Internet-Draft OpenHTTPA June 2026
King & Wang Expires 3 December 2026 [Page]
Workgroup:
HTTPBIS, TEE, SECDISPATCH
Internet-Draft:
draft-openhttpa-protocol-00
Obsoletes:
draft-sandowicz-httpbis-httpa2 (if approved)
Published:
Intended Status:
Standards Track
Expires:
Authors:
G. King
The `OpenHTTPA` Foundation (openhttpa.org)
H. Wang
The `OpenHTTPA` Foundation (openhttpa.org)

OpenHTTPA: Hypertext Transfer Protocol with Attestation

Abstract

OpenHTTPA (Hypertext Transfer Protocol with Attestation) defines a protocol for establishing hardware-verified, end-to-end confidential and authenticated communication between a client and a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) over standard HTTP/2, HTTP/3, and gRPC transports. Unlike traditional TLS which terminates at the network edge, OpenHTTPA ensures that the cryptographic session terminates inside the hardware-isolated enclave. The protocol is based on the SIGMA-I model and incorporates post-quantum hybrid key exchange (ML-KEM), post-quantum digital signatures (ML-DSA), transcript-bound hardware attestation, and semantic binding of HTTP requests to the hardware-verified session state.

Status of This Memo

This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet-Drafts is at https://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.

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This Internet-Draft will expire on 3 December 2026.

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction

Modern web architectures rely on Transport Layer Security (TLS) [RFC8446] for data-in-transit protection. However, TLS termination often occurs at the network edge (e.g., Load Balancers, CDNs, or WAFs), leaving data exposed within internal cloud networks and vulnerable to privileged insiders or compromised host software.

Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs), such as Intel SGX/TDX, AMD SEV-SNP, and Arm TrustZone, provide hardware-level isolation. While TEEs can generate cryptographic "quotes" to prove their identity and integrity, there is no standardized Application Layer (L7) protocol to seamlessly bind these hardware proofs to HTTP sessions.

OpenHTTPA addresses this gap by providing an end-to-end trusted communication protocol. Building upon the foundational concepts of the earlier HTTPA/2 specification (see [I-D.sandowicz-httpbis-httpa2]), OpenHTTPA introduces:

  1. Enclave-to-Enclave Security: Cryptographic termination inside the TEE.
  2. Mutual Attestation: Integration of TEE hardware quotes into the handshake via the SIGMA-I model.
  3. Post-Quantum Resilience: A hybrid key exchange combining classical X25519 with ML-KEM [FIPS-203] and post-quantum identity via ML-DSA [FIPS-204].
  4. Semantic Intent Binding: The Attested Header List (AHL) mechanism, which binds HTTP semantic context (Method, Path, Query) to the hardware-verified session.

1.1. Working Group Target

This document is submitted for cross-working-group review:

  • HTTPBIS: For extensions to the HTTP protocol, including the ATTEST method and SFV headers.
  • TEE: For the use of hardware attestation reports and Entity Attestation Tokens (EAT) [RFC9334].
  • SECDISPATCH: For architectural review of the hybrid security model.

2. Design Goals

OpenHTTPA is designed with the following core architectural goals:

  1. Transport Independence: The protocol MUST be capable of operating over HTTP/2, HTTP/3, and gRPC without modification to the underlying transport framing.
  2. Cryptographic Agility: The hybrid KEM and AEAD selections MUST be negotiable to allow for the adoption of future post-quantum algorithms.
  3. Auditability: The handshake transcript MUST be deterministic and auditable to allow for formal verification of security properties.
  4. Hardware Heterogeneity: The protocol SHOULD support the simultaneous attestation of multiple hardware providers (e.g., CPU + Accelerator) in a single unified session.

3. Conventions and Terminology

The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all capitals, as shown here.

The following terms are used throughout this document:

  • TEE (Trusted Execution Environment): A secure area of a main processor that guarantees confidentiality and integrity of code and data.
  • Attestation Quote: A hardware-signed report proving the state and identity of a TEE.
  • AtHS (Attestation Handshake): The initial protocol phase to establish a session, based on the SIGMA-I model.
  • TrR (Trusted Request): An encrypted HTTP request sent over an established AtHS session.
  • AHL (Attested Header List): A canonical representation of the request headers used for semantic binding.
  • Hybrid KEM: A Key Encapsulation Mechanism that combines a classical and a post-quantum primitive to achieve IND-CCA2 security.

