integer "nickname" which the
  client may use in its further transactions instead of passing its
  netname. The nickname could be an index into a table on the server
  which stores for each client its netname, decrypted conversation key
  and ttl.

  Though they originally were synchronized, the client's and server's
  clocks can get out of synchronization again.  When this happens the
  server returns to the client an authentication status of
  AUTH_REJECTEDVERF at which point the client should attempt to
  resynchronize.

  A client may also get an AUTH_BADCRED error when using a nickname
  that was previously valid.  The reason is that the server's nickname
  table is a limited size, and it may flush entries whenever it wants.
  A client should resend its original full name credential in this case
  and the server will give it a new nickname.  If a server crashes, the
  entire nickname table gets flushed, and all clients will have to
  resend their original credentials.

2.4 DH Authentication Protocol Specification

  There are two kinds of credentials: one in which the client uses its
  full network name, and one in which it uses its "nickname" (just an
  unsigned integer) given to it by the server.  The client must use its
  fullname in its first transaction with the server, in which the
  server will return to the client its nickname.  The client may use
  its nickname in all further transactions with the server. There is no
  requirement to use the nickname, but it is wise to use it for
  performance reasons.

  The following definitions are used for describing the protocol:

     enum authdh_namekind {
        ADN_FULLNAME = 0,
        ADN_NICKNAME = 1
     };

     typedef opaque des_block[8]; /* 64-bit block of encrypted data */

     const MAXNETNAMELEN = 255;   /* maximum length of a netname */

  The flavor used for all DH authentication credentials and verifiers
  is "AUTH_DH", with the numerical value 3.  The opaque data
  constituting the client credential encodes the following structure:



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  union authdh_cred switch (authdh_namekind namekind) {
  case ADN_FULLNAME:
     authdh_fullname fullname;
  case ADN_NICKNAME:
     authdh_nickname nickname;
  };

  The opaque data constituting a verifier that accompanies a client
  credential encodes the following structure:

  union authdh_verf switch (authdh_namekind namekind) {
  case ADN_FULLNAME:
     authdh_fullname_verf fullname_verf;
  case ADN_NICKNAME:
     authdh_nickname_verf nickname_verf;
  };

  The opaque data constituting a verifier returned by a server in
  response to a client request encodes the following structure:

  struct authdh_server_verf;

  These structures are described in detail below.

2.4.1 The Full Network Name Credential and Verifier (Client)

  First, the client creates a conversation key for the session. Next,
  the client fills out the following structure:

     +---------------------------------------------------------------+
     |   timestamp   |  timestamp    |               |               |
     |   seconds     | micro seconds |      ttl      |   ttl - 1     |
     |   32 bits     |    32 bits    |    32 bits    |   32 bits     |
     +---------------------------------------------------------------+
     0              31              63              95             127

  The fields are stored in XDR (external data representation) format.
  The timestamp encodes the time since midnight, January 1, 1970. These
  128 bits of data are then encrypted in the DES CBC mode, using the
  conversation key for the session, and with an initialization vector
  of 0.  This yields:

     +---------------------------------------------------------------+
     |               T               |               |               |
     |     T1               T2       |      W1       |     W2        |
     |   32 bits     |    32 bits    |    32 bits    |   32 bits     |
     +---------------------------------------------------------------+
     0              31              63              95             127



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  where T1, T2, W1, and W2 are all 32-bit quantities, and have some
  correspondence to the original quantities occupying their positions,
  but are now interdependent on each other for proper decryption.  The
  64 bit sequence comprising T1 and T2 is denoted by T.

  The full network name credential is represented as follows using XDR
  notation:

  struct authdh_fullname {
     string name<MAXNETNAMELEN>;  /* netname of client             */
     des_block key;               /* encrypted conversation key    */
     opaque w1[4];                /* W1                            */
  };

  The conversation key is encrypted using the "common key" using the
  ECB mode.  The common key is a DES key that is derived from the
  Diffie-Hellman public and private keys, and is described later.

  The verifier is represented as follows:

  struct authdh_fullname_verf {
     des_block timestamp;         /* T (the 64 bits of T1 and T2) */
     opaque w2[4];                /* W2                           */
  };

  Note that all of the encrypted quantities (key, w1, w2, timestamp) in
  the above structures are opaque.

