Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                        P. Wouters
Request for Comments: 7901                                       Red Hat
Category: Experimental                                         June 2016
ISSN: 2070-1721


                     CHAIN Query Requests in DNS

Abstract

  This document defines an EDNS0 extension that can be used by a
  security-aware validating resolver configured to use a forwarding
  resolver to send a single query, requesting a complete validation
  path along with the regular query answer.  The reduction in queries
  potentially lowers the latency and reduces the need to send multiple
  queries at once.  This extension mandates the use of source-IP-
  verified transport such as TCP or UDP with EDNS-COOKIE, so it cannot
  be abused in amplification attacks.

Status of This Memo

  This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
  published for examination, experimental implementation, and
  evaluation.

  This document defines an Experimental Protocol for the Internet
  community.  This document is a product of the Internet Engineering
  Task Force (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF
  community.  It has received public review and has been approved for
  publication by the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Not
  all documents approved by the IESG are a candidate for any level of
  Internet Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 7841.

  Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
  and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
  http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7901.















Wouters                       Experimental                      [Page 1]

RFC 7901               CHAIN Query Requests in DNS             June 2016


Copyright Notice

  Copyright (c) 2016 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
  document authors.  All rights reserved.

  This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
  Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
  (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
  publication of this document.  Please review these documents
  carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
  to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
  include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
  the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
  described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

  1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
    1.1.  Requirements Notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
  2.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
  3.  Overview  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
  4.  Option Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
  5.  Protocol Description  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
    5.1.  Discovery of Support  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
    5.2.  Generate a Query  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
    5.3.  Send the Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
    5.4.  Generate a Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
  6.  Protocol Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
    6.1.  DNSSEC Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
    6.2.  NS Record Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
    6.3.  Session Management  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
    6.4.  Negative Trust Anchors  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
    6.5.  Anycast Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
  7.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
    7.1.  Additional Work and Bandwidth . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
    7.2.  Amplification Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
    7.3.  Privacy Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
  8.  Examples  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
    8.1.  CHAIN Query for "www.example.com" . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
    8.2.  Out-of-Path Query for "example.com" . . . . . . . . . . .  12
    8.3.  Nonexistent Data  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
  9.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
    9.1.  EDNS0 Option Code for CHAIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
  10. Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
  Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
  Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16





Wouters                       Experimental                      [Page 2]

RFC 7901               CHAIN Query Requests in DNS             June 2016


1.  Introduction

  Traditionally, a DNS client operates in stub mode.  For each DNS
  question the DNS client needs to resolve, it sends a single query to
  an upstream recursive resolver to obtain a single DNS answer.  When
  DNSSEC [RFC4033] is deployed on such DNS clients, validation requires
  that the client obtain all the intermediate information from the DNS
  root down to the queried-for host name, so it can perform DNSSEC
  validation on the complete chain of trust.

  Currently, applications send out many UDP requests concurrently.
  This requires more resources on the DNS client with respect to state
  (CPU, memory, battery) and bandwidth.  There is also no guarantee
  that the initial set of UDP questions will result in all the records
  required for DNSSEC validation.  More round trips could be required
  depending on the resulting DNS answers.  This especially affects
  high-latency links.

  This document specifies an EDNS0 extension that allows a validating
  resolver running as a forwarding resolver to open a TCP connection to
  another resolver and request a DNS chain answer using one DNS query/
  answer pair.  This reduces the number of round trips to two.  If
  combined with long-lived TCP or [RFC7828], there is only one round
  trip.  While the upstream resolver still needs to perform all the
  individual queries required for the complete answer, it usually has a
  much bigger cache and does not experience significant slowdown from
  last-mile latency.

  This EDNS0 extension allows the forwarding resolver to indicate which
  part of the DNS hierarchy it already contains in its cache.  This
  reduces the amount of data required to be transferred and reduces the
  work the upstream recursive resolver has to perform.

  This EDNS0 extension is only intended to be sent by forwarding
  resolvers to recursive resolvers.  It MUST be ignored by
  authoritative servers.

1.1.  Requirements Notation

  The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
  "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
  document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].









