EAP Working Group                                               L. Blunk
Internet-Draft                                        Merit Network, Inc
Obsoletes: 2284 (if approved)                              J. Vollbrecht
Expires: July 2, 2003                          Vollbrecht Consulting LLC
                                                                B. Aboba
                                                               Microsoft
                                                              J. Carlson
                                                                     Sun
                                                       H. Levkowetz, Ed.
                                                             ipUnplugged
                                                            January 2003


                Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP)
                   <draft-ietf-eap-rfc2284bis-02.txt>

Status of this Memo

   This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with
   all provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that other
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   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
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   http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html.

   This Internet-Draft will expire on July 2, 2003.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003). All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This document defines the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP),
   an authentication framework which supports multiple authentication
   mechanisms. EAP typically runs directly over the link layer without
   requiring IP, but is reliant on lower layer ordering guarantees as in
   PPP and IEEE 802. EAP does provide its own support for duplicate



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   elimination and retransmission.  Fragmentation is not supported
   within EAP itself; however, individual EAP methods may support this.
   While EAP was originally developed for use with PPP, it is also now
   in use with IEEE 802.

   This document obsoletes RFC 2284.  A summary of the changes between
   this document and RFC 2284 is available in Appendix B.

Table of Contents

   1.   Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   1.1  Specification of Requirements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   1.2  Terminology  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   2.   Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) . . . . . . . . . .   7
   2.1  Support for sequences  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
   2.2  EAP multiplexing model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
   3.   Lower layer behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
   3.1  Lower layer requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
   3.2  EAP usage within PPP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
   3.3  EAP usage within IEEE 802  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
   3.4  Link layer indications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
   4.   EAP Packet format  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
   4.1  Request and Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
   4.2  Success and Failure  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
   5.   Initial EAP Request/Response Types . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21
   5.1  Identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
   5.2  Notification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
   5.3  Nak  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
   5.4  MD5-Challenge  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  27
   5.5  One-Time Password (OTP)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  28
   5.6  Generic Token Card (GTC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  29
   5.7  Expanded types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  30
   5.8  Experimental . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  31
   6.   IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  32
   6.1  Definition of Terms  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  32
   6.2  Recommended Registration Policies  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  32
   7.   Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  33
   7.1  Threat model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  34
   7.2  Security claims  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  34
   7.3  Identity protection  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  36
   7.4  Man-in-the-middle attacks  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  36
   7.5  Packet modification attacks  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  37
   7.6  Dictionary attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  38
   7.7  Connection to an untrusted network . . . . . . . . . . . . .  38
   7.8  Negotiation attacks  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  38
   7.9  Implementation idiosyncrasies  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  39
   7.10 Key derivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  39
   7.11 Weak ciphersuites  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  41



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   7.12 Link layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  41
   7.13 Separation of EAP server and authenticator . . . . . . . . .  42
   7.14 Strict Interpretation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  42
   8.   Acknowledgments  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  43
        Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  43
        Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  44
        Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  46
   A.   Method Specific Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  47
   A.1  Message Integrity Checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  47
   B.   Changes from RFC 2284  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  48
   C.   Open issues  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  49
        Intellectual Property and Copyright Statements . . . . . . .  50







































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1. Introduction

   This document defines the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP),
   an authentication framework which supports multiple authentication
   mechanisms.  EAP typically runs directly over the link layer without
   requiring IP, but is reliant on lower layer ordering guarantees as in
   PPP and IEEE 802. EAP does provide its own support for duplicate
   elimination and retransmission.  Fragmentation is not supported
   within EAP itself; however, individual EAP methods may support this.

   EAP may be used on dedicated links as well as switched circuits, and
   wired as well as wireless links.  To date, EAP has been implemented
   with hosts and routers that connect via switched circuits or dial-up
   lines using PPP [RFC1661]. It has also been implemented with switches
   and access points using IEEE 802 [IEEE.802.1990].  EAP encapsulation
   on IEEE 802 wired media is described in [IEEE.802-1X.2001].

   One of the advantages of the EAP architecture is its flexibility.
   EAP is used to select a specific authentication mechanism, typically
   after the authenticator requests more information in order to
   determine the specific authentication mechanism(s) to be used.
   Rather than requiring the authenticator to be updated to support each
   new authentication method, EAP permits the use of a backend
   authentication server which may implement some or all authentication
   methods, with the authenticator acting as a pass-through for some or
   all methods and users.

   Within this document, authenticator requirements apply regardless of
   whether the authenticator is operating as a pass-through or not.
   Where the requirement is meant to apply to either the authenticator
   or backend authentication server, depending on where the EAP
   authentication is terminated, the term "EAP server" will be used.

1.1 Specification of Requirements

   In this document, several words are used to signify the requirements
   of the specification.  These words are often capitalized.  The key
   words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD",
   "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED",  "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document
   are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].

1.2 Terminology

   This document frequently uses the following terms:

   authenticator
             The end of the EAP link initiating the EAP authentication
             methods. [Note: This terminology is also used in



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             [IEEE.802-1X.2001], and has the same meaning in this
             document].

   peer
             The end of the EAP Link that responds to the authenticator.
             [Note:In [IEEE.802-1X.2001], this end is known as the
             Supplicant.]

   backend authentication server
             A backend authentication server is an entity that provides
             an authentication service to an authenticator.  When used,
             this server typically executes EAP Methods for the
             authenticator. [This terminology is also used in
             [IEEE.802-1X.2001].]

   Displayable Message
             This is interpreted to be a human readable string of
             characters, and MUST NOT affect operation of the protocol.
             The message encoding MUST follow the UTF-8 transformation
             format [RFC2279].

   EAP server
             The entity that terminates the EAP authentication method
             with the peer. In the case where no backend authentication
             server is used the EAP server is part of the authenticator.
             In the case where the authenticator operates in pass
             through mode, the EAP server is located on the backend
             authentication server.

   Silently Discard
             This means the implementation discards the packet without
             further processing.  The implementation SHOULD provide the
             capability of logging the event, including the contents of
             the silently discarded packet, and SHOULD record the event
             in a statistics counter.

   Security claims terminology for EAP Methods (see Section 7.2):

   Mutual authentication
             This refers to an EAP method in which, within an
             interlocked exchange, the authenticator authenticates the
             peer and the peer authenticates the authenticator. Two
             independent one-way methods, running in opposite directions
             do not provide mutual authentication as defined here.

   Integrity protection
             This refers to providing data origin authentication and
             protection against unauthorized modification of information



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             for EAP packets (including EAP Requests and Responses).
             When making this claim, a method specification MUST
             describe the EAP packets and fields within the EAP packet
             that are protected.

   Replay protection
             This refers to protection against replay of EAP messages,
             including EAP Requests and Responses, and method-specific
             success and failure indications.

   Confidentiality
             This refers to encryption of EAP messages, including EAP
             Requests and Responses, and method-specific success and
             failure indications. A method making this claim MUST
             support identity protection.

   Key derivation
             This refers to the ability of the EAP method to derive a
             Master Key which is not exported, as well as a ciphersuite-
             independent Master Session Keys. Both the Master Key and
             Master Session Keys are used only for further key
             derivation, not directly for protection of the EAP
             conversation or subsequent data.

   Key strength
             If the effective key strength is N bits, the best currently
             known methods to recover the key (with non-negligible
             probability) require an effort comparable to 2^N operations
             of a typical block cipher.

   Dictionary attack resistance
             Where password authentication is used, users are
             notoriously prone to select poor passwords. A method may be
             said to be dictionary attack resistant if, when there is a
             weak password in the secret,  the method does not allow an
             attack more efficient than brute force.

   Fast reconnect
             The ability, in the case where a security association has
             been previously established, to create a new or refreshed
             security association in a smaller number of round-trips.

   Man-in-the-Middle resistance
             The ability for the peer to demonstrate to the
             authenticator that it has acted as the peer for each method
             within the conversation. Similarly, the authenticator
             demonstrates to the peer that it has acted as the
             authenticator for each method within the conversation.  If



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             this is not possible, then the authentication sequence or
             tunnel may be vulnerable to a man-in-the-middle attack.

   Acknowledged result indications
             The ability of the authenticator to provide the peer with
             an indication of whether the peer has successfully
             authenticated to it, and for the peer to acknowledge
             receipt, as well as providing an indication of whether the
             authenticator has successfully authenticated to the peer.
             Since EAP Success and Failure packets are neither
             acknowledged nor integrity protected, this claim requires
             implementation of a method- specific result exchange that
             is integrity protected.


2. Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP)

   The EAP authentication exchange proceeds as follows:

   [1] The authenticator sends a Request to authenticate the peer.  The
       Request has a type field to indicate what is being requested.
       Examples of Request types include Identity,  MD5-challenge, etc.
       The MD5-challenge type corresponds closely to the CHAP
       authentication protocol [RFC1994].  Typically, the authenticator
       will send an initial Identity Request; however, an initial
       Identity Request is not required, and MAY be bypassed. For
       example, the identity may not be required where it is determined
       by the port to which the peer has connected (leased lines,
       dedicated switch or dial-up ports); or where the identity is
       obtained in another fashion (via calling station identity or MAC
       address, in the Name field of the MD5-Challenge Response, etc.).

   [2] The peer sends a Response packet in reply to a valid Request.  As
       with the Request packet the Response packet contains a Type
       field, which corresponds to the Type field of the Request.

   [3] The authenticator sends an additional Request packet, and the
       peer replies with a Response. The sequence of Requests and
       Responses continues as long as needed. EAP is a 'lock step'
       protocol, so that other than the initial Request, a new Request
       cannot be sent prior to receiving a valid Response. The
       Authenticator MUST NOT send a Success or Failure packet as a
       result of a timeout. After a suitable number of timeouts have
       elapsed, the Authenticator SHOULD end the EAP conversation.

   [4] The conversation continues until the authenticator cannot
       authenticate the peer (unacceptable Responses to one or more
       Requests), in which case the authenticator implementation MUST



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       transmit an EAP Failure (Code 4).  Alternatively, the
       authentication conversation can continue until the authenticator
       determines that successful authentication has occurred, in which
       case the authenticator MUST transmit an EAP Success (Code 3).

