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rfc:rfc3118

Network Working Group R. Droms, Editor Request for Comments: 3118 Cisco Systems Category: Standards Track W. Arbaugh, Editor

                                                University of Maryland
                                                             June 2001
                  Authentication for DHCP Messages

Status of this Memo

 This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
 Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
 improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
 Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
 and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2001).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

 This document defines a new Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
 (DHCP) option through which authorization tickets can be easily
 generated and newly attached hosts with proper authorization can be
 automatically configured from an authenticated DHCP server.  DHCP
 provides a framework for passing configuration information to hosts
 on a TCP/IP network.  In some situations, network administrators may
 wish to constrain the allocation of addresses to authorized hosts.
 Additionally, some network administrators may wish to provide for
 authentication of the source and contents of DHCP messages.

1. Introduction

 DHCP [1] transports protocol stack configuration parameters from
 centrally administered servers to TCP/IP hosts.  Among those
 parameters are an IP address.  DHCP servers can be configured to
 dynamically allocate addresses from a pool of addresses, eliminating
 a manual step in configuration of TCP/IP hosts.
 Some network administrators may wish to provide authentication of the
 source and contents of DHCP messages.  For example, clients may be
 subject to denial of service attacks through the use of bogus DHCP
 servers, or may simply be misconfigured due to unintentionally
 instantiated DHCP servers.  Network administrators may wish to
 constrain the allocation of addresses to authorized hosts to avoid
 denial of service attacks in "hostile" environments where the network

Droms & Arbaugh Standards Track [Page 1] RFC 3118 Authentication for DHCP Messages June 2001

 medium is not physically secured, such as wireless networks or
 college residence halls.
 This document defines a technique that can provide both entity
 authentication and message authentication.  The current protocol
 combines the original Schiller-Huitema-Droms authentication mechanism
 defined in a previous work in progress with the "delayed
 authentication" proposal developed by Bill Arbaugh.

1.1 DHCP threat model

 The threat to DHCP is inherently an insider threat (assuming a
 properly configured network where BOOTP ports are blocked on the
 enterprise's perimeter gateways.)  Regardless of the gateway
 configuration, however, the potential attacks by insiders and
 outsiders are the same.
 The attack specific to a DHCP client is the possibility of the
 establishment of a "rogue" server with the intent of providing
 incorrect configuration information to the client.  The motivation
 for doing so may be to establish a "man in the middle" attack or it
 may be for a "denial of service" attack.
 There is another threat to DHCP clients from mistakenly or
 accidentally configured DHCP servers that answer DHCP client requests
 with unintentionally incorrect configuration parameters.
 The threat specific to a DHCP server is an invalid client
 masquerading as a valid client.  The motivation for this may be for
 "theft of service", or to circumvent auditing for any number of
 nefarious purposes.
 The threat common to both the client and the server is the resource
 "denial of service" (DoS) attack.  These attacks typically involve
 the exhaustion of valid addresses, or the exhaustion of CPU or
 network bandwidth, and are present anytime there is a shared
 resource.  In current practice, redundancy mitigates DoS attacks the
 best.

1.2 Design goals

 These are the goals that were used in the development of the
 authentication protocol, listed in order of importance:
 1. Address the threats presented in Section 1.1.
 2. Avoid changing the current protocol.

Droms & Arbaugh Standards Track [Page 2] RFC 3118 Authentication for DHCP Messages June 2001

 3. Limit state required by the server.
 4. Limit complexity (complexity breeds design and implementation
    errors).

1.3 Requirements Terminology

 The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
 "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY" and "OPTIONAL" in this
 document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [5].

1.4 DHCP Terminology

 This document uses the following terms:
    o  "DHCP client"
       A DHCP client or "client" is an Internet host using DHCP to
       obtain configuration parameters such as a network address.
    o  "DHCP server"
       A DHCP server or "server" is an Internet host that returns
       configuration parameters to DHCP clients.

2. Format of the authentication option

 The following diagram defines the format of the DHCP authentication
 option:
 0                   1                   2                   3
 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 |     Code      |    Length     |  Protocol     |   Algorithm   |
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 |     RDM       | Replay Detection (64 bits)                    |
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 |  Replay cont.                                                 |
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 |  Replay cont. |                                               |
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                               |
 |                                                               |
 |           Authentication Information                          |
 |                                                               |
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 The code for the authentication option is 90, and the length field
 contains the length of the protocol, RDM, algorithm, Replay Detection
 fields and authentication information fields in octets.

