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Handling Unvalidated Data during DNSSEC Troubleshooting
draft-zhang-dnsop-dnssec-unvalidated-data-00

Document Type Expired Internet-Draft (individual)
Expired & archived
Authors Shuhan Zhang , Shuai Wang , Li Chen , Dan Li , Baojun Liu
Last updated 2025-10-09 (Latest revision 2025-04-07)
RFC stream (None)
Intended RFC status (None)
Formats
Stream Stream state (No stream defined)
Consensus boilerplate Unknown
RFC Editor Note (None)
IESG IESG state Expired
Telechat date (None)
Responsible AD (None)
Send notices to (None)

This Internet-Draft is no longer active. A copy of the expired Internet-Draft is available in these formats:

Abstract

Due to the prevalence of DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) misconfigurations, many domain administrators troubleshoot the records of DNSSEC-signed domains via queries with CD (Checking Disabled) bit set. However, as DNS resolvers are not forced to perform DNSSEC validation for CD=1 queries, the unvalidated data introduced during troubleshooting could be mixed up with the routine ones in the resolver cache. Recent research has revealed that the reuse of the cached unvalidated data in subsequent resolutions could lead to the risk of Denial-of-Service (DoS). This document clarifies the definition of unvalidated data in the context of DNSSEC. Then, it demonstrates the DoS vulnerabilities of current DNS resolver implementations due to the reuse of cached unvalidated data. Accordingly, it provides several recommendations for DNSSEC- validating resolvers to handle the unvalidated data and mitigate the risk of DoS, so as to improve the availability of DNSSEC-signed domains.

Authors

Shuhan Zhang
Shuai Wang
Li Chen
Dan Li
Baojun Liu

(Note: The e-mail addresses provided for the authors of this Internet-Draft may no longer be valid.)