Network Working Group                                          M. Cavage
Internet-Draft                                                    Oracle
Intended status: Standards Track                               M. Sporny
Expires: April 22, 2020                                   Digital Bazaar
                                                        October 20, 2019


                         Signing HTTP Messages
                    draft-cavage-http-signatures-12

Abstract

   When communicating over the Internet using the HTTP protocol, it can
   be desirable for a server or client to authenticate the sender of a
   particular message.  It can also be desirable to ensure that the
   message was not tampered with during transit.  This document
   describes a way for servers and clients to simultaneously add
   authentication and message integrity to HTTP messages by using a
   digital signature.

Feedback

   This specification is a joint work product of the W3C Digital
   Verification Community Group [1] and the W3C Credentials Community
   Group [2].  Feedback related to this specification should logged in
   the issue tracker [3] or be sent to public-credentials@w3.org [4].

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 April 22, 2020.








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Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2019 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.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     1.1.  Using Signatures in HTTP Requests . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     1.2.  Using Signatures in HTTP Responses  . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   2.  The Components of a Signature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     2.1.  Signature Parameters  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
       2.1.1.  keyId . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
       2.1.2.  signature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
       2.1.3.  algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
       2.1.4.  created . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
       2.1.5.  expires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
       2.1.6.  headers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     2.2.  Ambiguous Parameters  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     2.3.  Signature String Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     2.4.  Creating a Signature  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     2.5.  Verifying a Signature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
   3.  The 'Signature' HTTP Authentication Scheme  . . . . . . . . .  10
     3.1.  Authorization Header  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
       3.1.1.  Initiating Signature Authorization  . . . . . . . . .  11
       3.1.2.  RSA Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
       3.1.3.  HMAC Example  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
   4.  The 'Signature' HTTP Header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     4.1.  Signature Header  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
       4.1.1.  RSA Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
       4.1.2.  HMAC Example  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
   5.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
     5.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
     5.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
     5.3.  URIs  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
   Appendix A.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
   Appendix B.  Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
   Appendix C.  Test Values  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
     C.1.  Default Test  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
     C.2.  Basic Test  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
     C.3.  All Headers Test  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19



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   Appendix D.  Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
   Appendix E.  IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
     E.1.  Signature Authentication Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
     E.2.  HTTP Signatures Algorithms Registry . . . . . . . . . . .  20
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21

1.  Introduction

   This protocol extension is intended to provide a simple and standard
   way for clients to sign HTTP messages.

   HTTP Authentication [RFC2617] defines Basic and Digest authentication
   mechanisms, TLS 1.2 [RFC5246] defines cryptographically strong
   transport layer security, and OAuth 2.0 [RFC6749] provides a fully-
   specified alternative for authorization of web service requests.
   Each of these approaches are employed on the Internet today with
   varying degrees of protection.  However, none of these schemes are
   designed to cryptographically sign the HTTP messages themselves,
   which is required in order to ensure end-to-end message integrity.
   An added benefit of signing the HTTP message for the purposes of end-
   to-end message integrity is that the client can be authenticated
   using the same mechanism without the need for multiple round-trips.

   Several web service providers have invented their own schemes for
   signing HTTP messages, but to date, none have been standardized.
   While there are no techniques in this proposal that are novel beyond
   the previous art, it is useful to standardize a simple and
   cryptographically strong mechanism for digitally signing HTTP
   messages.

   This specification presents two mechanisms with distinct purposes:

   1.  The "Signature" scheme which is intended primarily to allow a
       sender to assert the contents of the message sent are correct and
       have not been altered during transmission or storage in a way
       that alters the meaning expressed in the original message as
       signed.  Any party reading the message (the verifier) may
       independently confirm the validity of the message signature.
       This scheme is agnostic to the client/server direction and can be
       used to verify the contents of either HTTP requests, HTTP
       reponses, or both.

   2.  The "Authorization" scheme which is intended primarily to allow a
       sender to request access to a resource or resources by proving
       that they control a secret key.  This specification allows for
       this both with a shared secret (using HMAC) or with public/
       private keys.  The "Authorization" scheme is typically used in
       authentication processes and not directly for message signing.



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       As a consequence `Authorization` header is normally generated
       (and the message signed) by the HTTP client and the message
       verified by the HTTP server.

1.1.  Using Signatures in HTTP Requests

   It is common practice to protect sensitive website and API
   functionality via authentication mechanisms.  Often, the entity
   accessing these APIs is a piece of automated software outside of an
   interactive human session.  While there are mechanisms like OAuth and
   API secrets that are used to grant API access, each have their
   weaknesses such as unnecessary complexity for particular use cases or
   the use of shared secrets which may not be acceptable to an
   implementer.  Shared secrets also prohibit any possibility for non-
   repudiation, while secure transports such as TLS do not provide for
   this at all.

   Digital signatures are widely used to provide authentication and
   integrity assurances without the need for shared secrets.  They also
   do not require a round-trip in order to authenticate the client, and
   allow the integrity of a message to be verified independently of the
   transport (e.g.  TLS).  A server need only have an understanding of
   the key (e.g. through a mapping between the key being used to sign
   the content and the authorized entity) to verify that a message was
   signed by that entity.