Wouters                       Experimental                      [Page 3]

RFC 7901               CHAIN Query Requests in DNS             June 2016


2.  Terminology

  The DNS terminology used in this document is that of [RFC7719].
  Additionally, the following terms are used:

  Forwarding Resolver:  A nameserver that does not do iterative
     resolution itself; instead, it passes that responsibility to
     another recursive resolver, called a "forwarder" in [RFC2308],
     Section 1.

  Recursive Resolver:  A nameserver that is responsible for resolving
     domain names for clients by following the domain's delegation
     chain, starting at the root.  Recursive resolvers frequently use
     caches to be able to respond to client queries quickly, as
     described in [RFC1035], Section 7.

  Validating Resolver:  A recursive nameserver that also performs
     DNSSEC [RFC4033] validation.  Also known as "security-aware
     resolver".

3.  Overview

  When DNSSEC is deployed on a host, it can no longer delegate all DNS
  work to the upstream recursive resolver.  Obtaining just the DNS
  answer itself is not enough to validate that answer using DNSSEC.
  For DNSSEC validation, the DNS client requires a locally running
  validating resolver, so it can confirm DNSSEC validation of all
  intermediary DNS answers.  It can configure itself as a forwarding
  resolver if it obtains the IP addresses of one or more recursive
  resolvers that are available or as a stand-alone recursive resolver
  if no functional recursive resolvers were obtained.  Generating the
  required queries for validation adds a significant delay in answering
  the DNS question of the locally running application.  The application
  must wait while the resolver validates all intermediate answers.
  Each round trip adds to the total time waiting on DNS resolution with
  validation to complete.  This makes DNSSEC resolving impractical for
  devices on networks with a high latency.

  This document defines the CHAIN option that allows the resolver to
  request all intermediate DNS data it requires to resolve and validate
  a particular DNS answer in a single round trip.  The resolver could
  be part of the application or a recursive resolver running on the
  host.

  Servers answering with CHAIN data should ensure that the peer's IP
  address is not a spoofed source IP address.  See Section 7.  This
  prevents DNS amplification attacks.




Wouters                       Experimental                      [Page 4]

RFC 7901               CHAIN Query Requests in DNS             June 2016


  Applications that support CHAIN internally can perform validation
  without requiring the host to run a recursive resolver.  This is
  particularly useful for virtual servers in a cloud or container-based
  deployment where it is undesirable to run a recursive resolver per
  virtual machine.

  The format of this option is described in Section 4.

  As described in Section 5.4, a recursive resolver can use this EDNS0
  option to include additional data required by the resolver in the
  Authority Section of the DNS answer packet.  The Answer
  Section remains unchanged from a traditional DNS answer and contains
  the answer and related DNSSEC entries.

  An empty CHAIN EDNS0 option MAY be sent over any transport as a
  discovery method.  A DNS server receiving such an empty CHAIN option
  SHOULD add an empty CHAIN option in its answer to indicate that it
  supports the CHAIN option.

  The mechanisms provided by CHAIN raise various security concerns
  related to the additional work, bandwidth, amplification attacks, and
  privacy issues with the cache.  These concerns are described in
  Section 7.

4.  Option Format

  This document uses an EDNS0 option [RFC6891] to include client IP
  information in DNS messages.  The option is structured as follows:

                       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
  +-------------------------------+-------------------------------+
  !         OPTION-CODE           !         OPTION-LENGTH         !
  +-------------------------------+-------------------------------+
  ~                Closest Trust Point (FQDN)                     ~
  +---------------------------------------------------------------+

  o  OPTION-CODE, 2 octets, for CHAIN is 13.

  o  OPTION-LENGTH, 2 octets, contains the length of the payload
     (everything after Option-length) in octets.

  o  Closest trust point, a variable-length Fully-Qualified Domain Name
     (FQDN) in DNS wire format of the requested start point of the
     chain.  This entry is the "lowest" known entry in the DNS chain
     known by the recursive server seeking a CHAIN answer for which it
     has a validated Delegation Signer (DS) and DNSKEY record.  The




Wouters                       Experimental                      [Page 5]

RFC 7901               CHAIN Query Requests in DNS             June 2016


     endpoint of the chain is obtained from the DNS Query
     Section itself.  No DNS name compression is allowed for this
     value.