4. Protocol Overview

OpenHTTPA operates in several distinct phases, integrated into the standard HTTP request-response lifecycle.

4.1. Phase 1: Preflight (Capability Negotiation)

A client MAY initiate a preflight request using the OPTIONS method to discover OpenHTTPA support and available hardware providers.

http OPTIONS /api/resource HTTP/1.1 Host: server.example.com Attest-Versions: openhttpa

The server responds with supported versions and hardware types using Structured Field Values [RFC8941].

http HTTP/1.1 204 No Content Attest-Versions: openhttpa Attest-TEE-Types: intel_tdx, nvidia_gpu

4.2. Phase 2: Attestation Handshake (AtHS)

The AtHS establishes a secure session between the client and the TEE. It uses the ATTEST method (or a fallback POST with specific headers).

4.2.1. AtHS Request

The client sends its preferred cipher suites, versions, nonces, and public key shares.

  • Attest-Versions: Supported versions.
  • Attest-Cipher-Suites: Preferred hybrid suites (e.g., X25519_ML_KEM768_AES256GCM_SHA384).
  • Attest-Random: 32-byte client nonce.
  • Attest-Key-Shares: Structured list of ECDHE and ML-KEM public keys.

4.2.2. AtHS Response

The server responds with the selected parameters and its own attestation evidence.

  • Attest-Version: Negotiated version.
  • Attest-Cipher-Suite: Negotiated suite.
  • Attest-Random: 32-byte server nonce.
  • Attest-Quotes: One or more TEE attestation quotes.
  • Attest-Server-Signatures: Post-quantum and hardware-backed digital signatures (e.g., ML-DSA, TEE-ECDSA).
  • Attest-Base-ID: Unique session identifier (UUID).

