Security of Messages Exchanged between Servers and Relay Agents
RFC 8213

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Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                           B. Volz
Request for Comments: 8213                                        Y. Pal
Category: Standards Track                                  Cisco Systems
ISSN: 2070-1721                                              August 2017

    Security of Messages Exchanged between Servers and Relay Agents

Abstract

   The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for IPv4 (DHCPv4) has no
   guidance for how to secure messages exchanged between servers and
   relay agents.  The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for IPv6
   (DHCPv6) states that IPsec should be used to secure messages
   exchanged between servers and relay agents but does not require
   encryption.  With recent concerns about pervasive monitoring and
   other attacks, it is appropriate to require securing relay-to-relay
   and relay-to-server communication for DHCPv6 and relay-to-server
   communication for DHCPv4.

Status of This Memo

   This is an Internet Standards Track document.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
   received public review and has been approved for publication by the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Further information on
   Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 7841.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8213.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2017 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
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   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Volz & Pal                   Standards Track                    [Page 1]
RFC 8213               DHCP Relay/Server Security            August 2017

   This document may contain material from IETF Documents or IETF
   Contributions published or made publicly available before November
   10, 2008.  The person(s) controlling the copyright in some of this
   material may not have granted the IETF Trust the right to allow
   modifications of such material outside the IETF Standards Process.
   Without obtaining an adequate license from the person(s) controlling
   the copyright in such materials, this document may not be modified
   outside the IETF Standards Process, and derivative works of it may
   not be created outside the IETF Standards Process, except to format
   it for publication as an RFC or to translate it into languages other
   than English.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ....................................................2
   2. Requirements Language and Terminology ...........................3
   3. Security of Messages Exchanged between Servers and Relay
      Agents ..........................................................3
   4. Security Considerations .........................................5
   5. IANA Considerations .............................................5
   6. References ......................................................6
      6.1. Normative References .......................................6
      6.2. Informative References .....................................6
   Acknowledgments ....................................................8
   Authors' Addresses .................................................8

1.  Introduction

   The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for IPv4 (DHCPv4) [RFC2131]
   and the Bootstrap Protocol [RFC1542] have no guidance for how to
   secure messages exchanged between servers and relay agents.  The
   Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for IPv6 (DHCPv6) [RFC3315]
   states that IPsec should be used to secure messages exchanged between
   servers and relay agents but does not recommend encryption.  With
   recent concerns about pervasive monitoring [RFC7258], it is
   appropriate to require use of IPsec with encryption for relay-to-
   server communication for DHCPv4 and require use of IPsec with
   encryption for relay-to-relay and relay-to-server communication for
   DHCPv6.

   This document specifies the optional requirements for relay agent and
   server implementations to support IPsec authentication and encryption
   and recommends that operators enable this IPsec support.

Volz & Pal                   Standards Track                    [Page 2]
RFC 8213               DHCP Relay/Server Security            August 2017

2.  Requirements Language and Terminology