Endpoint Compliance Profile
draft-haynes-sacm-ecp-01
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|---|---|---|---|
| Authors | Daniel Haynes , Jessica Fitzgerald-McKay , Lisa Lorenzin | ||
| Last updated | 2016-09-07 | ||
| Replaced by | draft-ietf-sacm-ecp, draft-ietf-sacm-ecp | ||
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draft-haynes-sacm-ecp-01
SACM D. Haynes
Internet-Draft The MITRE Corporation
Intended status: Standards Track J. Fitzgerald-McKay
Expires: March 11, 2017 Department of Defense
L. Lorenzin
Pulse Secure
September 7, 2016
Endpoint Compliance Profile
draft-haynes-sacm-ecp-01
Abstract
This document specifies the Endpoint Compliance Profile, a high-level
specification that describes a specific combination and application
of NEA and TNC protocols and interfaces specifically designed to
support ongoing assessment of endpoint posture and the controlled
exposure of collected posture information to appropriate security
applications. This document is a subset of the Trusted Computing
Group's Endpoint Compliance Profile Version 1.0 specification.
Status of This Memo
This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.
Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
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Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
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material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."
This Internet-Draft will expire on March 11, 2017.
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
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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. Preventative Posture Assessments . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2. Standardized Schema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3. Secure Standardized Protocols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.4. Keywords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2. Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3. Endpoint Compliance Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.1. Posture Assessments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.2. Data Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.3. Follow-up Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4. Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.1. Purpose of the Endpoint Compliance Profile . . . . . . . 8
4.2. Supported Use Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.2.1. Connected-and-Compliant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.2.2. Exposing Data to the Network . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.2.2.1. Asset Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.2.2.2. Vulnerability Searches . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.2.2.3. Threat Detection and Analysis . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.2.3. Non-supported Use Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.2.4. Profile Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.2.5. Assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
5. Endpoint Compliance Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
5.1. Endpoint Pre-Provisioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
5.1.1. SWID Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
5.1.2. Endpoint Identity and Machine Certificate . . . . . . 17
5.2. Posture Validators and Posture Collectors . . . . . . . . 17
5.2.1. SWID-Posture-Collectors-and-Posture-Validators . . . 18
5.2.1.1. The-SWID-Posture-Collector . . . . . . . . . . . 18
5.2.1.2. The SWID Posture Validator . . . . . . . . . . . 18
5.3. NEA Client (NEAC) and NEA Server (NEAS) . . . . . . . . . 19
5.3.1. NEAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
5.3.2. NEAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
5.4. Repository . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
6. Posture Transport Client (PTC) and Posture Transport Server
(PTS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
7. Administrative Interface and API . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
8. Endpoint Compliance Profile Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
8.1. Continuous Posture Assessment of an Endpoint . . . . . . 21
8.1.1. Change on Endpoint Triggers Posture Assessment . . . 22
8.2. Administrator Searches for Vulnerable Endpoints . . . . . 24
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9. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
10. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
11. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
11.1. Security Benefits of Endpoint Compliance Profile . . . . 27
11.2. Threat Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
11.2.1. Endpoint Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
11.2.2. Network Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
11.2.3. Server Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
11.2.4. Repository Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
11.3. Countermeasures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
11.3.1. Countermeasures for Endpoint Attacks . . . . . . . . 31
11.3.2. Countermeasures for Network Attacks . . . . . . . . 32
11.3.3. Countermeasures for Server Attacks . . . . . . . . . 32
11.3.4. Countermeasures for Repository Attacks . . . . . . . 33
12. Privacy-Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
13. Change Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
13.1. -00 to -01 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
14. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
14.1. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
14.2. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
1. Introduction
The IETF NEA WG has defined an open architecture for network
security, including standard protocols for endpoint posture
assessment. The Endpoint Compliance Profile (ECP) builds on the NEA
protocols, along with complementary interfaces from the Trusted
Network Communications (TNC) WG of the Trusted Computing Group [TNC],
to determine the posture of any type of endpoint on a network
including user endpoints, servers, and infrastructure. The first
generation of this specification focuses on reducing the security
exposure of a network by confirming that all network-connected
endpoints are:
o known and authorized
o running applications that are known and authorized
o running applications that are patched and up-to-date; and,
o applications with known vulnerabilities can be located and patched
When ECP is used, posture information is gathered by the NEA Client
(NEAC) running on the endpoint and is forwarded to the NEA Server
(NEAS), which stores it in a repository. This information is
gathered while the endpoint is already connected to the network.
Administrators will query the repository to determine the compliance
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status of an endpoint. For example, if a vulnerability is discovered
in a product, an administrator may query the repository to determine
which endpoints have the vulnerable software installed and thus
require some follow-up action.
Future versions of the ECP may want to address how to expose
information--such as endpoint purpose, the software that is supposed
to be running on an endpoint, and the activities an endpoint is
supposed to be performing--to sensors that are looking for indicators
of attacks and malicious activity on the network.
1.1. Preventative Posture Assessments
The value of continuous endpoint posture assessment is well
established. Security experts have for years identified software
updating and patching as a critical step for preventing intrusions.
Application white listing, patching applications and operating
systems, and using the latest versions of applications top the
Defense Signals Directorate's "Top 4 Mitigations to Protect Your ICT
System". [DSD] "Inventory of Authorized and Unauthorized Endpoints",
"Inventory of Authorized and Unauthorized Software", and "Continuous
Vulnerability Assessment and Remediation" are Critical Controls 1, 2,
and 4, respectively, of the SANS "20 Critical Security Controls".
[SANS] While there are commercially available solutions that attempt
to address these security controls, these solutions do not run on all
types of endpoints; consistently interoperate with other tools that
could make use of the data collected; collect posture information
from all types of endpoints in a consistent, standardized schema; or
require vetted, standardized protocols that have been evaluated by
the international community for cryptographic soundness.
As is true of most solutions offered today, the solution found in the
ECP does not attempt to solve the lying endpoint problem. An
endpoint that has already been infected with malicious software can
provide false information about its identity and the software it is
running. The primary purpose of the ECP is not to detect infected
endpoints; rather, it focuses on ensuring that healthy endpoints
remain healthy by keeping software up-to-date and patched. The first
goal of the ECP is to help an administrator be able to readily
determine which endpoints require some follow-up action. Future
versions of the ECP may want to address how to expose posture
information to sensors to aid the detection of attacks on endpoints
and drive follow-up actions.
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1.2. Standardized Schema
The ECP requires the use of standardized schema for the exchange of
posture information. This helps to ensure that the posture
information sent from endpoints to the repository can be easily
stored, due to their known format, and shared with authorized
endpoints and users. Standardized schema also enable collection from
myriad types of endpoints. Such standardization saves implementers
time and money--time that does not have to be spent integrating new
schema into the enterprise's reporting mechanisms, and money that
does not have to be spent on developing tools to parse information
from each type of endpoint connected to the network. Standardized
schema also enable the development of standardized client software.
