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Re: [ietf-dkim] SSP Responsibility Delegation - Security Concerns

2006-08-16 16:10:48
Douglas Otis wrote:

On Aug 16, 2006, at 2:01 PM, Jim Fenton wrote:

Now suppose that isp.net also hosts some mailing lists.  An attacker
spoofs a message from user(_at_)author(_dot_)com to some mailing list which 
will
accept a message from that address.  The mailing-list re-signs its
messages by applying a signature from isp.net.  The verifier will
look at this signature and incorrectly conclude that it's a
first-party signature, while in fact it's a third-party signature on
behalf of the list.

There are many cases where a bad actor could spoof an 
user(_at_)author(_dot_)com
address sent from isp.net.  When isp.net does not use account specific
authentication, or ensure that email-addresses are permitted only
after a verification of the account being able to receive at that
email-address, then these would be other cases where a problem could
exist.
What you're describing are all things that isp.net could do by using the
right protocols, e.g., authenticated submission.  What I'm describing is
a weakness in the protocol that can't be fixed that way.

-Jim
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