4.3. Handshake Flow Visualization

The following diagram illustrates the AtHS SIGMA-I handshake:

```mermaid sequenceDiagram participant Client participant Server

Client->>Server: ATTEST (Random_C, KeyShare_C, Suites, Versions)
Note over Server: Negotiate, KEM Encap, Bind Transcript
Server->>Client: 200 OK (Random_S, KeyShare_S, Atb-ID, Quotes)
Note over Client: Verify Quote, KEM Decap, Derive Keys
Note over Server: Derive Keys ```

5. Message Formats

To ensure cross-platform interoperability, OpenHTTPA defines strict formats for all wire elements.

5.1. Structured Field Values (SFV)

All OpenHTTPA headers MUST follow [RFC8941].

5.1.1. Attest-Versions

A List of tokens identifying supported protocol versions.

  • Example: Attest-Versions: openhttpa, httpa/3

5.1.2. Attest-Cipher-Suites

A List of tokens identifying supported cipher suites in order of preference.

  • Example: Attest-Cipher-Suites: X25519_ML_KEM768_AES256GCM_SHA384, X25519_AES256GCM_SHA384

5.1.3. Attest-Random

A 32-byte byte sequence (base64-encoded in HTTP).

  • Example: Attest-Random: :dW5pY29ybi1tdW5jaC1yYW5kb20tYnl0ZXM=:

5.1.4. Attest-Quotes

A List of Inner Lists. Each inner list contains a TEE type token and a byte sequence (the raw quote).

Note: For strict performance requirements (sub-millisecond setup times), OpenHTTPA transmits raw hardware quotes directly rather than encapsulating them in Entity Attestation Tokens (EAT) as defined in [RFC9334].

  • Example: Attest-Quotes: (tdx :YmFzZTY0LXF1b3RlLWJ5dGVz:), (nvidia_gpu :Z3B1LXF1b3RlOjpieXRlcw==:)

5.2. JSON Key Shares

The Attest-Key-Shares and Attest-Key-Share headers contain a JSON-encoded object with the following schema:

json { "ecdhe_public": "base64_encoded_bytes", "mlkem_public": "base64_encoded_bytes", "mlkem_ciphertext": "base64_encoded_bytes (server response only)", "server_identity_pub": "base64_encoded_bytes (optional server response)", "signature_alg": "string (e.g., 'ml-dsa-65')" }

6. Test Vectors

  • Note to RFC Editor: The following test vectors were generated from the OpenHTTPA reference implementation (openhttpa-rs).

6.1. Hybrid KEM Key Exchange

Client ECDHE Public Key:

text 7837c04985b1737863fc4bb7e3e18a0ff55dc9815865877676977f69d0c8851a

Client ML-KEM Public Key:

text 47a226263994c1677422005a2345508546a4c1049e9af576b582a2 31db5a354a5b7290a4cacc22c18322fd45729527a0b8584bfe0b12 48634f6016ad6e39ad5d229869e9cd00ba06f755557df266f0a52f 393b6734ecc4ee696f4b761b3f6088eed895ebb81f0d66c97b8361 fad9cb5583ac02a9734286bc74e28e6484bc229332e0f00c5f471a 09648610daa11e48be1cf08cc4bc84902713432468816533a24433 786c20f0231b7eac413753a3ae3a19d0c817b79451a9817f787694 2d53b6ccec6a6784c7c2d84929039a67a0c26cbb5875ba0432686f ee7227e95b14c6494c517c1214b59cbbbb06fe996447203e8fe27a 48996613674a826674564a4c11c5055e3679d686b30233a84c4ab4 6c07c764fcbc4a646972dc16c895bdde9c575d86bcd3d35baf3952 0e967d286c8af44763a856926e7534a4f488ca403e1bb7baff4c6d 41230f67a590453891fc6730d63bcac141954d32ae37ebca96b244 09922a234b3b486c3f9a602e13337ae9f1a4a8c2137ac6481f32bb 7e34cd3f97cd00d9ae92dc187fb00c78384b669443d2377e79b82f 5890037fcacd64952003b1b3589968b3725763f79f4618491bb274 26e96fac824dbe93828bea31572a8852139e46806121652c7673ce 1b659e8249bcc102ac39a768322a62f85b6b25c74a12126336d05d a992c8a0729e7f97909591c816b0c98366600fa7053c29c530a546 c3c92b705144f153b949f6bf9a43cbb2141572c9251b43c3507769 78b8cdb19ba642695c3242207260934dd1707d12662a666790bb68 16292f67cc19a416c17a01828be46005dc6b1319b551899044b44c 8bc80b0ac329e61c60a00279ac87a5ff03697d501c9d79b6945a0b 04e95f8654ad8f5b72e431b339a909fb5cce6652991762cf377800 9fd53e0896b47c725b9ddbbc9ae63b6e1b8ff184880b156b4b3626 d6cb9ebd8b37ba5b63bada72fdd58adff49be0f736242bb219b643 0f700d99c5a87d8109ede8211c5bc5fb85762b843c9e6aa9750685 d5f4442b9ba0d3e07fa7f10628abaaefd0555d63cd437b3ea36894 