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RE: [sidr] Last Call: <draft-ietf-sidr-bgpsec-threats-06.txt> (Threat Model for BGP Path Security) to Informational RFC

2013-09-12 14:32:12
I've reviewed this document and have some comments.

First, an apology, because although I'm an active participant in the SIDR WG, 
I'm pretty sure I missed the WGLC on this, so these comments shouldn't 
necessarily be construed as me taking my argument to ietf@ietf because I felt 
that SIDR ignored my concerns.

Now, my actual comments:

Maybe I'm hypersensitive to such in light of recent accusations of national 
actors subverting supposedly secure infrastructure to behave badly, but I find 
it odd that this threats document doesn't discuss the interaction between a 
national actor and the machinery provided by draft-ietf-sidr-ltamgmt. i.e. a 
national actor imposes upon SPs that operate inside their borders to use their 
own Local (and compromised) Trust Anchor to subvert the protections provided by 
RPKI. While this is primarily a concern for origin validation, I view it as 
distinct from the existing discussion of attacks on a CA covered in 4.5, and 
there is no equivalent Origin Validation threats document. It may be that the 
right path is to augment the discussion of this issue in the LTA management 
draft, and simply reference it from this draft, but I don't think that this is 
discussed suitably in the security considerations of either draft.


Section 4.2 is missing any discussion regarding manipulation of other route 
attributes that may be used to affect a BGP route's selection, such as MED, 
Local Pref. It's covered in section 5, but since this occurred to me whilst 
reading section 4.2, perhaps some mention in 4.2 would be useful, I don't know.
That said, I also think that the discussion of this topic at the end of session 
5 is inadequate for a document in IETF LC. The SIDR WG made a conscious 
decision to secure *only* the AS_Path attribute, and leave other attributes 
insecure, but there is no summary of the underlying rationale supporting this 
choice. Pointing to a WG charter as the sole explanation, and noting that this 
document should be changed if the charter is updated is unacceptable, as it 
provides no context to a reader that was not privy to the discussion leading to 
that charter/scope decision. It also makes reference to something fairly 
ephemeral (a WG and charter) in a permanent document. Fine for a draft in WG 
discussion to have that sort of placeholder, but not anymore. There is a brief 
(and IMO incomplete) discussion of this matter to be found in section 2.3 of 
draft-sriram-bgpsec-design-choices that could be referenced, but since that 
document's future is unclear, some standalone discussion within th!
 is document might be more appropriate. At a minimum, a threats document should 
discuss why these threats are not considered high enough risk to justify the 
added complexity of securing them using the RPKI.

Thanks,

Wes George


-----Original Message-----
From: sidr-bounces(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org 
[mailto:sidr-bounces(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org] On Behalf Of
The IESG
Sent: Monday, September 09, 2013 6:26 PM
To: IETF-Announce
Cc: sidr(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org
Subject: [sidr] Last Call: <draft-ietf-sidr-bgpsec-threats-06.txt>
(Threat Model for BGP Path Security) to Informational RFC


The IESG has received a request from the Secure Inter-Domain Routing WG
(sidr) to consider the following document:
- 'Threat Model for BGP Path Security'
  <draft-ietf-sidr-bgpsec-threats-06.txt> as Informational RFC

The IESG plans to make a decision in the next few weeks, and solicits
final comments on this action. Please send substantive comments to the
ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org mailing lists by 2013-09-23. Exceptionally, comments 
may
be
sent to iesg(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org instead. In either case, please retain the
beginning of the Subject line to allow automated sorting.

Abstract


   This document describes a threat model for the context in which
   (E)BGP path security mechanisms will be developed.  The threat model
   includes an analysis of the RPKI, and focuses on the ability of an AS
   to verify the authenticity of the AS path info received in a BGP
   update.  We use the term PATHSEC to refer to any BGP path security
   technology that makes use of the RPKI.  PATHSEC will secure BGP
   [RFC4271], consistent with the inter-AS security focus of the RPKI
   [RFC6480].

   The document characterizes classes of potential adversaries that are
   considered to be threats, and examines classes of attacks that might
   be launched against PATHSEC.  It does not revisit attacks against
   unprotected BGP, as that topic has already been addressed in
   [RFC4271].  It concludes with brief discussion of residual
   vulnerabilities.




The file can be obtained via
http://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-sidr-bgpsec-threats/

IESG discussion can be tracked via
http://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-sidr-bgpsec-threats/ballot/


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