Droms & Arbaugh Standards Track [Page 3] RFC 3118 Authentication for DHCP Messages June 2001

 The protocol field defines the particular technique for
 authentication used in the option.  New protocols are defined as
 described in Section 6.
 The algorithm field defines the specific algorithm within the
 technique identified by the protocol field.
 The Replay Detection field is per the RDM, and the authentication
 information field is per the protocol in use.
 The Replay Detection Method (RDM) field determines the type of replay
 detection used in the Replay Detection field.
 If the RDM field contains 0x00, the replay detection field MUST be
 set to the value of a monotonically increasing counter.  Using a
 counter value such as the current time of day (e.g., an NTP-format
 timestamp [4]) can reduce the danger of replay attacks.  This method
 MUST be supported by all protocols.

3. Interaction with Relay Agents

 Because a DHCP relay agent may alter the values of the 'giaddr' and
 'hops' fields in the DHCP message, the contents of those two fields
 MUST be set to zero for the computation of any hash function over the
 message header.  Additionally, a relay agent may append the DHCP
 relay agent information option 82 [7] as the last option in a message
 to servers.  If a server finds option 82 included in a received
 message, the server MUST compute any hash function as if the option
 were NOT included in the message without changing the order of
 options.  Whenever the server sends back option 82 to a relay agent,
 the server MUST not include the option in the computation of any hash
 function over the message.

4. Configuration token

 If the protocol field is 0, the authentication information field
 holds a simple configuration token:

Droms & Arbaugh Standards Track [Page 4] RFC 3118 Authentication for DHCP Messages June 2001

 0                   1                   2                   3
 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 |     Code      |    Length     |0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0|0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0|
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 |0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0| Replay Detection (64 bits)                    |
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 |  Replay cont.                                                 |
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 |  Replay cont. |                                               |
 |-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                               |
 |                                                               |
 |           Authentication Information                          |
 |                                                               |
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 The configuration token is an opaque, unencoded value known to both
 the sender and receiver.  The sender inserts the configuration token
 in the DHCP message and the receiver matches the token from the
 message to the shared token.  If the configuration option is present
 and the token from the message does not match the shared token, the
 receiver MUST discard the message.
 Configuration token may be used to pass a plain-text configuration
 token and provides only weak entity authentication and no message
 authentication.  This protocol is only useful for rudimentary
 protection against inadvertently instantiated DHCP servers.
 DISCUSSION:
    The intent here is to pass a constant, non-computed token such as
    a plain-text password.  Other types of entity authentication using
    computed tokens such as Kerberos tickets or one-time passwords
    will be defined as separate protocols.

5. Delayed authentication

 If the protocol field is 1, the message is using the "delayed
 authentication" mechanism.  In delayed authentication, the client
 requests authentication in its DHCPDISCOVER message and the server
 replies with a DHCPOFFER message that includes authentication
 information.  This authentication information contains a nonce value
 generated by the source as a message authentication code (MAC) to
 provide message authentication and entity authentication.
 This document defines the use of a particular technique based on the
 HMAC protocol [3] using the MD5 hash [2].

Droms & Arbaugh Standards Track [Page 5] RFC 3118 Authentication for DHCP Messages June 2001

5.1 Management Issues

 The "delayed authentication" protocol does not attempt to address
 situations where a client may roam from one administrative domain to
 another, i.e., interdomain roaming.  This protocol is focused on
 solving the intradomain problem where the out-of-band exchange of a
 shared secret is feasible.

5.2 Format

 The format of the authentication request in a DHCPDISCOVER or a
 DHCPINFORM message for delayed authentication is:
 0                   1                   2                   3
 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 |     Code      |    Length     |0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1|   Algorithm   |
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 |     RDM       | Replay Detection (64 bits)                    |
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 |  Replay cont.                                                 |
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 |  Replay cont. |
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 The format of the authentication information in a DHCPOFFER,
 DHCPREQUEST or DHCPACK message for delayed authentication is:
 0                   1                   2                   3
 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 |     Code      |    Length     |0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1|   Algorithm   |
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 |     RDM       | Replay Detection (64 bits)                    |
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 |  Replay cont.                                                 |
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 |  Replay cont. | Secret ID (32 bits)                           |
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 | secret id cont| HMAC-MD5 (128 bits) ....
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 The following definitions will be used in the description of the
 authentication information for delayed authentication, algorithm 1:

Droms & Arbaugh Standards Track [Page 6] RFC 3118 Authentication for DHCP Messages June 2001

 Replay Detection    - as defined by the RDM field
 K                   - a secret value shared between the source and
                       destination of the message; each secret has a
                       unique identifier (secret ID)
 secret ID           - the unique identifier for the secret value
                       used to generate the MAC for this message
 HMAC-MD5            - the MAC generating function [3, 2].
 The sender computes the MAC using the HMAC generation algorithm [3]
 and the MD5 hash function [2].  The entire DHCP message (except as
 noted below), including the DHCP message header and the options
 field, is used as input to the HMAC-MD5 computation function.  The
 'secret ID' field MUST be set to the identifier of the secret used to
 generate the MAC.
 DISCUSSION:
    Algorithm 1 specifies the use of HMAC-MD5.  Use of a different
    technique, such as HMAC-SHA, will be specified as a separate
    protocol.
    Delayed authentication requires a shared secret key for each
    client on each DHCP server with which that client may wish to use
    the DHCP protocol.  Each secret key has a unique identifier that
    can be used by a receiver to determine which secret was used to
    generate the MAC in the DHCP message.  Therefore, delayed
    authentication may not scale well in an architecture in which a
    DHCP client connects to multiple administrative domains.

5.3 Message validation

 To validate an incoming message, the receiver first checks that the
 value in the replay detection field is acceptable according to the
 replay detection method specified by the RDM field.  Next, the
 receiver computes the MAC as described in [3].  The receiver MUST set
 the 'MAC' field of the authentication option to all 0s for
 computation of the MAC, and because a DHCP relay agent may alter the
 values of the 'giaddr' and 'hops' fields in the DHCP message, the
 contents of those two fields MUST also be set to zero for the
 computation of the MAC.  If the MAC computed by the receiver does not
 match the MAC contained in the authentication option, the receiver
 MUST discard the DHCP message.
 Section 3 provides additional information on handling messages that
 include option 82 (Relay Agents).

Droms & Arbaugh Standards Track [Page 7] RFC 3118 Authentication for DHCP Messages June 2001

5.4 Key utilization

 Each DHCP client has a key, K.  The client uses its key to encode any
 messages it sends to the server and to authenticate and verify any
 messages it receives from the server.  The client's key SHOULD be
 initially distributed to the client through some out-of-band
 mechanism, and SHOULD be stored locally on the client for use in all
 authenticated DHCP messages.  Once the client has been given its key,
 it SHOULD use that key for all transactions even if the client's
 configuration changes; e.g., if the client is assigned a new network
 address.
 Each DHCP server MUST know, or be able to obtain in a secure manner,
 the keys for all authorized clients.  If all clients use the same
 key, clients can perform both entity and message authentication for
 all messages received from servers.  However, the sharing of keys is
 strongly discouraged as it allows for unauthorized clients to
 masquerade as authorized clients by obtaining a copy of the shared
 key.  To authenticate the identity of individual clients, each client
 MUST be configured with a unique key.  Appendix A describes a
 technique for key management.

5.5 Client considerations

 This section describes the behavior of a DHCP client using delayed
 authentication.

5.5.1 INIT state

 When in INIT state, the client uses delayed authentication as
 follows:
 1. The client MUST include the authentication request option in its
    DHCPDISCOVER message along with a client identifier option [6] to
    identify itself uniquely to the server.
 2. The client MUST perform the validation test described in section
    5.3 on any DHCPOFFER messages that include authentication
    information.  If one or more DHCPOFFER messages pass the
    validation test, the client chooses one of the offered
    configurations.
    Client behavior if no DHCPOFFER messages include authentication
    information or pass the validation test is controlled by local
    policy in the client.  According to client policy, the client MAY
    choose to respond to a DHCPOFFER message that has not been
    authenticated.

