An HTTP Status Code to Report Requester Impairment
draft-richardroda-420requesterimpaired-00

Internet Engineering Task Force                             R. Roda, Ed.
Internet-Draft                                           5 December 2023
Intended status: Informational                                          
Expires: 7 June 2024

           An HTTP Status Code to Report Requester Impairment
               draft-richardroda-420requesterimpaired-00

Abstract

   This document specifies a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) status
   code for use when an operation or resource is denied due to requester
   impairment.

Status of This Memo

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   This Internet-Draft will expire on 7 June 2024.

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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
     1.1.  Requirements Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  420 Requester Impaired  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   3.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   4.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   5.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     5.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4

1.  Introduction

   This document specifies a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) status
   code for use when a request is denied because the requester is
   impaired.

   This request code may be used to provide visibility in cases where
   one or more valid requests create a dangerous situation, there is a
   pattern of erratic requests with the potential for danger, or the
   requester is otherwise detected as impaired.

   Network-controlled devices are being used for beneficial but
   potentially dangerous activities such as construction and remote
   surgery.  Identifying requester impairment is important for both
   accurately assessing the risk a given requester presents and
   preventing damage caused by a high-risk requester.

1.1.  Requirements Language

   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.

2.  420 Requester Impaired

   The status code 420 indicates that the server is denying the request
   as a consequence of evidence of requester impairment.

   The server in question might not be an origin server.  An
   intermediate proxy closer to the requester may be in a better
   position to assess potential requester impairment.  Such a proxy may
   refuse to forward the request and respond with this error code.

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   There is no requirement that the requester be human.  Certain AI
   systems can exhibit behaviors such as giving hallucinated, incorrect,
   and differing answers for a given input.  Given the speed at which
   such AI operates, it is no less important to detect the impairment of
   AI requesters as human requesters.

   This response code provides greater visibility for requester
   impairment than the 403 Forbidden code.  Such visibility will aid
   network monitoring for impaired requesters.  This will improve
   remediation and risk assessment of possibly impaired requesters.

   Such responses MAY include the inputs or evidence used to determine
   impairment, but SHOULD NOT reveal information that a requester can
   use to evade impairment detection.

   A 420 response is non-cacheable by default, i.e., unless otherwise
   indicated by the method definition or explicit cache controls; see
   [RFC9111].

   AI
      An artificial intelligence system that is capable of making
      independent decisions without direct human control.

   proxy
      A server with a primary purpose of forwarding requests to other
      servers to process.

   HTTP/1.1 420 Requester Impaired
   Content-Type: text/html
     <html>
       <head>
         <title>Requester Impaired</title>
       </head>
       <body>
         <h1>Requester Impaired</h1>
         <p>This request is denied due to detection
            of impairment.</p>
       </body>
     </html>

                         Figure 1: Example Response

3.  IANA Considerations

   IANA is asked to update the HTTP Status Codes Registry with the
   following entry:

   *  Code: 420

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   *  Description: Requester Impaired

   *  Specification: This RFC

4.  Security Considerations

   If the requesters are identifiable because they have been
   authenticated and authorized, their authorization SHOULD be revoked
   until they have been determined not to be impaired.  If the
   requesters are unauthenticated, further requests SHOULD be denied
   until it can be determined that no impaired requesters are using the
   system.

5.  References

5.1.  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>.

   [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>.

   [RFC9111]  Fielding, R., Ed., Nottingham, M., Ed., and J. Reschke,
              Ed., "HTTP Caching", STD 98, RFC 9111,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC9111, June 2022,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9111>.

Author's Address

   Richard Roda (editor)
   Email: richard_roda@hotmail.com
   URI:   https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardroda/

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