Skip to main content

ECDHE_PSK with AES-GCM and AES-CCM Cipher Suites for TLS 1.2 and DTLS 1.2
RFC 8442

Document Type RFC - Proposed Standard (September 2018)
Authors John Preuß Mattsson , Daniel Migault
Last updated 2018-09-06
RFC stream Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
Formats
Additional resources Mailing list discussion
IESG Responsible AD Benjamin Kaduk
Send notices to (None)
RFC 8442
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                       J. Mattsson
Request for Comments: 8442                                    D. Migault
Category: Standards Track                                       Ericsson
ISSN: 2070-1721                                           September 2018

            ECDHE_PSK with AES-GCM and AES-CCM Cipher Suites
                        for TLS 1.2 and DTLS 1.2

Abstract

   This document defines several new cipher suites for version 1.2 of
   the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol and version 1.2 of the
   Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) protocol.  These cipher
   suites are based on the Ephemeral Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman with
   Pre-Shared Key (ECDHE_PSK) key exchange together with the
   Authenticated Encryption with Associated Data (AEAD) algorithms
   AES-GCM and AES-CCM.  PSK provides light and efficient
   authentication, ECDHE provides forward secrecy, and AES-GCM and
   AES-CCM provide encryption and integrity protection.

Status of This Memo

   This is an Internet Standards Track document.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
   received public review and has been approved for publication by the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Further information on
   Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 7841.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8442.

Mattsson & Migault           Standards Track                    [Page 1]
RFC 8442           ECDHE_PSK with AEAD for (D)TLS 1.2     September 2018

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2018 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 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 ....................................................2
   2. Requirements Notation ...........................................3
   3. ECDHE_PSK with AES-GCM and AES-CCM Cipher Suites ................3
   4. IANA Considerations .............................................4
   5. Security Considerations .........................................4
   6. References ......................................................5
      6.1. Normative References .......................................5
      6.2. Informative References .....................................6
   Acknowledgements ...................................................7
   Authors' Addresses .................................................7

1.  Introduction

   This document defines new cipher suites that provide Pre-Shared Key
   (PSK) authentication, Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS), and
   Authenticated Encryption with Associated Data (AEAD).  The cipher
   suites are defined for version 1.2 of the Transport Layer Security
   (TLS) protocol [RFC5246] and version 1.2 of the Datagram Transport
   Layer Security (DTLS) protocol [RFC6347].

   PSK authentication is widely used in many scenarios.  One deployment
   is 3GPP networks where pre-shared keys are used to authenticate both
   subscriber and network.  Another deployment is Internet of Things
   where PSK authentication is often preferred for performance and
   energy efficiency reasons.  In both scenarios, the endpoints are
   owned and/or controlled by a party that provisions the pre-shared
   keys and makes sure that they provide a high level of entropy.

   Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS) is a strongly recommended feature in
   security protocol design and can be accomplished by using an
   ephemeral Diffie-Hellman key exchange method.  Ephemeral Elliptic

Mattsson & Migault           Standards Track                    [Page 2]
RFC 8442           ECDHE_PSK with AEAD for (D)TLS 1.2     September 2018

   Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDHE) provides PFS with excellent performance
   and small key sizes.  ECDHE is mandatory to implement in both HTTP/2
   [RFC7540] and the Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP) [RFC7252].

   AEAD algorithms that combine encryption and integrity protection are
   strongly recommended for (D)TLS [RFC7525], and TLS 1.3 [RFC8446]
   forbids the use of non-AEAD algorithms.  The AEAD algorithms
   considered in this document are AES-GCM and AES-CCM.  The use of
   AES-GCM in TLS is defined in [RFC5288], and the use of AES-CCM is
   defined in [RFC6655].

   [RFC4279] defines PSK cipher suites for TLS but does not consider
   elliptic curve cryptography.  [RFC8422] introduces elliptic curve
   cryptography for TLS but does not consider PSK authentication.
   [RFC5487] describes the use of AES-GCM in combination with PSK
   authentication but does not consider ECDHE.  [RFC5489] describes the
   use of PSK in combination with ECDHE but does not consider AES-GCM or
   AES-CCM.

