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ACME for Subdomains
draft-ietf-acme-subdomains-03

The information below is for an old version of the document.
Document Type
This is an older version of an Internet-Draft that was ultimately published as RFC 9444.
Authors Owen Friel , Richard Barnes , Tim Hollebeek , Michael Richardson
Last updated 2022-05-26 (Latest revision 2022-05-24)
Replaces draft-friel-acme-subdomains
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draft-ietf-acme-subdomains-03
ACME Working Group                                              O. Friel
Internet-Draft                                                 R. Barnes
Intended status: Standards Track                                   Cisco
Expires: 25 November 2022                                   T. Hollebeek
                                                                DigiCert
                                                           M. Richardson
                                                Sandelman Software Works
                                                             24 May 2022

                          ACME for Subdomains
                     draft-ietf-acme-subdomains-03

Abstract

   This document outlines how ACME can be used by a client to obtain a
   certificate for a subdomain identifier from a certification
   authority.  The client has fulfilled a challenge against a parent
   domain but does not need to fulfill a challenge against the explicit
   subdomain as certification authority policy allows issuance of the
   subdomain certificate without explicit subdomain ownership proof.

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
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
   working documents as Internet-Drafts.  The list of current Internet-
   Drafts is at https://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on 25 November 2022.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2022 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 (https://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

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   and restrictions with respect to this document.  Code Components
   extracted from this document must include Revised BSD License text as
   described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are
   provided without warranty as described in the Revised BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   3.  ACME Workflow and Identifier Requirements . . . . . . . . . .   3
   4.  ACME Issuance of Subdomain Certificates . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     4.1.  Authorization Object  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     4.2.  Pre-Authorization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     4.3.  New Orders  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     4.4.  Directory Object Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
   5.  Illustrative Call Flow  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
   6.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
     6.1.  Authorization Object Fields Registry  . . . . . . . . . .  15
     6.2.  Directory Object Metadata Fields Registry . . . . . . . .  15
   7.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
     7.1.  Subdomain Determination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
     7.2.  ACME Server Policy Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
   8.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
     8.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
     8.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18

1.  Introduction

   ACME [RFC8555] defines a protocol that a certification authority (CA)
   and an applicant can use to automate the process of domain name
   ownership validation and X.509v3 (PKIX) [RFC5280] certificate
   issuance.  This document outlines how ACME can be used to issue
   subdomain certificates, without requiring the ACME client to
   explicitly fulfill an ownership challenge against the subdomain
   identifiers - the ACME client need only fulfill an ownership
   challenge against a parent domain identifier.

2.  Terminology

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
   "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in
   BCP 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all
   capitals, as shown here.

   The following terms are defined in DNS Terminology [RFC8499] and are
   reproduced here:

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   *  Label: An ordered list of zero or more octets that makes up a
      portion of a domain name.  Using graph theory, a label identifies
      one node in a portion of the graph of all possible domain names.

   *  Domain Name: An ordered list of one or more labels.

   *  Subdomain: "A domain is a subdomain of another domain if it is
      contained within that domain.  This relationship can be tested by
      seeing if the subdomain's name ends with the containing domain's
      name."  (Quoted from [RFC1034], Section 3.1) For example, in the
      host name "nnn.mmm.example.com", both "mmm.example.com" and
      "nnn.mmm.example.com" are subdomains of "example.com".  Note that
      the comparisons here are done on whole labels; that is,
      "ooo.example.com" is not a subdomain of "oo.example.com".

   *  Fully-Qualified Domain Name (FQDN): This is often just a clear way
      of saying the same thing as "domain name of a node", as outlined
      above.  However, the term is ambiguous.  Strictly speaking, a
      fully-qualified domain name would include every label, including
      the zero-length label of the root: such a name would be written
      "www.example.net." (note the terminating dot).  But, because every
      name eventually shares the common root, names are often written
      relative to the root (such as "www.example.net") and are still
      called "fully qualified".  This term first appeared in [RFC0819].
      In this document, names are often written relative to the root.

