Archive for the 'IETF' Category

July 8, 2019
Security Event Token (SET) delivery specifications updated in preparation for IETF 105

IETF logoThe two Security Event Token (SET) delivery specifications have been updated to address working group feedback received, in preparation for discussions at IETF 105 in Montreal. Only minor terminological updates were made to the Push Delivery spec following the working group last call (WGLC) changes in the previous recent revisions. Thanks to Annabelle Backman for the edits to the Push Delivery spec.

The changes to the Poll Delivery spec further aligned it with the Push spec, referencing shared functionality, rather than duplicating it. I believe that the Poll spec is now ready for working group last call.

The specifications are available at:

HTML-formatted versions are also available at:

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July 8, 2019
Refinements to COSE and JOSE Registrations for WebAuthn Algorithms

IETF logoThe “COSE and JOSE Registrations for WebAuthn Algorithms” specification has been updated to address feedback received since working group adoption. The one breaking change is changing the secp256k1 curve identifier for JOSE from “P-256K” to “secp256k1”, for reasons described by John Mattsson. The draft now also specifies that the SHA-256 hash function is to be used with “ES256K” signatures – a clarification due to Matt Palmer.

The specification is available at:

An HTML-formatted version is also available at:

No Comments » Posted under CBOR & Cryptography & IETF & JSON & Specifications & W3C

April 3, 2019
OAuth 2.0 Demonstration of Proof-of-Possession at the Application Layer

OAuth logoI’m excited that a new, simpler approach for application-level proof of possession of OAuth access tokens and refresh tokens is being developed by members of the IETF OAuth working group. The effort is led by Daniel Fett, who had previously done formal analysis of the OAuth protocol. I wanted to bring it to your attention now to solicit your early feedback. This approach was designed in discussions at the Fourth OAuth Security Workshop and is captured in a new individual draft specification for Demonstration of Proof-of-Possession (DPoP) intended for the OAuth working group. The abstract of the new specification is:

This document describes a mechanism for sender-constraining OAuth 2.0 tokens via a proof-of-possession mechanism on the application level. This mechanism allows to detect replay attacks with access and refresh tokens.

The specification is still an early draft and undergoing active development, but I believe the approach shows a lot of promise and is likely to be adopted by the OAuth working group soon. It works by creating a proof-of-possession signature over an access token or refresh token that would otherwise be a bearer token. And there’s already one implementation that I’m aware of – by Filip Skokan of Auth0. Let us know what you think of this new work!

The specification is available at:

An HTML-formatted version is also available at:

No Comments » Posted under IETF & OAuth & Specifications

March 27, 2019
Working group adoption of “COSE and JOSE Registrations for WebAuthn Algorithms”

IETF logoI’m pleased to report that the IETF COSE Working Group has adopted the specification “COSE and JOSE Registrations for WebAuthn Algorithms”. An abstract of what it does is:

This specification defines how to use several algorithms with COSE [RFC8152] that are used by implementations of the W3C Web Authentication (WebAuthn) [WebAuthn] and FIDO2 Client to Authenticator Protocol (CTAP) [CTAP] specifications. These algorithms are to be registered in the IANA “COSE Algorithms” registry [IANA.COSE.Algorithms] and also in the IANA “JSON Web Signature and Encryption Algorithms” registry [IANA.JOSE.Algorithms], when not already registered there.

The algorithms registered are RSASSA-PKCS1-v1_5 with four different hash functions and signing with the secp256k1 curve. Note that there was consensus in the working group meeting not to work on registrations for the Elliptic Curve Direct Anonymous Attestation (ECDAA) algorithms “ED256” and “ED512”, both because of issues that have been raised with them and because they are not in widespread use.

The -01 version will address the review comments received on the mailing list from Jim Schaad and John Mattsson.

The specification is available at:

An HTML-formatted version is also available at:

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March 12, 2019
Security Event Token (SET) delivery specifications updated in preparation for IETF 104

IETF logoThe two Security Event Token (SET) delivery specifications have been updated to address working group feedback received, in preparation for discussions at IETF 104 in Prague. The Push Delivery spec went through working group last call (WGLC). It has been updated to incorporate the WGLC comments. Changes made are summarized in the spec change log, the contents of which were also posted to the working group mailing list. Thanks to Annabelle Backman for the edits to the Push Delivery spec.

It’s worth noting that the Push Delivery spec and the Security Event Token (SET) are now being used in early Risk and Incident Sharing and Coordination (RISC) deployments, including between Google and Adobe. See the article about these deployments by Mat Honan of BuzzFeed.