This allows endpoint vendors to include their own client software
that can interoperate with posture assessment infrastructure and thus
not have to introduce third party code in their products.
1.3. Secure Standardized Protocols
Posture information must be sent over mature, standardized protocols
to ensure the confidentiality and authenticity of this data while in
transit. The ECP requires use of the NEA PT-TLS protocol [RFC6876]
for communication between the endpoint and the server. This protocol
allows networks that implement this solution to collect large amounts
of posture information from an endpoint in order to make decisions
about that endpoint's compliance to some policy. This Profile offers
a solution for all endpoints already connected to the network.
Periodic assessments and automated reporting of changes to installed
software allow for instantaneous identification of connected
endpoints that are no longer compliant to some policy.
The IETF NEA WG has designed an architecture to support endpoint
posture assessment. Figure 1 illustrates the architectural
components used in the Endpoint Compliance Profile:
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Endpoint Server
+---------------+ +---------------+
| | | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ |
| | SWID | | | | SWID | |
| | Posture | | | | Posture | |
| | Collector | | | | Validator | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ |
| | | | | |
| | PC-TNC | | | IF-IMV | Repository
| | | | | | +--------+
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ | | |
| | PB Client | | | | PB Server | |---->| |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | +--------+
| | | | | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ |
| | PT Client | |<------>| | PT Server | |
| +-----------+ | PT-TLS | +-----------+ |
| | | |
+---------------+ +---------------+
Figure 1: The Endpoint Compliance Architecture
Note that the SWID Posture Collector and SWID Posture Validator are
implementations of NEA's Posture Collector (PC) and Posture Validator
(PV) architectural components, respectively. Requirements for each
of the components in the diagram above are contained in this profile.
The reader should consult [RFC5209] for additional information on
these components. All current repository requirements are contained
within the Endpoint Compliance Profile.
1.4. Keywords
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]. This
specification does not distinguish blocks of informative comments and
normative requirements. Therefore, for the sake of clarity, note
that lower case instances of must, should, etc. do not indicate
normative requirements.
2. Terminology
This document uses terms as defined in [I-D.ietf-sacm-terminology]
unless otherwise specified.
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3. Endpoint Compliance Profile
The Endpoint Compliance Profile describes how NEA and TNC
specifications can be used to support the posture assessment of
endpoints on a network. This profile does not generate new schema or
protocols; rather, it offers a full end-to-end solution for posture
assessment, as well as a fresh perspective on how existing standards
can be leveraged against vulnerabilities.
3.1. Posture Assessments
The Endpoint Compliance Profile 1.0 describes how NEA and TNC
specifications make it possible to perform posture assessments
against all network-connected endpoints by:
1. uniquely identifying the endpoint;
2. collecting and assessing posture based on data from the endpoint;
3. creating a secure, authenticated, confidential channel between
the endpoint and the server;
4. enabling the endpoint to notify the server about changes to its
configuration;
5. enabling the server to request information about the
configuration of the endpoint; and
6. storing the posture information in a repository linked to the
identifier for the endpoint.
3.2. Data Storage
The ISO/IEC Software Identification Tag standard [SWID] has defined a
schema for identifying applications installed on endpoints and their
patch status. The Endpoint Compliance Profile 1.0 focuses on being
able to collect this information from an endpoint and store it in a
repository. This makes posture information from a network's
endpoints available to authorized parties. Uses of this data are
innumerable--vulnerability management, asset management, software
asset management, and configuration management solutions, analytics
tools, endpoints that need to make connectivity decisions, and
metrics reporting scripts, among others, are all able to reference
the data stored in the repository to achieve their purposes.
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3.3. Follow-up Actions
The ability of the endpoint to notify the server whenever a
modification is made to the endpoint enables immediate identification
of endpoints that fall out of compliance. The Endpoint Compliance
Profile 1.0 does not specify requirements for how these endpoints
should be addressed. However, the TNC specifications do support the
ability to send instructions that drive access control enforcement
decisions for a non-compliant endpoint. Additional information about
the types of follow-up actions an enterprise may want to support can
be found in [RFC7632].
There is a clear need for nuanced, automated instructions sent from
the server to the endpoint (for example, to update an endpoint's
software, or remove a piece of non-compliant software). Those
messages are complicated to define and may have to be tailored to a
particular operating system. Future versions of this specification
may want to address which instructions can be defined based on the
configuration content that is collected from endpoints.
4. Background
4.1. Purpose of the Endpoint Compliance Profile
The Endpoint Compliance Profile describes a standard way to
communicate endpoint posture information such as software identity
and software version and to make it available to other authorized
parties. The Endpoint Compliance Profile 1.0 focuses on collecting
the application information available in SWID tags, as specified in
[SWID]. Future versions of the Endpoint Compliance Profile could
describe how additional types of posture information can be collected
and communicated in a standardized way.
4.2. Supported Use Cases
The Endpoint Compliance Profile focuses on the posture assessment of
enterprise endpoints on enterprise networks. Use cases supported by
the Endpoint Compliance Profile 1.0 are as follows:
4.2.1. Connected-and-Compliant
A network-connected endpoint sends posture information using standard
schemas such as SWID over NEA protocols.
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Endpoint Server
+-------------------+ +---------------+
| | | |
| +-------+ | | +-----------+ |
| | SWIDs | | | | SWID | |
| +-------+ | | | Posture | |
| | | | | Validator | |
| | | | +-----------+ |
| | +-----------+ | | | |
| +->| SWID | | | | |
| | Posture | | | | |
| | Collector | | | | |
| +-----------+ | | | |
| | | | | |
| | PC-TNC | | | IF-IMV | Repository
| | | | | | +--------+
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ | | |
| | PB Client | | | | PB Server | |---->| |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ | | |
| | | | | | | |
| +----------+ | | | | | +--------+
| | Endpoint | | | | | |
| | ID | | | | | |
| +----------+ | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | +-----------+ | | +-----------+ |
| +->| PT Client | |<------>| | PT Server | |
| +-----------+ | PT-TLS | +-----------+ |
| | | |
+-------------------+ +---------------+
Figure 2: Connected and Compliant Use Case
1. If necessary, the endpoint finds and validates the server in
compliance with [Server-Discovery].
2. The Posture Transport Client (PTC) on the endpoint and Posture
Transport Server (PTS) on the server complete a TLS handshake,
during which endpoint identity information is exchanged.
3. Either the NEA Server (NEAS) on the server or the NEA Client
(NEAC) on the endpoint initiates a posture assessment. Checks
may be triggered for multiple reasons, including:
(a) policy states that a previous assessment has aged out and
become invalid;
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(b) the NEAC notices that the relevant posture information on
the endpoint has changed, (for example, due to application
updates, deletions or additions); or
(c) the NEAS is alerted by a sensor or an administrator (via the
server's user interface) that an assessment must be
completed.