5.  Protocol Description

5.1.  Discovery of Support

  A forwarding resolver may include a zero-length CHAIN option in a
  regular query over any transport to discover the DNS server
  capability for CHAIN.  Recursive resolvers that support and are
  willing to accept CHAIN queries over source IP verified transport
  respond to a zero-length CHAIN received by including a zero-length
  CHAIN option in the answer.  If not already using a source-IP-
  verified transport, the forwarding resolver MAY then switch to a
  source-IP-verified transport and start sending queries with the CHAIN
  option to request a CHAIN response from the recursive resolver.
  Examples of source-IP-verified transports are the three-way TCP
  handshake and UDP with DNS cookies [RFC7873].

5.2.  Generate a Query

  In this option value, the forwarding resolver sets the closest trust
  point in the chain -- furthest from the root -- that it already has a
  DNSSEC-validated (secure or not) answer for in its cache.  The
  upstream recursive resolver does not need to include any part of the
  chain from the root down to this option's FQDN.  A complete example
  is described in Section 8.1.

  The CHAIN option should generally be sent by system forwarding
  resolvers and resolvers within an application that also performs
  DNSSEC validation.

5.3.  Send the Option

  When CHAIN is available, the downstream recursive resolver can adjust
  its query strategy based on the desired queries and its cache
  contents.

  A forwarding resolver can request the CHAIN option with every
  outgoing DNS query.  However, it is RECOMMENDED that forwarding
  resolvers remember which upstream recursive resolvers did not return
  the option (and additional data) with their response.  The forwarding
  resolver SHOULD fall back to regular DNS for subsequent queries to
  those recursive resolvers.  It MAY switch to another recursive
  resolver that does support the CHAIN option or try again later to see
  if the server has become less loaded and is now willing to answer
  with CHAIN queries.  A fallback strategy similar to that described in



Wouters                       Experimental                      [Page 6]

RFC 7901               CHAIN Query Requests in DNS             June 2016


  [RFC6891], Section 6.2.2 SHOULD be employed to avoid persistent
  interference due to non-clean paths.

5.4.  Generate a Response

  When a query containing a non-zero CHAIN option is received from a
  forwarding resolver, the upstream recursive resolver supporting CHAIN
  MAY respond by confirming that it is returning a CHAIN.  To do so, it
  MUST set the CHAIN option to the lowest trust point sent as part of
  the chain, with its corresponding OPTION-LENGTH.  It extends the
  Authority Section in the DNS answer packet with the DNS RRsets
  required for validating the answer.  The added DNS RRsets start with
  the first chain element below the received closest trust point up to
  and including the NS and DS RRsets that represent the zone cut
  (authoritative servers) of the QNAME.  The added RRsets MAY be added
  in matching hierarchical order, but a DNS client MUST NOT depend on
  the order of the added RRsets for validation.  The actual DNS answer
  to the question in the Query Section is placed in the DNS Answer
  Section identical to the traditional DNS answer.  All required
  DNSSEC-related records must be added to their appropriate sections.
  This includes records required for proof of nonexistence of regular
  and/or wildcard records, such as NextSECure (NSEC) or NSEC3 records.

  Recursive resolvers that have not implemented or enabled support for
  the CHAIN option, or are otherwise unwilling to perform the
  additional work for a CHAIN query due to workload, may safely ignore
  the option in the incoming queries.  Such a server MUST NOT include a
  CHAIN option when sending DNS answer replies back, thus indicating it
  is not able or willing to support CHAIN queries at this time.

  Requests with wrongly formatted options (i.e., bogus FQDN) MUST be
  rejected; a FORMERR response must be returned to the sender, as
  described by [RFC6891].

  Requests resulting in chains that the receiving resolver is unwilling
  to serve can be rejected by answering the query as a regular DNS
  reply but with an empty CHAIN payload.  Replying with an empty CHAIN
  can be used for chains that would be too big or for chains that would
  reveal too much information considered private.

  At any time, a recursive resolver that has determined that it is
  running low on resources can refuse CHAIN queries by replying with a
  regular DNS reply with an empty CHAIN payload.