   The following additional terms are used in this document:

   *  Certification Authority (CA): An organization that is responsible
      for the creation, issuance, revocation, and management of
      Certificates.  The term applies equally to both Root CAs and
      Subordinate CAs

   *  CSR: Certificate Signing Request as defined in [RFC2986]

   *  Parent Domain: a domain is a parent domain of a subdomain if it
      contains that subdomain, as per the [RFC8499] definition of
      subdomain.  For example, for the host name "nnn.mmm.example.com",
      both "mmm.example.com" and "example.com" are parent domains of
      "nnn.mmm.example.com".  Note that the comparisons here are done on
      whole labels; that is, "oo.example.com" is not a parent domain of
      "ooo.example.com"

3.  ACME Workflow and Identifier Requirements

   A typical ACME workflow for issuance of certificates is as follows:

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   1.  client POSTs a newOrder request that contains a set of
       "identifiers"

   2.  server replies with a set of "authorizations" and a "finalize"
       URI

   3.  client sends POST-as-GET requests to retrieve the
       "authorizations", with the downloaded "authorization" object(s)
       containing the "identifier" that the client must prove that they
       control, and a set of associated "challenges", one of which the
       client must fulfill

   4.  client proves control over the "identifier" in the
       "authorization" object by completing one of the specified
       challenges, for example, by publishing a DNS TXT record

   5.  client POSTs a CSR to the "finalize" API

   6.  server replies with an updated order object that includes a
       "certificate" URI

   7.  client sends POST-as-GET request to the "certificate" URI to
       download the certificate

   ACME places the following restrictions on "identifiers":

   *  [RFC8555] section 7.1.3: The authorizations required are dictated
      by server policy; there may not be a 1:1 relationship between the
      order identifiers and the authorizations required.

   *  [RFC8555] section 7.1.4: the only type of "identifier" defined by
      the ACME specification is an FQDN: "The only type of identifier
      defined by this specification is a fully qualified domain name
      (type: "dns").  The domain name MUST be encoded in the form in
      which it would appear in a certificate."

   *  [RFC8555] section 7.4: the "identifier" in the CSR request must
      match the "identifier" in the newOrder request: "The CSR MUST
      indicate the exact same set of requested identifiers as the
      initial newOrder request."

   *  [RFC8555] section 8.3: the "identifier", or FQDN, in the
      "authorization" object must be used when fulfilling challenges via
      HTTP: "Construct a URL by populating the URL template ... where
      the domain field is set to the domain name being verified"

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   *  [RFC8555] section 8.4: the "identifier", or FQDN, in the
      "authorization" object must be used when fulfilling challenges via
      DNS: "The client constructs the validation domain name by
      prepending the label "_acme-challenge" to the domain name being
      validated."

   ACME does not mandate that the "identifier" in a newOrder request
   matches the "identifier" in "authorization" objects.

4.  ACME Issuance of Subdomain Certificates

   As noted in the previous section, ACME does not mandate that the
   "identifier" in a newOrder request matches the "identifier" in
   "authorization" objects.  This means that the ACME specification does
   not preclude an ACME server processing newOrder requests and issuing
   certificates for a subdomain without requiring a challenge to be
   fulfilled against that explicit subdomain.

   ACME server policy could allow issuance of certificates for a
   subdomain to a client where the client only has to fulfill an
   authorization challenge for a parent domain of that subdomain.  This
   allows a flow where a client proves ownership of, for example,
   "example.org" and then successfully obtains a certificate for
   "sub.example.org".

   ACME server policy is out of scope of this document, however, some
   commentary is provided in Section 7.2.

   Clients need a mechanism to instruct the ACME server that they are
   requesting authorization for all subdomains subordinate to the
   specified domain, as opposed to just requesting authorization for an
   explicit domain identifier.  Clients need a mechanism to do this in
   both newAuthz and newOrder requests.  ACME servers need a mechanism
   to indicate to clients that authorization objects are valid for all
   subdomains under the specified domain.  These are described in this
   section.