   Since EAP is a peer-to-peer protocol, an independent and simultaneous
   authentication may take place in the reverse direction. Both peers
   may act as authenticators and authenticatees at the same time.

   Advantages
      The EAP protocol can support multiple authentication mechanisms
      without having to pre-negotiate a particular one.

      Devices (e.g. a NAS, switch or access point) do not have to
      understand each authentication method and MAY act as a
      pass-through agent for a backend authentication server.  Support
      for pass-through is optional. An authenticator MAY authenticate
      local users while at the same time acting as a pass-through for
      non-local users and authentication methods it does not implement
      locally.

      For sessions in which the authenticator acts as a pass-through, it
      MUST determine the outcome of the authentication solely based on
      the Accept/Reject indication sent by the backend authentication
      server; the outcome MUST NOT be determined by the contents of an
      EAP packet sent along with the Accept/Reject indication, or the
      absence of such an encapsulated EAP packet.

      Separation of the authenticator from the backend authentication
      server simplifies credentials management and policy decision
      making.

   Disadvantages
      For use in PPP, EAP does require the addition of a new
      authentication type to PPP LCP and thus PPP implementations will
      need to be modified to use it. It also strays from the previous
      PPP authentication model of negotiating a specific authentication
      mechanism during LCP. Similarly, switch or access point
      implementations need to support [IEEE.802-1X.2001] in order to use
      EAP.

      Where the authenticator is separate from the backend
      authentication server, this complicates the security analysis and,
      if needed, key distribution.







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2.1 Support for sequences

   An EAP conversation MAY utilize a sequence of methods. A common
   example of this is an Identity request followed by a single EAP
   authentication method such as an MD5-Challenge. However a peer MUST
   utilize only one authentication method (Type 4 or greater) within an
   EAP conversation, after which the authenticator MUST send a Success
   or Failure packet. As a result, Identity Requery is not supported.

   Once a peer has sent a Response of the same Type as the initial
   Request, an authenticator MUST NOT send a Request of a different Type
   prior to completion of the final round of a given method (with the
   exception of a Notification-Request) and MUST NOT send a Request for
   an additional method of any Type after completion of the initial
   authentication method.

   Supporting multiple authentication methods within an EAP conversation
   would add complexity to the EAP protocol, would enable
   man-in-the-middle attacks (see Section 7.4), and would result in
   interoperability problems, since existing EAP implementations
   typically do not support multiple authentication methods.

   If an additional authentication method is requested by the
   authenticator, or if the authenticator sends a Request of a different
   Type prior to completion of the final round of a given method, the
   peer SHOULD silently discard the Request. A peer MUST NOT send a Nak
   (legacy or expanded) in reply to a Request, after an initial non-Nak
   Response has been sent. Since spoofed EAP Request packets may be sent
   by an attacker, an an authenticator receiving an unexpected Nak
   SHOULD silently discard it and log the event.

   Where a single EAP authentication method is utilized, but other
   methods are run within it (e.g. "tunneled" methods) the prohibition
   against multiple authentication methods does not apply. Such
   "tunneled" methods appear as a single authentication method to EAP.
   Backward compatibility can be provided, since a peer not supporting a
   "tunneled" method can reply to the initial EAP-Request with a Nak. To
   address security vulnerabilities, "tunneled" methods MUST support
   protection against man-in-the-middle attacks.

   Within or associated with each authenticator, it is not anticipated
   that a particular named peer will support a choice of methods. This
   would make the peer vulnerable to attacks that negotiate the least
   secure method from among a set (negotiation attacks, described in
   Section 7.8). Instead, for each named peer there SHOULD be an
   indication of exactly one method used to authenticate that peer name.
   If a peer needs to make use of different authentication methods under
   different circumstances, then distinct identities SHOULD be employed,



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   each of which identifies exactly one authentication method.

2.2 EAP multiplexing model

   Conceptually, EAP implementations consist of the following
   components:

   [a] Lower layer. The lower layer is responsible for transmitting and
       receiving EAP frames between the peer and authenticator. EAP has
       been run over a variety of lower layers including PPP; wired IEEE
       802 LANs [IEEE.802-1X.2001]; IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs
       [IEEE.802-11.1999]; UDP (L2TP [RFC2661] and ISAKMP [PIC]); and
       TCP [PIC]. Lower layer behavior is discussed in Section 3.

   [b] EAP layer. The EAP layer receives and transmits EAP packets via
       the lower layer, implements the EAP state machine, and delivers
       and receives EAP messages to and from EAP methods.

   [c] EAP method. EAP methods implement the authentication algorithms
       and receive and transmit EAP messages via the EAP layer. Since
       fragmentation support is not provided by EAP itself, this is the
       responsibility of EAP methods, which are discussed in Section 5.

   The EAP multiplexing model is illustrated in figure 1 below. Note
   that there is no requirement that an implementation conform to this
   model, as long as the on-the-wire behavior is consistent with it.

























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         +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
         |           |           |  |           |           |
         | EAP method| EAP method|  | EAP method| EAP method|
         | Type = X  | Type = Y  |  | Type = X  | Type = Y  |
         |       V   |           |  |       ^   |           |
         +-+-+-+-!-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+  +-+-+-+-!-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
         |       !               |  |       !               |
         |  EAP  ! Layer         |  |  EAP  !  Layer        |
         |       !               |  |       !               |
         +-+-+-+-!-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+  +-+-+-+-!-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
         |       !               |  |       !               |
         | Lower !  Layer        |  | Lower !  Layer        |
         |       !               |  |       !               |
         +-+-+-+-!-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+  +-+-+-+-!-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                 !                          !
                 !   Peer                   ! Authenticator
                 +------------>-------------+

                    Figure 1: EAP Multiplexing Model

   Within EAP, the Type field functions much like a port number in UDP
   or TCP.  With the exception of Types handled by the EAP layer, it is
   assumed that the EAP layer multiplexes incoming EAP packets according
   to their Type, and delivers them only to the EAP method corresponding
   to that Type code, with one exception.

   Since EAP methods may wish to access the Identity, the Identity
   Response can be assumed to be stored within the EAP layer so as to be
   available to methods of Types other than 1 (Identity). The Identity
   Type is discussed in Section 5.1.

   A Notification Response is only used as confirmation that the peer
   received the Notification Request, not that it has processed it, or
   displayed the message to the user. It cannot be assumed that the
   contents of the Notification Request or Response is available to
   another method. The Notification Type is discussed in Section 5.2.

   The Nak method is utilized for the purposes of method negotiation.
   Peers MUST respond to an EAP Request for an unacceptable Type with a
   Nak Response (legacy or expanded). It cannot be assumed that the
   contents of the Nak Response is available to another method. The Nak
   Type is discussed in Section 5.3.

   EAP packets with codes of Success or Failure do not include a Type,
   and therefore are not delivered to an EAP method. Success and Failure
   are discussed in Section 4.2.

   Given these considerations, the Success, Failure, Nak Response and



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   Notification Request/Response messages MUST NOT be used to carry data
   destined for delivery to other EAP methods.

   Where a pass-through authenticator is present, it forwards packets
   back and forth between the peer and a backend authentication server,
   based on the EAP layer header fields (Code, Identifier, Length).
   Since pass-through authenticators rely on a backend authenticator
   server to implement methods, the EAP method layer header fields
   (Type, Type-Data) are not examined as part of the forwarding
   decision. The forwarding model is illustrated in Figure 2. Compliant
   pass-through authenticator implementations MUST by default be capable
   of forwarding packets from any EAP method.


              Peer     Pass-through Authenticator  Authentication
                                                       Server

         +-+-+-+-+-+-+                             +-+-+-+-+-+-+
         |           |                             |           |
         |EAP method |                             |EAP method |
         |   Layer   |                             |   Layer   |
         |     V     |                             |     ^     |
         +-+-+-!-+-+-+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+  +-+-+-!-+-+-+
         |     !     |  |           |           |  |     !     |
         |EAP  !Layer|  | EAP Layer | EAP Layer |  |EAP  !Layer|
         |     !     |  |     +-----+-----+     |  |     !     |
         |     !     |  |     !     |     !     |  |     !     |
         +-+-+-!-+-+-+  +-+-+-!-+-+-+-+-+-!-+-+-+  +-+-+-!-+-+-+
         |     !     |  |     !     |     !     |  |     !     |
         |Lower!Layer|  |Lower!Layer| AAA ! /IP |  | AAA ! /IP  |
         |     !     |  |     !     |     !     |  |     !     |
         +-+-+-!-+-+-+  +-+-+-!-+-+-+-+-+-!-+-+-+  +-+-+-!-+-+-+
            !              !           !              !
            !              !           !              !
            +-------->-----+           +------->------+

                  Figure 2: Pass-through Authenticator


3. Lower layer behavior

3.1 Lower layer requirements

   EAP makes the following assumptions about lower layers:

   [1] Lower layer CRC or checksum is not necessary. In EAP, the
       authenticator retransmits Requests that have not yet received
       Responses, so that EAP does not assume that lower layers are



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       reliable.  Since EAP defines its own retransmission behavior,
       when run over a reliable lower layer, it is possible (though
       undesirable) for retransmission to occur both in the lower layer
       and the EAP layer.

       If lower layers exhibit a high loss rate, then retransmissions
       are likely, and since EAP Success and Failure are not
       retransmitted, timeouts are also likely to result.  EAP methods
       such as EAP TLS [RFC2716] include a message integrity check (MIC)
       and regard MIC errors as fatal. Therefore if a checksum or CRC is
       not provided by the lower layer, then some methods may not behave
       well.

   [2] Lower layer data security. After EAP authentication is complete,
       the peer will typically transmit data to the network, through the
       authenticator.  In order to provide assurance that the peer
       transmitting data is the one that successfully completed EAP
       authentication, it is necessary for the lower layer to provide
       per- packet integrity, authentication and replay protection that
       is bound to the original EAP authentication, or for the lower
       layer to be physically secure. Otherwise it is possible for
       subsequent data traffic to be hijacked, or replayed.