All information exchanges between the PCs and PVs are subject to
the enterprise's policy, which may limit the content or size of
information sent between the endpoint and the server.
4. The SWID Posture Collector on the endpoint collects from the SWID
tag directory on the endpoint. This data is sent via the NEAC
and PTC to the server.
5. Once the posture information is received by the PTS, it is
forwarded to the SWID Posture Validator via the NEAS. The SWID
Posture Validator also forwards the posture information to the
repository. The posture information is stored along with past
posture information collected about the endpoint.
4.2.2. Exposing Data to the Network
Because the endpoint posture information was sent in a standards-
based schema (ISO/IEC 19770-2:2009) over secure, standardized
protocols, and the SWID tags are stored in a centralized repository
linked to unique endpoint identifiers, authorized parties are able to
access the posture information. Such authorized parties may include,
but are not limited to, administrators or endpoint owners (via the
server's administrative interface), and other pieces of
infrastructure that can make use of this data (via the server's API).
The server will provide:
o a standard administrative interface that allows data sharing with
authorized parties;
o a standard API that allows data sharing with authorized
infrastructure and software;
o a persistent account of endpoints that have connected to the
network over a period of time set by the administrator;
o the identities provided by those endpoints; and
o what SWIDs were reported by the endpoint.
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The endpoint will publish updates as its local SWID directory
changes, as well as each time it disconnects and reconnects to the
network.
Endpoint Server
+--------------------+ +---------------+
| | | |
| +-------+ | | +-----------+ |
| | SWIDs | | | | SWID | |
| +-------+ | | | Posture | |
| | | | | Validator | |
| | | | +-----------+ |
| | +-----------+ | | | |
| +->| SWID | | | | |
| | Posture | | | | |
| | Collector | | | | |
| +-----------+ | | | |
| | | | | |
| | PC-TNC | | | IF-IMV | Repository
| | | | | | +--------+
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ | | |
| | PB Client | | | | PB Server | |---->| |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ | | |
| | | | | | | |
| +----------+ | | | | | +--------+
| | Endpoint | | | | | |
| | ID | | | | | |
| +----------+ | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | +-----------+ | | +-----------+ |
| +->| PT Client | |<------>| | PT Server | |
| +-----------+ | PT-TLS | +-----------+ |
| | | |
+--------------------+ +---------------+
+----------------------------------+
| Administrative Interface and API |
+----------------------------------+
Figure 3: Exposing Data to the Network
It should be noted that the neither the Endpoint Compliance Profile
nor the protocols, interfaces, and data models that it references
provide solutions to the server capabilities listed above. However,
these capabilities are useful and solutions for them should be
pursued in the future.
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4.2.2.1. Asset Management
Using the administrative interface on the server, an authorized user
can learn:
o what endpoints are connected to the network at any given time; and
o what SWID tags were reported for the endpoints.
The ability to answer these questions offers a standards-based
approach to asset management, which is a vital part of enterprise
processes such as compliance report generation for the Federal
Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA), Payment Card Industry
Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA), etc.
4.2.2.2. Vulnerability Searches
The administrative interface also provides the ability for authorized
users or infrastructure to locate endpoints running software for
which vulnerabilities have been announced. Because of
1. the unique IDs assigned to each endpoint; and
2. the rich application data provided in the endpoints' posture
information,
the repository can be queried to find all endpoints running a
vulnerable application. Endpoints suspected of being vulnerable can
be addressed by the administrator or flagged for further scrutiny.
4.2.2.3. Threat Detection and Analysis
The repository's standardized API allows authorized infrastructure
endpoints and software to search endpoint posture assessment
information for evidence that an endpoint's software inventory has
changed, and can make endpoint software inventory data available to
other endpoints. This automates security data sharing in a way that
expedites the correlation of relevant network data, allowing
administrators and infrastructure endpoints to identify odd endpoint
behavior and configuration using secure, standards-based schema and
protocols.
4.2.3. Non-supported Use Cases
Several use cases, including but not limited to these, are not
covered by the Endpoint Compliance Profile 1.0:
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o Gathering other types of posture information: The Endpoint
Compliance Profile does not prevent administrators from collecting
other types of posture information other than SWIDs from the
endpoint; however it does not set requirements for doing so.
o Solving the lying endpoint problem: The Endpoint Compliance
Profile does not address the lying endpoint problem; the Profile
makes no assertions that it can catch an endpoint that is, either
maliciously or accidentally, reporting false posture information
to the server. However, other solutions may be able to use the
posture information collected using the capabilities described in
this profile to catch an endpoint in a lie. For example, a sensor
may be able to compare the posture information it has collected on
an endpoint's activity on the network to what the endpoint
reported to the server and flag discrepancies. However, these
particular capabilities are not described in this profile.
o Publish/subscribe repository interface: Future versions of the
Endpoint Compliance Profile may specify a publish/subscribe
interface for the repository, so infrastructure endpoint can
subscribe to and receive published posture assessment results from
the repository regarding endpoint configuration changes. However,
the Endpoint Compliance Profile 1.0 includes no such requirements.
4.2.4. Profile Requirements
Here are the requirements that the Endpoint Compliance Profile
protocol must meet in order to successfully fit in the SACM
architecture.
o Meets the needs of the SACM architecture: The Endpoint Compliance
Profile must support the use cases described in [RFC7632] as they
apply to endpoint self-reporting and endpoint posture assessment.
o Efficient: To minimize user frustration, it is essential to
minimize delays by making endpoint posture information collection,
transmission, and assessment as brief and efficient as possible.
o Extensible: The Endpoint Compliance Profile needs to expand over
time as new features are added to the SACM architecture. The
solution must allow new features to be added easily, providing for
a smooth transition and allowing newer and older architectural
components to continue to work together. Further, the Endpoint
Compliance Profile and the specifications referenced here must
define safe extensibility mechanisms that enable innovation
without breaking interoperability.
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o Easy to implement: The Endpoint Compliance Profile should be easy
for vendors to implement in their products, and should result in
products that are easy for administrators to implement on their
networks. Products conformant to the Endpoint Compliance Profile
should interoperate seamlessly, and be simple to integrate into
existing network infrastructure.
o Easy to use: The Endpoint Compliance Profile should describe a
simple, integrated user interface that administrators can use to
perform the activities listed in the profile's use cases. The
Endpoint Compliance Profile should not constrain innovation by
specifying details of the user interface but rather functional
requirements.
o Platform-independent: Since network environments may contain many
different types of endpoints, the solution should operate
independently of the endpoint platform.
o Scalable: The Endpoint Compliance Profile must be designed to
scale to very large numbers of endpoints.