4.1.  Authorization Object

   ACME [RFC8555] section 7.1.4 defines the authorization object.  When
   ACME server policy allows authorization for subdomains subordinate to
   a domain, the server indicates this by including the
   "subdomainAuthAllowed" flag in the authorization object for that
   domain identifier:

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   subdomainAuthAllowed  (optional, boolean):  This field MUST be
      present and true for authorizations where ACME server policy
      allows certificates to be issued for any subdomain subordinate
      to the domain specified in the 'identifier' field of the
      authorization object.

   The following example shows an authorization object for the domain
   example.org where the authorization covers the subdomains subordinate
   to example.org.

      {
        "status": "valid",
        "expires": "2015-03-01T14:09:07.99Z",

        "identifier": {
          "type": "dns",
          "value": "example.org"
        },

        "challenges": [
          {
            "url": "https://example.com/acme/chall/prV_B7yEyA4",
            "type": "http-01",
            "status": "valid",
            "token": "DGyRejmCefe7v4NfDGDKfA",
            "validated": "2014-12-01T12:05:58.16Z"
          }
        ],

        "subdomainAuthAllowed": true
      }

   If the "subdomainAuthAllowed" field is not included, then the assumed
   default value is false.

4.2.  Pre-Authorization

   The standard ACME workflow has authorization objects created
   reactively in response to a certificate order.  ACME also allows for
   pre-authorization, where clients obtain authorization for an
   identifier proactively, outside of the context of a specific
   issuance.  With the ACME pre-authorization flow, a client can pre-
   authorize for a domain once, and then issue multiple newOrder
   requests for certificates with identifiers in the subdomains
   subordinate to that domain.

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   ACME [RFC8555] section 7.4.1 defines the "identifier" object for
   newAuthz requests.  One additional field for the "identifier" object
   is defined:

   subdomainAuthAllowed (optional, boolean): An ACME client sets
      this flag to indicate to the server that it is requesting an
      authorization for the subdomains subordinate to the specified
      domain identifier value

   Clients include the flag in the "identifier" object of newAuthz
   requests to indicate that they are requesting a subdomain
   authorization.  In the following example newAuthz payload, the client
   is requesting pre-authorization for the subdomains subordinate to
   example.org.

        "payload": base64url({
          "identifier": {
            "type": "dns",
            "value": "example.org",
            "subdomainAuthAllowed": true
          }
        })

   If the server is willing to allow a single authorization for the
   subdomains, and there is not an existing authorization object for the
   identifier, then it will create an authorization object and include
   the "subdomainAuthAllowed" flag with value of true.  If the server
   policy does not allow creation of subdomain authorizations
   subordinate to that domain, the server can create an authorization
   object for the indicated identifier, and include the
   "subdomainAuthAllowed" flag with value of false.  In both scenarios,
   handling of the pre-authorization follows the process documented in
   ACME section 7.4.1.

4.3.  New Orders

   Clients need a mechanism to optionally indicate to servers whether or
   not they are authorized to fulfill challenges against parent domains
   for a given identifier FQDN.  For example, if a client places an
   order for an identifier foo.bar.example.org, and is authorized to
   fulfill a challenge against the parent domains bar.example.org or
   example.org, then the client needs a mechanism to indicate control
   over the parent domains to the ACME server.

   This can be achieved by adding an optional field "parentDomain" to
   the "identifiers" field in the order object:

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   parentDomain (optional, string): This is a parent domain of
      the requested identifier. The client MUST be able to fulfill
      a challenge against the parent domain.

   This field specifies a parent domain of the identifier that the
   client has DNS control over, and is capable of fulfilling challenges
   against.  Based on server policy, the server can choose to issue a
   challenge against any parent domain of the identifier up to and
   including the specified "parentDomain", and create a corresponding
   authorization object against the chosen identifier.