  If a CHAIN answer would be bigger than the recursive resolver is
  willing to serve, it SHOULD send a partial chain starting with the
  data closest to the top of the chain.  The client MAY resend the
  query with an updated closest trust point until it has received the



Wouters                       Experimental                      [Page 7]

RFC 7901               CHAIN Query Requests in DNS             June 2016


  full chain.  The CHAIN response will contain the lowest closest trust
  point that was included in the CHAIN answer.

  If the DNS request results in a CNAME or DNAME for the Answer
  Section, the recursive resolver MUST return these records in the
  Answer Section similar to regular DNS processing.  The CNAME or DNAME
  target MAY be placed in the Additional Section only if all supporting
  records for DNSSEC validation of the CNAME or DNAME target are also
  added to the Authority Section.

  The response from a recursive resolver to a resolver MUST NOT contain
  the CHAIN option if none was present in the resolver's original
  request.

  A DNS query that contains the CHAIN option MUST also have the "DNSSEC
  OK" (DO) bit set.  If this bit is not set, or if the "Checking
  Disabled" (CD) bit is set, the CHAIN option received MUST be ignored.

6.  Protocol Considerations

6.1.  DNSSEC Considerations

  The presence or absence of an OPT resource record containing a CHAIN
  option in a DNS query does not change the usage of those resource
  records and mechanisms used to provide data origin authentication and
  data integrity to the DNS, as described in [RFC4033], [RFC4034], and
  [RFC4035].

6.2.  NS Record Considerations

  CHAIN responses SHOULD include the authoritative NS RRset with its
  RRSIG records required for validation.  It MUST NOT include the NS
  RRset from the parent zone, as this RRset is not signed.  If the size
  of the answer is an important factor, the NS RRset MAY be omitted.

  When a DNSSEC chain is supplied via CHAIN, the forwarding resolver is
  no longer required to use the NS RRset, as it can construct the
  validation path via the DNSKEY and DS RRsets without using the NS
  RRset.  However, the forwarding resolver might be forced to switch
  from forwarding resolver mode to recursive resolver mode due to a
  network topology change.  In recursive resolver mode, the NS RRsets
  are needed to find and query authoritative servers directly.  It is
  RECOMMENDED that the DNS forwarding resolver populate its cache with
  this information to avoid requiring future queries to obtain any
  missing NS records.  Therefore, CHAIN responses MUST include the NS
  RRset from the child zone, including the RRSIG records required for
  validation.




Wouters                       Experimental                      [Page 8]

RFC 7901               CHAIN Query Requests in DNS             June 2016


6.3.  Session Management

  The use of TCP keepalive [RFC7828] on DNS TCP sessions is
  RECOMMENDED; thus, TCP sessions should not immediately be closed
  after the DNS answer to the first query is received.

  Both DNS clients and servers are subject to resource constraints that
  will limit the extent to which CHAIN queries can be executed.
  Effective limits for the number of active sessions that can be
  maintained on individual clients and servers should be established
  either as configuration options or by interrogation of process limits
  imposed by the operating system.

  In the event that there is greater demand for CHAIN queries than can
  be accommodated, DNS servers may stop advertising the CHAIN option in
  successive DNS messages.  This allows, for example, clients with
  other candidate servers to query to establish new sessions with
  different servers in expectation that those servers might still allow
  CHAIN queries.

6.4.  Negative Trust Anchors

  If a CHAIN answer would intersect with a negative trust anchor
  [RFC7646], a partial CHAIN up to the node above the negative trust
  anchor should be returned.

6.5.  Anycast Considerations

  Recursive resolvers of various types are commonly deployed using
  anycast [RFC4786].

  Successive DNS transactions between a client and server using UDP
  transport may involve responses generated by different anycast nodes,
  and the use of anycast in the implementation of a DNS server is
  effectively undetectable by the client.  The CHAIN option SHOULD NOT
  be included in responses using UDP transport from servers provisioned
  using anycast unless all anycast server nodes are capable of
  processing the CHAIN option.

  Since DNS queries using CHAIN may result in longer TCP sessions,
  network topology changes may disrupt them more frequently.  Anycast
  servers MAY make use of Multipath TCP [RFC6824] to anchor the server
  side of the TCP connection to an unambiguously unicast address in
  order to avoid disruption due to topology changes.