bd21731763b194c0a1f9746838845bfaf8159278b255f14bdd00ac 82e05b2d90cd52f57388b8036c7ac0feccc0a3b975419756e8bb5d e36ba25bf18dc1931663f3afaf08c9f4d7b533097723f1a3be260f d34ac968795f82c51ebb5b081385546c82a41924ac7ac672b5ec61 78b3310661b9017a8f37823f1da3cf7c384e00389685ac584b0b33 9f96899b707d4928a5831972479750a39ac6852514a96b9f81f541 b6cba6aea7a23f911c939b050f9b239026c825b4b7b978cbb10951 a7d3bccd442641a184e5425a0224421d48c082acc8afc215e0aa20 1cca63bfd056678b311cbc0fcbb5144320a91a963952b227b3a8cf a71c562cb5a844295c2e20520118943bc6bdf50392f8391f9d81ca bf18c82c1ba194a27131b16b06952b80d4055e0a6767431cd0f61f ba43698b590912c2b6463688bfd99e099a4519061ea4230e72b794 c9114fd91c59a5c8585ed65f622a42004c6e11b086db272bbcb4c5 3c7c8abcfa69d730bfe0b4857bd61c0f6a37be496e0063a5dc6145 e26a4f931b3e261a52233244a6028c34b2ccadea1c400df39ed0a8 f8c4047ed3ceeda48a6d7b29a0553d35706fde12858da5

Server ECDHE Public Key:

text cfff07624272cf8303edd7d71ea3bea1b359008c321ae06f076ed52200047418

Server ML-KEM Ciphertext:

text 34b21199544efdba9cb4a0f832f61cf922983b52c7c3d042484986 26d1e0a17565e81581a1d0017f453cb3bb19acf5c2f6340b338114 e460a222bf0b1d339299820ab97e1b7645b0bf2b6ed917dc9c0093 5d3acf1a829155e1df2651785c8e91205b95f48d77198cd77854e2 92f84ee483d0ad97075d175e346c4a5c261746f2116b5b5b176401 cd37f7521a277705bb1574e0a6f8e9614d8691a78bef730f93e04c b10f114cc217550f083ab6a51b7ef1388026af3ca9b9f191127ff3 dde9aa8f4e7ed8d30bd948fde3f8348a3506be7b1cee85f670379d 17af5b5ac797a4987356d500444c01f145c2ddbb3ecbb54ac08456 ee07ae8770156b0a303c4841ccc6f03e82d79dfb3b78a2d7f15c6f c79af454e051a80cb7508474d2fdbdf400100fea583316854d28e5 faee57cd7ce15dbd3609d14d16f4b7944c43d35e2afc0d5c443c69 125a471405215fde928dd27b26bd641dce55e78d1d4c1ed12f9d09 f03ffc6698f1573659c72ace12ff8428d972db6381727b40097c4f ae0a1b89faf7e0e8371dc451c2221120be73731cc5428cff83ee09 d212df32020af7677c24973796970480d647c24f5d88f4a33b4e6f f77e3db809d9ae8684ed31a4075b536aeb8f789ce65075c7096cfe de20377cc9b4ff47973c22a0d9aa429207d36fc0a3ea24ca3c0b92 c93af6a31f87cea8b20bdd81cb63db603bd3f012697194bb2f3068 592b331a81ecd589510902d0356ef88c107b154b52e5617e2859a0 1b3f40151c7067221328f53f2f84429f4ccd99eb4981f96fcaae5f 30f4caa1dd66eee2902714c35f4eacc0e7a32a382a36ca4ce532c4 89471d39b21ad1d9be3edc8dd5df16572fc93dbbd4f06cfab00bad fd313e0b6b09c0dac2c491b70edf5eb3170cd65e6f72219496c986 637676d6c80a2f6197c60c854f297476c05ef4565d5b9ddd2b79ea 2e04ea0107d64a53fdb0d485f83983957b6985b36d1a6e24a062b5 fd15fb9c20a00a74f2a8146f0c2d0c611d272d5d65c0495d954349 542e94c5e23bd37ceaf5cc512a1c49ce84c08d7de7ff5015a1e42c 2c9ea65e0f9187b20c1576daaad1fe1203975bbd611d52ca71eb22 85e026c0f4cb166740f68158516d5e0484a7097c00bc8a8370b00f 3fa1673be7f27ef098f664dd0406dbcca7e11cae9ce27b0dd4cb31 4c098b65ab9f698c0ebd9ca23969a1bdb7e1cf9a15dcbfac5d935c 785d7b94fd77fe862d9c149666b8ea4bd75116fb4da8dd3510be5a 2b2cf2cd5f158bcdbcf567d8c2a4288120db5fa459f54f2c8188d9 61436219ac5d2da7dea94246f2aa6dc3a165cc6a8ceaa45a62b303 f4dd7d6dddfeb7f02beba9a41e22b60d006f6cb6ed2f9b17a3d4a1 2d200d1b432f9e08d629418a625f0f5dad3b6af69ca167d58aac86 88eb20ab4ea5e68d589aa89f6da920decf07d382a2ac4937df1f23 6da2316174ef70b145c211e1a002201079c507d4ca4d5867acfdd5 b32619e192928522cefc4f943e552f349000a3fb092274bb09de10 5b7905edff03f7ad

Combined Hybrid Secret (IKM):

text 0f59c9666c406b1623a6759955670303871d1d7edd333596df998f8e2c5bef58

6.1.1. Derived Session Keys

Transcript Hash (All Zeros for Test Vector):

text 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000

Master Secret:

text e4c42f6ce7dd16b5d7c0dbbe632df194df2c66c2c23684149915028d521f120c aa4ba423f91a7c33e508c301ee828b58

Client Write Key:

text 00b0652de62e2ca2a59b9278c0394968fcf8f3c51201673f48b60aaa6025ce17

Server Write Key:

text 45682e8d7d91daae8ed44f309fb141e3f1feb3a7809139d86b818e7d42a58caa

Client MAC Key:

text b027a1f5a0a45b5298bc3c97078d5914e8e924b426dcd5d2b96b47b0521a307e

Server MAC Key:

text f66f2e32e43af2be6775ebb2c5915f0c98fe1e5c54c68320447964d7a70ac80f

6.2. Binary Trailer Layouts

Trailers MUST use big-endian encoding for all numeric fields.

6.2.1. Attest-Ticket (Request Trailer)

Used in TrR (Phase 4) to authenticate the request.

  • nonce: 8 bytes (big-endian u64).
  • mac: Variable length (based on cipher suite, e.g., 48 bytes for SHA-384).

6.2.2. Attest-Binder (Response Trailer)

Used in TrR (Phase 4) to bind the response to the request.

  • request_nonce: 8 bytes (big-endian u64, echo of request nonce).
  • mac: Variable length.

7. Protocol State Machine

Implementations MUST maintain a session state machine to ensure correct sequencing of handshake and trusted request phases.

7.1. Client State Machine

Table 1
Current State Event Next State Action
START Send OPTIONS PREFLIGHT Wait for preflight response
PREFLIGHT Recv 204 IDLE Parse supported versions/TEEs
IDLE Send ATTEST HANDSHAKE Generate KEM pair, send shares
HANDSHAKE Recv 200 ESTABLISHED Verify quotes, derive keys
ESTABLISHED Send TrR ESTABLISHED Encrypt body, add AHL binder

7.2. Server State Machine

Table 2
Current State Event Next State Action
START Recv OPTIONS START Send supported capabilities
START Recv ATTEST HANDSHAKE Pick suite/version, generate KEM
HANDSHAKE Send 200 ESTABLISHED Send quotes/shares, derive keys
ESTABLISHED Recv TrR ESTABLISHED Verify AHL, decrypt body

8. Cryptography

OpenHTTPA mandates high-assurance primitives and constructions to protect against both classical and future quantum adversaries. All signatures MUST use ML-DSA-65 or higher for post-quantum identity assurance.

8.1. Hybrid KEM Combiner

To achieve IND-CCA2 security, OpenHTTPA implements a hybrid combiner following [I-D.ietf-tls-hybrid-design] §3.2.

8.1.1. Combiner Input (IKM)

The Input Key Material (IKM) binds all public material from the exchange:

text IKM = ECDHE_SS ‖ ML-KEM_SS ‖ u16(len(label)) ‖ label ‖ u16(len(ECDHE_PK_client)) ‖ ECDHE_PK_client ‖ u16(len(ECDHE_PK_server)) ‖ ECDHE_PK_server ‖ u16(len(ML-KEM_EK_client)) ‖ ML-KEM_EK_client ‖ u16(len(ML-KEM_CT)) ‖ ML-KEM_CT

The label MUST be b"openhttpa hybrid kem v1".

8.1.2. Combined Secret Derivation

  1. PRK = HKDF-Extract(salt=[0;32], IKM)
  2. Secret = HKDF-Expand(PRK, info=b"combined", 32)

8.2. Session Key Schedule

The key schedule follows [RFC5869] and is aligned with [RFC8446] §7.1.

8.2.1. HKDF-Extract

text Handshake_PRK = HKDF-Extract(Hash=SHA-384, salt=[0x00;48], IKM=combined_secret)

8.2.2. HKDF-Expand

text OKM = HKDF-Expand(Hash=SHA-384, PRK=Handshake_PRK, info=b"openhttpa v2 " ‖ label ‖ transcript_hash, L=<length>)

The fixed 48-byte length of the transcript_hash (SHA-384 output) ensures unambiguous domain separation between the label and the transcript_hash without the need for a delimiter.

8.3. Key Schedule Visualization

The following diagram illustrates the hierarchical derivation of session keys:

text Combined Hybrid Secret | HKDF-Extract(salt=[0;48]) | Handshake_PRK / | \ HKDF-Expand HKDF-Expand HKDF-Expand (Label=Master) (Label=Write) (Label=MAC) | | | Master Secret Write Keys MAC Keys (C->S, S->C) (C->S, S->C)

9. Session Resumption (TrR)

To avoid the computational overhead of hybrid KEM handshakes, OpenHTTPA supports session resumption using opaque tickets.

9.1. Ticket Format

The Attest-Ticket-Resumption header contains a server-encrypted blob (AtST) containing:

  • Protocol Version: 1 byte.
  • Cipher Suite: 2 bytes (big-endian).
  • Master Secret: 48 bytes (from the original session).
  • Session Expiry: 8 bytes (Unix timestamp).
  • Hardware Context: Opaque TEE measurement/policy record.

9.2. Resumption Flow

  1. Client sends Attest-Ticket: <base64_ticket> in a new request.