4.2.5. Assumptions
Here are the assumptions that the Endpoint Compliance Profile makes
about other components in the SACM architecture.
o Existence of a server and repository: The Endpoint Compliance
Profile assumes that a server and repository exist.
o Endpoint SWID installation: The Endpoint Compliance Profile
assumes that an endpoint has been pre-provisioned with Software
Identification Tags for its applications, and that these SWID tags
are formatted and stored in conformance with [SWID].
o Certificate provisioning: In order to implement the most secure
endpoint identification option, the Endpoint Compliance Profile
assumes that the enterprise has set up a certificate root
authority, and has provisioned each endpoint with an endpoint
identification certificate. This is not required if an enterprise
chooses to use other endpoint authentication methods.
In addition, the Endpoint Compliance Profile makes the following
assumptions about the SACM ecosystem:
o All network-connected endpoints are endpoints: As defined by
[I-D.ietf-sacm-terminology], an endpoint is any physical or
virtual computing endpoint that can be connected to a network.
Posture assessment against policy is equally, if not more,
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important for continuously connected endpoints, such as enterprise
workstations and infrastructure endpoints, as it is for
sporadically connected endpoints. Continuously connected
endpoints are just as likely to fall out of compliance with
policy, and a standardized posture assessment method is necessary
to ensure they can be properly handled.
o All endpoints on the network must be uniquely identified: Many
administrators struggle to identify what endpoints are connected
at any given time. By requiring a standardized method of endpoint
identity, the Endpoint Compliance Profile will enable
administrators to answer the basic question, "What is on my
network?" Unique endpoint identification also enables the
comparison of current and past endpoint posture assessments, by
allowing administrators to correlate assessments from the same
endpoint. This makes it easier to flag suspicious changes in
endpoint posture for manual or automatic review, and helps to
swiftly identify malicious changes to endpoint applications.
o Posture assessments must occur over secure, standardized
protocols: Endpoint identity and application information is very
valuable, both to administrators and to attackers. Therefore, it
must be kept confidential, using secure protocols to transport it
from the endpoint to network infrastructure endpoints.
Additionally, it is critical that only authorized parties be
capable of requesting information, receiving information, or
taking action to change an endpoint's connectivity status.
Relying on standardized protocols to provide this security enables
greater interoperability and compatibility between endpoints, and
allows for the development of compliance testing to ensure that
each endpoint operates securely and in conformance with
appropriate specifications. A standards body provides a process
for experts in protocols and cryptography to evaluate the
soundness of protocols and security management procedures; a set
of security standards allows an enterprise to make the most
effective use of their investment in a security management
infrastructure.
o Posture assessment results must be formatted using standardized
schema: Well-known, standard schema allow for a universal language
for generating compliance reports. With each endpoint speaking
the same language, the Endpoint Compliance Profile enables
information sharing between user endpoints and infrastructure
endpoints, and between infrastructure endpoints that perform
different security tasks.
o Posture information must be stored by the repository and must be
exposed to an interface at the server: A standard schema enables
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standard queries from an interface exposed to an administrator at
the server console. A repository must retain any current posture
information retrieved from the endpoint and store it indexed by
the unique identifier for the endpoint. Any PV specified by this
profile must be able to ascertain from its corresponding PC
whether the posture information is up to date. An interface on
the server must support a request to the PV to obtain up-to-date
information when an endpoint is connected. This interface must
also support the ability to make a standard set of queries about
the posture information stored by the repository. In the future,
some forms of posture information might be retained at the
endpoint. The interface on the server must accommodate the
ability to make a request through the PV to the corresponding PC
about the posture of the endpoint. Standard schema and protocols
also enable the security of posture assessment results. By
storing these results indexed under the endpoint's unique
identification, secure storage itself enables endpoint posture
information correlation, and ensures that the enterprise's
Repositories always offer the freshest, most up-to-date view of
the enterprise's endpoint posture information possible.
o Posture information can be shared: By exposing posture information
using a standard interface and API, other security and operational
components have a high level of insight into the enterprise's
endpoints and the software installed on them. This will support
innovation in the areas of asset management, vulnerability
scanning, and administrative interfaces, as any authorized
infrastructure endpoint can interact with the posture information.
o Owners and administrators must have complete control of posture
information, policy, and endpoint mitigation: Enterprise asset
posture information belongs to the enterprise. Standardized
schema, protocols and interfaces help to ensure that this posture
information is not locked in proprietary databases, but is made
available to its owners. This enables administrators to develop
as nuanced a policy as necessary to keep their networks secure.
5. Endpoint Compliance Requirements
These requirements are written with a view to performing a posture
assessment on an endpoint; as the Endpoint Compliance Profile grows
and evolves, these requirements will be expanded to address issues
that arise. Note that these requirements refer to defined components
of the NEA architecture. As with the NEA architecture, implementers
have discretion as to how these NEA components map to separate pieces
of software or endpoints.
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5.1. Endpoint Pre-Provisioning
The following requirements assume that the platform or OS vendor
supports the use of SWID tags and has identified a standard directory
location for the SWID tags to be located as specified by [SWID].
5.1.1. SWID Tags
The primary content for the Endpoint Compliance Profile 1.0 is the
information conveyed in the elements of a SWID tag.
The endpoint MUST have SWID tags stored in a directory specified in
[SWID]. The tags SHOULD be provided by the software vendor; they MAY
also be generated by:
o the software installer; or
o third-party software that creates tags based on the applications
it sees installed on the endpoint.
The elements in the SWID tag MUST be populated as specified in
[SWID]. These tags, and the directory in which they are stored, MUST
be updated as software is added, removed, or updated.
5.1.2. Endpoint Identity and Machine Certificate
The endpoint SHOULD authenticate to the server using a machine
certificate during the establishment of the outer tunnel achieved
with PT. [IF-IMV] specifies how to pull an endpoint ID out of a
machine certificate. An endpoint ID SHOULD be created in conformance
with [IF-IMV] from a machine certificate sent via [RFC6876].
In the future, the identity could be a hardware certificate compliant
with [IEEE-802-1ar]; ideally, this ID SHOULD be associated with the
identity of a hardware cryptographic module, in accordance with
[IEEE-802-1ar], if present on the endpoint. The enterprise SHOULD
stand up a certificate root authority; install its root certificate
on endpoints and on the server; and provision the endpoints and the
server with machine certificates. The endpoint MAY authenticate to
the server using a combination of the machine account and password;
however, this is less secure and not recommended.
5.2. Posture Validators and Posture Collectors
Any PC used in an Endpoint Compliance Profile solution MUST be
conformant with PC-TNC; an Internet-Draft, under development, that is
a subset of the TCG TNC Integrity Measurement Collector interface
[IF-IMC] and will be submitted in the near future. Any Posture
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Validator used in an Endpoint Compliance Profile solution MUST be
conformant with [IF-IMV].