Wouters                       Experimental                      [Page 9]

RFC 7901               CHAIN Query Requests in DNS             June 2016


7.  Security Considerations

7.1.  Additional Work and Bandwidth

  Producing CHAIN answers incurs additional load and bandwidth on the
  recursive resolver.  At any time, a recursive resolver may decide to
  no longer answer with CHAIN answers and fall back to traditional DNS
  answers.

7.2.  Amplification Attacks

  CHAIN queries can potentially send very large DNS answers.  Attackers
  could abuse this using spoofed source IP addresses to inflict large
  distributed denial-of-service attacks using CHAINS as an
  amplification vector in their attack.  While TCP is not vulnerable
  for this type of abuse, the UDP protocol is vulnerable to this.

  A recursive resolver MUST NOT return CHAIN answers to clients over
  UDP without source IP address verification.  An example of UDP-based
  source IP address verification is [RFC7873].  A recursive resolver
  refusing a CHAIN option MUST respond with a zero-length CHAIN option
  to indicate support for CHAIN queries when a proper transport is
  used.  It MUST NOT send an RCODE of REFUSED.

7.3.  Privacy Considerations

  A client producing CHAIN queries reveals a little more information
  about its cache contents than regular DNS clients.  This could be
  used to fingerprint a client across network reconnections.  If DNS
  privacy is a concern, a CHAIN query client MAY try to use a DNS
  transport that provides privacy, such as [RFC7858] or a trusted DNS
  server that is contacted through a VPN connection such as IPsec.

8.  Examples

8.1.  CHAIN Query for "www.example.com"

  o  A web browser on a client machine asks the forwarding resolver
     running on the local host to resolve the A record of
     "www.example.com." by sending a regular DNS UDP query on port 53
     to 127.0.0.1.

  o  The resolver on the client machine checks its cache and notices it
     already has a DNSSEC-validated entry of "com." in its cache.  This
     includes the DNSKEY RRset with its RRSIG records.  In other words,
     according to its cache, ".com" is DNSSEC validated as "secure" and
     can be used to continue a DNSSEC-validated chain.




Wouters                       Experimental                     [Page 10]

RFC 7901               CHAIN Query Requests in DNS             June 2016


  o  The resolver on the client opens a TCP connection to its upstream
     recursive resolver on port 53.  It adds the CHAIN option as
     follows:

     *  Option-code, set to 13

     *  Option-length, set to 5

     *  Closest trust point set to "com." (0x03 0x63 0x6f 0x6d 0x00)

  o  The upstream recursive resolver receives a DNS query over TCP with
     the CHAIN closest trust point set to "com.".  After accepting the
     query, it starts constructing a DNS reply packet.

  o  The upstream recursive resolver performs all the regular work to
     ensure it has all the answers to the query for the A record of
     "www.example.com.".  It does so without using the CHAIN option --
     unless it is also configured as a forwarding resolver.  The answer
     to the original DNS question could be the actual A record, the
     DNSSEC proof of nonexistence, or an insecure NXDOMAIN response.

  o  The upstream recursive resolver adds the CHAIN option to the DNS
     response as follows:

     *  Option-code, set to 13

     *  Option-length, set to 5

     *  The closest trust point is set to "com." (0x03 0x63 0x6f 0x6d
        0x00)

  o  The upstream recursive resolver constructs the DNS Authority
     Section and fills it (in any order) with:

     *  The DS RRset for "example.com." and its corresponding RRSIGs
        (made by the "com."  DNSKEY(s))

     *  The DNSKEY RRset for "example.com." and its corresponding
        RRSIGs (made by the "example.com."  DNSKEY(s))

     *  The authoritative NS RRset for "example.com." and its
        corresponding RRSIGs (from the child zone)

     If the answer does not exist, and the zone uses DNSSEC, it also
     adds the proof of nonexistence, such as NSEC or NSEC3 records, to
     the Authority Section.





Wouters                       Experimental                     [Page 11]

RFC 7901               CHAIN Query Requests in DNS             June 2016


  o  The upstream recursive resolver constructs the DNS Answer section
     and fills it with:

     *  The A record of "www.example.com." and its corresponding
        RRSIGs.