  The fullname credential and its associated verifier together contain
  the network name of the client, an encrypted conversation key, the
  ttl, a timestamp, and a ttl verifier that is one less than the ttl.
  The ttl is actually the lifetime for the credential.  The server will
  accept the credential if the current server time is "within" the time
  indicated in the timestamp plus the ttl.  Otherwise, the server
  rejects the credential with an authentication status of AUTH_BADCRED.
  One way to insure that requests are not replayed would be for the
  server to insist that timestamps are greater than the previous one
  seen, unless it is the first transaction.  If the timestamp is
  earlier than the previous one seen, the server returns an
  authentication status of AUTH_REJECTEDCRED.

  The server returns a authdh_server_verf structure, which is described
  in detail below.  This structure contains a "nickname", which may be
  used for subsequent requests in the current conversation.







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2.4.2 The Nickname Credential and Verifier (Client)

  In transactions following the first, the client may use the shorter
  nickname credential and verifier for efficiency.  First, the client
  fills out the following structure:

     +-------------------------------+
     |   timestamp   |  timestamp    |
     |   seconds     | micro seconds |
     |   32 bits     |    32 bits    |
     +-------------------------------+
     0              31              63

  The fields are stored in XDR (external data representation) format.
  These 64 bits of data are then encrypted in the DES ECB mode, using
  the conversation key for the session.  This yields:

     +-------------------------------+
     |     (T1)      |      (T2)     |
     |               T               |
     |             64 bits           |
     +-------------------------------+
     0              31              63

  The nickname credential is represented as follows using XDR notation:

  struct authdh_nickname {
     unsigned int nickname;       /* nickname returned by server   */
  };

  The nickname verifier is represented as follows using XDR notation:

  struct authdh_nickname_verf {
     des_block timestamp;         /* T (the 64 bits of T1 and T2) */
     opaque w[4];                 /* Set to zero                  */
  };

  The nickname credential may be reject by the server for several
  reasons.  An authentication status of AUTH_BADCRED indicates that the
  nickname is no longer valid. The client should retry the request
  using the fullname credential.  AUTH_REJECTEDVERF indicates that the
  nickname verifier is not valid.  Again, the client should retry the
  request using the fullname credential.








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2.4.3 The Nickname Verifier (Server)

  The server never returns a credential.  It returns only one kind of
  verifier, i.e., the nickname verifier.  This has the following XDR
  representation:

  struct authdh_server_verf {
     des_block timestamp_verf; /* timestamp verifier (encrypted)    */
     unsigned int nickname;    /* new client nickname (unencrypted) */
  };

  The timestamp verifier is constructed in exactly the same way as the
  client nickname credential.  The server sets the timestamp value to
  the value the client sent minus one second and encrypts it in DES ECB
  mode using the conversation key.  The server also sends the client a
  nickname to be used in future transactions (unencrypted).

2.5 Diffie-Hellman Encryption

  In this scheme, there are two constants "BASE" and "MODULUS" [3].
  The particular values Sun has chosen for these for the DH
  authentication protocol are:

     const BASE = 3;
     const MODULUS = "d4a0ba0250b6fd2ec626e7efd637df76c716e22d0944b88b";

  Note that the modulus is represented above as a hexadecimal string.

  The way this scheme works is best explained by an example.  Suppose
  there are two people "A" and "B" who want to send encrypted messages
  to each other.  So, A and B both generate "secret" keys at random
  which they do not reveal to anyone.  Let these keys be represented as
  SK(A) and SK(B).  They also publish in a public directory their
  "public" keys. These keys are computed as follows:

     PK(A) = ( BASE ** SK(A) ) mod MODULUS
     PK(B) = ( BASE ** SK(B) ) mod MODULUS

  The "**" notation is used here to represent exponentiation. Now, both
  A and B can arrive at the "common" key between them, represented here
  as CK(A, B), without revealing their secret keys.










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  A computes:

     CK(A, B) = ( PK(B) ** SK(A)) mod MODULUS

  while B computes:

     CK(A, B) = ( PK(A) ** SK(B)) mod MODULUS

  These two can be shown to be equivalent:

     (PK(B) ** SK(A)) mod MODULUS = (PK(A) ** SK(B)) mod MODULUS

  We drop the "mod MODULUS" parts and assume modulo arithmetic to simplify
  things:

     PK(B) ** SK(A) = PK(A) ** SK(B)

  Then, replace PK(B) by what B computed earlier and likewise for PK(A).