  2. Server decrypts the ticket and verifies expiry and TEE context.
  3. Both sides derive a new Handshake_PRK using the ticket's Master Secret as IKM.
  4. New session keys are expanded using the new handshake transcript.

10. Confidential Oracle Extension

The OpenHTTPA Confidential Oracle Extension enables a TEE-based agent to act as a bridge between Web2 APIs and Web3 environments (e.g., Bitcoin, EVM). This extension ensures that off-chain data is fetched, processed, and cryptographically bound to the hardware evidence before being transmitted to an on-chain verifier.

10.1. Protocol Binding

When an Oracle fetch is performed, the TEE MUST bind the resulting data to the current AtHS session transcript. This is achieved by including a truncated version of the transcript_hash in the 64-byte hardware report data (e.g., the REPORT_DATA field in Intel TDX or REPORT_DATA in Intel SGX).

The 64-byte ReportData structure is defined as follows:

text ReportData[0..32] = Domain_Prefix (padded with trailing zeros to 32 bytes) ReportData[32..64] = Transcript_Hash[0..32] (truncated to 256 bits)

The Domain_Prefix MUST be the ASCII string "openhttpa hs server". Since TEE hardware report registers are limited to 64 bytes, the 384-bit (48-byte) SHA-384 transcript_hash is truncated to its first 32 bytes (256 bits). Truncating the SHA-384 digest to 256 bits maintains 256 bits of preimage resistance and 128 bits of collision resistance, which is cryptographically sufficient to securely bind the session.

10.2. On-Chain Verification

The Oracle response incorporates a hardware quote and, optionally, a ZK-STARK proof (e.g., generated via RISC Zero) that proves the integrity of the data transformation. Smart contracts verify:

  1. Handshake Consistency: The transcript_hash in the quote matches the session.
  2. Hardware Integrity: The quote was generated by a valid TEE (verified via DCAP/SNP).
  3. Data Correctness: The ZK proof (if present) confirms that the Web2 payload correctly corresponds to the claimed on-chain state.

11. Semantic Binding via AHL

The Attested Header List (AHL) prevents semantic re-routing attacks.

11.1. AHL Transcript Construction

The AHL transcript MUST use length-prefixed binary fields:

text AHL_Transcript = 7::method ‖ len(method_val) ‖ : ‖ method_val ‖ 5::path ‖ len(path_val) ‖ : ‖ path_val ‖ 10::authority ‖ len(authority_val) ‖ : ‖ authority_val ‖ [ len(HEADER_NAME_N) ‖ HEADER_NAME_N ‖ len(HEADER_VALUE_N) ‖ : ‖ HEADER_VALUE_N ... ]

Headers MUST be sorted lexicographically by name before encoding.

11.2. Binder Calculation

Binder = HMAC-SHA-384(mac_key, AHL_Transcript)

12. Error Handling

OpenHTTPA implementations MUST use appropriate HTTP status codes and extended error headers.

Table 3
Error Condition Status Code Extended Error Code
No Mutually Supported Suite 406 negotiation_failed
Attestation Verification Fail 403 handshake_integrity_failed
Key Derivation Failure 500 key_derivation_failed
Policy Violation (e.g. SVN) 403 policy_violation

13. Security Considerations

13.1. Transcript Integrity

OpenHTTPA relies on the integrity of the handshake transcript. Every field in the transcript, including nonces, public keys, and negotiated parameters, MUST be length-prefixed to prevent canonicalization attacks.

13.2. Hardware Splitting Attacks

Implementations MUST verify that the same transcript hash is bound to all hardware quotes provided in the Attest-Quotes header (e.g., both Host CPU and GPU quotes).

13.3. TEE Vulnerabilities and Revocation

The protocol supports Attestation Revocation Lists (ARL) and Secure Version Number (SVN) enforcement to mitigate TEE-specific vulnerabilities.

13.4. Replay Protection