   When optionally combined with asymmetric keys associated with an
   identity, this specification can also enable authentication of a
   client and server with or without prior knowledge of each other.

1.2.  Using Signatures in HTTP Responses

   HTTP messages are routinely altered as they traverse the
   infrastructure of the Internet, for mostly benign reasons.  Gateways
   and proxies add, remove and alter headers for operational reasons, so
   a sender cannot rely on the recipient receiving exactly the message
   transmitted.  By allowing a sender to sign specified headers, and
   recipient or intermediate system can confirm that the original intent
   of the sender is preserved, and including a Digest header can also
   verify the message body is not modified.  This allows any recipient
   to easily confirm both the sender's identity, and any incidental or
   malicious changes that alter the content or meaning of the message.

2.  The Components of a Signature

   There are a number of components in a signature that are common
   between the 'Signature' HTTP Authentication Scheme and the




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   'Signature' HTTP Header.  This section details the components of the
   digital signature paremeters common to both schemes.

2.1.  Signature Parameters

   The following section details the Signature Parameters.

2.1.1.  keyId

   REQUIRED.  The `keyId` field is an opaque string that the server can
   use to look up the component they need to validate the signature.  It
   could be an SSH key fingerprint, a URL to machine-readable key data,
   an LDAP DN, etc.  Management of keys and assignment of `keyId` is out
   of scope for this document.  Implementations MUST be able to discover
   metadata about the key from the `keyId` such that they can determine
   the type of digital signature algorithm to employ when creating or
   verifying signatures.

2.1.2.  signature

   REQUIRED.  The `signature` parameter is a base 64 encoded digital
   signature, as described in RFC 4648 [RFC4648], Section 4 [5].  The
   client uses the `algorithm` and `headers` Signature Parameters to
   form a canonicalized `signing string`. This `signing string` is then
   signed using the key associated with the `keyId` according to its
   digital signature algorithm.  The `signature` parameter is then set
   to the base 64 encoding of the signature.

2.1.3.  algorithm

   RECOMMENDED.  The `algorithm` parameter is used to specify the
   signature string construction mechanism.  Valid values for this
   parameter can be found in the HTTP Signatures Algorithms Registry [6]
   and MUST NOT be marked "deprecated".  Implementers SHOULD derive the
   digital signature algorithm used by an implementation from the key
   metadata identified by the `keyId` rather than from this field.  If
   `algorithm` is provided and differs from the key metadata identified
   by the `keyId`, for example `rsa-sha256` but an EdDSA key is
   identified via `keyId`, then an implementation MUST produce an error.
   Implementers should note that previous versions of the `algorithm`
   parameter did not use the key information to derive the digital
   signature type and thus could be utilized by attackers to expose
   security vulnerabilities.








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2.1.4.  created

   RECOMMENDED.  The `created` field expresses when the signature was
   created.  The value MUST be a Unix timestamp integer value.  A
   signature with a `created` timestamp value that is in the future MUST
   NOT be processed.  Using a Unix timestamp simplifies processing and
   avoids timezone management required by specifications such as
   RFC3339.  Subsecond precision is not supported.  This value is useful
   when clients are not capable of controlling the `Date` HTTP Header
   such as when operating in certain web browser environments.

2.1.5.  expires

   OPTIONAL.  The `expires` field expresses when the signature ceases to
   be valid.  The value MUST be a Unix timestamp integer value.  A
   signature with an `expires` timestamp value that is in the past MUST
   NOT be processed.  Using a Unix timestamp simplifies processing and
   avoid timezone management existing in RFC3339.  Subsecod precision is
   allowed using decimal notation.

2.1.6.  headers

   OPTIONAL.  The `headers` parameter is used to specify the list of
   HTTP headers included when generating the signature for the message.
   If specified, it SHOULD be a lowercased, quoted list of HTTP header
   fields, separated by a single space character.  If not specified,
   implementations MUST operate as if the field were specified with a
   single value, `(created)`, in the list of HTTP headers.  Note:

   1.  The list order is important, and MUST be specified in the order
       the HTTP header field-value pairs are concatenated together
       during Signature String Construction (Section 2.3) used during
       signing and verifying.

   2.  A zero-length `headers` parameter value MUST NOT be used, since
       it results in a signature of an empty string.

2.2.  Ambiguous Parameters

   If any of the parameters listed above are erroneously duplicated in
   the associated header field, then the the signature MUST NOT be
   processed.  Any parameter that is not recognized as a parameter, or
   is not well-formed, MUST be ignored.








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2.3.  Signature String Construction

   A signed HTTP message needs to be tolerant of some trivial
   alterations during transmission as it goes through gateways, proxies,
   and other entities.  These changes are often of little consequence
   and very benign, but also often not visible to or detectable by
   either the sender or the recipient.  Simply signing the entire
   message that was transmitted by the sender is therefore not feasible:
   Even very minor changes would result in a signature which cannot be
   verified.

