Common Authentication Technology (cat) -------------------------------------- Charter Last Modified: 07/31/2001 Current Status: Active Working Group Chair(s): John Linn Security Area Director(s): Jeffrey Schiller Steve Bellovin Security Area Advisor: Jeffrey Schiller Mailing Lists: General Discussion:ietf-cat-wg@lists.stanford.edu To Subscribe: ietf-cat-wg-request@lists.stanford.edu Archive: ftp://ftp.ietf.org/ietf-mail-archive/cat/ Description of Working Group: The goal of the Common Authentication Technology (CAT) Working Group is to provide distributed security services (which have included authentication, integrity, and confidentiality, and may broaden to include authorization) to a variety of protocol callers in a manner which insulates those callers from the specifics of underlying security mechanisms. By separating security implementation tasks from the tasks of integrating security data elements into caller protocols, those tasks can be partitioned and performed separately by implementors with different areas of xpertise. This provides leverage for the IETF community's security-oriented resources, and allows protocol implementors to focus on the functions their protocols are designed to provide rather than on characteristics of security mechanisms. CAT seeks to encourage uniformity and modularity in security approaches, supporting the use of common techniques and accommodating evolution of underlying technologies. In support of these goals, the working group pursues several interrelated tasks. We have defined a common service interface (GSS-API) allowing callers to invoke security services in association-oriented environments, with an associated token format identifying the security mechanism being employed. Existing documents provide C language bindings for GSS-API; currently ongoing work is defining bindings for Java. Authorization interfaces are currently being evaluated as a related area for follow-on work, with the level of achievable portability an important consideration. The CAT Working Group also defines supporting mechanisms to provide security services; current activity includes specification of "low-infrastructure" mechanisms to support ease of deployment and use. Goals and Milestones: Done Preliminary BOF session at IETF meeting, discussions with TELNET and Network Printing Working Groups. Done Distribute Generic Security Service Application Program Interface (GSS-API) documentation through Internet-Draft process. Done First IETF meeting as full working group: review charter distribute documents, and status of related implementation, integration, and consulting liaison activities. Schedule follow-on tasks, including documentation plan for specific CAT-supporting security mechanisms. Done Update mechanism-independent Internet-Drafts in response to issues raised, distribute additional mechanism-specific documentation including Distributed Authentication Services architectural description and terms/conditions for use of the technology documented therein. Done Second IETF meeting: Review distributed documents and status of related activities, continue consulting liaisons. Discuss features and characteristics of underlying mechanisms. Define scope and schedule for follow-on work. Done Submit service interface specification to to the IESG for consideration as a Proposed Standard. Done Submit GSS-V2 to IESG for consideration as a Proposed Standard. Done Plan next phase of activities, with particular attention to scope and tasking for authorization, store and forward protection support, and additional mechanisms. Done Issue Internet-Draft representing updated version of RFC-2078, aligned with GSS-V2 C bindings Internet-Draft. Done Submit Negotiated Mechanism document to IESG for consideration as a Proposed Standard Done Submit GSS-V2 C bindings document to IESG for consideration as a Proposed Standard. Done Progress Internet-Draft and RFC publication of mechanism-level documents to support independent, interoperable implementations of CAT-supporting mechanisms. Done Determine direction and intent re progressing authorization interfaces. Done Determine direction and intent re progressing low-infrastructure mechanism definitions. Done Submit GSS-V2 Java bindings specification to IESG for consideration as Proposed Standard. Done Submit GSS-V2 Java service provider interface document to IESG for consideration as Proposed Standard. Done Review status of ongoing active projects. Internet-Drafts: No Current Internet-Drafts. Request For Comments: RFC Stat Published Title ------- -- ----------- ------------------------------------ RFC1507 E SEP 93 DASS - Distributed Authentication Security Service RFC1508 PS SEP 93 Generic Security Service Application Program Interface RFC1509 PS SEP 93 Generic Security Service API : C-bindings RFC1511 I SEP 93 Common Authentication Technology Overview RFC1510 PS SEP 93 The Kerberos Network Authentication Service (V5) RFC1964 PS JUN 96 The Kerberos Version 5 GSS-API Mechanism RFC2025 PS OCT 96 The Simple Public-Key GSS-API Mechanism (SPKM) RFC2078 PS JAN 97 Generic Security Service Application Program Interface, Version 2 RFC2228 PS OCT 97 FTP Security Extensions RFC2478 PS DEC 98 The Simple and Protected GSS-API Negotiation Mechanism RFC2479 I DEC 98 Independent Data Unit Protection Generic Security Service Application Program Interface (IDUP-GSS-API) RFC2743 PS JAN 00 Generic Security Service Application Program Interface Version 2, Update 1 RFC2744 PS JAN 00 Generic Security Service API Version 2 : C-bindings RFC2773 E FEB 00 Encryption using KEA and SKIPJACK RFC2847 PS JUN 00 LIPKEY - A Low Infrastructure Public Key Mechanism Using SPKM RFC2853 PS JUN 00 Generic Security Service API Version 2 : Java bindings