Changes to the Poll Delivery spec are also summarized in that spec’s change log, which contains:

  • Removed vestigial language remaining from when the push and poll delivery methods were defined in a common specification.
  • Replaced remaining uses of the terms Event Transmitter and Event Recipient with the correct terms SET Transmitter and SET Recipient.
  • Removed uses of the unnecessary term “Event Stream”.
  • Removed dependencies between the semantics of maxEvents and returnImmediately.
  • Said that PII in SETs is to be encrypted with TLS, JWE, or both.
  • Corrected grammar and spelling errors.

The specifications are available at:

HTML-formatted versions are also available at:

No Comments » Posted under IETF & OpenID & Safety & Specifications

March 11, 2019
OAuth Device Flow spec renamed to “OAuth 2.0 Device Authorization Grant”

OAuth logoResponding to feedback from multiple parties that the title “OAuth 2.0 Device Flow for Browserless and Input Constrained Devices” was too much of a mouthful, the title of the specification has been simplified to “OAuth 2.0 Device Authorization Grant”. Likewise, we received feedback that “Device flow” was an insider term that caused more confusion than clarity, so its use has been removed from the specification. Finally, last minute feedback was received that client authorization and error handling were not explicitly spelled out. The specification now says that these occur in the same manner as in OAuth 2.0 [RFC 6749].

Many thanks to William Denniss for performing these edits! Hopefully this will be the draft that is sent to the RFC Editor.

The specification is available at:

An HTML-formatted version is also available at:

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March 11, 2019
Additional COSE algorithms used by W3C Web Authentication (WebAuthn)

IETF logoThe new COSE working group charter includes this deliverable:

4. Define the algorithms needed for W3C Web Authentication for COSE using draft-jones-webauthn-cose-algorithms and draft-jones-webauthn-secp256k1 as a starting point (Informational).

I have written draft-jones-cose-additional-algorithms, which combines these starting points into a single draft, which registers these algorithms in the IANA COSE registries. When not already registered, this draft also registers these algorithms for use with JOSE in the IANA JOSE registries. I believe that this draft is ready for working group adoption to satisfy this deliverable.

The specification is available at:

An HTML-formatted version is also available at:

No Comments » Posted under CBOR & Cryptography & IETF & JSON & Specifications & W3C

February 21, 2019
Proof-of-Possession Key Semantics for CBOR Web Tokens (CWTs) spec fixing nits

IETF logoThe Proof-of-Possession Key Semantics for CBOR Web Tokens (CWTs) specification has been updated to address issues identified by Roman Danyliw while writing his shepherd review. Thanks to Samuel Erdtman for fixing an incorrect example.

The specification is available at:

An HTML-formatted version is also available at:

No Comments » Posted under CBOR & Claims & Cryptography & IETF & Specifications

November 9, 2018
Proof-of-Possession Key Semantics for CBOR Web Tokens (CWTs) spec adding Key ID considerations

IETF logoKey ID confirmation method considerations suggested by Jim Schaad have been added to the Proof-of-Possession Key Semantics for CBOR Web Tokens (CWTs) specification. Per discussions in the working group meeting in Bangkok, it’s now time for the shepherd review.

The specification is available at:

An HTML-formatted version is also available at:

No Comments » Posted under CBOR & Claims & Cryptography & IETF & Specifications

November 8, 2018
JWT BCP updates addressing Area Director review comments

OAuth logoThe JSON Web Token (JWT) Best Current Practices (BCP) specification has been updated to address the review comments from Security Area Director (AD) Eric Rescorla. Thanks to Eric for the review and to Yaron Sheffer for working on the responses with me.

Note that IETF publication has already been requested. The next step is for the shepherd review to be submitted and responded to.

The specification is available at:

An HTML-formatted version is also available at:

No Comments » Posted under Claims & Cryptography & IETF & JSON & OAuth & Specifications

November 6, 2018
Proof-of-Possession Key Semantics for CBOR Web Tokens (CWTs) spec addressing additional WGLC comments

IETF logoThe Proof-of-Possession Key Semantics for CBOR Web Tokens (CWTs) specification has been updated to addresses a few additional Working Group Last Call (WGLC) comments. All of the (few) changes were about improving the clarity of the exposition. I believe that this completes addressing the WGLC comments.

Thanks to Roman Danyliw for helping to categorize the remaining comments that needed to be addressed.

The specification is available at:

An HTML-formatted version is also available at:

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October 23, 2018
Security Event Token (SET) delivery specifications updated

IETF logoNow that the Security Event Token (SET) specification is RFC 8417, the SecEvent working group is working on defining the SET delivery mechanisms. This week, both the push-based and poll-based SET delivery specs have been updated to simplify their exposition and reduce duplication of text between the drafts. Thanks to Annabelle Backman for doing the bulk of the recent work on the push-based delivery spec. The latest versions of both specs contain these updates:

  • Addressed problems identified in my 18-Jul-18 review message titled “Issues for both the Push and Poll Specs”.
  • Changes to align terminology with RFC 8417, for instance, by using the already defined term SET Recipient rather than SET Receiver.
  • Applied editorial and minor normative corrections.
  • Updated Marius Scurtescu’s contact information.