   This specification allows the sender to select which headers are
   meaningful by including their names in the `headers` Signature
   Parameter.  The headers appearing in this parameter are then used to
   construct the intermediate Signature String, which is the data that
   is actually signed.

   In order to generate the string that is signed with a key, the client
   MUST use the values of each HTTP header field in the `headers`
   Signature Parameter, in the order they appear in the `headers`
   Signature Parameter.  It is out of scope for this document to dictate
   what header fields an application will want to enforce, but
   implementers SHOULD at minimum include the `(request-target)` and
   `(created)` header fields if `algorithm` does not start with `rsa`,
   `hmac`, or `ecdsa`. Otherwise, `(request-target)` and `date` SHOULD
   be included in the signature.

   To include the HTTP request target in the signature calculation, use
   the special `(request-target)` header field name.  To include the
   signature creation time, use the special `(created)` header field
   name.  To include the signature expiration time, use the special
   `(expires)` header field name.

   1.  If the header field name is `(request-target)` then generate the
       header field value by concatenating the lowercased :method, an
       ASCII space, and the :path pseudo-headers (as specified in
       HTTP/2, Section 8.1.2.3 [7]).  Note: For the avoidance of doubt,
       lowercasing only applies to the :method pseudo-header and not to
       the :path pseudo-header.

   2.  If the header field name is `(created)` and the `algorithm`
       parameter starts with `rsa`, `hmac`, or `ecdsa` an implementation
       MUST produce an error.  If the `created` Signature Parameter is
       not specified, or is not an integer, an implementation MUST
       produce an error.  Otherwise, the header field value is the
       integer expressed by the `created` signature parameter.





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   3.  If the header field name is `(expires)` and the `algorithm`
       parameter starts with `rsa`, `hmac`, or `ecdsa` an implementation
       MUST produce an error.  If the `expires` Signature Parameter is
       not specified, or is not an integer, an implementation MUST
       produce an error.  Otherwise, the header field value is the
       integer expressed by the `created` signature parameter.

   4.  Create the header field string by concatenating the lowercased
       header field name followed with an ASCII colon `:`, an ASCII
       space ` `, and the header field value.  Leading and trailing
       optional whitespace (OWS) in the header field value MUST be
       omitted (as specified in RFC7230 [RFC7230], Section 3.2.4 [8]).

       1.  If there are multiple instances of the same header field, all
           header field values associated with the header field MUST be
           concatenated, separated by a ASCII comma and an ASCII space
           `, `, and used in the order in which they will appear in the
           transmitted HTTP message.

       2.  If the header value (after removing leading and trailing
           whitespace) is a zero-length string, the signature string
           line correlating with that header will simply be the
           (lowercased) header name, an ASCII colon `:`, and an ASCII
           space ` `.

       3.  Any other modification to the header field value MUST NOT be
           made.

       4.  If a header specified in the headers parameter is malformed
           or cannot be matched with a provided header in the message,
           the implementation MUST produce an error.

   5.  If value is not the last value then append an ASCII newline `\n`.

   To illustrate the rules specified above, assume a `headers` parameter
   list with the value of `(request-target) (created) host date cache-
   control x-emptyheader x-example` with the following HTTP request
   headers:

   GET /foo HTTP/1.1
   Host: example.org
   Date: Tue, 07 Jun 2014 20:51:35 GMT
   X-Example: Example header
       with some whitespace.
   X-EmptyHeader:
   Cache-Control: max-age=60
   Cache-Control: must-revalidate




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   For the HTTP request headers above, the corresponding signature
   string is:

   (request-target): get /foo
   (created): 1402170695
   host: example.org
   date: Tue, 07 Jun 2014 20:51:35 GMT
   cache-control: max-age=60, must-revalidate
   x-emptyheader:
   x-example: Example header with some whitespace.

2.4.  Creating a Signature

   In order to create a signature, a client MUST:

   1.  Use the `headers` and `algorithm` values as well as the contents
       of the HTTP message, to create the signature string.

   2.  Use the key associated with `keyId` to generate a digital
       signature on the signature string.

   3.  The `signature` is then generated by base 64 encoding the output
       of the digital signature algorithm.

   For example, assume that the `algorithm` value is "hs2019" and the
   `keyId` refers to an EdDSA public key.  This would signal to the
   application that the signature string construction mechanism is the
   one defined in Section 2.3: Signature String Construction [9], the
   signature string hashing function is SHA-512, and the signing
   algorithm is Ed25519 as defined in RFC 8032 [RFC8032], Section 5.1:
   Ed25519ph, Ed25519ctx, and Ed25519.  The result of the signature
   creation algorithm should result in a binary string, which is then
   base 64 encoded and placed into the `signature` value.

2.5.  Verifying a Signature

   In order to verify a signature, a server MUST:

   1.  Use the received HTTP message, the `headers` value, and the
       Signature String Construction (Section 2.3) algorithm to recreate
       the signature.

