A toxonomy of eavesdropping attacks
draft-richardson-saag-onpath-attacker-00

anima Working Group                                        M. Richardson
Internet-Draft                                  Sandelman Software Works
Intended status: Standards Track                        27 December 2020
Expires: 30 June 2021

                  A toxonomy of eavesdropping attacks
                draft-richardson-saag-onpath-attacker-00

Abstract

   The terms on-path attacker and Man-in-the-Middle Attack have been
   used in a variety of ways, sometimes interchangeably, and sometimes
   meaning different things.

   This document offers an update on terminology for network attacks.  A
   consistent set of terminology is important in describing what kinds
   of attacks a particular protocol defends against, and which kinds the
   protocol does not.

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   This Internet-Draft will expire on 30 June 2021.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2020 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Three proposals on terminology  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     2.1.  QUIC terms  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     2.2.  Malory/Man in various places  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     2.3.  Council of Attackers  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   3.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   4.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   5.  Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   6.  Changelog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   7.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     7.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     7.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   Contributors  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5

1.  Introduction

   A number of terms have been used to describe attacks against
   networks.

   In the [dolevyao] paper, the attacker is assumed to be able to:

   *  view messages as they are transmitted

   *  selectively delete messages

   *  selectively insert or modify messages

   Some authors refer to such an attacker as an "on-path" attack
   [reference], or a "Man-in-the-Middle" attack [reference].  In
   general, most authors form a clear consensus about this mode.  Some
   authors are not happy with the gender of the attack ("Man") being
   assumed, and have sought other terminology.

   Where opinions diverge is what to call other forms of attack or
   eavesdropping.

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   The term "passive attack" has been used in many cases to describe
   situations where the attacker can only observe messages, but can not
   intersept, modify or delete any messages.

   There are situations where an eavesdropper has a better network
   connection than the actual corresponds, and so while no messages can
   be removed, such an attacker may be able to beat the original packet
   in a race.

   The summary is that there are probably three variations of attack:

   1.  An on-path attacker that can view, delete and modify messages.
       This is the Dolev-Yao attack.

   2.  An off-path attacker that can view messages and insert new
       messages.

   3.  An off-path attacker that can only view messages.

2.  Three proposals on terminology

   This document aspires to pick a single set of terms and explain them.

2.1.  QUIC terms

   [quic] ended up with a different taxonomy:

   *  On-path [Dolev-Yao]

   *  Off-path

   *  Limited on-path (cannot delete)

2.2.  Malory/Man in various places

   [malory] proposes:

   *  man-in-the-middle [Dolev-Yao]

   *  man-on-the-side

   *  man-in-the-rough

   Alternatively:

   *  Malory-in-the-middle [Dolev-Yao]

   *  Malory-on-the-side

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   *  Malory-in-the-rough

2.3.  Council of Attackers

   [alliteration] proposes the "the council of attackers"

   *  malicious messenger [Dolev-Yao: who rewrites messages sent]

   *  oppressive observer [who uses your information against you]

3.  Security Considerations

   This document introduces a set of terminology that will be used in
   many Security Considerations sections.

4.  IANA Considerations

   This document makes no IANA requests.

5.  Acknowledgements

   The SAAG mailing list.

6.  Changelog

7.  References

7.1.  Normative References

   [RFC4949]  Shirey, R., "Internet Security Glossary, Version 2",
              FYI 36, RFC 4949, DOI 10.17487/RFC4949, August 2007,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4949>.

7.2.  Informative References

   [alliteration]
              "Council of Attackers", 2020,
              <https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/saag/
              R0uevzT0Vz9uqqaxiu98GtK1rks/>.

   [dolevyao] "On the Security of Public Key Protocols", 1983,
              <https://www.cs.huji.ac.il/~dolev/pubs/dolev-yao-ieee-
              01056650.pdf>.

   [malory]   "Man-in-the-Middle", 2020,
              <https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/saag/b26jvEz4NRHSm-
              Xva6Lv5-L8QIA/>.

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   [quic]     "QUIC terms for attacks", 2020,
              <https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/saag/
              wTtDYlRAADMmgqd6Vhm8rFybr_g/>.

Contributors

Author's Address

   Michael Richardson
   Sandelman Software Works

   Email: mcr+ietf@sandelman.ca

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