     If the answer does not exist (NODATA or NXDOMAIN), the Answer
     Section remains empty.  For the NXDOMAIN case, the RCODE of the
     DNS answer packet is set to NXDOMAIN.  Otherwise, it remains as
     NOERROR.

  o  The upstream recursive resolver returns the DNS answer over the
     existing TCP connection.  When all data is sent, it SHOULD keep
     the TCP connection open to allow for additional incoming DNS
     queries -- provided it has enough resources to do so.

  o  The resolver on the client receives the DNS answer.  It processes
     the Authority and the Answer Sections and places the information
     in its local cache.  It ensures that no data is accepted into the
     cache without having proper DNSSEC validation.  It MAY do so by
     looping over the entries in the Authority and Answer Sections.
     When an entry is validated for its cache, it is removed from the
     processing list.  If an entry cannot be validated, it is left in
     the process list.  When the end of the list is reached, the list
     is processed again until either all entries are placed in the
     cache or the remaining items cannot be placed in the cache due to
     lack of validation.  Those entries are then discarded.

  o  If the cache contains a valid answer to the application's query,
     this answer is returned to the application via a regular DNS
     answer packet.  This packet MUST NOT contain a CHAIN option.  If
     no valid answer can be returned, normal error processing is done.
     For example, an NXDOMAIN or an empty Answer Section could be
     returned depending on the error condition.

8.2.  Out-of-Path Query for "example.com"

  A recursive resolver receives a query for the A record for
  "example.com".  It includes the CHAIN option with the following
  parameters:

  o  Option-code, set to 13

  o  Option-length, set to 14

  o  The closest trust point set to "unrelated.ca." (0x09 0x75 0x6e
     0x72 0x65 0x6c 0x61 0x74 0x65 0x64 0x03 0x63 0x61 0x00)




Wouters                       Experimental                     [Page 12]

RFC 7901               CHAIN Query Requests in DNS             June 2016


  As there is no chain that leads from "unrelated.ca." to
  "example.com.", the resolving nameserver answers with an empty CHAIN
  specified using:

  o  Option-code, set to 13

  o  Option-length, set to 0x00 0x00

  o  The closest trust point is omitted (zero length)

  Note that the regular answer is still present just as it would be for
  a query that did not specify the CHAIN option.

8.3.  Nonexistent Data

  A recursive resolver receives a query for the A record for
  "ipv6.toronto.redhat.ca".  It includes the CHAIN option with the
  following parameters:

  o  Option-code, set to 13

  o  Option-length, set to 0x00 0x03

  o  The closest trust point set to "ca."

  Using regular UDP queries towards authoritative nameservers, it
  locates the NS RRset for "toronto.redhat.ca.".  When querying for the
  A record, it receives a reply with RCODE "NoError" and an empty
  Answer Section.  The Authority Section contains NSEC3 and RRSIG
  records proving there is no A RRTYPE for the QNAME
  "ipv6.toronto.redhat.ca".

  The recursive resolver constructs a DNS reply with the following
  CHAIN option parameters:

  o  Option-code, set to 13

  o  Option-length, set to 0x00 0x00

  o  The closest trust point is omitted (zero length)

  The RCODE is set to "NoError".  The Authority Section is filled in
  with:

  o  The DS RRset for "redhat.ca." plus RRSIGs

  o  The DNSKEY RRset for "redhat.ca." plus RRSIGs




Wouters                       Experimental                     [Page 13]

RFC 7901               CHAIN Query Requests in DNS             June 2016


  o  The NS RRset for "redhat.ca." plus RRSIGs (e.g., ns[01].redhat.ca)

  o  The A RRset for "ns0.redhat.ca." and "ns1.redhat.ca." plus RRSIGs

  o  The DS RRset for "toronto.redhat.ca." plus RRSIGs

  o  The NS RRset for "toronto.redhat.ca." plus RRSIGs (e.g.,
     ns[01].toronto.redhat.ca)

  o  The DNSKEY RRset for "toronto.redhat.ca." plus RRSIGs

  o  The A RRset and/or AAAA RRset for "ns0.toronto.redhat.ca." and
     "ns1.toronto.redhat.ca." plus RRSIGs

  o  The NSEC record for "ipv6.toronto.redhat.ca." (proves what RRTYPEs
     do exist; does not include A)

  o  The NSEC record for "toronto.redhat.ca." (proves no wildcard
     exists)

  The Answer Section is empty.  The RCODE is set to NOERROR.