       As a result of these considerations, EAP SHOULD be used only when
       lower layers provide physical security for data (e.g. wired PPP
       or IEEE 802 links), or for insecure links, where per-packet
       authentication, integrity and replay protection is provided.
       Where keying material for the lower layer ciphersuite is itself
       provided by EAP, typically the lower layer ciphersuite cannot be
       enabled until late in the EAP conversation, after key derivation
       has completed.  Thus it may only be possible to use the lower
       layer ciphersuite to protect a portion of the EAP conversation,
       such as the EAP Success or Failure packet.

   [3] Known MTU. The EAP layer does not support fragmentation and
       reassembly. However, EAP methods SHOULD be capable of handling
       fragmentation and reassembly. As a result, EAP is capable of
       functioning across a range of MTU sizes, as long as the MTU is
       known.

   [4] Possible duplication. Where the lower layer is reliable, it will
       provide the EAP layer with a non-duplicated stream of packets.
       However, while it is desirable that lower layers provide for non-
       duplication, this is not a requirement. The Identifier field
       provides both the peer and authenticator with the ability to
       detect duplicates.





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   [5] Ordering guarantees. EAP does not require the Identifier to be
       monotonically increasing, and so is reliant on lower layer
       ordering guarantees for correct operation. Also, EAP was
       originally defined to run on PPP, and [RFC1661] Section 1 has an
       ordering requirement:

       "The Point-to-Point Protocol is designed for simple links which
       transport packets between two peers. These links provide full-
       duplex simultaneous bi-directional operation, and are assumed to
       deliver packets in order."

       Lower lower transports for EAP MUST preserve ordering between a
       source and destination, at a given priority level (the level of
       ordering guarantee provided by [IEEE.802.1990]).


3.2 EAP usage within PPP

   In order to establish communications over a point-to-point link, each
   end of the PPP link must first send LCP packets to configure the data
   link during Link Establishment phase.  After the link has been
   established, PPP provides for an optional Authentication phase before
   proceeding to the Network-Layer Protocol phase.

   By default, authentication is not mandatory. If authentication of the
   link is desired, an implementation MUST specify the Authentication-
   Protocol Configuration Option during Link Establishment phase.

   If the identity of the peer has been established in the
   Authentication phase, the server can use that identity in the
   selection of options for the following network layer negotiations.

   When implemented within PPP, EAP does not select a specific
   authentication mechanism at PPP Link Control Phase, but rather
   postpones this until the Authentication Phase.  This allows the
   authenticator to request more information before determining the
   specific authentication mechanism.  This also permits the use of a
   "back-end" server which actually implements the various mechanisms
   while the PPP authenticator merely passes through the authentication
   exchange.  The PPP Link Establishment and Authentication phases, and
   the Authentication-Protocol Configuration Option, are defined in The
   Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) [RFC1661].

3.2.1 PPP Configuration Option Format

   A summary of the PPP Authentication-Protocol Configuration Option
   format to negotiate the EAP Authentication Protocol is shown below.
   The fields are transmitted from left to right.



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   Exactly one EAP packet is encapsulated in the Information field of a
   PPP Data Link Layer frame where the protocol field indicates type hex
   C227 (PPP EAP).


    0                   1                   2                   3
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |     Type      |    Length     |     Authentication-Protocol   |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   Type

      3

   Length

      4

   Authentication-Protocol

      C227 (Hex) for PPP Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP)


3.3 EAP usage within IEEE 802

   The encapsulation of EAP over IEEE 802 is defined in
   [IEEE.802-1X.2001].  The IEEE 802 encapsulation of EAP does not
   involve PPP, and IEEE 802.1X does not include support for link or
   network layer negotiations. As a result, within IEEE 802.1X it is not
   possible to negotiate non-EAP authentication mechanisms, such as PAP
   or CHAP [RFC1994].

3.4 Link layer indications

   The reliability and security of link layer indications is dependent
   on the medium. Since EAP is media independent, the presence or
   absence of link layer security is not taken into account in the
   processing of EAP messages.

   Link layer failure indications provided to EAP by the link layer MUST
   be processed and will cause an EAP exchange in progress to be
   aborted. However, link layer success indications MUST NOT affect EAP
   message processing so that an EAP implementation MUST NOT conclude
   that authentication has succeeded based on those indications. This
   ensures that an attacker spoofing link layer indications can at best
   succeed in a denial of service attack.




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   A discussion of some reliability and security issues with link layer
   indications in PPP, IEEE 802 wired networks and IEEE 802.11 wireless
   LANs can be found in the Security Considerations, Section 7.12.

   In IEEE 802.11 a "link down" indication is an unreliable indication
   of link failure, since wireless signal strength can come and go and
   may be influenced by radio frequency interference generated by an
   attacker. To avoid unnecessary resets, it is advisable to damp these
   indications, rather than passing them directly to the EAP. Since EAP
   supports retransmission, it is robust against transient connectivity
   losses.

4. EAP Packet format

   A summary of the EAP packet format is shown below. The fields are
   transmitted from left to right.


    0                   1                   2                   3
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |     Code      |  Identifier   |            Length             |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |    Data ...
   +-+-+-+-+

   Code

      The Code field is one octet and identifies the type of EAP packet.
      EAP Codes are assigned as follows:

         1       Request
         2       Response
         3       Success
         4       Failure

      Since EAP only defines Codes 1-4, EAP packets with other codes
      MUST be silently discarded by both authenticators and peers.

   Identifier

      The Identifier field is one octet and aids in matching Responses
      with Requests.

   Length

      The Length field is two octets and indicates the length of the EAP
      packet including the Code, Identifier, Length and Data fields.



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      Octets outside the range of the Length field should be treated as
      Data Link Layer padding and should be ignored on reception.

   Data

      The Data field is zero or more octets.  The format of the Data
      field is determined by the Code field.


4.1 Request and Response

   Description

      The Request packet (Code field set to 1) is sent by the
      authenticator to the peer. Each Request has a Type field which
      serves to indicate what is being requested. Additional Request
      packets MUST be sent until a valid Response packet is received, or
      an optional retry counter expires.

      Retransmitted Requests MUST be sent with the same Identifier value
      in order to distinguish them from new Requests. The contents of
      the data field is dependent on the Request type. The peer MUST
      send a Response packet in reply to a valid Request packet.
      Responses MUST only be sent in reply to a valid Request and never
      retransmitted on a timer.

      The Identifier field of the Response MUST match that of the
      currently outstanding Request. An authenticator receiving a
      Response whose Identifier value does not match that of the
      currently outstanding Request MUST silently discard the Response.
      The Type field of a Response MUST either match that of the
      Request, or correspond to a legacy or expanded Nak (see Section
      5.3).

         Implementation Note: The authenticator is responsible for
         retransmitting Request messages. If the Request message is
         obtained from elsewhere (such as from a backend authentication
         server), then the authenticator will need to save a copy of the
         Request in order to accomplish this. The peer is responsible
         for detecting and handling duplicate Request messages before
         processing them in any way, including passing them on to an
         outside party. The authenticator is also responsible for
         discarding Response messages with a non-matching Identifier
         value before acting on them in any way, including passing them
         on to the backend authentication server for verification. Since
         the authenticator can retransmit before receiving a Response
         from the peer, the authenticator can receive multiple
         Responses, each with a matching Identifier. Until a new Request



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         is received by the authenticator, the Identifier value is not
         updated, so that the authenticator forwards Responses to the
         backend authentication server, one at a time.

         Because the authentication process will often involve user
         input, some care must be taken when deciding upon
         retransmission strategies and authentication timeouts. By
         default, where EAP is run over an unreliable lower layer, the
         EAP retransmission timer SHOULD be computed as described in
         [RFC2988]. This includes use of Karn's algorithm to filter RTT
         estimates resulting from retransmissions. A maximum of 3-5
         retransmissions is suggested.

         When run over a reliable lower layer (e.g. EAP over ISAKMP/TCP,
         as within [PIC]), the authenticator retransmission timer SHOULD
         be set to an infinite value, so that retransmissions do not
         occur at the EAP layer. Note that in this case the peer may
         still maintain a timeout value so as to avoid waiting
         indefinitely for a Request.

         Where the authentication process requires user input, the
         measured round trip times are largely determined by user
         responsiveness rather than network characteristics, so that RTO
         estimation is not helpful. Instead, the retransmission timer
         SHOULD be set so as to provide sufficient time for the user to
         respond, with longer timeouts required in certain cases, such
         as where Token Cards (see Section 5.6) are involved.

         In order to provide the EAP authenticator with guidance as to
         the appropriate timeout value, a hint can be communicated to
         the authenticator by the backend authentication server (such as
         via the RADIUS Session-Timeout attribute).

   A summary of the Request and Response packet format is shown below.
   The fields are transmitted from left to right.


    0                   1                   2                   3
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |     Code      |  Identifier   |            Length             |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |     Type      |  Type-Data ...
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-







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   Code

      1 for Request
      2 for Response

   Identifier

      The Identifier field is one octet. The Identifier field MUST be
      the same if a Request packet is retransmitted due to a timeout
      while waiting for a Response. Any new (non-retransmission)
      Requests MUST modify the Identifier field. In order to avoid
      confusion between new Requests and retransmissions, the Identifier
      value chosen for each new Request need only be different from the
      previous Request, but need not be unique within the conversation.
      One way to achieve this is to start the Identifier at an initial
      value and increment it for each new Request. Initializing the
      first Identifier with a random number rather than starting from
      zero is recommended, since it makes sequence attacks somewhat
      harder.

      Since the Identifier space is unique to each session,
      authenticators are not restricted to only 256 simultaneous
      authentication conversations. Similarly, with re-authentication,
      an EAP conversation might continue over a long period of time, and
      is not limited to only 256 roundtrips.

      If a peer receives a valid duplicate Request for which it has
      already sent a Response, it MUST resend its original Response.  If
      a peer receives a duplicate Request before it has sent a Response,
      but after it has determined the initial Request to be valid (i.e.
      it is waiting for user input), it MUST silently discard the
      duplicate Request. An EAP message may be found invalid for a
      variety of reasons: failed lower layer CRC or checksum, malformed
      EAP packet, EAP method MIC failure, etc.