5.2.1. SWID-Posture-Collectors-and-Posture-Validators
5.2.1.1. The-SWID-Posture-Collector
For the Endpoint Compliance Profile, the SWID Posture Collector MUST
be conformant with [SWID-Message-for-PA-TNC], which includes
requirements for:
1. Collecting SWID tags from the SWID directory
2. Monitoring the SWID directory for changes
3. Initiating a session with the server to report changes to the
directory
4. Maintaining a list of changes to the SWID directory when updates
take place and no PT-TLS connection can be created with the
server
5. Responding to a request for SWID tags from the SWID Posture
Validator on the server
6. Responding to a query from the SWID Posture Validator as to
whether all updates have been sent
The SWID Posture Collector is not responsible for detecting that the
SWID directory was not updated when an application was either
installed or uninstalled.
5.2.1.2. The SWID Posture Validator
Conformance to [SWID-Message-for-PA-TNC] enables the SWID Posture
Validator to:
1. Send messages to the SWID Posture Collector (at the behest of the
administrator at the server console) requesting updates for SWID
tags located on endpoint
2. Ask the SWID Posture Collector whether all updates to the SWID
directory located at the server have been sent
3. Compare an endpoint's SWID posture information to policy, and
make a recommendation to the NEAS about the endpoint
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In addition to these requirements, a SWID Posture Validator used in
conformance with this profile MUST be capable of passing information
from the posture assessment results and the endpoint identity
associated with those results to the repository for storage.
5.3. NEA Client (NEAC) and NEA Server (NEAS)
[RFC5793] describes a standard way for the NEAC and the NEAS to
exchange messages.
5.3.1. NEAC
The NEAC MUST conform to [RFC5793], which levies a number of
requirements against the NEAC. A NEAC that complies with these
requirements will be able to:
1. attempt to initiate a session with the NEAS if the SWID Posture
Collector makes a request to send an update to the SWID directory
to the server;
2. notify the SWID Posture Collector if no PT-TLS session with the
server can be created;
3. notify the SWID Posture Collector when a PT-TLS session is
established; and
4. receive information from the PCs, forward this information to the
server via the PTC.
The NEAC MUST also conform to PC-TNC to enable communications with
the SWID Posture Collector.
5.3.2. NEAS
The NEAS MUST conform to all requirements in the [RFC5793] and
[IF-IMV] specifications. Conformance to [IF-IMV] enables the NEAS to
obtain endpoint identity information from the PTS, and pass this
information to any IMVs on the server.
5.4. Repository
ECP 1.0 requires a simple administrative interface for the
repository. PVs on the server receive the endpoint data via PA-TNC
[RFC5792] messages sent from corresponding PCs on an endpoint and
store this information in the repository linked to the identity of
the endpoint where the PCs are located.
The administrative interface SHOULD enable an administrator to:
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1. Query which endpoints have reported SWID tags for a particular
application
2. Query which SWID tags are installed on a particular endpoint
3. Query tags based on characteristics, such as vendor, publisher,
etc.
In the future, if SACM decides to develop an interface to the
repository server, it should consider requirements for:
1. Creating a secure channel between a publisher and the repository
2. Creating a secure channel between a subscriber and the repository
3. The types of interactions that must be supported between
publishers and subscribers to a repository
6. Posture Transport Client (PTC) and Posture Transport Server (PTS)
The PT-TLS protocol provides a transport service for carrying the PB-
TNC protocol messages between the endpoint and the server.
The PTC and PTS MUST implement PT-TLS, since a connection is needed
that:
o Can handle large volumes of data, which might require multiple
roundtrips, to be sent while the endpoint is connected
o Allows either the NEAC or NEAS to initiate a connection
o Supports secure transport based on machine certificates at both
ends of the connection
The PTC and PTS MUST support the use of machine certificates for TLS
at each endpoint consistent with the requirements stipulated in
[RFC6876] and [Server-Discovery].
The PTC MUST be able to locate an authorized server, and switch to a
new server when required by the network, in conformance with
[Server-Discovery].
7. Administrative Interface and API
An interface is necessary to allow administrators to manage the
endpoints and software used in the Endpoint Compliance Profile. This
interface SHOULD be accessible either on or through (as in the case
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of a remotely hosted interface) the server. Using this interface, an
authorized user or administrator SHOULD be able to:
o Query the repository
o Send commands to the PVs, requesting information from the
associated PCs residing on network endpoints
o Update the policy that resides on the server
An API is necessary to allow infrastructure endpoints and software
access to the information stored in the repository. Using this API,
an authorized endpoint SHOULD be able to:
o Query the repository
8. Endpoint Compliance Profile Examples
8.1. Continuous Posture Assessment of an Endpoint
Endpoint Server
+---------------+ +---------------+
| | | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ |
| | SWID | | | | SWID | |
| | Posture | | | | Posture | |
| | Collector | | | | Validator | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ |
| | | | | |
| | PC-TNC | | | IF-IMV |
| | | | | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ |
| | PB Client | | | | PB Server | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ |
| | PT Client | |<------>| | PT Server | |
| +-----------+ | PT-TLS | +-----------+ |
| | | |
+---------------+ +---------------+
Figure 4: Continuous Posture Assessment of an Endpoint
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8.1.1. Change on Endpoint Triggers Posture Assessment
A new application is installed on the endpoint, and the SWID
directory is updated. This triggers an update from the SWID Posture
Collector to the SWID Posture Validator. The message is sent down
the NEA stack, encapsulated by NEA protocols until it is sent by the
PTC to the PTS. The PTS then forwards it up through the stack, where
the layers of encapsulation are removed until the SWID Message
arrives at the SWID Posture Validator.
Endpoint Server
+---------------+ +---------------+
| | | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ |
| | SWID | | | | SWID | |
| | Posture | | | | Posture | |
| | Collector | | | | Validator | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ |
| | | SWID Message | | |
| | PC-TNC | for PA-TNC | | IF-IMV |
| | | | | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ |
| | PB Client | | | | PB Server | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ |
| | | | | |
| | | PB-TNC {SWID | | |
| | | Message for | | |
| | | PA-TNC | | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ |
| | PT Client | |<-------------->| | PT Server | |
| +-----------+ | PT-TLS {PB-TNC | +-----------+ |
| | {SWID Message | |
+---------------+ for PA-TNC}} +---------------+
Figure 5: Compliance Protocol Encapsulation
The SWID Posture Validator stores the new tag information in the
repository. If the tag indicates that the endpoint is compliant to
the policy, then the process is complete until the next time an
update is needed (either because policy states that the endpoint must
submit posture assessment results periodically or because an
install/uninstall/update on the endpoint triggers a posture
assessment).