In addition, the latest version of the poll delivery spec also contains this update:

  • Begun eliminating redundancies between this specification and “Push-Based Security Event Token (SET) Delivery Using HTTP”, referencing, rather that duplicating common normative text.

The specifications are available at:

HTML-formatted versions are also available at:

No Comments » Posted under IETF & Specifications

October 8, 2018
The core Token Binding specs are now RFCs 8471, 8472, and 8473

IETF logoThe IETF Token Binding working group has completed the core Token Binding specifications. These new standards are:

  • RFC 8471: The Token Binding Protocol Version 1.0
  • RFC 8472: Transport Layer Security (TLS) Extension for Token Binding Protocol Negotiation
  • RFC 8473: Token Binding over HTTP

As Alex Simons recently wrote, it’s time for token binding. Especially now that the core specs are done, now’s the time for platforms and applications to deploy Token Binding. This will enable replacing bearer tokens, which can be stolen and reused, with Token Bound tokens, which are useless if stolen. This is a huge security benefit applicable to any tokens used over TLS, including browser cookies, OAuth access tokens and refresh tokens, and OpenID Connect ID Tokens.

Congratulations especially to the editors Andrei Popov, Dirk Balfanz, Jeff Hodges, Magnus Nyström, and Nick Harper and the chairs John Bradley and Leif Johansson for getting this done!

I likewise look forward to timely completion of related Token Binding specifications, which enable use of Token Binding with TLS 1.3, with OAuth 2.0, and with OpenID Connect.

No Comments » Posted under IETF & OAuth & OpenID & Specifications & Token Binding

August 21, 2018
It’s Time for Token Binding

IETF logoCheck out Alex Simons’ and Pamela Dingle’s blog post “It’s Time for Token Binding”. Now that the IETF Token Binding specs are essentially done, it’s time to ask those who write TLS software you use to ship Token Binding support soon, if they haven’t already done so.

Token Binding in a nutshell: When an attacker steals a bearer token sent over TLS, he can use it; when an attacker steals a Token Bound token, it’s useless to him.

No Comments » Posted under IETF & OAuth & OpenID & Specifications & Token Binding

July 20, 2018
IETF Token Binding specifications sent to the RFC Editor

IETF logoThe three core IETF Token Binding Specifications have been sent to the RFC Editor, which means that their normative content will no longer change. It’s time to move implementations to version 1.0! The abstract of the Token Binding over HTTP specification describes Token Binding as:

This document describes a collection of mechanisms that allow HTTP servers to cryptographically bind security tokens (such as cookies and OAuth tokens) to TLS connections.

We describe both first-party and federated scenarios. In a first-party scenario, an HTTP server is able to cryptographically bind the security tokens it issues to a client, and which the client subsequently returns to the server, to the TLS connection between the client and server. Such bound security tokens are protected from misuse since the server can generally detect if they are replayed inappropriately, e.g., over other TLS connections.

Federated token bindings, on the other hand, allow servers to cryptographically bind security tokens to a TLS connection that the client has with a different server than the one issuing the token.

This document is a companion document to The Token Binding Protocol.

This is a huge step towards cryptographically protecting data structures that had previously been bearer tokens, such as browser cookies, refresh tokens, access tokens, ID Tokens, etc., so that they can only be used by the intended party. Congratulations especially to the editors Andrei Popov, Dirk Balfanz, and Jeff Hodges, as well as the chairs John Bradley and Leif Johansson for getting us to this important milestone!

The three specifications are:

No Comments » Posted under Cryptography & IETF & Phishing Resistance & Specifications

July 10, 2018
Security Event Token (SET) is now RFC 8417

IETF logoThe Security Event Token (SET) specification is now RFC 8417. The abstract describes the specification as:

This specification defines the Security Event Token (SET) data structure. A SET describes statements of fact from the perspective of an issuer about a subject. These statements of fact represent an event that occurred directly to or about a security subject, for example, a statement about the issuance or revocation of a token on behalf of a subject. This specification is intended to enable representing security- and identity-related events. A SET is a JSON Web Token (JWT), which can be optionally signed and/or encrypted. SETs can be distributed via protocols such as HTTP.

SETs are already in use to represent OpenID Connect Back-Channel Logout tokens and to represent Risk and Incident Sharing and Coordination (RISC) events. Thanks to my co-editors, members of the IETF ID Events mailing list, and members of the IETF Security Events working group for making this standard a reality!