   In the following example newOrder payload, the client requests a
   certificate for identifier foo.bar.example.org and indicates that it
   can fulfill a challenge against the parent domain bar.example.org.
   The server can then choose to issue a challenge against either
   foo.bar.example.org or bar.example.org identifiers.

   "payload": base64url({
          "identifiers": [
            { "type": "dns",
              "value": "foo.bar.example.org",
              "parentDomain": "bar.example.org"  }
          ],
          "notBefore": "2016-01-01T00:04:00+04:00",
          "notAfter": "2016-01-08T00:04:00+04:00"
        })

   In the following example newOrder payload, the client requests a
   certificate for identifier foo.bar.example.org and indicates that it
   can fulfill a challenge against the parent domain example.org.  The
   server can then choose to issue a challenge against any one of
   foo.bar.example.org, bar.example.org or example.org identifiers.

   "payload": base64url({
          "identifiers": [
            { "type": "dns",
              "value": "foo.bar.example.org",
              "parentDomain": "example.org"  }
          ],
          "notBefore": "2016-01-01T00:04:00+04:00",
          "notAfter": "2016-01-08T00:04:00+04:00"
        })

   If the client is unable to fulfill authorizations against parent
   domain, the client should not include the "parentDomain" field.

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   Server newOrder handling generally follows the process documented
   ACME section 7.4.  If the server is willing to allow subdomain
   authorizations for the domain specified in "parentDomain", then it
   creates an authorization object against that parent domain and
   includes the "subdomainAuthAllowed" flag with a value of true.  If
   the server policy does not allow creation of subdomain authorizations
   against that parent domain, then it can create an authorization
   object for the indicated identifier value, and includes the
   "subdomainAuthAllowed" flag with value of false.

4.4.  Directory Object Metadata

   An ACME server can advertise support for authorization of subdomains
   by including the following boolean flag in its "ACME Directory
   Metadata Fields" registry:

   subdomainAuthAllowed (optional, bool): Indicates if an ACME
      server supports authorization of subdomains.

   If not specified, then no default value is assumed.  If an ACME
   server supports authorization of subdomains, it can indicate this by
   including this field with a value of "true".

5.  Illustrative Call Flow

   The call flow illustrated here uses the ACME pre-authorization flow
   using DNS-based proof of ownership.

   +--------+                   +------+     +-----+
   | Client |                   | ACME |     | DNS |
   +--------+                   +------+     +-----+
       |                            |           |
    STEP 1: Pre-Authorization of parent domain
       |                            |           |
       | POST /newAuthz             |           |
       | "example.org"              |           |
       |--------------------------->|           |
       |                            |           |
       | 201 authorizations         |           |
       |<---------------------------|           |
       |                            |           |
       | Publish DNS TXT            |           |
       | "example.org"              |           |
       |--------------------------------------->|
       |                            |           |
       | POST /challenge            |           |
       |--------------------------->|           |
       |                            | Verify    |

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       |                            |---------->|
       | 200 status=valid           |           |
       |<---------------------------|           |
       |                            |           |
       | Delete DNS TXT             |           |
       | "example.org"              |           |
       |--------------------------------------->|
       |                            |           |
    STEP 2: Place order for sub1.example.org
       |                            |           |
       | POST /newOrder             |           |
       | "sub1.example.org"         |           |
       |--------------------------->|           |
       |                            |           |
       | 201 status=ready           |           |
       |<---------------------------|           |
       |                            |           |
       | POST /finalize             |           |
       | CSR SAN "sub1.example.org" |           |
       |--------------------------->|           |
       |                            |           |
       | 200 OK status=valid        |           |
       |<---------------------------|           |
       |                            |           |
       | POST /certificate          |           |
       |--------------------------->|           |
       |                            |           |
       | 200 OK                     |           |
       | PEM SAN "sub1.example.org" |           |
       |<---------------------------|           |
       |                            |           |
    STEP 3: Place order for sub2.example.org
       |                            |           |
       | POST /newOrder             |           |
       | "sub2.example.org"         |           |
       |--------------------------->|           |
       |                            |           |
       | 201 status=ready           |           |
       |<---------------------------|           |
       |                            |           |
       | POST /finalize             |           |
       | CSR SAN "sub2.example.org" |           |
       |--------------------------->|           |
       |                            |           |
       | 200 OK status=valid        |           |
       |<---------------------------|           |
       |                            |           |
       | POST /certificate          |           |