     (BASE ** SK(B)) ** SK(A) = (BASE ** SK(A)) ** SK(B)

  which leads to:

     BASE ** (SK(A) * SK(B)) = BASE ** (SK(A) * SK(B))

  This common key CK(A, B) is not used to encrypt the timestamps used
  in the protocol. Rather, it is used only to encrypt a conversation
  key which is then used to encrypt the timestamps.  The reason for
  doing this is to use the common key as little as possible, for fear
  that it could be broken.  Breaking the conversation key is a far less
  damaging, since conversations are relatively short-lived.

  The conversation key is encrypted using 56-bit DES keys, yet the
  common key is 192 bits.  To reduce the number of bits, 56 bits are
  selected from the common key as follows. The middle-most 8-bytes are
  selected from the common key, and then parity is added to the lower
  order bit of each byte, producing a 56-bit key with 8 bits of parity.

  Only 48 bits of the 8-byte conversation key are used in the DH
  Authentication scheme.  The least and most significant bits of each
  byte of the conversation key are unused.

3. Kerberos-based Authentication

  Conceptually, Kerberos-based authentication is very similar to DH
  authentication.  The major difference is, Kerberos-based
  authentication takes advantage of the fact that Kerberos tickets have




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  encoded in them the client name and the conversation key.  This RFC
  does not describe Kerberos name syntax, protocols and ticket formats.
  The reader is referred to [6], [7], and [8].

3.1 Naming

  A Kerberos name contains three parts.  The first is the principal
  name, which is usually a user's or service's name.  The second is the
  instance, which in the case of a user is usually NULL.  Some users
  may have privileged instances, however, such as root or admin.  In
  the case of a service, the instance is the name of the machine on
  which it runs; that is, there can be an NFS service running on the
  machine ABC, which is different from the NFS service running on the
  machine XYZ.  The third part of a Kerberos name is the realm.  The
  realm corresponds to the Kerberos service providing authentication
  for the principal.  When writing a Kerberos name, the principal name
  is separated from the instance (if not NULL) by a period, and the
  realm (if not the local realm) follows, preceded by an "@" sign.  The
  following are examples of valid Kerberos names:

     billb
     jis.admin
     [email protected]
     [email protected]

3.2 Kerberos-based Authentication Protocol Specification

  The Kerberos-based authentication protocol described is based on
  Kerberos version 4.

  There are two kinds of credentials: one in which the client uses its
  full network name, and one in which it uses its "nickname" (just an
  unsigned integer) given to it by the server.  The client must use its
  fullname in its first transaction with the server, in which the
  server will return to the client its nickname.  The client may use
  its nickname in all further transactions with the server. There is no
  requirement to use the nickname, but it is wise to use it for
  performance reasons.

  The following definitions are used for describing the protocol:

     enum authkerb4_namekind {
        AKN_FULLNAME = 0,
        AKN_NICKNAME = 1
     };






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  The flavor used for all Kerberos-based authentication credentials and
  verifiers is "AUTH_KERB4", with numerical value 4.  The opaque data
  constituting the client credential encodes the following structure:

  union authkerb4_cred switch (authkerb4_namekind namekind) {
  case AKN_FULLNAME:
     authkerb4_fullname fullname;
  case AKN_NICKNAME:
     authkerb4_nickname nickname;
  };

  The opaque data constituting a verifier that accompanies a client
  credential encodes the following structure:

  union authkerb4_verf switch (authkerb4_namekind namekind) {
  case AKN_FULLNAME:
     authkerb4_fullname_verf fullname_verf;
  case AKN_NICKNAME:
     authkerb4_nickname_verf nickname_verf;
  };

  The opaque data constituting a verifier returned by a server in
  response to a client request encodes the following structure:

  struct authkerb4_server_verf;

  These structures are described in detail below.

3.2.1 The Full Network Name Credential and Verifier (Client)

  First, the client must obtain a Kerberos ticket from the Kerberos
  Server.  The ticket contains a Kerberos session key, which will
  become the conversation key.  Next, the client fills out the
  following structure:

     +---------------------------------------------------------------+
     |   timestamp   |  timestamp    |               |               |
     |   seconds     | micro seconds |      ttl      |   ttl - 1     |
     |   32 bits     |    32 bits    |    32 bits    |   32 bits     |
     +---------------------------------------------------------------+
     0              31              63              95             127

  The fields are stored in XDR (external data representation) format.
  The timestamp encodes the time since midnight, January 1, 1970.
  "ttl" is identical in meaning to the corresponding field in Diffie-
  Hellman authentication: the credential "time-to-live" for the





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  conversation being initiated.  These 128 bits of data are then
  encrypted in the DES CBC mode, using the conversation key, and with
  an initialization vector of 0.  This yields:

     +---------------------------------------------------------------+
     |               T               |               |               |
     |     T1               T2       |      W1       |     W2        |
     |   32 bits     |    32 bits    |    32 bits    |   32 bits     |
     +---------------------------------------------------------------+
     0              31              63              95             127

  where T1, T2, W1, and W2 are all 32-bit quantities, and have some
  correspondence to the original quantities occupying their positions,
  but are now interdependent on each other for proper decryption.  The
  64 bit sequence comprising T1 and T2 is denoted by T.