No Comments » Posted under Claims & IETF & JSON & OpenID & Specifications

June 29, 2018
Proof-of-Possession Key Semantics for CBOR Web Tokens (CWTs) spec addressing WGLC comments

IETF logoA new draft of the Proof-of-Possession Key Semantics for CBOR Web Tokens (CWTs) specification has been published that addresses the Working Group Last Call (WGLC) comments received. Changes were:

Thanks to Samuel Erdtman and Hannes Tschofenig for contributing to the editing for this version and to Jim Schaad and Roman Danyliw for their review comments.

The specification is available at:

An HTML-formatted version is also available at:

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June 28, 2018
OAuth 2.0 Authorization Server Metadata is now RFC 8414

OAuth logoThe OAuth 2.0 Authorization Server Metadata specification is now RFC 8414. The abstract describes the specification as:

This specification defines a metadata format that an OAuth 2.0 client can use to obtain the information needed to interact with an OAuth 2.0 authorization server, including its endpoint locations and authorization server capabilities.

The specification defines a JSON metadata representation for OAuth 2.0 authorization servers that is compatible with OpenID Connect Discovery 1.0. This specification is a true instance of standardizing existing practice. OAuth 2.0 deployments have been using the OpenID Connect metadata format to describe their endpoints and capabilities for years. This RFC makes this existing practice a standard.

Having a standard OAuth metadata format makes it easier for OAuth clients to configure connections to OAuth authorization servers. See https://www.iana.org/assignments/oauth-parameters/oauth-parameters.xhtml#authorization-server-metadata for the initial set of registered metadata values.

Thanks to all of you who helped make this standard a reality!

No Comments » Posted under Claims & IETF & JSON & OAuth & OpenID & Specifications

June 1, 2018
OAuth Device Flow spec addressing initial IETF last call feedback

OAuth logoThe OAuth Device Flow specification (full name “OAuth 2.0 Device Flow for Browserless and Input Constrained Devices”) has been updated to address comments received to date from the IETF last call. Thanks to William Denniss for taking the pen for this set of revisions. Changes were:

  • Added a missing definition of access_denied for use on the token endpoint.
  • Corrected text documenting which error code should be returned for expired tokens (it’s “expired_token”, not “invalid_grant”).
  • Corrected section reference to RFC 8252 (the section numbers had changed after the initial reference was made).
  • Fixed line length of one diagram (was causing xml2rfc warnings).
  • Added line breaks so the URN grant_type is presented on an unbroken line.
  • Typos fixed and other stylistic improvements.

The specification is available at:

An HTML-formatted version is also available at:

No Comments » Posted under IETF & OAuth & Specifications

May 9, 2018
Security Event Token (SET) updates addressing IESG feedback

IETF logoWe’ve updated the Security Event Token (SET) specification to address feedback received from Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) members. We’ve actually published three versions in quick succession in preparation for tomorrow’s evaluation by the IESG.

Draft -11 incorporated feedback from Security Area Director Eric Rescorla and IANA Designated Expert Ned Freed. Changes were:

  • Clarified “iss” claim language about the SET issuer versus the security subject issuer.
  • Changed a “SHOULD” to a “MUST” in the “sub” claim description to be consistent with the Requirements for SET Profiles section.
  • Described the use of the “events” claim to prevent attackers from passing off other kinds of JWTs as SETs.
  • Stated that SETs are to be signed by an issuer that is trusted to do so for the use case.
  • Added quotes in the phrase ‘”token revoked” SET to be issued’ in the Timing Issues section.
  • Added section number references to the media type and media type suffix registrations.
  • Changed the encodings of the media type and media type suffix registrations to binary (since no line breaks are allowed).
  • Replaced a “TBD” in the media type registration with descriptive text.
  • Acknowledged Eric Rescorla and Ned Freed.

Draft -12 incorporated feedback from Adam Roach, Alexey Melnikov, and Alissa Cooper. Changes were:

  • Removed unused references to RFC 7009 and RFC 7517.
  • Corrected name of RFC 8055 in Section 4.3 to “Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Via Header Field Parameter to Indicate Received Realm”.
  • Added normative references for base64url and UTF-8.
  • Section 5.1 – Changed SHOULD to MUST in “personally identifiable information MUST be encrypted using JWE [RFC7516] or …”.
  • Section 5.2 – Changed “MUST consider” to “must consider”.
  • Acknowledged Adam Roach, Alexey Melnikov, and Alissa Cooper.

Draft -13 incorporated feedback from Martin Vigoureaux. Changes were:

  • Changed a non-normative “MAY” to “may” in Section 1.1.
  • Acknowledged Martin Vigoureux and Mirja Kühlewind.

The specification is available at:

An HTML-formatted version is also available at:

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