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Endpoint Server
+---------------+ +---------------+
| | | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ |
| | SWID | | | | SWID |-|-+
| | Posture | | | | Posture | | |
| | Collector | | | | Validator | | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ | |
| | | | | | | Repository
| | PC-TNC | | | IF-IMV | | +--------+
| | | | | | | | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ | | | |
| | PB Client | | | | PB Server | | +---->| |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ | | |
| | | | | | +--------+
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ |
| | PT Client | |<------>| | PT Server | |
| +-----------+ | PT-TLS | +-----------+ |
| | | |
+---------------+ +---------------+
Figure 6: Storing SWIDs in the Repository
If the endpoint has fallen out of compliance with a policy, the
server can alert the administrator via the server's administrative
interface. The administrator can then take steps to address the
problem. If the administrator has already established a policy for
automatically addressing this problem, that policy will be followed.
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(")
__|__
+-->|
Endpoint Server | / \
+---------------+ +---------------+ |
| | | | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ | |
| | SWID | | | | SWID |-|-+
| | Posture | | | | Posture | |
| | Collector | | | | Validator | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ |
| | | | | | Repository
| | PC-TNC | | | IF-IMV | +--------+
| | | | | | | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ | | |
| | PB Client | | | | PB Server | | | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ | | |
| | | | | | +--------+
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ |
| | PT Client | |<------>| | PT Server | |
| +-----------+ | PT-TLS | +-----------+ |
| | | |
+---------------+ +---------------+
Figure 7: Server Alerts Network Admin
8.2. Administrator Searches for Vulnerable Endpoints
An announcement is made that a particular version of a piece of
software has a vulnerability. The administrator uses the
Administrative Interface on the server to search the repository for
endpoints that reported the SWID tag for the vulnerable software.
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(")
__|__
+-->|
Endpoint Server | / \
+---------------+ +---------------+ |
| | | | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ | |
| | SWID | | | | SWID |-|-+
| | Posture | | | | Posture | |
| | Collector | | | | Validator | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ |
| | | | | | Repository
| | PC-TNC | | | IF-IMV | +--------+
| | | | | | | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ | | |
| | PB Client | | | | PB Server | |------>| |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ | | |
| | | | | | +--------+
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| +-----------+ | | +-----------+ |
| | PT Client | |<------>| | PT Server | |
| +-----------+ | PT-TLS | +-----------+ |
| | | |
+---------------+ +---------------+
Figure 8: Admin Searches for Vulnerable Endpoints
The repository returns a list of entries in the matching the
administrator's search. The administrator can then address the
vulnerable endpoints by taking some follow-up action such as removing
it from the network, quarantining it, or updating the vulnerable
software.
9. Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank all of those in the TCG TNC work group who
contributed to development of the TNC ECP specification upon which
this document is based.
+-----------------------+-------------------------------------------+
| Member | Organization |
+-----------------------+-------------------------------------------+
| Padma Krishnaswamy | Battelle Memorial Institute |
| | |
| Eric Fleischman | Boeing |
| | |
| Richard Hill | Boeing |
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| | |
| Steven Venema | Boeing |
| | |
| Nancy Cam-Winget | Cisco Systems |
| | |
| Scott Pope | Cisco Systems |
| | |
| Max Pritikin | Cisco Systems |
| | |
| Allan Thompson | Cisco Systems |
| | |
| Nicolai Kuntze | Fraunhofer Institute for Secure |
| | Information Technology (SIT) |
| | |
| Ira McDonald | High North |
| | |
| Dr. Andreas Steffen | HSR University of Applied Sciences |
| | Rapperswil |
| | |
| Josef von Helden | Hochschule Hannover |
| | |
| James Tan | Infoblox |
| | |
| Steve Hanna (TNC-WG | Juniper Networks |
| Co-Chair) | |
| | |
| Cliff Kahn | Juniper Networks |
| | |
| Lisa Lorenzin | Juniper Networks |
| | |
| Atul Shah (TNC-WG Co- | Microsoft |
| Chair) | |
| | |
| Jon Baker | MITRE |
| | |
| Charles Schmidt | MITRE |
| | |
| Rainer Enders | NCP Engineering |
| | |
| Dick Wilkins | Phoenix Technologies |
| | |
| David Waltermire | NIST |
| | |
| Mike Boyle | U.S. Government |
| | |
| Emily Doll | U.S. Government |
| | |
| Jessica Fitzgerald- | U.S. Government |
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| McKay | |
| | |
| Mary Lessels | U.S. Government |
| | |
| Chris Salter | U.S. Government |
+-----------------------+-------------------------------------------+
Table 1: Members of the TNC that Contributed to the Document
10. IANA Considerations
This document does not define any new IANA registries. However, this
document does reference other documents that do define IANA
registries. As a result, the IANA Considerations section of the
referenced documents should be consulted.
11. Security Considerations
The Endpoint Compliance Profile offers substantial improvements in
endpoint security, as evidenced by the Australian Defense Signals
Directorate's analysis that 85% of targeted cyber intrusions can be
prevented through application white listing, patching applications
and operating systems, and using the latest versions of applications.
[DSD] Despite these gains, some security risks continue to exist and
must be considered.
To ensure that these benefits and risks are properly understood, this
Security Considerations section includes an analysis of the benefits
provided by the Endpoint Compliance Profile (Section 11.1), the
attacks that may be mounted against systems that implement the
Endpoint Compliance Profile (Section 11.2), and the countermeasures
that may be used to prevent or mitigate these attacks (Section 11.3).
Overall, a substantial reduction in cyber risk can be achieved.
11.1. Security Benefits of Endpoint Compliance Profile
Security weaknesses of the components for this profile should be
considered in light of the practical considerations that must be
addressed to have a viable solution.
Posture assessment has two parts: assessment and follow-up actions.
The point of posture assessment is to ensure that authorized users
are using authorized software configured to be as resilient as
possible against an attack.
Posture assessment answers the question whether the endpoint is
healthy. Our goal for posture assessment is to make it harder for an
adversary to execute code on one of our endpoints. This profile
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represents an important first step in reaching that goal. If we keep
our endpoints healthier, we are able to prevent more attacks on our
endpoints and thus on our information systems.
The goal of ECP is to address posture assessment in stages. Stage 1
is the ability to ascertain whether all endpoints are authorized and
whether all applications are authorized and up to date. Stage 2 will
attempt to address the harder problem of whether all software is
configured safely. Eventually, the goal is to also address
remediation which is currently out-of-scope for the SACM WG; that
presents a far greater security challenge than reporting, since
remediation implies the ability of a remote party to modify software
or its settings on endpoints.
A second security consideration is how to gain visibility over every
type of endpoint and every piece of software installed on the
endpoint. This is a problem of scaling and observation. A solution
is needed that can report from every type of endpoint. All software
on the endpoint has to be discovered. Information about the software
has to be up to date and accurate. The information that is
discovered has to be reported in a consistent format, so
administrators do not have to squander time deciphering proprietary
systems and the information can be made readily useful for other
security automation purposes.