   2.  The `algorithm`, `keyId`, and base 64 decoded `signature` listed
       in the Signature Parameters are then used to verify the
       authenticity of the digital signature.  Note: The application
       verifying the signature MUST derive the digital signature
       algorithm from the metadata associated with the `keyId` and MUST
       NOT use the value of `algorithm` from the signed message.



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   If a header specified in the `headers` value of the Signature
   Parameters (or the default item `(created)` where the `headers` value
   is not supplied) is absent from the message, the implementation MUST
   produce an error.

   For example, assume that the `algorithm` value was "hs2019" and and
   the `keyId` refers to an EdDSA public key.  This would signal to the
   application that the signature string construction mechanism is the
   one defined in Section 2.3: Signature String Construction [10], the
   signature string hashing function is SHA-512, and the signing
   algorithm is Ed25519 as defined in RFC 8032 [RFC8032], Section 5.1:
   Ed25519ph, Ed25519ctx, and Ed25519.  The result of the signature
   verification algorithm should result in a successful verification
   unless the headers protected by the signature were tampered with in
   transit.

3.  The 'Signature' HTTP Authentication Scheme

   The "Signature" authentication scheme is based on the model that the
   client must authenticate itself with a digital signature produced by
   either a private asymmetric key (e.g., RSA) or a shared symmetric key
   (e.g., HMAC).

   The scheme is parameterized enough such that it is not bound to any
   particular key type or signing algorithm.

3.1.  Authorization Header

   The client is expected to send an Authorization header (as defined in
   RFC 7235 [RFC7235], Section 4.1 [11]) where the "auth-scheme" is
   "Signature" and the "auth-param" parameters meet the requirements
   listed in Section 2: The Components of a Signature.

   The rest of this section uses the following HTTP request as an
   example.

   POST /foo HTTP/1.1
   Host: example.org
   Date: Tue, 07 Jun 2014 20:51:35 GMT
   Content-Type: application/json
   Digest: SHA-256=X48E9qOokqqrvdts8nOJRJN3OWDUoyWxBf7kbu9DBPE=
   Content-Length: 18

   {"hello": "world"}

   Note that the use of the `Digest` header field is per RFC 3230
   [RFC3230], Section 4.3.2 [12] and is included merely as a
   demonstration of how an implementer could include information about



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   the body of the message in the signature.  The following sections
   also assume that the "rsa-key-1" keyId asserted by the client is an
   identifier meaningful to the server.

3.1.1.  Initiating Signature Authorization

   A server may notify a client when a resource is protected by
   requiring a signature.  To initiate this process, the server will
   request that the client authenticate itself via a 401 response [13]
   code.  The server may optionally specify which HTTP headers it
   expects to be signed by specifying the `headers` parameter in the
   WWW-Authenticate header.  For example:

   HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
   Date: Thu, 08 Jun 2014 18:32:30 GMT
   Content-Length: 1234
   Content-Type: text/html
   WWW-Authenticate: Signature
     realm="Example",headers="(request-target) (created)"

   ...

3.1.2.  RSA Example

   The authorization header and signature would be generated as:

   Authorization: Signature keyId="rsa-key-1",algorithm="hs2019",
     headers="(request-target) (created) host digest content-length",
     signature="Base64(RSA-SHA512(signing string))"

   The client would compose the signing string as:

   (request-target): post /foo\n
   (created): 1402174295
   host: example.org\n
   digest: SHA-256=X48E9qOokqqrvdts8nOJRJN3OWDUoyWxBf7kbu9DBPE=\n
   content-length: 18

   Note that the '\n' symbols above are included to demonstrate where
   the new line character should be inserted.  There is no new line on
   the final line of the signing string.  Each HTTP header above is
   displayed on a new line to provide better readability of the example.

   For an RSA-based signature, the authorization header and signature
   would then be generated as:






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   Authorization: Signature keyId="rsa-key-1",algorithm="hs2019",
   headers="(request-target) (created) host digest content-length",
   signature="Base64(RSA-SHA512(signing string))"

3.1.3.  HMAC Example

   For an HMAC-based signature without a list of headers specified, the
   authorization header and signature would be generated as:

   Authorization: Signature keyId="hmac-key-1",algorithm="hs2019",
   headers="(request-target) (created) host digest content-length",
   signature="Base64(HMAC-SHA512(signing string))"

   The only difference between the RSA Example and the HMAC Example is
   the digital signature algorithm that is used.  The client would
   compose the signing string in the same way as the RSA Example above:

   (request-target): post /foo\n
   (created): 1402174295
   host: example.org\n
   digest: SHA-256=X48E9qOokqqrvdts8nOJRJN3OWDUoyWxBf7kbu9DBPE=\n
   content-length: 18

4.  The 'Signature' HTTP Header

   The "Signature" HTTP Header provides a mechanism to link the headers
   of a message (client request or server response) to a digital
   signature.  By including the "Digest" header with a properly
   formatted digest, the message body can also be linked to the
   signature.  The signature is generated and verified either using a
   shared secret (e.g.  HMAC) or public/private keys (e.g.  RSA, EC).
   This allows the receiver and/or any intermediate system to
   immediately or later verify the integrity of the message.  When the
   signature is generated with a private key it can also provide a
   measure of non-repudiation, though a full implementation of a non-
   repudiatable statement is beyond the scope of this specification and
   highly dependent on implementation.