9.  IANA Considerations

9.1.  EDNS0 Option Code for CHAIN

  IANA has assigned option code 13 in the "DNS EDNS0 Option Codes
  (OPT)" registry to CHAIN.

10.  Normative References

  [RFC1035]  Mockapetris, P., "Domain names - implementation and
             specification", STD 13, RFC 1035, DOI 10.17487/RFC1035,
             November 1987, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1035>.

  [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
             Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
             DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
             <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.

  [RFC2308]  Andrews, M., "Negative Caching of DNS Queries (DNS
             NCACHE)", RFC 2308, DOI 10.17487/RFC2308, March 1998,
             <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2308>.

  [RFC4033]  Arends, R., Austein, R., Larson, M., Massey, D., and S.
             Rose, "DNS Security Introduction and Requirements",
             RFC 4033, DOI 10.17487/RFC4033, March 2005,
             <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4033>.



Wouters                       Experimental                     [Page 14]

RFC 7901               CHAIN Query Requests in DNS             June 2016


  [RFC4034]  Arends, R., Austein, R., Larson, M., Massey, D., and S.
             Rose, "Resource Records for the DNS Security Extensions",
             RFC 4034, DOI 10.17487/RFC4034, March 2005,
             <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4034>.

  [RFC4035]  Arends, R., Austein, R., Larson, M., Massey, D., and S.
             Rose, "Protocol Modifications for the DNS Security
             Extensions", RFC 4035, DOI 10.17487/RFC4035, March 2005,
             <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4035>.

  [RFC4786]  Abley, J. and K. Lindqvist, "Operation of Anycast
             Services", BCP 126, RFC 4786, DOI 10.17487/RFC4786,
             December 2006, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4786>.

  [RFC6824]  Ford, A., Raiciu, C., Handley, M., and O. Bonaventure,
             "TCP Extensions for Multipath Operation with Multiple
             Addresses", RFC 6824, DOI 10.17487/RFC6824, January 2013,
             <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6824>.

  [RFC6891]  Damas, J., Graff, M., and P. Vixie, "Extension Mechanisms
             for DNS (EDNS(0))", STD 75, RFC 6891,
             DOI 10.17487/RFC6891, April 2013,
             <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6891>.

  [RFC7646]  Ebersman, P., Kumari, W., Griffiths, C., Livingood, J.,
             and R. Weber, "Definition and Use of DNSSEC Negative Trust
             Anchors", RFC 7646, DOI 10.17487/RFC7646, September 2015,
             <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7646>.

  [RFC7719]  Hoffman, P., Sullivan, A., and K. Fujiwara, "DNS
             Terminology", RFC 7719, DOI 10.17487/RFC7719, December
             2015, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7719>.

  [RFC7828]  Wouters, P., Abley, J., Dickinson, S., and R. Bellis, "The
             edns-tcp-keepalive EDNS0 Option", RFC 7828,
             DOI 10.17487/RFC7828, April 2016,
             <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7828>.

  [RFC7858]  Hu, Z., Zhu, L., Heidemann, J., Mankin, A., Wessels, D.,
             and P. Hoffman, "Specification for DNS over Transport
             Layer Security (TLS)", RFC 7858, DOI 10.17487/RFC7858, May
             2016, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7858>.

  [RFC7873]  Eastlake 3rd, D. and M. Andrews, "Domain Name System (DNS)
             Cookies", RFC 7873, DOI 10.17487/RFC7873, May 2016,
             <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7873>.





Wouters                       Experimental                     [Page 15]

RFC 7901               CHAIN Query Requests in DNS             June 2016


Acknowledgments

  Andrew Sullivan pointed out that we do not need any new data formats
  to support DNS chains.  Olafur Gudmundsson ensured the RRsets are
  returned in the proper sections.  Thanks to Tim Wicinski for his
  thorough review.

Author's Address

  Paul Wouters
  Red Hat

  Email: [email protected]






































Wouters                       Experimental                     [Page 16]