   Length

      The Length field is two octets and indicates the length of the EAP
      packet including the Code, Identifier, Length, Type, and Type-Data
      fields.  Octets outside the range of the Length field should be
      treated as Data Link Layer padding and should be ignored on
      reception.

   Type

      The Type field is one octet.  This field indicates the Type of
      Request or Response. A single Type MUST be specified for each EAP
      Request or Response.  Normally, the Type field of the Response



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      will be the same as the Type of the Request.  However, there is
      also a Nak Response Type for indicating that a Request type is
      unacceptable to the peer. An initial specification of Types
      follows in a later section of this document.

   Type-Data

      The Type-Data field varies with the Type of Request and the
      associated Response.


4.2 Success and Failure

   The Success packet is sent by the authenticator to the peer to
   acknowledge successful authentication.  The authenticator MUST
   transmit an EAP packet with the Code field set to 3 (Success).  If
   the authenticator cannot authenticate the peer (unacceptable
   Responses to one or more Requests) then the implementation MUST
   transmit an EAP packet with the Code field set to 4 (Failure).  An
   authenticator MAY wish to issue multiple Requests before sending a
   Failure response in order to allow for human typing mistakes. Success
   and Failure packets MUST NOT contain additional data.

      Implementation Note: Because the Success and Failure packets are
      not acknowledged, the authenticator cannot know whether they have
      been received. As a result, these packets are not retransmitted by
      the authenticator. If acknowledged success and failure indications
      are desired, these MAY be implemented within individual EAP
      methods. Since only a single EAP authentication method is
      supported within an EAP conversation, a peer that successfully
      authenticates the authenticator MAY, in the event that an EAP
      Success is not received, conclude that the EAP Success packet was
      lost and enable the link.

   A summary of the Success and Failure packet format is shown below.
   The fields are transmitted from left to right.


    0                   1                   2                   3
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |     Code      |  Identifier   |            Length             |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   Code

      3 for Success
      4 for Failure



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   Identifier

      The Identifier field is one octet and aids in matching replies to
      Responses.  The Identifier field MUST match the Identifier field
      of the Response packet that it is sent in response to.

   Length

      4


4.2.1 Processing of success and failure

   EAP Success or Failure packets MUST NOT be sent by an authenticator
   prior to completion of the final round of a given method.  A peer EAP
   implementation receiving a Success or Failure packet prior to
   completion of the method in progress MUST silently discard it. By
   default, an EAP peer MUST silently discard a "canned" EAP Success
   message (an EAP Success message sent immediately upon connection).
   This ensures that a rogue authenticator will not be able to bypass
   mutual authentication by sending an EAP Success prior to conclusion
   of the EAP method conversation.

5. Initial EAP Request/Response Types

   This section defines the initial set of EAP Types used in Request/
   Response exchanges.  More Types may be defined in follow-on
   documents.  The Type field is one octet and identifies the structure
   of an EAP Request or Response packet.  The first 3 Types are
   considered special case Types.

   The remaining Types define authentication exchanges.  The Nak Type is
   valid only for Response packets, it MUST NOT be sent in a Request.
   The Nak Type MUST only be sent in response to a Request which uses an
   authentication Type code (i.e., Type of 4 or greater).

   All EAP implementations MUST support Types 1-4, which are defined in
   this document, and SHOULD support Type 254. Follow-on RFCs MAY define
   additional EAP Types.












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          1       Identity
          2       Notification
          3       Nak (Response only)
          4       MD5-Challenge
          5       One Time Password (OTP)
          6       Generic Token Card (GTC)
        254       Expanded types
        255       Experimental use


5.1 Identity

   Description

      The Identity Type is used to query the identity of the peer.
      Generally, the authenticator will issue this as the initial
      Request. An optional displayable message MAY be included to prompt
      the peer in the case where there expectation of interaction with a
      user.  A Response of Type 1 (Identity) SHOULD be sent in Response
      to a Request with a Type of 1 (Identity).

      Since Identity Requests and Responses are not protected, from a
      security perspective, it may be preferable for protected method-
      specific Identity exchanges to be used instead.

         Implementation Note:  The peer MAY obtain the Identity via user
         input.  It is suggested that the authenticator retry the
         Identity Request in the case of an invalid Identity or
         authentication failure to allow for potential typos on the part
         of the user.  It is suggested that the Identity Request be
         retried a minimum of 3 times before terminating the
         authentication phase with a Failure reply.  The Notification
         Request MAY be used to indicate an invalid authentication
         attempt prior to transmitting a new Identity Request
         (optionally, the failure MAY be indicated within the message of
         the new Identity Request itself).

   Type

      1

   Type-Data

      This field MAY contain a displayable message in the Request,
      containing UTF-8 encoded ISO 10646 characters [RFC2279].  The
      Response uses this field to return the Identity.  If the Identity
      is unknown, this field should be zero bytes in length. The field
      MUST NOT be null terminated.  The length of this field is derived



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      from the Length field of the Request/Response packet and hence a
      null is not required.


5.2 Notification

   Description

      The Notification Type is optionally used to convey a displayable
      message from the authenticator to the peer. An authenticator MAY
      send a Notification Request to the peer at any time when there is
      no outstanding Request. The peer MUST respond to a Notification
      Request with a Notification Response; a Nak Response MUST NOT be
      sent.

      The peer SHOULD display this message to the user or log it if it
      cannot be displayed. The Notification Type is intended to provide
      an acknowledged notification of some imperative nature, but it is
      not an error indication, and therefore does not change the state
      of the peer. Examples include a password with an expiration time
      that is about to expire, an OTP sequence integer which is nearing
      0, an authentication failure warning, etc. In most circumstances,
      Notification should not be required.

   Type

      2

   Type-Data

      The Type-Data field in the Request contains a displayable message
      greater than zero octets in length, containing UTF-8 encoded ISO
      10646 characters [RFC2279].  The length of the message is
      determined by Length field of the Request packet.  The message
      MUST NOT be null terminated.  A Response MUST be sent in reply to
      the Request with a Type field of 2 (Notification).  The Type-Data
      field of the Response is zero octets in length.   The Response
      should be sent immediately (independent of how the message is
      displayed or logged).


5.3 Nak

5.3.1 Legacy Nak







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   Description

      The legacy Nak Type is valid only in Response messages. It is sent
      in reply to a Request where the desired authentication Type is
      unacceptable. Authentication Types are numbered 4 and above. The
      Response contains one or more authentication Types desired by the
      Peer. Type zero (0) is used to indicate that the sender has no
      viable alternatives.

      Since the legacy Nak Type is valid only in Responses and has very
      limited functionality, it MUST NOT be used as a general purpose
      error indication, such as for communication of error messages, or
      negotiation of parameters specific to a particular EAP method.

   Code

      2 for Response.

   Identifier

      The Identifier field is one octet and aids in matching Responses
      with Requests. The Identifier field of a legacy Nak Response MUST
      match the Identifier field of the Request packet that it is sent
      in response to.

   Length

      >=6

   Type

      3

   Type-Data

      Where any peer receives a Request for an unacceptable Type in the
      range (1-253,255), or a peer lacking support for Expanded Types
      receives a Request for Type 254, a legacy Nak Response MUST be
      sent. The Type-Data field of the legacy Nak Response MUST contain
      one or more octets indicating the desired authentication Type(s),
      one octet per Type, or the value zero (0) to indicate no proposed
      alternative. A peer supporting Expanded Types that receives a
      Request for an unacceptable Type (1-253, 255) MAY include the
      value 254 in the legacy Nak Response in order to indicate the
      desire for an Expanded authentication Type. If the authenticator
      can accomodate this preference, it will respond with an Expanded
      Type Request.




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5.3.2 Expanded Nak

   Description

      The Expanded Nak Type is valid only in Response messages. It MUST
      be sent only in reply to a Request of Type 254 (Expanded Type)
      where the authentication Type is unacceptable. The Expanded Nak
      Type uses the Expanded Type format itself, and the Response
      contains one or more authentication Types desired by the peer, all
      in Expanded Type format. Type zero (0) is used to indicate that
      the sender has no viable alternatives. The general format of the
      Expanded Type is described in Section 5.7.

      Since the Expanded Nak Type is valid only in Responses and has
      very limited functionality, it MUST NOT be used as a general
      purpose error indication, such as for communication of error
      messages, or negotiation of parameters specific to a particular
      EAP method.

   Code

      2 for Response.

   Identifier

      The Identifier field is one octet and aids in matching Responses
      with Requests. The Identifier field of a Expanded Nak Response
      MUST match the Identifier field of the Request packet that it is
      sent in response to.

   Length

      >=40

   Type

      254

   Vendor-Id

      0 (IETF)

   Vendor-Type

      3 (Nak)






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   Vendor-Data

      The Expanded Nak Type is only sent when the Request contains an
      Expanded Type (254) as defined in Section 5.7. The Vendor-Data
      field of the Nak Response MUST contain one or more authentication
      Types (4 or greater), all in expanded format, 8 octets per Type,
      or the value zero (0), also in Expanded Type format, to indicate
      no proposed alternative. The desired authentication Types may
      include a mixture of Vendor-Specific and IETF Types. For example,
      an Expanded Nak Response indicating a preference for OTP (Type 5),
      and an MIT (Vendor-Id=20) Expanded Type  of 6 would appear as
      follows:

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |     2         |  Identifier   |            Length             |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |   Type=254    |                0 (IETF)                       |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                                3 (Nak)                        |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |   Type=254    |                0 (IETF)                       |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                                5 (OTP)                        |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |   Type=254    |                20 (MIT)                       |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                                6                              |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      An Expanded Nak Response indicating a no desired alternative would
      appear as follows:

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |     2         |  Identifier   |            Length             |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |   Type=254    |                0 (IETF)                       |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                                3 (Nak)                        |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |   Type=254    |                0 (IETF)                       |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                                0 (No alternative)             |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+




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5.4 MD5-Challenge

   Description

      The MD5-Challenge Type is analogous to the PPP CHAP protocol
      [RFC1994] (with MD5 as the specified algorithm).  The Request
      contains a "challenge" message to the peer.  A Response MUST be
      sent in reply to the Request.  The Response MAY be either of Type
      4 (MD5-Challenge) or Type 3 (Nak). The Nak reply indicates the
      peer's desired authentication Type(s).  EAP peer and EAP server
      implementations MUST support the MD5-Challenge mechanism.  An
      authenticator that supports only pass-through MUST allow
      communication with a backend authentication server that is capable
      of supporting MD5-Challenge, although the EAP authenticator
      implementation need not support MD5-Challenge itself. However, if
      the EAP authenticator can be configured to authenticate peers
      locally (e.g. not operate in pass-through), then the requirement
      for support of the MD5-Challenge mechanism applies.