   The "Signature" scheme can also be used for authentication similar to
   the purpose of the 'Signature' HTTP Authentication Scheme
   (Section 3).  The scheme is parameterized enough such that it is not
   bound to any particular key type or signing algorithm.

4.1.  Signature Header

   The sender is expected to transmit a header (as defined in RFC 7230
   [RFC7230], Section 3.2 [14]) where the "field-name" is "Signature",
   and the "field-value" contains one or more "auth-param"s (as defined



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   in RFC 7235 [RFC7235], Section 4.1 [15]) where the "auth-param"
   parameters meet the requirements listed in Section 2: The Components
   of a Signature.

   The rest of this section uses the following HTTP request as an
   example.

   POST /foo HTTP/1.1
   Host: example.org
   Date: Tue, 07 Jun 2014 20:51:35 GMT
   Content-Type: application/json
   Digest: SHA-256=X48E9qOokqqrvdts8nOJRJN3OWDUoyWxBf7kbu9DBPE=
   Content-Length: 18

   {"hello": "world"}

   The following sections assume that the "rsa-key-1" keyId provided by
   the signer is an identifier meaningful to the server.

4.1.1.  RSA Example

   The signature header and signature would be generated as:

   Signature: keyId="rsa-key-1",algorithm="hs2019",
     created=1402170695, expires=1402170995,
     headers="(request-target) (created) (expires)
       host date digest content-length",
     signature="Base64(RSA-SHA256(signing string))"

   The client would compose the signing string as:

   (request-target): post /foo\n
   (created): 1402170695
   (expires): 1402170995
   host: example.org\n
   digest: SHA-256=X48E9qOokqqrvdts8nOJRJN3OWDUoyWxBf7kbu9DBPE=\n
   content-length: 18

   Note that the '\n' symbols above are included to demonstrate where
   the new line character should be inserted.  There is no new line on
   the final line of the signing string.  Each HTTP header above is
   displayed on a new line to provide better readability of the example.

   For an RSA-based signature, the authorization header and signature
   would then be generated as:






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   Signature: keyId="rsa-key-1",algorithm="hs2019",created=1402170695,
     headers="(request-target) (created) host digest content-length",
     signature="Base64(RSA-SHA512(signing string))"

4.1.2.  HMAC Example

   For an HMAC-based signature without a list of headers specified, the
   authorization header and signature would be generated as:

   Signature: keyId="hmac-key-1",algorithm="hs2019",created=1402170695,
     headers="(request-target) (created) host digest content-length",
     signature="Base64(HMAC-SHA512(signing string))"

   The only difference between the RSA Example and the HMAC Example is
   the signature algorithm that is used.  The client would compose the
   signing string in the same way as the RSA Example above:

   (request-target): post /foo\n
   (created): 1402170695
   host: example.org\n
   digest: SHA-256=X48E9qOokqqrvdts8nOJRJN3OWDUoyWxBf7kbu9DBPE=\n
   content-length: 18

5.  References

5.1.  Normative References

   [RFC4648]  Josefsson, S., "The Base16, Base32, and Base64 Data
              Encodings", RFC 4648, DOI 10.17487/RFC4648, October 2006,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4648>.

   [RFC7230]  Fielding, R., Ed. and J. Reschke, Ed., "Hypertext Transfer
              Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Message Syntax and Routing",
              RFC 7230, DOI 10.17487/RFC7230, June 2014,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7230>.

   [RFC7235]  Fielding, R., Ed. and J. Reschke, Ed., "Hypertext Transfer
              Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Authentication", RFC 7235,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC7235, June 2014,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7235>.

5.2.  Informative References

   [RFC2617]  Franks, J., Hallam-Baker, P., Hostetler, J., Lawrence, S.,
              Leach, P., Luotonen, A., and L. Stewart, "HTTP
              Authentication: Basic and Digest Access Authentication",
              RFC 2617, DOI 10.17487/RFC2617, June 1999,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2617>.



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   [RFC3230]  Mogul, J. and A. Van Hoff, "Instance Digests in HTTP",
              RFC 3230, DOI 10.17487/RFC3230, January 2002,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3230>.

   [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>.

   [RFC6234]  Eastlake 3rd, D. and T. Hansen, "US Secure Hash Algorithms
              (SHA and SHA-based HMAC and HKDF)", RFC 6234,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC6234, May 2011,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6234>.

   [RFC6749]  Hardt, D., Ed., "The OAuth 2.0 Authorization Framework",
              RFC 6749, DOI 10.17487/RFC6749, October 2012,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6749>.