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       |--------------------------->|           |
       |                            |           |
       | 200 OK                     |           |
       | PEM SAN "sub2.example.org" |           |
       |<---------------------------|           |

   *  STEP 1: Pre-authorization of parent domain

      The client sends a newAuthz request for the parent domain
      including the "subdomainAuthAllowed" flag in the identifier
      object.

      POST /acme/new-authz HTTP/1.1
      Host: example.com
      Content-Type: application/jose+json

      {
        "protected": base64url({
          "alg": "ES256",
          "kid": "https://example.com/acme/acct/evOfKhNU60wg",
          "nonce": "uQpSjlRb4vQVCjVYAyyUWg",
          "url": "https://example.com/acme/new-authz"
        }),
        "payload": base64url({
          "identifier": {
            "type": "dns",
            "value": "example.org",
            "subdomainAuthAllowed": true
          }
        }),
        "signature": "nuSDISbWG8mMgE7H...QyVUL68yzf3Zawps"
      }

   The server creates and returns an authorization object for the
   identifier including the "subdomainAuthAllowed" flag.  The object is
   initially in "pending" state.

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      {
        "status": "pending",
        "expires": "2015-03-01T14:09:07.99Z",

        "identifier": {
          "type": "dns",
          "value": "example.org"
        },

        "challenges": [
          {
            "url": "https://example.com/acme/chall/prV_B7yEyA4",
            "type": "http-01",
            "status": "pending",
            "token": "DGyRejmCefe7v4NfDGDKfA",
            "validated": "2014-12-01T12:05:58.16Z"
          }
        ],

        "subdomainAuthAllowed": true
      }

   Once the client completes the challenge, the server will transition
   the authorization object and associated challenge object status to
   "valid".  The call flow above illustrates the ACME server replying to
   the client's challenge with status of "valid" after the ACME server
   has validated the DNS challenge.

   However, the validation flow may take some time.  If this is the
   case, the ACME server may reply to the client's challenge immediately
   with a status of "processing", and the client will then need to poll
   the authorization resource to see when it is finalized.  Refer to
   ACME [RFC8555] section 7.5.1 for more details.

   *  STEP 2: The client places a newOrder for sub1.example.org

      The client sends a newOrder request to the server and includes the
      subdomain identifier.  Note that the identifier is a subdomain of
      the parent domain that has been pre-authorised in step 1.  The
      client does not need to include the "subdomainAuthAllowed" field
      in the "identifier" object as it has already pre-authorized the
      parent domain.

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      POST /acme/new-order HTTP/1.1
      Host: example.com
      Content-Type: application/jose+json

      {
        "protected": base64url({
          "alg": "ES256",
          "kid": "https://example.com/acme/acct/evOfKhNU60wg",
          "nonce": "5XJ1L3lEkMG7tR6pA00clA",
          "url": "https://example.com/acme/new-order"
        }),
        "payload": base64url({
          "identifiers": [
            { "type": "dns", "value": "sub1.example.org" }
          ],
          "notBefore": "2016-01-01T00:04:00+04:00",
          "notAfter": "2016-01-08T00:04:00+04:00"
        }),
        "signature": "H6ZXtGjTZyUnPeKn...wEA4TklBdh3e454g"
      }

   As an authorization object already exists for the parent domain, the
   server replies with an order object with a status of "ready" that
   includes a link to the existing "valid" authorization object.