ECP is based on a model of a standards-based schema, a standards-
based set of protocols and interfaces, and the existence of an
oversight group, the IETF, that can update the schemas and protocols
to meet new use cases and security issues that may be discovered.
The data elements in the schema determine what work can be done
consistently for every endpoint and every piece of software. How the
data gets populated is an important consideration. ECP leverages the
SWID tags from ISO 19770-2 because the tag originates with a single
authoritative source, the application vendor itself. Moreover, there
is a natural incentive for the vendor to create this content, since
it makes it easier for enterprises and vendors to track whether
software is licensed. Practical considerations are security
considerations. A sustainable business model for obtaining all the
necessary content is a fundamental requirement.
The NEA model is based on having a NEAC run on an endpoint that
publishes posture information to a server. The advantages are easy
to list. A platform vendor can implement its own NEAC and have it be
compatible with the NEAS from a different vendor. The interfaces are
layered on top of mature protocols such as TLS. TLS is the protocol
of choice for ECP, since:
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o it has proven secure properties,
o it can be implemented on most types of endpoints,
o it allows the gathering of large amounts of information when a
endpoint is connected, and
o it enables use of a mechanism to ensure that the client is
authenticated (authorized) - a client certificate - which also
provides a consistent identifier.
Mature protocols that can be implemented on most types of endpoints
and a standards-based schema with a sustainable business model are
both critical security considerations for compliance.
Additionally, it is important to consider the future stages for ECP
such as a posture assessment being followed up by some action (e.g.
remediation, alert, etc.). Ensuring that clients are taking
instructions only from authorized parties will be critical. Inasmuch
as it is practical, enterprises will want to use the same
infrastructure and investment in PKI to send those instructions to a
client.
Likewise, as more information with more value is gathered from
endpoints, we will also want to ensure that this information is only
released to authorized applications and parties. For the next stage
of ECP, SACM may want to define an interface on the repository that
can be queried by other security automation applications to make it
easier to detect attacks and for other security automation
applications. This interface has to be standards-based for
enterprises to reap the benefits of innovation that can be achieved
by making the enterprise's data available to other tools and
services.
11.2. Threat Model
This section lists the attacks that can be mounted on an Endpoint
Compliance Profile environment. The following section (Section 11.3)
describes countermeasures.
Because the Endpoint Compliance Profile describes a specific use case
for NEA components, many security considerations for these components
are addressed in more detail in the technical specifications: [SWID-
Message-for-PA-TNC], PC-TNC, [RFC5793], [Server-Discovery],
[RFC6876], [IF-IMV].
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11.2.1. Endpoint Attacks
While the Endpoint Compliance Profile provides substantial
improvements in endpoint security as described in Section 11.1, a
certain percentage of endpoints will always get compromised. For
this reason, all parties must regard data coming from endpoints as
potentially unreliable or even malicious. An analogy can be drawn
with human testimony in an investigation or trial. Human testimony
is essential but must be regarded with suspicion.
o Compromise of endpoint: A compromised endpoint may report false
information to confuse or even provide maliciously crafted
information with a goal of infecting others.
o Putting bad information in SWID directory: Even if an endpoint is
not completely compromised, some of the software running on it may
be unreliable or even malicious. This software, potentially
including the SWID generation or discovery tool, or malicious
software pretending to be a SWID generation or discovery tool, can
place incorrect or maliciously crafted information into the SWID
directory. Endpoint users may even place such information in the
directory, whether motivated by curiosity or confusion or a desire
to bypass restrictions on their use of the endpoint.
o Identity spoofing (impersonation): A compromised endpoint may
attempt to impersonate another endpoint to gain its privileges or
to besmirch the reputation of that other endpoint.
11.2.2. Network Attacks
A variety of attacks can be mounted using the network. Generally,
the network cannot be trusted.
o Eavesdropping, modification, injection, replay, deletion
o Traffic analysis
o Denial of service and blocking traffic
11.2.3. Server Attacks
The server is a critical security element and therefore merits
considerable scrutiny.
o Compromised trusted server: A compromised server or a malicious
party that is able to impersonate a server can incorrectly grant
or deny access to endpoints, place incorrect information into the
repository, or send malicious messages to endpoints
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o Misconfiguration of trusted server: Accidental or purposeful
misconfiguration of a trusted server can cause effects that are
similar to those listed for compromised trusted server.
o Malicious untrusted server: An untrusted server cannot mount any
significant attacks because all properly implemented endpoints
will refuse to engage in any meaningful dialog with such a server.
11.2.4. Repository Attacks
The repository is also an important security element and therefore
merits careful scrutiny.
o Putting bad information into trusted repository: An authorized
repository client such as a server may be able to put incorrect
information into a trusted repository or delete or modify
historical information, causing incorrect decisions about endpoint
security. Placing maliciously crafted data in the repository
could even lead to compromise of repository clients, if they fail
to carefully check such data.
o Compromised trusted repository: A compromised trusted repository
or a malicious untrusted repository that is able to impersonate a
trusted repository can lead to effects similar to those listed for
"Putting bad information into trusted repository". Further, a
compromised trusted repository can report different results to
different repository clients or deny access to the repository for
selected repository clients.
o Misconfiguration of trusted repository: Accidental or purposeful
misconfiguration of a trusted repository can deny access to the
repository or result in loss of historical data.
o Malicious untrusted repository: An untrusted repository cannot
mount any significant attacks because all properly implemented
repository clients will refuse to engage in any meaningful dialog
with such a repository.
11.3. Countermeasures
This section lists the countermeasures that can be used in an
Endpoint Compliance Profile environment.
11.3.1. Countermeasures for Endpoint Attacks
This profile is in and of itself a countermeasure for a compromised
endpoint. A primary defense for an endpoint is to run up to date
software configured to be run as safely as possible.
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Ensuring that anti-virus signatures are up to date and that a
firewall is configured are also protections for an endpoint that are
supported by the current NEA specifications.
Endpoints that have hardware cryptographic modules that are
provisioned by the enterprise, in accordance with [IEEE-802-1ar], can
protect the private keys used for authentication and help prevent
adversaries from stealing credentials that can be used for
impersonation. Future versions of the Endpoint Compliance Profile
may want to discuss in greater detail how to use a hardware
cryptographic module, in accordance with [IEEE-802-1ar], to protect
credentials and to protect the integrity of the code that executes
during the bootstrap process.
11.3.2. Countermeasures for Network Attacks
To address network attacks, [RFC6876] includes required encryption,
authentication, integrity protection, and replay protection.
[Server-Discovery] also includes authorization checks to ensure that
only authorized servers are trusted by endpoints. Any unspecified or
not yet specified network protocols employed in the Endpoint
Compliance Profile (e.g. the protocol used to interface with the
repository) should include similar protections.