  The full network name credential is represented as follows using XDR
  notation:

  struct authkerb4_fullname {
     opaque ticket<>;         /* kerberos ticket for the server */
     opaque w1[4];            /* W1                             */
  };

  The verifier is represented as follows:

  struct authkerb4_fullname_verf {
     des_block timestamp;         /* T (the 64 bits of T1 and T2) */
     opaque w2[4];                /* W2                           */
  };

  Note that all of the client-encrypted quantities (w1, w2, timestamp)
  in the above structures are opaque.  The client does not encrypt the
  Kerberos ticket for the server.

  The fullname credential and its associated verifier together contain
  the Kerberos ticket (which contains the client name and the
  conversation key), the ttl, a timestamp, and a ttl verifier that is
  one less than the ttl.  The ttl is actually the lifetime for the
  credential.  The server will accept the credential if the current
  server time is "within" the time indicated in the timestamp plus the
  ttl.  Otherwise, the server rejects the credential with an
  authentication status of AUTH_BADCRED.  One way to insure that
  requests are not replayed would be for the server to insist that
  timestamps are greater than the previous one seen, unless it is the
  first transaction.  If the timestamp is earlier than the previous one
  seen, the server returns an authentication status of
  AUTH_REJECTEDCRED.



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  The server returns a authkerb4_server_verf structure, which is
  described in detail below.  This structure contains a "nickname",
  which may be used for subsequent requests in the current session.

3.2.2 The Nickname Credential and Verifier (Client)

  In transactions following the first, the client may use the shorter
  nickname credential and verifier for efficiency.  First, the client
  fills out the following structure:

     +-------------------------------+
     |   timestamp   |  timestamp    |
     |   seconds     | micro seconds |
     |   32 bits     |    32 bits    |
     +-------------------------------+
     0              31              63

  The fields are stored in XDR (external data representation) format.
  These 64 bits of data are then encrypted in the DES ECB mode, using
  the conversation key for the session.  This yields:

     +-------------------------------+
     |     (T1)      |      (T2)     |
     |               T               |
     |             64 bits           |
     +-------------------------------+
     0              31              63

  The nickname credential is represented as follows using XDR notation:

  struct authkerb4_nickname {
     unsigned int nickname;       /* nickname returned by server   */
  };

  The nickname verifier is represented as follows using XDR notation:

  struct authkerb4_nickname_verf {
     des_block timestamp;         /* T (the 64 bits of T1 and T2) */
     opaque w[4];                 /* Set to zero                  */
  };

  The nickname credential may be reject by the server for several
  reasons.  An authentication status of AUTH_BADCRED indicates that the
  nickname is no longer valid. The client should retry the request
  using the fullname credential.  AUTH_REJECTEDVERF indicates that the
  nickname verifier is not valid.  Again, the client should retry the





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  request using the fullname credential.  AUTH_TIMEEXPIRE indicates
  that the session's Kerberos ticket has expired.  The client should
  initiate a new session by obtaining a new Kerberos ticket.

3.2.3 The Nickname Verifier (Server)

  The server never returns a credential.  It returns only one kind of
  verifier, i.e., the nickname verifier.  This has the following XDR
  representation:

  struct authkerb4_server_verf {
     des_block timestamp_verf; /* timestamp verifier (encrypted)    */
     unsigned int nickname;    /* new client nickname (unencrypted) */
  };

  The timestamp verifier is constructed in exactly the same way as the
  client nickname credential.  The server sets the timestamp value to
  the value the client sent minus one second and encrypts it in DES ECB
  mode using the conversation key.  The server also sends the client a
  nickname to be used in future transactions (unencrypted).