2.  Requirements Notation

   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.

3.  ECDHE_PSK with AES-GCM and AES-CCM Cipher Suites

   The cipher suites defined in this document are based on the following
   AES-GCM and AES-CCM AEAD algorithms: AEAD_AES_128_GCM [RFC5116],
   AEAD_AES_256_GCM [RFC5116], AEAD_AES_128_CCM [RFC5116], and
   AEAD_AES_128_CCM_8 [RFC6655].

   Messages and premaster secret construction in this document are
   defined in [RFC5489].  The ServerKeyExchange and ClientKeyExchange
   messages are used, and the premaster secret is computed as for the
   ECDHE_PSK key exchange.  The elliptic curve parameters used in the
   Diffie-Hellman parameters are negotiated using extensions defined in
   [RFC8422].

   For TLS 1.2 and DTLS 1.2, the following cipher suites are defined:

   TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256   = {0xD0,0x01}
   TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384   = {0xD0,0x02}
   TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_AES_128_CCM_8_SHA256 = {0xD0,0x03}
   TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_AES_128_CCM_SHA256   = {0xD0,0x05}

Mattsson & Migault           Standards Track                    [Page 3]
RFC 8442           ECDHE_PSK with AEAD for (D)TLS 1.2     September 2018

   The assigned code points can only be used for TLS 1.2 and DTLS 1.2.

   The cipher suites defined in this document MUST NOT be negotiated for
   any version of (D)TLS other than version 1.2.  Servers MUST NOT
   select one of these cipher suites when selecting a (D)TLS version
   other than version 1.2.  A client MUST treat the selection of these
   cipher suites in combination with a different version of (D)TLS as an
   error and generate a fatal 'illegal_parameter' TLS alert.

   Cipher suites TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256, TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384,
   TLS_AES_128_CCM_8_SHA256, and TLS_AES_128_CCM_SHA256 are used to
   support equivalent functionality in TLS 1.3 [RFC8446].

4.  IANA Considerations

   This document defines the following new cipher suites for TLS 1.2 and
   DTLS 1.2.  The values have been assigned in the "TLS Cipher Suites"
   registry defined by [RFC8446] and [RFC8447].

  Value       Description                            DTLS-OK Recommended
  -----       -----------                            ------- -----------
  {0xD0,0x01} TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256    Y         Y
  {0xD0,0x02} TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384    Y         Y
  {0xD0,0x03} TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_AES_128_CCM_8_SHA256  Y         N
  {0xD0,0x05} TLS_ECDHE_PSK_WITH_AES_128_CCM_SHA256    Y         Y

5.  Security Considerations

   The security considerations in TLS 1.2 [RFC5246], DTLS 1.2 [RFC6347],
   PSK Ciphersuites for TLS [RFC4279], ECDHE_PSK [RFC5489], AES-GCM
   [RFC5288], and AES-CCM [RFC6655] apply to this document as well.

   All the cipher suites defined in this document provide
   confidentiality, mutual authentication, and forward secrecy.  The
   AES-128 cipher suites provide 128-bit security, and the AES-256
   cipher suites provide at least 192-bit security.  However,
   AES_128_CCM_8 only provides 64-bit security against message forgery.

   The pre-shared keys used for authentication MUST have a security
   level equal to or higher than the cipher suite used, i.e., at least
   128-bit security for the AES-128 cipher suites and at least 192-bit
   security for the AES-256 cipher suites.

   GCM or CCM encryption that reuses a nonce with a same key undermines
   the security of GCM and CCM.  As a result, GCM and CCM MUST only be
   used with a system guaranteeing nonce uniqueness [RFC5116].

Mattsson & Migault           Standards Track                    [Page 4]
RFC 8442           ECDHE_PSK with AEAD for (D)TLS 1.2     September 2018

6.  References

6.1.  Normative References

   [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>.

   [RFC4279]  Eronen, P., Ed. and H. Tschofenig, Ed., "Pre-Shared Key
              Ciphersuites for Transport Layer Security (TLS)",
              RFC 4279, DOI 10.17487/RFC4279, December 2005,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4279>.

