EAP Method Update
charter-ietf-emu-04-02
Document | Proposed charter | EAP Method Update WG (emu) Snapshot | |
---|---|---|---|
Title | EAP Method Update | ||
Last updated | 2018-02-22 | ||
State | External Review (Message to Community, Selected by Secretariat) Rechartering | ||
WG | State | Proposed | |
IESG | Responsible AD | Paul Wouters | |
Charter edit AD | Kathleen Moriarty | ||
Send notices to | (None) |
The Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) [RFC 3748] is a network
access authentication framework used, for instance, in 802.11 and VPN
networks and mobile networks. EAP itself is a simple
protocol and actual authentication happens in EAP methods.
Over 50 different EAP methods exist, including several methods
developed in the IETF, and support for EAP exists in a broad set
of different devices. Previous larger EAP-related efforts at the
IETF included rewriting the base EAP protocol documentation and
the development of several standards track EAP methods.
EAP methods are generally based on existing other security
technologies, such as TLS, SIM cards, and various algorithms.
Some of these technologies continue to evolve. The
understanding of security threats in today's Internet evolves as
well, which has driven some of the evolution in these underlying
technologies. At the same time, some new use cases for EAP have
been identified, such as broader use of EAP in mobile network
authentication.
This working group has been chartered to provide updates to some
commonly used EAP methods. Specifically, the working group shall
produce documents to:
-
Provide a guidance or update to enable the use of TLS 1.3 in the
context of EAP TLS (RFC 5216). Update the security
considerations relating to EAP TLS, to document the implications
of using new vs. old TLS versions, any recently gained new
knowledge on vulnerabilities, and the possible implications of
pervasive surveillance. -
Update the EAP-AKA' specification (RFC 5448) to ensure that its
capability to provide a cryptographic binding to network context
stays in sync with what updates may come to the referenced 3GPP
specifications through the use of EAP in 5G.Also, the group should document any recently gained new
knowledge on vulnerabilities or the possible implications of
pervasive surveillance or other new concerns. -
Define session identifiers for fast re-authentication for
EAP-SIM, EAP-AKA, and EAP-AKA’. The lack of this definition
is a recently discovered bug in the original RFCs. -
Develop an extension to EAP-AKA' such that Perfect Forward Secrecy
can be provided. There may also be privacy improvements that
have become feasible with the introduction of recent identity
privacy improvements in 3GPP networks. -
Gather experience regarding the use of large certificate and
certificate chain sizes in the context of EAP-TLS (all versions),
as some implementations and access networks may limit the
number of EAP packet exchanges that can be handled.
Document operational recommendations or other mitigation
strategies to avoid issues.
In all of the above, it is a requirement that none of the updates
break backwards compatibility with existing specifications or
implementations. The current EAP-TLS RFCs will not be obsoleted but
rather updated with either new information or instructions on
what is needed, for instance, to employ a new TLS version.
The working group is expected to stay in close collaboration with
the EAP deployment community, the TLS working group (for EAP-TLS
work), and the 3GPP security architecture group (for EAP-AKA'
work).