      HTTP/1.1 201 Created
      Replay-Nonce: MYAuvOpaoIiywTezizk5vw
      Link: <https://example.com/acme/directory>;rel="index"
      Location: https://example.com/acme/order/TOlocE8rfgo

      {
        "status": "ready",
        "expires": "2016-01-05T14:09:07.99Z",

        "notBefore": "2016-01-01T00:00:00Z",
        "notAfter": "2016-01-08T00:00:00Z",

        "identifiers": [
          { "type": "dns", "value": "sub1.example.org" }
        ],

        "authorizations": [
          "https://example.com/acme/authz/PAniVnsZcis"
        ],

        "finalize": "https://example.com/acme/order/TOlocrfgo/finalize"
      }

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   The client can proceed to finalize the order and download the
   certificate for sub1.example.org.

   *  STEP 3: The client places a newOrder for sub2.example.org

      The client sends a newOrder request to the server and includes the
      subdomain identifier.  Note that the identifier is a subdomain of
      the parent domain that has been pre-authorised in step 1.  The
      client does not need to include the "subdomainAuthAllowed" field
      in the "identifier" object as it has already pre-authorized the
      parent domain.

      POST /acme/new-order HTTP/1.1
      Host: example.com
      Content-Type: application/jose+json

      {
        "protected": base64url({
          "alg": "ES256",
          "kid": "https://example.com/acme/acct/evOfKhNU60wg",
          "nonce": "5XJ1L3lEkMG7tR6pA00clA",
          "url": "https://example.com/acme/new-order"
        }),
        "payload": base64url({
          "identifiers": [
            { "type": "dns", "value": "sub2.example.org" }
          ],
          "notBefore": "2016-01-01T00:04:00+04:00",
          "notAfter": "2016-01-08T00:04:00+04:00"
        }),
        "signature": "H6ZXtGjTZyUnPeKn...wEA4TklBdh3e454g"
      }

   As an authorization object already exists for the parent domain, the
   server replies with an order object with a status of "ready" that
   includes a link to the existing "valid" authorization object.

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      HTTP/1.1 201 Created
      Replay-Nonce: MYAuvOpaoIiywTezizk5vw
      Link: <https://example.com/acme/directory>;rel="index"
      Location: https://example.com/acme/order/TOlocE8rfgo

      {
        "status": "ready",
        "expires": "2016-01-05T14:09:07.99Z",

        "notBefore": "2016-01-01T00:00:00Z",
        "notAfter": "2016-01-08T00:00:00Z",

        "identifiers": [
          { "type": "dns", "value": "sub2.example.org" }
        ],

        "authorizations": [
          "https://example.com/acme/authz/PAniVnsZcis"
        ],

        "finalize": "https://example.com/acme/order/ROni7rdde/finalize"
      }

   The client can proceed to finalize the order and download the
   certificate for sub2.example.org.

6.  IANA Considerations

6.1.  Authorization Object Fields Registry

   The following field is added to the "ACME Authorization Object
   Fields" registry defined in ACME [RFC8555].

       +----------------------+------------+--------------+-----------+
       | Field Name           | Field Type | Configurable | Reference |
       +----------------------+------------+--------------+-----------+
       | subdomainAuthAllowed | boolean    | false        | RFC XXXX  |
       +----------------------+------------+--------------+-----------+

6.2.  Directory Object Metadata Fields Registry

   The following field is added to the "ACME Directory Metadata Fields"
   registry defined in ACME [RFC8555].

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        +----------------------+------------+-----------+
        | Field Name           | Field Type | Reference |
        +----------------------+------------+-----------+
        | subdomainAuthAllowed | boolean    | RFC XXXX  |
        +----------------------+------------+-----------+

7.  Security Considerations

   This document documents enhancements to ACME [RFC8555] that optimize
   the protocol flows for issuance of certificates for subdomains.  The
   underlying goal of ACME for Subdomains remains the same as that of
   ACME: managing certificates that attest to identifier/key bindings
   for these subdomains.  Thus, ACME for Subdomains has the same two
   security goals as ACME:

   1.  Only an entity that controls an identifier can get an
       authorization for that identifier

   2.  Once authorized, an account key's authorizations cannot be
       improperly used by another account

   ACME for Subdomains makes no changes to:

   *  account or account key management

   *  ACME channel establishment, security mechanisms or threat model

   *  Validation channel establishment, security mechanisms or threat
      model

   Therefore, all Security Considerations in ACME in the following areas
   are equally applicable to ACME for Subdomains:

   *  Threat Model

   *  Integrity of Authorizations

   *  Denial-of-Service Considerations

   *  Server-Side Request Forgery

   *  CA Policy Considerations

   Some additional comments on ACME server policy are given in the
   following section.

