A Method for Web Security Policies
draft-foudil-securitytxt-00

Network Working Group                                          E. Foudil
Internet-Draft
Intended status: Informational                        September 10, 2017
Expires: February 20, 2018

                   A Method for Web Security Policies
                      draft-foudil-securitytxt-00

Abstract

   When security risks in web services are discovered by independent
   security researchers who understand the severity of the risk, they
   often lack the channels to properly disclose them.  As a result,
   security issues may be left unreported.  Security.txt defines a
   standard to help organizations define the process for security
   researchers to securely disclose security vulnerabilities.

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

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   This Internet-Draft will expire on February 20, 2018.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2017 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
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   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of

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   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

1.  Introduction

1.1.  Motivation

   Many security researchers encounter situations where they are unable
   to responsibly disclose security issues to companies because there is
   no course of action laid out.  Security.txt is designed to help 
   assist in this process by making it easier for companies to designate
   the preferred steps for researchers to take when trying to reach out.

1.2.  Terminology

   In this document, the key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED",
   "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY",
   and "OPTIONAL" are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14, RFC 2119
   [RFC2119].

2.  The Specification

   Security.txt is a text file located in the website's top-level
   directory.  This text file contains 4 directives with different
   values.  The "directive" is the first part of a field all the way up
   to the colon ("In-scope:").  Directives are case-insensitive.  The
   "value" comes after the directive ("example.com").  A "field" always
   consists of a directive and a value ("In-scope: example.com").  A
   security.txt file can have an unlimited number of fields.  It is
   important to note that you need a separate line for every field.  One
   MUST NOT chain multiple values for a single directive.  Everything
   MUST be in a separate field.

   A security.txt file only applies to the application it is located in.

2.1.  Comments

   Comments can be added using the # symbol:

   <CODE BEGINS>
   # This is a comment.
   <CODE ENDS>

   You MAY use one or more comments as descriptive text immediately
   before the field.  Parsers can then associate the comments with the
   respective field.

2.2.  Separate Fields

   A separate line is required for every new value and field.  You MUST
   NOT chain everything in to a single field.  Every line must end with
   a line feed character (%x0A).

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2.3.  Contact:

   Add an address that researchers MAY use for reporting security
   issues.  The value can be an email address, a phone number and/or a
   security page with more information.  The "Contact:" directive MUST
   always be present in a security.txt file.

   <CODE BEGINS>
   Contact: security@example.com
   Contact: +1-201-555-0123
   Contact: https://example.com/security
   <CODE ENDS>

2.4.  Encryption:

   This directive allows you to add your key for encrypted
   communication.  You MUST NOT directly add your PGP key.  The value
   MUST be a link to a page which contains your key.  Keys SHOULD be
   loaded over HTTPS.

   <CODE BEGINS>
   Encryption: https://example.com/pgp-key.txt
   <CODE ENDS>

2.5.  Disclosure:

   Specify your disclosure policy.  This directive MUST be a disclosure
   type.  The "Full" value stands for full disclosure, "Partial" for
   partial disclosure and "None" means you do not want to disclose
   reports after the issue has been resolved.  The presence of a
   disclosure field is NOT permission to disclose vulnerabilities and
   explicit permission MUST be saught where possible.

   <CODE BEGINS>
   Disclosure: Full
   <CODE ENDS>

2.6.  Acknowledgement:

   This directive allows you to link to a page where security
   researchers are recognized for their reports.

   Acknowledgement: https://example.com/hall-of-fame.html

2.7.  Example

   <CODE BEGINS>
   # Our security address 

   Contact: security@example.com
   Encryption: https://example.com/pgp-key.txt
   Disclosure: Full
   <CODE ENDS>

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3.  File Format Description

   The expected file format of the security.txt file is plain text 
   encoded in UTF-8.

   The following is an ABNF definition of the security.txt format, using
   the conventions defined in [RFC5234].

   body                   = *line (contact-field eol) *line
   line                   = *1(field / comment) eol
   eol                    = *WSP [CR] LF
   
   field                  = contact-field /
                            encryption-field /
                            disclosure-field /
                            acknowledgement-field
   
   fs                     = ":"
   
   comment                = "#" *(WSP / VCHAR / %xA0-E007F)
   
   contact-field          = "Contact" fs SP (email / uri / phone)
   email                  = <Email address as per RFC 5322>
   phone                  = "+" *1(DIGIT / "-" / "(" / ")" / SP)
   uri                    = <URI as per RFC 3986>
   
   encryption-field       = "Encryption" fs SP uri 
   
   disclosure-field       = "Disclosure" fs SP disclosure
   disclosure             = "Full" / "Partial" / "None"
   
   acknowledgement-field  = "Acknowledgement" fs SP uri

4.  Security Considerations

   Companies creating security.txt files will need to take several
   security-related issues into consideration.  These include exposure
   of sensitive information and attacks where limited access to a server
   could grant the ability to modify the contents of the security.txt
   file or affect how it is served.

   As stated in Section 2.4, keys specified using the "Encryption:"
   directive SHOULD be loaded over HTTPS.

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5.  IANA Considerations

   example.com is used in this document following the uses indicated in
   [RFC2606]

6.  Contributors

   The editor would like to acknowledge the help provided during the 
   development of this document by the following individuals:

   Tom Hudson helped writing the "File Format Description" and wrote
   several security.txt parsers.

   Joel Margolis was a big help when it came to wording this document
   appropriately.

   Jobert Abma for raising issues and concerns that might arise when
   using certain directives. 

   Gerben Janssen van Doorn for reviewing this document multiple times.

   Justin Calmus was always there to answer questions related to writing
   this document.

   Casey Ellis had several ideas related to security.txt that helped
   shape security.txt itself.

7.  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

   [RFC5234]  Crocker, D. and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for Syntax
              Specifications: ABNF", STD 68, RFC 5234, January 2008.

   [RFC3986]  Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R., and L. Masinter, "Uniform
              Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax", STD 66, RFC
              3986, DOI 10.17487/RFC3986, January 2005,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3986>.

   [RFC2606]  Eastlake 3rd, D. and A. Panitz, "Reserved Top Level DNS
              Names", BCP 32, RFC 2606, DOI 10.17487/RFC2606, June 1999,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2606>.

Author's Address

   Edwin Foudil
   Email: contact@edoverflow.com

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