      Note that the use of the Identifier field in the MD5-Challenge
      Type is different from that described in [RFC1994].  EAP allows
      for retransmission of MD5-Challenge Request packets while
      [RFC1994] states that both the Identifier and Challenge fields
      MUST change each time a Challenge (the CHAP equivalent of the
      MD5-Challenge Request packet) is sent.

   Type

      4

   Type-Data

      The contents of the Type-Data  field is summarized below.  For
      reference on the use of these fields see the PPP Challenge
      Handshake Authentication Protocol [RFC1994].

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |  Value-Size   |  Value ...
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |  Name ...
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+








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   Security Claims (see Section 7.2):

      Intended use:           Wired networks, including PPP, PPPOE, and
                              IEEE 802 wired media. Use over the
                              Internet or with wireless media only when
                              protected.
      Mechanism:              Password or pre-shared key.
      Mutual authentication:  No
      Integrity protection:   No
      Replay protection:      No
      Confidentiality:        No
      Key Derivation:         No
      Key strength:           N/A
      Dictionary attack prot: No
      Key hierarchy:          N/A
      Fast reconnect:         No
      MiTM resistance:        No
      Acknowledged S/F:       No


5.5 One-Time Password (OTP)

   Description

      The One-Time Password system is defined in "A One-Time Password
      System" [RFC2289] and "OTP Extended Responses" [RFC2243].  The
      Request contains a displayable message containing an OTP
      challenge. A Response MUST be sent in reply to the Request.  The
      Response MUST be of Type 5 (OTP) or Type 3 (Nak).  The Nak
      Response indicates the peer's desired authentication Type(s).

   Type

      5

   Type-Data

      The Type-Data field contains the OTP "challenge" as a displayable
      message in the Request. In the Response, this field is used for
      the 6 words from the OTP dictionary [RFC2289].  The messages MUST
      NOT be null terminated.  The length of the field is derived from
      the Length field of the Request/Reply packet.









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   Security Claims (see Section 7.2):

      Intended use:           Wired networks, including PPP, PPPOE, and
                              IEEE 802 wired media. Use over the
                              Internet or with wireless media only when
                              protected.
      Mechanism:              One-Time Password
      Mutual authentication:  No
      Integrity protection:   No
      Replay protection:      No
      Confidentiality:        No
      Key Derivation:         No
      Key strength:           N/A
      Dictionary attack prot: No
      Key hierarchy:          N/A
      Fast reconnect:         No
      MiTM resistance:        No
      Acknowledged S/F:       No


5.6 Generic Token Card (GTC)

   Description

      The Generic Token Card Type is defined for use with various Token
      Card implementations which require user input.   The Request
      contains a displayable message and the Response contains the Token
      Card information necessary for authentication.  Typically, this
      would be information read by a user from the Token card device and
      entered as ASCII text.  A Response MUST be sent in reply to the
      Request. The Response MUST be of Type 6 (GTC) or Type 3 (Nak).
      The Nak Response indicates the peer's desired authentication
      Type(s).

   Type

      6

   Type-Data

      The Type-Data field in the Request contains a displayable message
      greater than zero octets in length.  The length of the message is
      determined by the Length field of the Request packet.  The message
      MUST NOT be null terminated.  A Response MUST be sent in reply to
      the Request with a Type field of 6 (Generic Token Card).  The
      Response contains data from the Token Card required for
      authentication.  The length of the data is determined by the
      Length field of the Response packet.



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   Security Claims (see Section 7.2):

      Intended use:           Wired networks, including PPP, PPPOE, and
                              IEEE 802 wired media. Use over the
                              Internet or with wireless media only when
                              protected.
      Mechanism:              Hardware token.
      Mutual authentication:  No
      Integrity protection:   No
      Replay protection:      No
      Confidentiality:        No
      Key Derivation:         No
      Key strength:           N/A
      Dictionary attack prot: No
      Key hierarchy:          N/A
      Fast reconnect:         No
      MiTM resistance:        No
      Acknowledged S/F:       No


5.7 Expanded types

   Description

      Due to EAP's popularity, the original Method Type space, which
      only provides for 255 values, is being allocated at a pace which
      if continued would result in exhaustion within a few years. Since
      many of the existing uses of EAP are vendor-specific, the Expanded
      Method Type is available to allow vendors to support their own
      Expanded Types not suitable for general usage.

      The Expanded type is also used to expand the global Method Type
      space beyond the original 255 values. A Vendor-Id of 0 maps the
      original 255 possible types onto a namespace of 2^32-1 possible
      types, allowing for virtually unlimited expansion. (Type 0 is only
      used in a Nak Response, to indicate no acceptable alternative)

      An implementation that supports the Expanded attribute MUST treat
      EAP types that are less than 256 equivalently whether they appear
      as a single octet or as the 32-bit Vendor-Type within a Expanded
      type where Vendor-Id is 0.  Peers not equipped to interpret the
      Expanded Type MUST send a Nak as described in Section 5.3.1, and
      negotiate a more suitable authentication method.

      A summary of the Expanded Type format is shown below. The fields
      are transmitted from left to right.





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       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |     Type      |               Vendor-Id                       |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                          Vendor-Type                          |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |              Vendor data...
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   Type

      254 for Expanded type

   Vendor-Id

      The Vendor-Id is 3 octets and represents the SMI Network
      Management Private Enterprise Code of the Vendor in network byte
      order, as allocated by IANA. A Vendor-Id of zero is reserved for
      use by the IETF in providing an expanded global EAP Type space.

   Vendor-Type

      The Vendor-Type field is four octets and represents the vendor-
      specific Method Type.

      If Vendor-Id is zero, the Vendor-Type field is an extension and
      superset of the existing namespace for EAP types. The first 256
      types are reserved for compatibility with single-octet EAP types
      that have already been assigned or may be assigned in the future.
      Thus, EAP types from 0 through 255 are semantically identical
      whether they appear as single octet EAP types or as Vendor-Types
      when Vendor-Id is zero.

   Vendor-Data

      The Vendor-Data field is defined by the vendor.  Where a Vendor-Id
      of zero is present, the Vendor-Data field will be used for
      transporting the contents of EAP methods of Types defined by the
      IETF.


5.8 Experimental

   Description

      The experimental type has no fixed format or content. It is
      intended for use when experimenting with new EAP types. This type



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      is intended for experimental and testing purposes. No guarantee is
      made for interoperability between peers using this type, as
      outlined in [IANA-EXP].

   Type

      255

   Type-Data

      Undefined


6. IANA Considerations

   This section provides guidance to the Internet Assigned Numbers
   Authority (IANA) regarding registration of values related to the EAP
   protocol, in accordance with BCP 26, [RFC2434].

   There are two name spaces in EAP that require registration: Packet
   Codes and Method Types.

   EAP is not intended as a general-purpose protocol, and allocations
   SHOULD NOT be made for purposes unrelated to authentication.

6.1 Definition of Terms

   The following terms are used here with the meanings defined in BCP
   26: "name space", "assigned value", "registration".

   The following policies are used here with the meanings defined in BCP
   26: "Private Use", "First Come First Served", "Expert Review",
   "Specification Required", "IETF Consensus", "Standards Action".

6.2 Recommended Registration Policies

   For registration requests where a Designated Expert should be
   consulted, the responsible IESG area director should appoint the
   Designated Expert. For Designated Expert with Specification Required,
   the request is posted to the EAP WG mailing list (or, if it has been
   disbanded, a successor designated by the Area Director) for comment
   and review, and MUST include a pointer to a public specification.
   Before a period of 30 days has passed, the Designated Expert will
   either approve or deny the registration request and publish a notice
   of the decision to the EAP WG mailing list or its successor. A denial
   notice must be justified by an explanation and, in the cases where it
   is possible, concrete suggestions on how the request can be modified
   so as to become acceptable.



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   For registration requests requiring Expert Review, the EAP mailing
   list should be consulted. If the EAP mailing list is no longer
   operational, an alternative mailing list may be designated by the
   responsible IESG Area Director.

   Packet Codes have a range from 1 to 255, of which 1-4 have been
   allocated. Because a new Packet Code has considerable impact on
   interoperability, a new Packet Code requires Standards Action, and
   should be allocated starting at 5.

   The original EAP Method Type space has a range from 1 to 255, and is
   the scarcest resource in EAP, and thus must be allocated with care.
   Method Types 1-36 have been allocated, with 20 available for re-use.
   Method Types 37-191 may be allocated on the advice of a Designated
   Expert, with Specification Required.

   Allocation of blocks of Method Types (more than one for a given
   purpose) should require IETF Consensus.  EAP Type Values 192-253 are
   reserved and allocation requires Standards Action.

   Method Type 254 is allocated for the Expanded Type.  Where the
   Vendor-Id field is non-zero, the Expanded Type is used for functions
   specific only to one vendor's implementation of EAP, where no
   interoperability is deemed useful.  When used with a Vendor-Id of
   zero, Method Type 254 can also be used to provide for an expanded
   IETF Method Type space.  Method Type values 256-4294967295 may be
   allocated after Type values 1-191 have been allocated.

   Method Type 255 is allocated for Experimental use, such as testing of
   new EAP methods before a permanent Type code is allocated.