To prevent replay attacks during the Trusted Request (TrR) phase, servers MUST mandate strict replay protection for the nonce provided in the Attest-Ticket request trailer. The server MUST either enforce a strictly increasing monotonic counter for nonces within a session, or maintain a sliding-window strike register (replay cache) of recently seen nonces.

14. Privacy Considerations

14.1. Attestation Fingerprinting

Hardware attestation quotes MAY contain unique identifiers (e.g., CPU serial numbers, unique entity IDs) that allow for the tracking and fingerprinting of TEE instances. Implementations SHOULD use privacy-preserving attestation technologies, such as Enhanced Privacy ID (EPID) or Intel SGX Quote Verification Enclaves, to minimize the exposure of stable hardware identifiers.

14.2. Provenance Tracking

The Attest-Provenance header provides a chain of custody for multi-hop agent delegation. While essential for security auditing, this chain reveals the topology of the agent mesh. Implementations MUST ensure that provenance data is only transmitted within established OpenHTTPA sessions to prevent leakage to unauthorized observers.

15. Implementation Status

  • Note to RFC Editor: Please remove this section before publication.

This section documents the current implementation status of OpenHTTPA as of May 2026.

  • OpenHTTPA Reference Implementation: A production-grade Rust implementation is available at https://github.com/openhttpa/openhttpa-rs. It supports Intel TDX, AMD SEV-SNP, and NVIDIA Hopper GPU attestation.
  • Go/Python/Node Bindings: Language bindings are provided for seamless integration into existing cloud-native stacks.
  • Formal Models: Symbolic and temporal security models have been validated using [ProVerif] and [Tamarin] Prover.

16. Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the contributors to the The OpenHTTPA Foundation (openhttpa.org) and the IETF Security area for their feedback on early iterations of this protocol.

17. Contributors

The following individuals have contributed to the design and implementation of OpenHTTPA and its predecessor HTTPA/2:

  • Shih-han Wang: Original HTTPA/2 Co-Author
  • Nick Li: Original HTTPA/2 Co-Author
  • Ned Smith: Original HTTPA/2 Co-Author
  • Krzysztof Sandowicz: Original HTTPA/2 Co-Author

18. IANA Considerations

18.1. HTTP Method Registry

This document requests the registration of the ATTEST method in the "HTTP Method Registry".

Table 4
Method Safe Idempotent Reference
ATTEST No No This document

18.2. HTTP Field Name Registry

This document requests the registration of the following headers in the "Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) Field Name Registry":

Table 5
Field Name Template Reference
Attest-Cipher-Suites SFV This document
Attest-Supported-Cipher-Suites SFV This document
Attest-Cipher-Suite SFV This document
Attest-Supported-Groups SFV This document
Attest-Key-Shares SFV This document
Attest-Key-Share SFV This document
Attest-Random SFV This document
Attest-Policies SFV This document
Attest-Base-Creation SFV This document
Attest-Blocklist SFV This document
Attest-Versions SFV This document
Attest-Supported-Versions SFV This document
Attest-Date SFV This document
Attest-Signatures SFV This document
Attest-Server-Signatures SFV This document
Attest-Transport SFV This document
Attest-Quotes SFV This document
Attest-Base-ID SFV This document
Attest-Version SFV This document
Attest-Expires SFV This document
Attest-Secrets SFV This document
Attest-Cargo SFV This document
Attest-Ticket SFV This document
Attest-Binder SFV This document
Attest-Base-Termination SFV This document
Attest-Challenge SFV This document
Attest-Provenance SFV This document
Attest-Ticket-Resumption SFV This document
Attest-Zk-Proof SFV This document
Attest-Ai-Provenance-Proof SFV This document

18.3. TLS Exporter Labels Registry