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7.1.  Subdomain Determination

   The [RFC8499] definition of a subdomain is reproduced in Section 2.
   When comparing domains to determine if one is a subdomain of the
   other, it is important to compare entire labels, and not rely on a
   string prefix match.  Relying on string prefix matches may yield
   incorrect results.

7.2.  ACME Server Policy Considerations

   The ACME for Subdomains and the ACME specifications do not mandate
   any specific ACME server or CA policies, or any specific use cases
   for issuance of certificates.  For example, an ACME server could be
   used:

   *  to issue Web PKI certificates where the ACME server must comply
      with CA/Browser Forum [CAB] Baseline Requirements.

   *  as a Private CA for issuance of certificates within an
      organization.  The organization could enforce whatever policies
      they desire on the ACME server.

   *  for issuance of IoT device certificates.  There are currently no
      IoT device certificate policies that are generally enforced across
      the industry.  Organizations issuing IoT device certificates can
      enforce whatever policies they desire on the ACME server.

   ACME server policy could specify whether:

   *  issuance of subdomain certificates is allowed based on proof of
      ownership of a parent domain

   *  issuance of subdomain certificates is allowed, but only for a
      specific set of parent domains

   *  whether DNS based proof of ownership, or HTTP based proof of
      ownership, or both, are allowed

   ACME server policy specification is explicitly out of scope of this
   document.

8.  References

8.1.  Normative References

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

   [RFC8174]  Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
              2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
              May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8174>.

8.2.  Informative References

   [CAB]      CA/Browser Forum, "Baseline Requirements for the Issuance
              and Management of Publicly-Trusted Certificates", n.d.,
              <https://cabforum.org/wp-content/uploads/CA-Browser-Forum-
              BR-1.7.1.pdf>.

   [RFC0819]  Su, Z. and J. Postel, "The Domain Naming Convention for
              Internet User Applications", RFC 819,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC0819, August 1982,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc819>.

   [RFC1034]  Mockapetris, P., "Domain names - concepts and facilities",
              STD 13, RFC 1034, DOI 10.17487/RFC1034, November 1987,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1034>.

   [RFC2986]  Nystrom, M. and B. Kaliski, "PKCS #10: Certification
              Request Syntax Specification Version 1.7", RFC 2986,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2986, November 2000,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2986>.

   [RFC5280]  Cooper, D., Santesson, S., Farrell, S., Boeyen, S.,
              Housley, R., and W. Polk, "Internet X.509 Public Key
              Infrastructure Certificate and Certificate Revocation List
              (CRL) Profile", RFC 5280, DOI 10.17487/RFC5280, May 2008,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5280>.

   [RFC8499]  Hoffman, P., Sullivan, A., and K. Fujiwara, "DNS
              Terminology", BCP 219, RFC 8499, DOI 10.17487/RFC8499,
              January 2019, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8499>.

   [RFC8555]  Barnes, R., Hoffman-Andrews, J., McCarney, D., and J.
              Kasten, "Automatic Certificate Management Environment
              (ACME)", RFC 8555, DOI 10.17487/RFC8555, March 2019,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8555>.

Authors' Addresses

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   Owen Friel
   Cisco
   Email: ofriel@cisco.com

   Richard Barnes
   Cisco
   Email: rlb@ipv.sx

   Tim Hollebeek
   DigiCert
   Email: tim.hollebeek@digicert.com

   Michael Richardson
   Sandelman Software Works
   Email: mcr+ietf@sandelman.ca

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