Framework for Interface to Network Security Functions
RFC 8329

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Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                          D. Lopez
Request for Comments: 8329                                Telefonica I+D
Category: Informational                                         E. Lopez
ISSN: 2070-1721                                       Curveball Networks
                                                               L. Dunbar
                                                            J. Strassner
                                                                  Huawei
                                                                R. Kumar
                                                        Juniper Networks
                                                           February 2018

         Framework for Interface to Network Security Functions

Abstract

   This document describes the framework for Interface to Network
   Security Functions (I2NSF) and defines a reference model (including
   major functional components) for I2NSF.  Network Security Functions
   (NSFs) are packet-processing engines that inspect and optionally
   modify packets traversing networks, either directly or in the context
   of sessions to which the packet is associated.

Status of This Memo

   This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
   published for informational purposes.

   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).  Not all documents
   approved by the IESG are candidates for any level of Internet
   Standard; see 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
   https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8329.

Lopez, et al.                 Informational                     [Page 1]
RFC 8329                     I2NSF Framework               February 2018

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2018 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   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.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   2.  Conventions Used in This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     2.1.  Acronyms  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     2.2.  Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   3.  I2NSF Reference Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     3.1.  I2NSF Consumer-Facing Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     3.2.  I2NSF NSF-Facing Interface  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     3.3.  I2NSF Registration Interface  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   4.  Threats Associated with Externally Provided NSFs  . . . . . .   8
   5.  Avoiding NSF Ossification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
   6.  The Network Connecting I2NSF Components . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     6.1.  Network Connecting I2NSF Users and the I2NSF Controller .  10
     6.2.  Network Connecting the I2NSF Controller and NSFs  . . . .  10
     6.3.  Interface to vNSFs  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
     6.4.  Consistency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
   7.  I2NSF Flow Security Policy Structure  . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
     7.1.  Customer-Facing Flow Security Policy Structure  . . . . .  13
     7.2.  NSF-Facing Flow Security Policy Structure . . . . . . . .  14
     7.3.  Differences from ACL Data Models  . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
   8.  Capability Negotiation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
   9.  Registration Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
     9.1.  Flow-Based NSF Capability Characterization  . . . . . . .  17
     9.2.  Registration Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
   10. Manageability Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21
   11. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
   12. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
   13. References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
     13.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
     13.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
   Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  24
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  25