7. Security Considerations

   EAP was designed for use with dialup PPP [RFC1661] and was later
   adapted for use in wired IEEE 802 networks [IEEE.802.1990] in
   [IEEE.802-1X.2001].  On these networks, an attacker would need to
   gain physical access to the telephone or switch infrastructure in
   order to mount an attack. While such attacks have been documented,
   such as in [DECEPTION], they are assumed to be rare.

   However, subsequently EAP has been proposed for use on wireless
   networks, and over the Internet, where physical security cannot be
   assumed. On such networks, the security vulnerabilities are greater,
   as are the requirements for EAP security.

   This section defines the threat model and security terms and
   describes the security claims section required in EAP method
   specifications.  We then discuss threat mitigation.



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7.1 Threat model

   On physically insecure networks, it is possible for an attacker to
   gain access to the physical medium. This enables a range of attacks,
   including the following:

   [1] An adversary may try to discover user identities by snooping
       authentication traffic.

   [2] An adversary may try to modify or spoof EAP packets.

   [3] An adversary may launch denial of service attacks by spoofing
       layer 2 indications or EAP layer success/failure indications,
       replaying EAP packets, or generating packets with overlapping
       Identifiers.

   [4] An adversary might attempt to recover the pass-phrase by mounting
       an offline dictionary attack.

   [5] An adversary may attempt to convince the peer to connect to an
       untrusted network, by mounting a man-in-the-middle attack.

   [6] An adversary may attempt to disrupt the EAP negotiation in order
       to weaken the authentication.

   [7] An attacker may attempt to recover the key by taking advantage of
       weak key derivation techniques used within EAP methods.

   [8] An attacker may attempt to take advantage of weak ciphersuites
       subsequently used after the EAP conversation is complete.

   Where EAP is used over wireless networks, an attacker needs to be
   within the coverage area of the wireless medium in order to carry out
   these attacks. However, where EAP is used over the Internet, no such
   restrictions apply.

7.2 Security claims

   In order to clearly articulate the security provided by an EAP
   method, EAP method specifications MUST include a Security Claims
   section including the following declarations:

   [a] Intended use. This includes a statement of whether the method is
       intended for use over a physically secure or insecure network, as
       well as a statement of the applicable media.






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   [b] Mechanism. This is a statement of the authentication technology:
       certificates, pre-shared keys, passwords, token cards, etc.

   [c] Security claims. This is a statement of the claimed security
       properties of the method, using terms defined in Section 1.2:
       mutual authentication, integrity protection, replay protection,
       confidentiality, key derivation, key strength, dictionary attack
       resistance, fast reconnect, man-in-the-middle resistance,
       acknowledged result indications.  The Security Claims section of
       an EAP method specification SHOULD provide justification for the
       claims that are made. This can be accomplished by including a
       proof in an Appendix, or including a reference to a proof.

   [d] Key strength. If the method derives keys, then the effective key
       strength MUST be estimated. This estimate is meant for potential
       users of the method to determine if the keys produced are strong
       enough for the intended application.

       The effective key strength SHOULD be stated as number of bits,
       defined as follows: If the effective key strength is N bits, the
       best currently known methods to recover the key (with
       non-negligible probability) require an effort comparable to 2^N
       operations of a typical block cipher. The statement SHOULD be
       accompanied by a short rationale, explaining how this number was
       arrived at. This explanation SHOULD include the parameters
       required to achieve N bits of entropy based on current knowledge
       of the algorithms.

       (Note: Although it is difficult to define what "comparable
       effort" and "typical block cipher" exactly mean, reasonable
       approximations are sufficient here. Refer to e.g. [SILVERMAN] for
       more discussion.)

       The key strength depends on the methods used to derive the keys.
       For instance, if keys are derived from a shared secret (such as a
       password or master key), and possibly some public information
       such as nonces, the effective key strength is limited by the
       entropy of the long-term secret (assuming that the derivation
       procedure is computationally simple). To take another example,
       when using public key algorithms, the strength of the symmetric
       key depends on the strength of the public keys used.

   [e] Description of key hierarchy. EAP methods deriving keys MUST
       either provide a reference to a key hierarchy specification, or
       describe how keys used for authentication/integrity, encryption
       and IVs are to be derived from the provided keying material, and
       how cryptographic separation is maintained between keys used for
       different purposes.



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   [f] Indication of vulnerabilities. In addition to the security claims
       that are made, the specification MUST indicate which of the
       security claims detailed in Section 1.2 are NOT being made.


7.3 Identity protection

   An Identity exchange is optional within the EAP conversation.
   Therefore, it is possible to omit the Identity exchange entirely, or
   to postpone it until later in the conversation once a protected
   channel has been established.

   However, where roaming is supported as described in [RFC2607], it may
   be necessary to locate the appropriate backend authentication server
   before the authentication conversation can proceed.  The realm
   portion of the Network Access Identifier (NAI) [RFC2486] is typically
   included within the Identity-Response in order to enable the
   authentication exchange to be routed to the appropriate backend
   authentication server. Therefore while the peer-name portion of the
   NAI may be omitted in the Identity- Response, where proxies or relays
   are present, the realm portion may be required.

7.4 Man-in-the-middle attacks

   Where a sequence of methods is utilized for authentication or EAP is
   tunneled within another protocol that omits peer authentication,
   there exists a potential vulnerability to man-in-the-middle attack.

   Where a sequence of EAP methods is utilized for authentication, the
   peer might not have proof that a single entity has acted as the
   authenticator for all EAP methods within the sequence. For example,
   an authenticator might terminate one EAP method, then forward the
   next method in the sequence to another party without the peer's
   knowledge or consent. Similarly, the authenticator might not have
   proof that a single entity has acted as the peer for all EAP methods
   within the sequence.

   This enables an attack by a rogue EAP authenticator tunneling EAP to
   a legitimate server. Where the tunneling protocol is used for key
   establishment but does not require peer authentication, an attacker
   convincing a legitimate peer to connect to it will be able to tunnel
   EAP packets to a legitimate server, successfully authenticating and
   obtaining the key. This allows the attacker to successfully establish
   itself as a man-in-the-middle, gaining access to the network, as well
   as the ability to decrypt data traffic between the legitimate peer
   and server.

   This attack may be mitigated by the following measures:



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   [a] Requiring mutual authentication within EAP tunneling mechanisms.

   [b] Requiring cryptographic binding between EAP methods executed
       within a sequence or between the EAP tunneling protocol and the
       tunneled EAP methods. Where cryptographic binding is supported, a
       mechanism is also needed to protect against downgrade attacks
       that would bypass it.

   [c] Limiting the EAP methods authorized for use without protection,
       based on peer and authenticator policy.

   [d] Avoiding the use of sequences or tunnels when a single, strong
       method is available.


7.5 Packet modification attacks

   While individual EAP methods may support per-packet data origin
   authentication, integrity and replay protection, EAP itself does not
   provide built-in support for this.

   Since the Identifier is only a single octet, it is easy to guess,
   allowing an attacker to successfully inject or replay EAP packets.
   An attacker may also modify EAP headers within EAP packets where the
   header is unprotected. This could cause packets to be inappropriately
   discarded or misinterpreted.

   In the case of PPP and IEEE 802 wired links, it is assumed that such
   attacks are restricted to attackers who can gain access to the
   physical link.  However, where EAP is run over physically insecure
   lower layers such as IEEE 802.11 or the Internet (such as within
   protocols supporting PPP, EAP or Ethernet Tunneling), this assumption
   is no longer valid and the vulnerability to attack is greater.

   To protect EAP messages sent over physically insecure lower layers,
   methods providing mutual authentication and key derivation, as well
   as per-packet origin authentication, integrity and replay protection
   SHOULD be used. Method-specific MICs may be used to provide
   protection. Since EAP messages of Types Identity, Notification, and
   Nak do not include their own MIC, it may be desirable for the EAP
   method MIC to cover information contained within these messages, as
   well as the header of each EAP message.  To provide protection, EAP
   also may be encapsulated within a protected channel created by
   protocols such as ISAKMP [RFC2408] as is done in [PIC] or within TLS
   [RFC2246].  However, as noted in Section 7.4, EAP tunneling may
   result in a man-in-the-middle vulnerability.





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7.6 Dictionary attacks

   Password authentication algorithms such as EAP-MD5, MS-CHAPv1
   [RFC2433] and Kerberos V [RFC1510] are known to be vulnerable to
   dictionary attacks.  MS-CHAPv1 vulnerabilities are documented in
   [PPTPv1]; Kerberos vulnerabilities are described in [KRBATTACK],
   [KRBLIM], and [KERB4WEAK].

   In order to protect against dictionary attacks, an authentication
   algorithm resistant to dictionary attack (as defined in Section 7.2)
   may be used. This is particularly important when EAP runs over media
   which are not physically secure.

   If an authentication algorithm is used that is known to be vulnerable
   to dictionary attack, then the conversation may be tunneled within a
   protected channel, in order to provide additional protection.
   However, as noted in Section 7.4, EAP tunneling may result in a
   man-in-the-middle vulnerability, and therefore dictionary attack
   resistant methods are preferred.

7.7 Connection to an untrusted network

   With EAP methods supporting one-way authentication, such as EAP-MD5,
   the authenticator's identity is not verified. Where the lower layer
   is not physically secure (such as where EAP runs over wireless media
   or IP), this enables the peer to connect to a rogue authenticator. As
   a result, where the lower layer is not physically secure, a method
   supporting mutual authentication is recommended.

   In EAP there is no requirement that authentication be full duplex or
   that the same protocol be used in both directions. It is perfectly
   acceptable for different protocols to be used in each direction.
   This will, of course, depend on the specific protocols negotiated.
   However, in general, completing a single unitary mutual
   authentication is preferable to two one-way authentications, one in
   each direction.  This is because separate authentications that are
   not bound cryptographically so as to demonstrate they are part of the
   same session are subject to man-in-the-middle attacks, as discussed
   in Section 7.4.