   [RFC8017]  Moriarty, K., Ed., Kaliski, B., Jonsson, J., and A. Rusch,
              "PKCS #1: RSA Cryptography Specifications Version 2.2",
              RFC 8017, DOI 10.17487/RFC8017, November 2016,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8017>.

   [RFC8032]  Josefsson, S. and I. Liusvaara, "Edwards-Curve Digital
              Signature Algorithm (EdDSA)", RFC 8032,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC8032, January 2017,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8032>.

5.3.  URIs

   [1] https://w3c-dvcg.github.io/

   [2] https://w3c-ccg.github.io/

   [3] https://github.com/w3c-dvcg/http-signatures/issues

   [4] mailto:public-credentials@w3.org

   [5] https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4648#section-4

   [6] #hsa-registry

   [7] https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7540#section-8.1.2.3

   [8] https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7230#section-3.2.4

   [9] #canonicalization




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   [10] #canonicalization

   [11] https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7235#section-2.1

   [12] https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3230#section-4.3.2

   [13] https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7235#section-3.1

   [14] https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7230#section-3.2

   [15] https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7235#section-4.1

   [16] https://web-payments.org/specs/source/http-signatures-audit/

   [17] https://web-payments.org/specs/source/http-signature-nonces/

   [18] https://web-payments.org/specs/source/http-signature-trailers/

   [19] https://www.iana.org/assignments/http-auth-scheme-signature

   [20] https://www.iana.org/assignments/http-authschemes

   [21] https://www.iana.org/assignments/shm-algorithms

   [22] #canonicalization

   [23] #canonicalization

   [24] #canonicalization

   [25] #canonicalization

   [26] #canonicalization

Appendix A.  Security Considerations

   There are a number of security considerations to take into account
   when implementing or utilizing this specification.  A thorough
   security analysis of this protocol, including its strengths and
   weaknesses, can be found in Security Considerations for HTTP
   Signatures [16].

Appendix B.  Extensions

   This specification was designed to be simple, modular, and
   extensible.  There are a number of other specifications that build on
   this one.  For example, the HTTP Signature Nonces [17] specification
   details how to use HTTP Signatures over a non-secured channel like



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   HTTP and the HTTP Signature Trailers [18] specification explains how
   to apply HTTP Signatures to streaming content.  Developers that
   desire more functionality than this specification provides are urged
   to ensure that an extension specification doesn't already exist
   before implementing a proprietary extension.

   If extensions to this specification are made by adding new Signature
   Parameters, those extension parameters MUST be registered in the
   Signature Authentication Scheme Registry.  The registry will be
   created and maintained at (the suggested URI)
   https://www.iana.org/assignments/http-auth-scheme-signature [19].  An
   example entry in this registry is included below:

   Signature Parameter: nonce
   Reference to specification: [HTTP_AUTH_SIGNATURE_NONCE], Section XYZ.
   Notes (optional): The HTTP Signature Nonces specification details
   how to use HTTP Signatures over a unsecured channel like HTTP.

Appendix C.  Test Values

   WARNING: THESE TEST VECTORS ARE OLD AND POSSIBLY WRONG.  THE NEXT
   VERSION OF THIS SPECIFICATION WILL CONTAIN THE PROPER TEST VECTORS.

   The following test data uses the following RSA 2048-bit keys, which
   we will refer to as `keyId=Test` in the following samples:

   -----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
   MIGfMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4GNADCBiQKBgQDCFENGw33yGihy92pDjZQhl0C3
   6rPJj+CvfSC8+q28hxA161QFNUd13wuCTUcq0Qd2qsBe/2hFyc2DCJJg0h1L78+6
   Z4UMR7EOcpfdUE9Hf3m/hs+FUR45uBJeDK1HSFHD8bHKD6kv8FPGfJTotc+2xjJw
   oYi+1hqp1fIekaxsyQIDAQAB
   -----END PUBLIC KEY-----

   -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
   MIICXgIBAAKBgQDCFENGw33yGihy92pDjZQhl0C36rPJj+CvfSC8+q28hxA161QF
   NUd13wuCTUcq0Qd2qsBe/2hFyc2DCJJg0h1L78+6Z4UMR7EOcpfdUE9Hf3m/hs+F
   UR45uBJeDK1HSFHD8bHKD6kv8FPGfJTotc+2xjJwoYi+1hqp1fIekaxsyQIDAQAB
   AoGBAJR8ZkCUvx5kzv+utdl7T5MnordT1TvoXXJGXK7ZZ+UuvMNUCdN2QPc4sBiA
   QWvLw1cSKt5DsKZ8UETpYPy8pPYnnDEz2dDYiaew9+xEpubyeW2oH4Zx71wqBtOK
   kqwrXa/pzdpiucRRjk6vE6YY7EBBs/g7uanVpGibOVAEsqH1AkEA7DkjVH28WDUg
   f1nqvfn2Kj6CT7nIcE3jGJsZZ7zlZmBmHFDONMLUrXR/Zm3pR5m0tCmBqa5RK95u
   412jt1dPIwJBANJT3v8pnkth48bQo/fKel6uEYyboRtA5/uHuHkZ6FQF7OUkGogc
   mSJluOdc5t6hI1VsLn0QZEjQZMEOWr+wKSMCQQCC4kXJEsHAve77oP6HtG/IiEn7
   kpyUXRNvFsDE0czpJJBvL/aRFUJxuRK91jhjC68sA7NsKMGg5OXb5I5Jj36xAkEA
   gIT7aFOYBFwGgQAQkWNKLvySgKbAZRTeLBacpHMuQdl1DfdntvAyqpAZ0lY0RKmW
   G6aFKaqQfOXKCyWoUiVknQJAXrlgySFci/2ueKlIE1QqIiLSZ8V8OlpFLRnb1pzI
   7U1yQXnTAEFYM560yJlzUpOb1V4cScGd365tiSMvxLOvTA==
   -----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----