These protections reduce the scope of the network threat to traffic
analysis and denial of service. Countermeasures for traffic analysis
(e.g. masking) are usually impractical but may be employed.
Countermeasures for denial of service (e.g. detecting and blocking
particular sources) SHOULD be used when appropriate to detect and
block denial of service attacks. These are routine practices in
network security.
11.3.3. Countermeasures for Server Attacks
Because of the serious consequences of server compromise, servers
SHOULD be especially well hardened against attack and minimized to
reduce their attack surface. They SHOULD be monitored using the NEA
protocols to ensure the integrity of the behavior and analysis data
stored on the server and SHOULD utilize a [IEEE-802-1ar] compliant
hardware cryptographic module for identity and/or integrity
measurements of the server. They should be well managed to minimize
vulnerabilities in the underlying platform and in systems upon which
the server depends. Network security measures such as firewalls or
intrusion detection systems may be used to monitor and limit traffic
to and from the server. Personnel with administrative access to the
server should be carefully screened and monitored to detect problems
as soon as possible. Server administrators should not use password-
based authentication but should instead use non-reusable credentials
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and multi-factor authentication (where available). Physical security
measures should be employed to prevent physical attacks on servers.
To ease detection of server compromise should it occur, server
behavior should be monitored to detect unusual behavior (such as a
server reboot, unusual traffic patterns, or other odd behavior).
Endpoints should log and/or notify users and/or administrators when
peculiar server behavior is detected. To aid forensic investigation,
permanent read-only audit logs of security-relevant information
pertaining to servers (especially administrative actions) should be
maintained. If server compromise is detected, the server's
certificate should be revoked and careful analysis should be
performed of the source and impact of this compromise. Any reusable
credentials that may have been compromised should be reissued.
Endpoints can reduce the threat of server compromise by minimizing
the number of trusted servers, using the mechanisms described in
[Server-Discovery].
11.3.4. Countermeasures for Repository Attacks
If the host for the repository is located on its own endpoint, it
should be protected with the same measures taken to protect the
server. In this circumstance, all messages between the server and
repository should be protected with a mature security protocol such
as TLS or IPsec.
The repository can aid in the detection of compromised endpoints if
an adversary cannot tamper with its contents. For instance, if an
endpoint reports that it does not have an application with a known
vulnerability installed, an administrator can check whether the
endpoint might be lying by querying the repository for the history of
what applications were installed on the endpoint.
To help prevent tampering with the information in the repository:
1. Only authorized parties should have privilege to run code on the
endpoint and to change the repository.
2. If a separate endpoint hosts the repository, then the
functionality of that endpoint should be limited to hosting the
repository. The firewall on the repository should only allow
access to the server and to any endpoint authorized for
administration.
3. The repository should ideally use "write once" media to archive
the history of what was placed in the repository, to include a
snapshot of the current status of applications on endpoints.
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12. Privacy-Considerations
The Endpoint Compliance Profile specifically addresses the collection
of posture data from enterprise endpoints by an enterprise network.
As such, privacy is not going to often arise as a concern for those
deploying this solution.
A possible exception may be the concerns a user may have when
attempting to connect a personal endpoint (such as a phone or mobile
endpoint) to an enterprise network. The user may not want to share
certain details, such as an endpoint identifier or SWID tags, with
the enterprise. The user can configure their NEAC to reject requests
for this information; however, it is possible that the enterprise
policy will not allow the user's endpoint to connect to the network
without providing the requested data.
13. Change Log
13.1. -00 to -01
There are no textual changes associated with this revision. This
revision simply reflects a resubmission of the document so that it
remains in active status.
14. References
14.1. Informative References
[DSD] http://www.dsd.gov.au/publications/csocprotect/
top_4_mitigations.htm, "Top 4 Mitigation Strategies to
Protect Your ICT System", November 2012.
[IEEE-802-1ar]
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, "IEEE
802.1ar", December 2009.
[RFC5209] Sangster, P., Khosravi, H., Mani, M., Narayan, K., and J.
Tardo, "Network Endpoint Assessment (NEA): Overview and
Requirements", RFC 5209, DOI 10.17487/RFC5209, June 2008,
<http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5209>.
[SANS] http://www.sans.org/critical-security-controls/, "CIS
Critical Security Controls".
[TNC] Trusted Computing Group, "TCG Trusted Network Connect TNC
Architecture for Interoperability, Version 1.5", February
2012.
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14.2. Normative References
[I-D.ietf-sacm-terminology]
Waltermire, D., Montville, A., Harrington, D., and N. Cam-
Winget, "Terminology for Security Assessment", draft-ietf-
sacm-terminology-05 (work in progress), August 2014.
[IF-IMC] Trusted Computing Group, "TCG Trusted Network Connect TNC
IF-IMC, Version 1.3", February 2013.
[IF-IMV] Trusted Computing Group, "TCG Trusted Network Connect TNC
IF-IMV, Version 1.4", December 2014.
[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>.
[RFC5792] Sangster, P. and K. Narayan, "PA-TNC: A Posture Attribute
(PA) Protocol Compatible with Trusted Network Connect
(TNC)", RFC 5792, DOI 10.17487/RFC5792, March 2010,
<http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5792>.
[RFC5793] Sahita, R., Hanna, S., Hurst, R., and K. Narayan, "PB-TNC:
A Posture Broker (PB) Protocol Compatible with Trusted
Network Connect (TNC)", RFC 5793, DOI 10.17487/RFC5793,
March 2010, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5793>.
[RFC6876] Sangster, P., Cam-Winget, N., and J. Salowey, "A Posture
Transport Protocol over TLS (PT-TLS)", RFC 6876,
DOI 10.17487/RFC6876, February 2013,
<http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6876>.
[RFC7632] Waltermire, D. and D. Harrington, "Endpoint Security
Posture Assessment: Enterprise Use Cases", RFC 7632,
DOI 10.17487/RFC7632, September 2015,
<http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7632>.
[Server-Discovery]
Trusted Computing Group, "DRAFT: TCG Trusted Network
Connect PDP Discovery and Validation, Version 1.0",
October 2015.
[SWID] "Information technology--Software asset management--Part
2: Software identification tag", ISO/IEC 9899:1999, 2009.
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Authors' Addresses
Danny Haynes
The MITRE Corporation
202 Burlington Road
Bedford, MA 01730
USA
Email: dhaynes@mitre.org
Jessica Fitzgerald-McKay
Department of Defense
9800 Savage Road
Ft. Meade, Maryland
USA
Email: jmfitz2@nsa.gov
Lisa Lorenzin
Pulse Secure
2700 Zanker Rd., Suite 200
San Jose, CA 95134
US
Email: llorenzin@pulsesecure.net
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