This document requests the registration of the following labels in the IANA "TLS Exporter Labels" registry (RFC 5705) for use with HKDF expansion in OpenHTTPA.

Table 6
Label DTLS-OK Reference
openhttpa_v2 Y This document
openhttpa_v2_0rtt Y This document

Furthermore, the following specific key slots are logically prefixed by the protocol label:

  • master secret
  • client write key
  • server write key
  • client write iv
  • server write iv
  • client mac key
  • server mac key

18.4. TEE Type Registry

This document establishes a new IANA registry titled "OpenHTTPA TEE Types".

Table 7
TEE Type Token Description Reference
sgx Intel SGX (Software Guard Ext) This document
tdx Intel TDX (Trust Domain Ext) This document
sev_snp AMD SEV-SNP This document
trustzone Arm TrustZone This document
nvidia_gpu NVIDIA Hopper/Blackwell GPU This document
tpm Trusted Platform Module 2.0 This document

19. Strategic Future

19.1. HTTPA/3 (QUIC)

OpenHTTPA is designed for transport-independence, with HTTP/3 (QUIC) being the primary high-performance target. Future iterations of the protocol will leverage QUIC's stream-level isolation and connection migration to support massive-scale agentic meshes.

19.2. 0-RTT Confidentiality

To achieve sub-millisecond setup times in trusted environments, OpenHTTPA will implement 0-RTT Confidentiality bound to the Session Resumption mechanism. By reusing the Master Secret and TEE state from a previous 1-RTT handshake, clients can send encrypted Trusted Requests in the first flight of a QUIC connection while maintaining hardware-level assurance.

20. References

20.1. Normative References

[FIPS-203]
NIST, "Module-Lattice-Based Key-Encapsulation Mechanism Standard", .
[FIPS-204]
NIST, "Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Standard", .
[RFC2119]
Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, , <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2119>.
[RFC5869]
Krawczyk, H. and P. Eronen, "HMAC-based Extract-and-Expand Key Derivation Function (HKDF)", RFC 5869, DOI 10.17487/RFC5869, , <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5869>.
[RFC8174]
Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC 2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174, , <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8174>.
[RFC8446]
Rescorla, E., "The Transport Layer Security (TLS) Protocol Version 1.3", RFC 8446, DOI 10.17487/RFC8446, , <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8446>.
[RFC8941]
Nottingham, M. and P. Kamp, "Structured Field Values for HTTP", RFC 8941, DOI 10.17487/RFC8941, , <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8941>.
[RFC9334]
Birkholz, H., Thaler, D., Richardson, M., Smith, N., and W. Pan, "Remote ATtestation procedureS (RATS) Architecture", RFC 9334, DOI 10.17487/RFC9334, , <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9334>.

20.2. Informative References

[I-D.ietf-tls-hybrid-design]
Stebila, D., Fluhrer, S., and S. Gueron, "Hybrid key exchange in TLS 1.3", Work in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-tls-hybrid-design-16, , <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-tls-hybrid-design-16>.
[I-D.sandowicz-httpbis-httpa2]
Wang, H., King, G., Li, N., Smith, N., and K. Sandowicz, "The Hypertext Transfer Protocol Attestable (HTTPA) Version 2", Work in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-sandowicz-httpbis-httpa2-03, , <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-sandowicz-httpbis-httpa2-03>.
[ProVerif]
Blanchet, B., "ProVerif: Cryptographic Protocol Verifier in the Formal Model", n.d..
[Tamarin]
Tamarin Team, "The Tamarin Prover for symbolic analysis of security protocols", n.d..

Authors' Addresses

Gordon King
The `OpenHTTPA` Foundation (openhttpa.org)
Hans Wang
The `OpenHTTPA` Foundation (openhttpa.org)