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   All examples use this request:

   POST /foo?param=value&pet=dog HTTP/1.1
   Host: example.com
   Date: Sun, 05 Jan 2014 21:31:40 GMT
   Content-Type: application/json
   Digest: SHA-256=X48E9qOokqqrvdts8nOJRJN3OWDUoyWxBf7kbu9DBPE=
   Content-Length: 18

   {"hello": "world"}

C.1.  Default Test

   If a list of headers is not included, the date is the only header
   that is signed by default for rsa-sha256.  The string to sign would
   be:

   date: Sun, 05 Jan 2014 21:31:40 GMT

   The Authorization header would be:

   Authorization: Signature keyId="Test",algorithm="rsa-sha256",
   signature="SjWJWbWN7i0wzBvtPl8rbASWz5xQW6mcJmn+ibttBqtifLN7Sazz
   6m79cNfwwb8DMJ5cou1s7uEGKKCs+FLEEaDV5lp7q25WqS+lavg7T8hc0GppauB
   6hbgEKTwblDHYGEtbGmtdHgVCk9SuS13F0hZ8FD0k/5OxEPXe5WozsbM="

   The Signature header would be:

   Signature: keyId="Test",algorithm="rsa-sha256",
   signature="SjWJWbWN7i0wzBvtPl8rbASWz5xQW6mcJmn+ibttBqtifLN7Sazz
   6m79cNfwwb8DMJ5cou1s7uEGKKCs+FLEEaDV5lp7q25WqS+lavg7T8hc0GppauB
   6hbgEKTwblDHYGEtbGmtdHgVCk9SuS13F0hZ8FD0k/5OxEPXe5WozsbM="

C.2.  Basic Test

   The minimum recommended data to sign is the (request-target), host,
   and date.  In this case, the string to sign would be:

   (request-target): post /foo?param=value&pet=dog
   host: example.com
   date: Sun, 05 Jan 2014 21:31:40 GMT

   The Authorization header would be:








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   Authorization: Signature keyId="Test",algorithm="rsa-sha256",
     headers="(request-target) host date",
     signature="qdx+H7PHHDZgy4y/Ahn9Tny9V3GP6YgBPyUXMmoxWtLbHpUnXS
     2mg2+SbrQDMCJypxBLSPQR2aAjn7ndmw2iicw3HMbe8VfEdKFYRqzic+efkb3
     nndiv/x1xSHDJWeSWkx3ButlYSuBskLu6kd9Fswtemr3lgdDEmn04swr2Os0="

C.3.  All Headers Test

   A strong signature including all of the headers and a digest of the
   body of the HTTP request would result in the following signing
   string:

   (request-target): post /foo?param=value&pet=dog
   host: example.com
   date: Sun, 05 Jan 2014 21:31:40 GMT
   content-type: application/json
   digest: SHA-256=X48E9qOokqqrvdts8nOJRJN3OWDUoyWxBf7kbu9DBPE=
   content-length: 18

   The Authorization header would be:

   Authorization: Signature keyId="Test",algorithm="rsa-sha256",
     created=1402170695, expires=1402170699,
     headers="(request-target) (created) (expires)
       host date content-type digest content-length",
     signature="vSdrb+dS3EceC9bcwHSo4MlyKS59iFIrhgYkz8+oVLEEzmYZZvRs
       8rgOp+63LEM3v+MFHB32NfpB2bEKBIvB1q52LaEUHFv120V01IL+TAD48XaERZF
       ukWgHoBTLMhYS2Gb51gWxpeIq8knRmPnYePbF5MOkR0Zkly4zKH7s1dE="

   The Signature header would be:

   Signature: keyId="Test",algorithm="rsa-sha256",
     created=1402170695, expires=1402170699,
     headers="(request-target) (created) (expires)
       host date content-type digest content-length",
     signature="vSdrb+dS3EceC9bcwHSo4MlyKS59iFIrhgYkz8+oVLEEzmYZZvRs
       8rgOp+63LEM3v+MFHB32NfpB2bEKBIvB1q52LaEUHFv120V01IL+TAD48XaERZF
       ukWgHoBTLMhYS2Gb51gWxpeIq8knRmPnYePbF5MOkR0Zkly4zKH7s1dE="