Droms & Arbaugh Standards Track [Page 8] RFC 3118 Authentication for DHCP Messages June 2001

    The decision to set local policy to accept unauthenticated
    messages should be made with care.  Accepting an unauthenticated
    DHCPOFFER message can make the client vulnerable to spoofing and
    other attacks.  If local users are not explicitly informed that
    the client has accepted an unauthenticated DHCPOFFER message, the
    users may incorrectly assume that the client has received an
    authenticated address and is not subject to DHCP attacks through
    unauthenticated messages.
    A client MUST be configurable to decline unauthenticated messages,
    and SHOULD be configured by default to decline unauthenticated
    messages.  A client MAY choose to differentiate between DHCPOFFER
    messages with no authentication information and DHCPOFFER messages
    that do not pass the validation test; for example, a client might
    accept the former and discard the latter.  If a client does accept
    an unauthenticated message, the client SHOULD inform any local
    users and SHOULD log the event.
 3. The client replies with a DHCPREQUEST message that MUST include
    authentication information encoded with the same secret used by
    the server in the selected DHCPOFFER message.
 4. If the client authenticated the DHCPOFFER it accepted, the client
    MUST validate the DHCPACK message from the server.  The client
    MUST discard the DHCPACK if the message fails to pass validation
    and MAY log the validation failure.  If the DHCPACK fails to pass
    validation, the client MUST revert to INIT state and returns to
    step 1.  The client MAY choose to remember which server replied
    with a DHCPACK message that failed to pass validation and discard
    subsequent messages from that server.
    If the client accepted a DHCPOFFER message that did not include
    authentication information or did not pass the validation test,
    the client MAY accept an unauthenticated DHCPACK message from the
    server.

5.5.2 INIT-REBOOT state

 When in INIT-REBOOT state, the client MUST use the secret it used in
 its DHCPREQUEST message to obtain its current configuration to
 generate authentication information for the DHCPREQUEST message.  The
 client MAY choose to accept unauthenticated DHCPACK/DHCPNAK messages
 if no authenticated messages were received.  The client MUST treat
 the receipt (or lack thereof) of any DHCPACK/DHCPNAK messages as
 specified in section 3.2 of [1].

Droms & Arbaugh Standards Track [Page 9] RFC 3118 Authentication for DHCP Messages June 2001

5.5.3 RENEWING state

 When in RENEWING state, the client uses the secret it used in its
 initial DHCPREQUEST message to obtain its current configuration to
 generate authentication information for the DHCPREQUEST message.  If
 client receives no DHCPACK messages or none of the DHCPACK messages
 pass validation, the client behaves as if it had not received a
 DHCPACK message in section 4.4.5 of the DHCP specification [1].

5.5.4 REBINDING state

 When in REBINDING state, the client uses the secret it used in its
 initial DHCPREQUEST message to obtain its current configuration to
 generate authentication information for the DHCPREQUEST message.  If
 client receives no DHCPACK messages or none of the DHCPACK messages
 pass validation, the client behaves as if it had not received a
 DHCPACK message in section 4.4.5 of the DHCP specification [1].

5.5.5 DHCPINFORM message

 Since the client already has some configuration information, the
 client may also have established a shared secret value, K, with a
 server.  Therefore, the client SHOULD use the authentication request
 as in a DHCPDISCOVER message when a shared secret value exists.  The
 client MUST treat any received DHCPACK messages as it does DHCPOFFER
 messages, see section 5.5.1.

5.5.6 DHCPRELEASE message

 Since the client is already in the BOUND state, the client will have
 a security association already established with the server.
 Therefore, the client MUST include authentication information with
 the DHCPRELEASE message.

5.6 Server considerations

 This section describes the behavior of a server in response to client
 messages using delayed authentication.

5.6.1 General considerations

 Each server maintains a list of secrets and identifiers for those
 secrets that it shares with clients and potential clients.  This
 information must be maintained in such a way that the server can:
  • Identify an appropriate secret and the identifier for that secret

for use with a client that the server may not have previously

    communicated with

Droms & Arbaugh Standards Track [Page 10] RFC 3118 Authentication for DHCP Messages June 2001

  • Retrieve the secret and identifier used by a client to which the

server has provided previous configuration information

 Each server MUST save the counter from the previous authenticated
 message.  A server MUST discard any incoming message which fails the
 replay detection check as defined by the RDM avoid replay attacks.
 DISCUSSION:
    The authenticated DHCPREQUEST message from a client in INIT-REBOOT
    state can only be validated by servers that used the same secret
    in their DHCPOFFER messages.  Other servers will discard the
    DHCPREQUEST messages.  Thus, only servers that used the secret
    selected by the client will be able to determine that their
    offered configuration information was not selected and the offered
    network address can be returned to the server's pool of available
    addresses.  The servers that cannot validate the DHCPREQUEST
    message will eventually return their offered network addresses to
    their pool of available addresses as described in section 3.1 of
    the DHCP specification [1].

