Network Working Group                                           A. Patel
Internet-Draft                                                  K. Leung
Expires: June 21, 2005                                     Cisco Systems
                                                               M. Khalil
                                                               H. Akhtar
                                                         Nortel Networks
                                                            K. Chowdhury
                                                        Starent Networks
                                                       December 21, 2004


             Mobile Node Identifier Option for Mobile IPv6
                 draft-ietf-mip6-mn-ident-option-01.txt

Status of this Memo

   By submitting this Internet-Draft, I certify that any applicable
   patent or other IPR claims of which I am aware have been disclosed,
   and any of which I become aware will be disclosed, in accordance with
   RFC 3668.

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   This Internet-Draft will expire on June 21, 2005.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This document defines new mobility option to identify mobility
   entities using identifiers other than the home IP address.  This
   option can be used in messages containing a mobility header.




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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   2.  Terminology  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   3.  Mobile Node Identifier option  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     3.1   MN-NAI mobility option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     3.2   Processing Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
   4.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
   5.  IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
   6.  Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
   7.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
       Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
       Intellectual Property and Copyright Statements . . . . . . . . 11






































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1.  Introduction

   The base specification of Mobile IPv6 [RFC3775] identifies mobility
   entities using an IPv6 address.  A mechanism is needed where in
   mobility entities can be identified using other identifiers (for
   example, a network access identifier (NAI) [RFC_2486bis],
   International Mobile Station Identifier (IMSI), an application/
   deployment specific opaque identifier etc).  Using other identities
   for a mobile node (MN) permits various applicabilities, e.g.
   authentication using existing infrastructure (AAA (Authentication,
   Authorization and Accounting), HLR/AuC (Home Location Register/
   Authentication Center)), dynamic allocation of a mobility anchor
   point, dynamic allocation of an address etc.

   This document defines an option with subtype number which identify a
   specific type of identifier.  One instance of subtype, the NAI is
   defined in Section 3.1.  It is expected that other types of
   identifiers will be defined by other documents in the future.

































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2.  Terminology

   The keywords "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD",  "SHOULD  NOT",  "RECOMMENDED",  "MAY",  and "OPTIONAL" in
   this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119.














































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3.  Mobile Node Identifier option

   This section defines the Mobile Node Identifier option.  Various
   forms of identifiers can be used to identify a MN.  Some examples
   include a Network Access Identifier (NAI) [RFC_2486bis], an opaque
   identifier applicable to a particular application, etc.  The sub-type
   field in the option defines the specific type of identifier.

   This option can be used in mobility messages containing a mobility
   header.  The subtype field in the option is used to interpret the
   specific type of identifier.


       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
                                       +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                                       |  Option Type  | Option Length |
       +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
       |  Subtype      |          Identifier ...
       +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+


      Option Type:

         MN-ID-OPTION-TYPE to be defined by IANA.  An 8-bit identifier
         of the type mobility option.

      Option Length:

         8-bit unsigned integer, representing the length in octets of
         the Subtype and Identifier fields.

      Subtype:

         Subtype field defines the specific type of identifier included
         in the identifier field.

      Identifier:

         A variable length identifier of type as specified by the
         subtype field of this option.

   This option does not have any alignment requirements.

3.1  MN-NAI mobility option

   The format of the MN-NAI mobility option is as defined in Section 3.
   This option uses the subtype value of 1.  The MN-NAI mobility option



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   is used to identify the mobile node.

   The MN-NAI mobility option uses an identifier of the form user@realm
   [RFC_2486bis].

3.2  Processing Considerations

   When present, this option MUST appear before any authentication
   related option in a message containing a mobility header.










































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4.  Security Considerations

   Mobile IPv6 already contains one mechanism for identifying mobile
   nodes, the Home Address Option [RFC 3775].  As a result, the
   vulnerabilities of the new option defined in this document are
   similar to those that already exist for Mobile IPv6.  In particular,
   the use of a permanent, stable identifier may compromise the privacy
   of the user, making it possible to track a particular device or user
   as it moves through different locations.

   In addition, since an NAI reveals the home affiliation of a user, it
   may assist an attacker in determining the identity of the user, help
   the attacker in targeting specific victims, or assist in further
   probing of the username space.

   These vulnerabilities can be addressed through various mechanisms,
   such as those discussed below:

   o  Encrypting traffic at link layer such that other users on the same
      link do not see the identifiers.  This mechanism does not help
      against attackers on the rest of the path between the mobile node
      and its home agent.

   o  Encrypting the whole packet, such as when using IPsec to protect
      the communications with the home agent [RFC 3776].

   o  Using an authentication mechanism that enables the use of privacy
      NAIs [RFC_2486bis] or temporary, changing "pseudonyms" as
      identifiers.

   In any case, it should be noted that as the identifier option is only
   needed on the first registration at the home agent and subsequent
   registrations can use the home address, the window of privacy
   vulnerability in this document is reduced as compared to the RFC
   3775.  In addition, this document is a part of a solution to allow
   dynamic home addresses to be used.  This is an improvement to privacy
   as well, and affects both communications with the home agent and the
   correspondent nodes, both of which have to be told the home address.













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5.  IANA Considerations

   IANA services are required for this document.  The values for new
   mobility options must be assigned from the Mobile IPv6 [RFC3775]
   numbering space.

   The values for Mobility Option types MN-ID-OPTION-TYPE as defined in
   Section 3 need to be assigned.  The suggested value is 7 for the
   MN-ID-OPTION-TYPE.

   IANA should record a value for this new mobility option.

   In addition, the IANA needs to create a new namespace for the subtype
   field of the Mobile Node Identifier Option.  The currently allocated
   values are as follows:

   NAI (defined in this document)      [1]

   New values for this namespace can be allocated using Standards Action
   [RFC 2434].































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6.  Acknowledgements

   The authors would like to thank Basavaraj Patil for his review and
   suggestions on this draft.  Thanks to Jari Arkko for review and
   suggestions regarding security considerations and various other
   aspects of the document.

7  Normative References

   [RFC3775]  Johnson, D., Perkins, C. and J. Arkko, "Mobility Support
              in IPv6", RFC 3775, June 2004.

   [RFC_2486bis]
              Aboba, et. al., B., "The Network Access Identifier",
              draft-ietf-radext-rfc2486bis-03.txt (work in progress),
              November 2004.


Authors' Addresses

   Alpesh Patel
   Cisco Systems
   170 W. Tasman Drive
   San Jose, CA  95134
   US

   Phone: +1 408-853-9580
   EMail: alpesh@cisco.com


   Kent Leung
   Cisco Systems
   170 W. Tasman Drive
   San Jose, CA  95134
   US

   Phone: +1 408-526-5030
   EMail: kleung@cisco.com


   Mohamed Khalil
   Nortel Networks
   2221 Lakeside Blvd.
   Richardson, TX  75082
   US

   Phone: +1 972-685-0574
   EMail: mkhalil@nortelnetworks.com



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   Haseeb Akhtar
   Nortel Networks
   2221 Lakeside Blvd.
   Richardson, TX  75082
   US

   Phone: +1 972-684-4732
   EMail: haseebak@nortelnetworks.com


   Kuntal Chowdhury
   Starent Networks
   2540 Coolwater Dr.
   Plano, TX  75025
   US

   Phone: +1 214 550 1416
   EMail: kchowdury@starentnetworks.com

































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Acknowledgment

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   Internet Society.




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