Appendix D.  Acknowledgements

   The editor would like to thank the following individuals for feedback
   on and implementations of the specification (in alphabetical order):
   Mark Adamcin, Mark Allen, Paul Annesley, Karl Boehlmark, Stephane
   Bortzmeyer, Sarven Capadisli, Liam Dennehy, ductm54, Stephen Farrell,
   Phillip Hallam-Baker, Eric Holmes, Andrey Kislyuk, Adam Knight, Dave
   Lehn, Dave Longley, James H.  Manger, Ilari Liusvaara, Mark
   Nottingham, Yoav Nir, Adrian Palmer, Lucas Pardue, Roberto Polli,



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   Julian Reschke, Michael Richardson, Wojciech Rygielski, Adam Scarr,
   Cory J.  Slep, Dirk Stein, Henry Story, Lukasz Szewc, Chris Webber,
   and Jeffrey Yasskin

Appendix E.  IANA Considerations

E.1.  Signature Authentication Scheme

   The following entry should be added to the Authentication Scheme
   Registry located at https://www.iana.org/assignments/http-authschemes
   [20]

   Authentication Scheme Name: Signature
   Reference: [RFC_THIS_DOCUMENT], Section 2.
   Notes (optional): The Signature scheme is designed for clients to
   authenticate themselves with a server.

E.2.  HTTP Signatures Algorithms Registry

   The following initial entries should be added to the Canonicalization
   Algorithms Registry to be created and maintained at (the suggested
   URI) https://www.iana.org/assignments/shm-algorithms [21]:

   Editor's note: The references in this section are problematic as many
   of the specifications that they refer to are too implementation
   specific, rather than just pointing to the proper signature and
   hashing specifications.  A better approach might be just specifying
   the signature and hashing function specifications, leaving
   implementers to connect the dots (which are not that hard to
   connect).

   Algorithm Name: hs2019
   Status: active
   Canonicalization Algorithm: [RFC_THIS_DOCUMENT], Section 2.3:
   Signature String Construction [22]
   Hash Algorithm: RFC 6234 [RFC6234], SHA-512 (SHA-2 with 512-bits of
   digest output)
   Digital Signature Algorithm: Derived from metadata associated with
   `keyId`.  Recommend support for RFC 8017 [RFC8017], Section 8.1:
   RSASSA-PSS, RFC 6234 [RFC6234], Section 7.1: SHA-Based HMACs, ANSI
   X9.62-2005 ECDSA, P-256, and RFC 8032 [RFC8032], Section 5.1:
   Ed25519ph, Ed25519ctx, and Ed25519.

   Algorithm Name: rsa-sha1
   Status: deprecated, SHA-1 not secure.
   Canonicalization Algorithm: [RFC_THIS_DOCUMENT], Section 2.3:
   Signature String Construction [23]




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   Hash Algorithm: RFC 6234 [RFC6234], SHA-1 (SHA-1 with 160-bits of
   digest output)
   Digital Signature Algorithm: RFC 8017 [RFC8017], Section 8.2: RSASSA-
   PKCS1-v1_5

   Algorithm Name: rsa-sha256
   Status: deprecated, specifying signature algorithm enables attack
   vector.
   Canonicalization Algorithm: [RFC_THIS_DOCUMENT], Section 2.3:
   Signature String Construction [24]
   Hash Algorithm: RFC 6234 [RFC6234], SHA-256 (SHA-2 with 256-bits of
   digest output)
   Digital Signature Algorithm: RFC 8017 [RFC8017], Section 8.2: RSASSA-
   PKCS1-v1_5

   Algorithm Name: hmac-sha256
   Status: deprecated, specifying signature algorithm enables attack
   vector.
   Canonicalization Algorithm: [RFC_THIS_DOCUMENT], Section 2.3:
   Signature String Construction [25]
   Hash Algorithm: RFC 6234 [RFC6234], SHA-256 (SHA-2 with 256-bits of
   digest output)
   Message Authentication Code Algorithm: RFC 6234 [RFC6234],
   Section 7.1: SHA-Based HMACs

   Algorithm Name: ecdsa-sha256
   Status: deprecated, specifying signature algorithm enables attack
   vector.
   Canonicalization Algorithm: [RFC_THIS_DOCUMENT], Section 2.3:
   Signature String Construction [26]
   Hash Algorithm: RFC 6234 [RFC6234], SHA-256 (SHA-2 with 256-bits of
   digest output)
   Digital Signature Algorithm: ANSI X9.62-2005 ECDSA, P-256

Authors' Addresses

   Mark Cavage
   Oracle
   500 Oracle Parkway
   Redwood Shores, CA  94065
   US

   Phone: +1 415 400 0626
   Email: mcavage@gmail.com
   URI:   https://www.oracle.com/






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   Manu Sporny
   Digital Bazaar
   203 Roanoke Street W.
   Blacksburg, VA  24060
   US

   Phone: +1 540 961 4469
   Email: msporny@digitalbazaar.com
   URI:   https://manu.sporny.org/










































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