   [RFC5116]  McGrew, D., "An Interface and Algorithms for Authenticated
              Encryption", RFC 5116, DOI 10.17487/RFC5116, January 2008,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5116>.

   [RFC5246]  Dierks, T. and E. Rescorla, "The Transport Layer Security
              (TLS) Protocol Version 1.2", RFC 5246,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC5246, August 2008,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5246>.

   [RFC5288]  Salowey, J., Choudhury, A., and D. McGrew, "AES Galois
              Counter Mode (GCM) Cipher Suites for TLS", RFC 5288,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC5288, August 2008,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5288>.

   [RFC6347]  Rescorla, E. and N. Modadugu, "Datagram Transport Layer
              Security Version 1.2", RFC 6347, DOI 10.17487/RFC6347,
              January 2012, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6347>.

   [RFC6655]  McGrew, D. and D. Bailey, "AES-CCM Cipher Suites for
              Transport Layer Security (TLS)", RFC 6655,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC6655, July 2012,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6655>.

   [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>.

   [RFC8422]  Nir, Y., Josefsson, S., and M. Pegourie-Gonnard, "Elliptic
              Curve Cryptography (ECC) Cipher Suites for Transport Layer
              Security (TLS) Versions 1.2 and Earlier", RFC 8422,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC8422, August 2018,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8422>.

Mattsson & Migault           Standards Track                    [Page 5]
RFC 8442           ECDHE_PSK with AEAD for (D)TLS 1.2     September 2018

   [RFC8446]  Rescorla, E., "The Transport Layer Security (TLS) Protocol
              Version 1.3", RFC 8446, DOI 10.17487/RFC8446, August 2018,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8446>.

6.2.  Informative References

   [RFC5487]  Badra, M., "Pre-Shared Key Cipher Suites for TLS with SHA-
              256/384 and AES Galois Counter Mode", RFC 5487,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC5487, March 2009,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5487>.

   [RFC5489]  Badra, M. and I. Hajjeh, "ECDHE_PSK Cipher Suites for
              Transport Layer Security (TLS)", RFC 5489,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC5489, March 2009,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5489>.

   [RFC7252]  Shelby, Z., Hartke, K., and C. Bormann, "The Constrained
              Application Protocol (CoAP)", RFC 7252,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC7252, June 2014,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7252>.

   [RFC7525]  Sheffer, Y., Holz, R., and P. Saint-Andre,
              "Recommendations for Secure Use of Transport Layer
              Security (TLS) and Datagram Transport Layer Security
              (DTLS)", BCP 195, RFC 7525, DOI 10.17487/RFC7525, May
              2015, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7525>.

   [RFC7540]  Belshe, M., Peon, R., and M. Thomson, Ed., "Hypertext
              Transfer Protocol Version 2 (HTTP/2)", RFC 7540,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC7540, May 2015,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7540>.

   [RFC8447]  Salowey, J. and S. Turner, "IANA Registry Updates for TLS
              and DTLS", RFC 8447, DOI 10.17487/RFC8447, August 2018,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8447>.

Mattsson & Migault           Standards Track                    [Page 6]
RFC 8442           ECDHE_PSK with AEAD for (D)TLS 1.2     September 2018

Acknowledgements

   The authors would like to thank Ilari Liusvaara, Eric Rescorla, Dan
   Harkins, Russ Housley, Dan Harkins, Martin Thomson, Nikos
   Mavrogiannopoulos, Peter Dettman, Xiaoyin Liu, Joseph Salowey, Sean
   Turner, Dave Garrett, Martin Rex, and Kathleen Moriarty for their
   valuable comments and feedback.

Authors' Addresses

   John Mattsson
   Ericsson AB
   SE-164 80 Stockholm
   Sweden

   Phone: +46 76 115 35 01
   Email: john.mattsson@ericsson.com

   Daniel Migault
   Ericsson
   8400 Boulevard Decarie
   Montreal, QC  H4P 2N2
   Canada

   Phone: +1 514-452-2160
   Email: daniel.migault@ericsson.com

Mattsson & Migault           Standards Track                    [Page 7]