7.8 Negotiation attacks

   In a negotiation attack, the attacker attempts to convince the peer
   and authenticator to negotiate a less secure EAP method. EAP does not
   provide protection for the Nak packet, although it is possible for a
   method to include coverage of Nak Responses within a method-specific
   MIC.




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   To avoid negotiation attacks in situations where EAP runs over
   physically insecure media, for each named peer there SHOULD be an
   indication of exactly one method used to authenticate that peer name,
   as described in Section 2.1.

7.9 Implementation idiosyncrasies

   The interaction of EAP with lower layer transports such as PPP and
   IEEE 802 are highly implementation dependent.

   For example, upon failure of authentication, some PPP implementations
   do not terminate the link, instead limiting traffic in Network-Layer
   Protocols to a filtered subset, which in turn allows the peer the
   opportunity to update secrets or send mail to the network
   administrator indicating a problem. Similarly, while in IEEE 802.1X
   an authentication failure will result in denied access to the
   controlled port, limited traffic may be permitted on the uncontrolled
   port.

   In EAP there is no provision for retries of failed authentication.
   However, in PPP the LCP state machine can renegotiate the
   authentication protocol at any time, thus allowing a new attempt.
   Similarly, in IEEE 802.1X the Supplicant or Authenticator can
   re-authenticate at any time. It is recommended that any counters used
   for authentication failure not be reset until after successful
   authentication, or subsequent termination of the failed link.

7.10 Key derivation

   It is possible for the peer and EAP server to mutually authenticate,
   and derive a Master Key (MK). The MK is unique to the peer and EAP
   server and MUST NOT be exported by the EAP method, or used directly
   to protect the EAP conversation or subsequent data. As a result,
   possession of the MK represents proof of a successful authentication,
   and this is potentially useful in enabling features such as fast
   reconnect, or fast handoff.

   In order to provide keying material for use in a subsequently
   negotiated ciphersuite, the EAP method exports a Master Session Key
   (MSK). Like the EAP Master Key, EAP Master Session Keys are also not
   used directly to protect data; however, they are of sufficient size
   to enable subsequent derivation of Transient Session Keys (TSKs) for
   use with the selected ciphersuite.

   EAP methods provide Master Session Keys and not Transient Session
   Keys so as to allow EAP methods to be ciphersuite and media
   independent. Depending on the lower layer, EAP methods may run before
   or after ciphersuite negotiation, so that the selected ciphersuite



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   may not be known to the EAP method. By providing keying material
   usable with any ciphersuite, EAP methods can used with a wide range
   of ciphersuites and media.  Since the peer and EAP client reside on
   the same machine, TSKs can be provided to the lower layer security
   module without needing to leave the machine.

   In the case where the backend authentication server and authenticator
   reside on different machines, there are several implications for
   security:

   [a] Mutual authentication may occur between the peer and the backend
       authentication server, if the negotiated EAP method supports
       this. However, where the authenticator and backend authentication
       server are separate, the peer and authenticator do not mutually
       authenticate within EAP.  However, subsequent to completion of
       the EAP conversation, the lower layer may support mutual
       authentication between the peer and authenticator.  For example,
       IEEE 802.11i includes a Transient Session Key derivation protocol
       known as the 4-way handshake, which guarantees liveness of the
       TSKs, provides for mutual authentication between the peer and
       authenticator, replay protection, and protected ciphersuite
       negotiation.

   [b] The MSK negotiated between the peer and backend authentication
       server will need to be transmitted to the authenticator.  The
       specification of this transit mechanism is outside the scope of
       this document.

   This specification does not provide detailed guidance on how EAP
   methods are to derive the MK and MSK. Key derivation is an art that
   is best practiced by professionals; rather than inventing new key
   derivation algorithms, reuse of existing algorithms such as those
   specified in IKE [RFC2409], or TLS [RFC2246] is recommended.

   However, some general guidelines can be provided:

   [1] The MK is for use only by the EAP authenticator and peer and MUST
       NOT be exported by the EAP method or provided to a third party.

   [2] Since the MSK is exported by the EAP method, while the MK is not,
       possession of the MSK MUST NOT provide information useful in
       determining the MK.

   [3] The MSK and TSKs MUST be fresh.  Otherwise it is infeasible to
       detect messages replayed from prior sessions.






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   [4] TSKs MUST be cryptographically independent from each other so
       that if an attacker obtains one of them, he will not have gained
       information useful in determining the other ones.

   [5] There MUST be a way to determine whether TSKs belong to this or
       to some other session.

   [6] The MSK derived by EAP methods MUST be bound to the peers as well
       as to the authentication method, so as to avoid a
       man-in-the-middle attack (see Section 7.4).


7.11 Weak ciphersuites

   If after the initial EAP authentication, data packets are sent
   without per-packet authentication, integrity and replay protection,
   an attacker with access to the media can inject packets, "flip bits"
   within existing packets, replay packets, or even hijack the session
   completely. Without per-packet confidentiality, it is possible to
   snoop data packets.

   As a result, as noted in Section 3.1, where EAP is used over a
   physically insecure lower layer, per-packet authentication, integrity
   and replay protection SHOULD be used, and per-packet confidentiality
   is also recommended.

7.12 Link layer

   There exists a number of reliability and security issues with link
   layer indications in PPP, IEEE 802 wired networks and IEEE 802.11
   wireless LANs:

   [a] PPP.  In PPP, link layer indications such as LCP-Terminate (a
       link failure indication) and NCP (a link success indication) are
       not authenticated or integrity protected. They can therefore be
       spoofed by an attacker with access to the physical medium.

   [b] IEEE 802 wired networks. On wired networks, IEEE 802.1X messages
       are sent to a non-forwardable multicast MAC address. As a result,
       while the IEEE 802.1X EAPOL-Start and EAPOL-Logoff frames are not
       authenticated or integrity protected, only an attacker with
       access to the physical link can spoof these messages.

   [c] IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs. In IEEE 802.11, link layer indications
       include Disassociate and Deauthenticate frames (link failure
       indications), and Association and Reassociation Response frames
       (link success indications). These messages are not authenticated
       or integrity protected, and although they are not forwardable,



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       they are spoofable by an attacker within range.

       In IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.1X data frames are sent as Class 3
       unicast data frames, are therefore forwardable. This implies that
       while EAPOL-Start and EAPOL-Logoff messages may be authenticated
       and integrity protected, they can be spoofed by an authenticated
       attacker far from the target when "pre-authentication" is
       enabled.


7.13 Separation of EAP server and authenticator

   It is possible for the EAP peer and authenticator to mutually
   authenticate, and derive a Master Session Key (MSK) for a ciphersuite
   used to protect subsequent data traffic.  This does not present an
   issue on the peer, since the peer and EAP client reside on the same
   machine; all that is required is for the EAP client module to derive
   and pass a Transient Session Key (TSK) to the ciphersuite module.

   However, in the case where the EAP server and authenticator reside on
   different machines, there are several implications for security.

   [a] Authentication will occur between the peer and the EAP server,
       not between the peer and the authenticator. This means that it is
       not possible for the peer to validate the identity of the NAS or
       tunnel server that it is speaking to, using EAP alone.

   [b] As discussed in [RFC2869bis], the authenticator is dependent on
       the AAA protocol in order to know the outcome of an
       authentication conversation, and does not look at the
       encapsulated EAP packet (if one is present) to determine the
       outcome. In practice this means that the AAA protocol spoken
       between the authenticator and authentication server MUST support
       per-packet authentication, integrity and replay protection.

   [c] A EAP Master Session Key (MSK) negotiated between the peer and
       EAP server will need to be transmitted to the authenticator.
       Therefore a mechanism needs to be provided to transmit the MSK
       from the EAP server to the authenticator or tunnel server that
       needs it. The specification of the key transport and wrapping
       mechanism is outside the scope of this document.


7.14 Strict Interpretation

   An EAP method wishing to enforce tighter security than is provided by
   the packet processing rules of Section 2.1 and Section 4.2.1 MAY
   indicate within their specification that they follow a "strict



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   interpretation" of EAP.

   When requested by a method, "strict interpretation" causes the EAP
   implementation to impose inbound filter rules from the point where an
   initial Request is answered with a Response of the same Type, until
   the method completes. "Strict interpretation" also implies that on
   completion the peer method will indicate whether it succeeded (was
   able to authenticate the authenticator) or failed (did not succeed in
   authenticating the authenticator).

   An EAP method making use of "strict interpretation" must include a
   definition of completion for both the peer and authenticator, and
   also must indicate the conditions under which successful completion
   will be indicated.

   The filter rules are as follows:

   [a] On the peer, all EAP packets are silently discarded, except for
       those with Code=1 (Request) and Type=Method-Type. This implies
       that methods supporting "strict interpretation" do not utilize
       Notification, but instead support their own method-specific error
       messages.

   [b] On the peer, once the method completes unsuccessfully, the EAP
       conversation is terminated, the link is not enabled and Success
       packets are silently discarded. If the conversation completes
       successfully, then Failure packets are silently discarded.

   [c] On the EAP server, once the initial EAP Request is responded to
       with an EAP Response of the same Type, all EAP packets are
       silently discarded, except those with Code=2 (Response) and
       Type=EAP-Method-Type.

   Implementation note: While none of the methods defined in this
   document support strict interpretation, EAP-TLS [RFC2716]
   implementations SHOULD support strict interpretation.

8. Acknowledgments

   This protocol derives much of its inspiration from Dave Carrel's AHA
   draft as well as the PPP CHAP protocol [RFC1994]. Valuable feedback
   was provided by Yoshihiro Ohba of Toshiba America Research, Jari
   Arkko of Ericsson, Sachin Seth of Microsoft, Glen Zorn of Cisco
   Systems, Jesse Walker of intel, Nick Petroni, Paul Funk of Funk
   Software and Pasi Eronen of Nokia.

Normative References




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   [RFC1661]  Simpson, W., "The Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP)", STD 51,
              RFC 1661, July 1994.

   [RFC1994]  Simpson, W., "PPP Challenge Handshake Authentication
              Protocol (CHAP)", RFC 1994, August 1996.

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

   [RFC2243]  Metz, C., "OTP Extended Responses", RFC 2243, November
              1997.