3.2.4 Kerberos-specific Authentication Status Values

  The server may return to the client one of the following errors in
  the authentication status field:

 enum auth_stat {
     ...
     /*
      * kerberos errors
      */
     AUTH_KERB_GENERIC = 8,  /* Any Kerberos-specific error other
                                than the following                   */
     AUTH_TIMEEXPIRE = 9,    /* The client's ticket has expired      */
     AUTH_TKT_FILE = 10,     /* The server was unable to find the
                                ticket file.  The client should
                                create a new session by obtaining a
                                new ticket                           */
     AUTH_DECODE = 11,       /* The server is unable to decode the
                                authenticator of the client's ticket */
     AUTH_NET_ADDR = 12      /* The network address of the client
                                does not match the address contained
                                in the ticket                        */

     /* and more to be defined */
 };





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4. Security Considerations

  The DH authentication mechanism and the Kerberos V4 authentication
  mechanism are described in this document only for informational
  purposes.

  In addition to the weakness pointed out earlier in this document (see
  WARNING on page 1), the two security mechanisms described herein lack
  the support for integrity and privacy data protection. It is strongly
  recommended that new applications use more secure mechanisms, and
  that existing applications migrate to more robust mechanisms.

  The RPCSEC_GSS ONC RPC security flavor, specified in RFC 2203, allows
  applications built on top of RPC to access security mechanisms that
  adhere to the GSS-API specification.  It provides a GSS-API based
  security framework that allows for strong security mechanisms.  RFC
  1964 describes the Kerberos Version 5 GSS-API security mechanism
  which provides integrity and privacy, in addition to authentication.
  RFC 2623 [14] describes how Kerberos V5 is pluggued into RPCSEC_GSS,
  and how the Version 2 and Version 3 of the NFS protocol use Kerberos
  V5 via RPCSEC_GSS. The RPCSEC_GSS/GSS-API/Kerberos-V5 stack provides
  a robust security mechanism for applications that require strong
  protection.

5. REFERENCES

  [1]  Srinivasan, R., "Remote Procedure Call Protocol Version 2", RFC
       1831, August 1995.

  [2]  Srinivasan, R., "XDR: External Data Representation Standard",
       RFC 1832, August 1995.

  [3]  Diffie & Hellman, "New Directions in Cryptography", IEEE
       Transactions on Information Theory IT-22, November 1976.

  [4]  Mills, D., "Network Time Protocol (Version 3)", RFC 1305, March
       1992.

  [5]  National Bureau of Standards, "Data Encryption Standard",
       Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 46, January
       1977.

  [6]  Miller, S., Neuman, C., Schiller, J. and  J. Saltzer, "Section
       E.2.1: Kerberos Authentication and Authorization System",
       December 1987.






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  [7]  Steiner, J., Neuman, C. and J. Schiller, "Kerberos: An
       Authentication Service for Open Network Systems", pp. 191-202 in
       Usenix Conference Proceedings, Dallas, Texas, February, 1988.

  [8]  Kohl, J. and C. Neuman, "The Kerberos Network Authentication
       Service (V5)", RFC 1510, September 1993.

  [9]  La Macchia, B.A., and Odlyzko, A.M., "Computation of Discrete
       Logarithms in Prime Fields", pp. 47-62 in "Designs, Codes and
       Cryptography", Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1991.

  [10] Cheswick, W.R., and Bellovin, S.M., "Firewalls and Internet
       Security," Addison-Wesley, 1995.

  [11] Linn, J., "The Kerberos Version 5 GSS-API Mechanism", RFC 1964,
       June 1996.

  [12] Linn, J., "Generic Security Service Application Program
       Interface, Version 2", RFC 2078, January 1997.

  [13] Eisler, M., Chiu, A., and Ling, L., "RPCSEC_GSS Protocol
       Specification", RFC 2203, September 1997.

  [14] Eisler, M., "NFS Version 2 and Version 3 Security Issues and the
       NFS Protocol's Use of RPCSEC_GSS and Kerberos V5", RFC 2623,
       June 1999.

6. AUTHOR'S ADDRESS

  Alex Chiu
  Sun Microsystems, Inc.
  901 San Antonio Road
  Palo Alto, CA 94303

  Phone: +1 (650) 786-6465
  EMail: [email protected]















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RFC 2695         Authentication Mechanisms for ONC RPC    September 1999


7.  Full Copyright Statement

  Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999).  All Rights Reserved.

  This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
  others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
  or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
  and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
  kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
  included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
  document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
  the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
  Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
  developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
  copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
  followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
  English.

  The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
  revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.

  This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
  "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
  TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
  BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
  HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
  MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Acknowledgement

  Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
  Internet Society.



















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