   [RFC2279]  Yergeau, F., "UTF-8, a transformation format of ISO
              10646", RFC 2279, January 1998.

   [RFC2289]  Haller, N., Metz, C., Nesser, P. and M. Straw, "A One-Time
              Password System", RFC 2289, February 1998.

   [RFC2409]  Harkins, D. and D. Carrel, "The Internet Key Exchange
              (IKE)", RFC 2409, November 1998.

   [RFC2434]  Narten, T. and H. Alvestrand, "Guidelines for Writing an
              IANA Considerations Section in RFCs", BCP 26, RFC 2434,
              October 1998.

   [RFC2988]  Paxson, V. and M. Allman, "Computing TCP's Retransmission
              Timer", RFC 2988, November 2000.

   [IEEE.802.1990]
              Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, "Local
              and Metropolitan Area Networks: Overview and
              Architecture", IEEE Standard 802, 1990.

   [IEEE.802-1X.2001]
              Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, "Local
              and Metropolitan Area Networks: Port-Based Network Access
              Control", IEEE Standard 802.1X, September 2001.

Informative References

   [DECEPTION]
              Slatalla, M. and J. Quittner, "Masters of Deception",
              HarperCollins , New York, 1995.

   [RFC1510]  Kohl, J. and B. Neuman, "The Kerberos Network
              Authentication Service (V5)", RFC 1510, September 1993.

   [RFC2246]  Dierks, T., Allen, C., Treese, W., Karlton, P., Freier, A.



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              and P. Kocher, "The TLS Protocol Version 1.0", RFC 2246,
              January 1999.

   [RFC2284]  Blunk, L. and J. Vollbrecht, "PPP Extensible
              Authentication Protocol (EAP)", RFC 2284, March 1998.

   [RFC2486]  Aboba, B. and M. Beadles, "The Network Access Identifier",
              RFC 2486, January 1999.

   [RFC2401]  Kent, S. and R. Atkinson, "Security Architecture for the
              Internet Protocol", RFC 2401, November 1998.

   [RFC2408]  Maughan, D., Schneider, M. and M. Schertler, "Internet
              Security Association and Key Management Protocol
              (ISAKMP)", RFC 2408, November 1998.

   [RFC2433]  Zorn, G. and S. Cobb, "Microsoft PPP CHAP Extensions", RFC
              2433, October 1998.

   [RFC2607]  Aboba, B. and J. Vollbrecht, "Proxy Chaining and Policy
              Implementation in Roaming", RFC 2607, June 1999.

   [RFC2661]  Townsley, W., Valencia, A., Rubens, A., Pall, G., Zorn, G.
              and B. Palter, "Layer Two Tunneling Protocol "L2TP"", RFC
              2661, August 1999.

   [RFC2716]  Aboba, B. and D. Simon, "PPP EAP TLS Authentication
              Protocol", RFC 2716, October 1999.

   [KRBATTACK]
              Wu, T., "A Real-World Analysis of Kerberos Password
              Security", Stanford University Computer Science
              Department, http://theory.stanford.edu/~tjw/krbpass.html.

   [KRBLIM]   Bellovin, S. and M. Merrit, "Limitations of the Kerberos
              authentication system", Proceedings of the 1991 Winter
              USENIX Conference, pp. 253-267, 1991.

   [KERB4WEAK]
              Dole, B., Lodin, S. and E. Spafford, "Misplaced trust:
              Kerberos 4 session keys", Proceedings of the Internet
              Society Network and Distributed System Security Symposium,
              pp. 60-70, March 1997.

   [PIC]      Aboba, B., Krawczyk, H. and Y. Sheffer, "PIC, A Pre-IKE
              Credential Provisioning Protocol", draft-ietf-ipsra-pic-06
              (work in progress), October 2002.




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   [PPTPv1]   Schneier, B. and Mudge, "Cryptanalysis of Microsoft's
              Point-to- Point Tunneling Protocol", Proceedings of the
              5th ACM Conference on Communications and Computer
              Security, ACM Press, November 1998.

   [IEEE.802-3.1996]
              Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers,
              "Information technology - Telecommunications and
              Information Exchange between Systems - Local and
              Metropolitan Area Networks - Specific requirements - Part
              3: Carrier sense multiple access with collision detection
              (CSMA/CD) Access Method and Physical Layer
              Specifications", IEEE Standard 802.3, 1996.

   [IEEE.802-11.1999]
              Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers,
              "Information Technology - Telecommunications and
              Information Exchange between Systems - Local and
              Metropolitan Area Network - Specific Requirements - Part
              11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical
              Layer (PHY) Specifications", IEEE Standard 802.11, 1999.

   [SILVERMAN]
              Silverman, Robert D., "A Cost-Based Security Analysis of
              Symmetric and Asymmetric Key Lengths", RSA Laboratories
              Bulletin 13, April 2000 (Revised November 2001), http://
              www.rsasecurity.com/rsalabs/bulletins/bulletin13.html.

   [RFC2869bis]
              Aboba, B. and P. Calhoun, "RADIUS Support For Extensible
              Authentication Protocol (EAP)",
              draft-aboba-radius-rfc2869bis-09 (work in progress),
              February 2003.

   [IANA-EXP]
              Narten, T., "Assigning Experimental and Testing Numbers
              Considered Useful",
              draft-narten-iana-experimental-allocations-03 (work in
              progress), December 2002.












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Authors' Addresses

   Larry J. Blunk
   Merit Network, Inc
   4251 Plymouth Rd., Suite 2000
   Ann Arbor, MI  48105-2785
   USA

   Phone: +1 734-647-9563
   Fax:   +1 734-647-3185
   EMail: ljb@merit.edu


   John R. Vollbrecht
   Vollbrecht Consulting LLC
   9682 Alice Hill Drive
   Dexter, MI  48130
   USA

   Phone:
   EMail: jrv@umich.edu


   Bernard Aboba
   Microsoft Corporation
   One Microsoft Way
   Redmond, WA  98052
   USA

   Phone: +1 425 706 6605
   Fax:   +1 425 936 6605
   EMail: bernarda@microsoft.com


   James Carlson
   Sun Microsystems, Inc
   1 Network Drive
   Burlington, MA  01803-2757
   USA

   Phone: +1 781 442 2084
   Fax:   +1 781 442 1677
   EMail: james.d.carlson@sun.com








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   Henrik Levkowetz
   ipUnplugged AB
   Arenavagen 33
   Stockholm  S-121 28
   SWEDEN

   Phone: +46 8 725 9513
   EMail: henrik@levkowetz.com

Appendix A. Method Specific Behavior

A.1 Message Integrity Checks

   Today, EAP methods commonly define message integrity checks (MICs)
   that cover more than one EAP packet. For example, EAP-TLS [RFC2716]
   defines a MIC over a TLS record that could be split into multiple
   fragments; within the FINISHED message, the MIC is computed over
   previous messages. Where the MIC covers more than one EAP packet, a
   MIC validation failure is typically considered a fatal error..

   If a per-packet MIC is employed within an EAP method, then peers,
   authentication servers, and authenticators not operating in
   pass-through mode MUST validate the MIC. MIC validation failures
   SHOULD be logged. Whether a MIC validation failure is considered a
   fatal error or not is determined by the EAP method specification.

   Within EAP-TLS [RFC2716] a MIC validation failures is treated as a
   fatal error, since that is what is specified in TLS [RFC2246].
   However, it is also possible to develop EAP methods that support
   per-packet MICs, and respond to verification failures by silently
   discarding the offending packet.

   In this document, descriptions of EAP message handling assume that
   per-packet MIC validation, where it occurs, is effectively performed
   as though it occurs before sending any responses or changing the
   state of the host which received the packet.

Appendix B. Changes from RFC 2284

   This section lists the major changes between [RFC2284] and this
   document. Minor changes, including style, grammar, spelling and
   editorial changes are not mentioned here.

   o  The Terminology section (Section 1.2) has been expanded, defining
      more concepts and giving more exact definitions.

   o  In Section 2, it is explicitly specified that more than one
      exchange of Request and Response packets may occur as part of the



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      EAP authentication exchange. How this may and may not be used is
      specified in detail in Section 2.1.

   o  Also in Section 2, some requirements on the authenticator when
      acting in pass-through mode has been made explicit.

   o  An EAP multiplexing model (Section 2.2) has been added, to
      illustrate a typical implementation of EAP. There is no
      requirement that an implementation conforms to this model, as long
      as the on-the-wire behavior is consistent with it.

   o  As EAP is now in use with a variety of lower layers, not just PPP
      for which it was first designed, Section 3 on lower layer behavior
      has been added.

   o  In the description of the EAP Request and Response interaction
      (Section 4.1), it has been more exactly specified when packets
      should be silently discarded, and also the behavior on receiving
      duplicate requests. The implementation notes in this section has
      been substantially expanded.

   o  In Section 4.2, it has been clarified that Success and Failure
      packets must not contain additional data, and the implementation
      note has been expanded. A subsection giving requirements on
      processing of success and failure packets has been added.

   o  Section 5 on EAP Request/Response Types lists two new type values:
      the Expanded type (Section 5.7), which is used to expand the type
      value number space, and the Experimental type. In the Expanded
      type number space, the new Expanded Nak (Section 5.3.2) type has
      been added. Clarifications have been made in the description of
      most of the existing types. Security claims summaries have been
      added for authentication methods.

   o  An IANA Considerations section (Section 6) has been added, giving
      registration policies for the numbering spaces defined for EAP.

   o  The Security Considerations (Section 7) have been greatly
      expanded, aiming at giving a much more comprehensive coverage of
      possible threats and other security considerations.


Appendix C. Open issues

   (This section should be removed by the RFC editor before publication)

   Open issues relating to this specification are tracked on the
   following web site:



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   http://www.drizzle.com/~aboba/EAP/eapissues.html

   The current working documents for this draft are available at this
   web site:

   http://www.levkowetz.com/pub/ietf/drafts/eap/













































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Intellectual Property Statement

   The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
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   HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
   MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.


Acknowledgement

   Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
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