5.6.2 After receiving a DHCPDISCOVER message

 The server selects a secret for the client and includes
 authentication information in the DHCPOFFER message as specified in
 section 5, above.  The server MUST record the identifier of the
 secret selected for the client and use that same secret for
 validating subsequent messages with the client.

5.6.3 After receiving a DHCPREQUEST message

 The server uses the secret identified in the message and validates
 the message as specified in section 5.3.  If the message fails to
 pass validation or the server does not know the secret identified by
 the 'secret ID' field, the server MUST discard the message and MAY
 choose to log the validation failure.
 If the message passes the validation procedure, the server responds
 as described in the DHCP specification.  The server MUST include
 authentication information generated as specified in section 5.2.

5.6.4 After receiving a DHCPINFORM message

 The server MAY choose to accept unauthenticated DHCPINFORM messages,
 or only accept authenticated DHCPINFORM messages based on a site
 policy.

Droms & Arbaugh Standards Track [Page 11] RFC 3118 Authentication for DHCP Messages June 2001

 When a client includes the authentication request in a DHCPINFORM
 message, the server MUST respond with an authenticated DHCPACK
 message.  If the server does not have a shared secret value
 established with the sender of the DHCPINFORM message, then the
 server MAY respond with an unauthenticated DHCPACK message, or a
 DHCPNAK if the server does not accept unauthenticated clients based
 on the site policy, or the server MAY choose not to respond to the
 DHCPINFORM message.

6. IANA Considerations

 Section 2 defines a new DHCP option called the Authentication Option,
 whose option code is 90.
 This document specifies three new name spaces associated with the
 Authentication Option, which are to be created and maintained by
 IANA:  Protocol, Algorithm and RDM.
 Initial values assigned from the Protocol name space are 0 (for the
 configuration token Protocol in section 4) and 1 (for the delayed
 authentication Protocol in section 5).  Additional values from the
 Protocol name space will be assigned through IETF Consensus, as
 defined in RFC 2434 [8].
 The Algorithm name space is specific to individual Protocols.  That
 is, each Protocol has its own Algorithm name space.  The guidelines
 for assigning Algorithm name space values for a particular protocol
 should be specified along with the definition of a new Protocol.
 For the configuration token Protocol, the Algorithm field MUST be 0.
 For the delayed authentication Protocol, the Algorithm value 1 is
 assigned to the HMAC-MD5 generating function as defined in section 5.
 Additional values from the Algorithm name space for Algorithm 1 will
 be assigned through IETF Consensus, as defined in RFC 2434.
 The initial value of 0 from the RDM name space is assigned to the use
 of a monotonically increasing value as defined in section 2.
 Additional values from the RDM name space will be assigned through
 IETF Consensus, as defined in RFC 2434.

7. References

 [1] Droms, R., "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol", RFC 2131, March
     1997.
 [2] Rivest, R., "The MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm", RFC 1321, April
     1992.

Droms & Arbaugh Standards Track [Page 12] RFC 3118 Authentication for DHCP Messages June 2001

 [3] Krawczyk H., Bellare, M. and R. Canetti, "HMAC: Keyed-Hashing for
     Message Authentication", RFC 2104, February 1997.
 [4] Mills, D., "Network Time Protocol (Version 3)", RFC 1305, March
     1992.
 [5] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement
     Levels", RFC 2219, March 1997.
 [6] Alexander, S. and R. Droms, "DHCP Options and BOOTP Vendor
     Extensions", RFC 2132, March 1997.
 [7] Patrick, M., "DHCP Relay Agent Information Option", RFC 3046,
     January 2001.
 [8] Narten, T. and H. Alvestrand, "Guidelines for Writing and IANA
     Considerations Section in RFCs", BCP 26, RFC 2434, October 1998.

8. Acknowledgments

 Jeff Schiller and Christian Huitema developed the original version of
 this authentication protocol in a terminal room BOF at the Dallas
 IETF meeting, December 1995.  One of the editors (Droms) transcribed
 the notes from that discussion, which form the basis for this
 document.  The editors appreciate Jeff's and Christian's patience in
 reviewing this document and its earlier drafts.
 The "delayed authentication" mechanism used in section 5 is due to
 Bill Arbaugh.  The threat model and requirements in sections 1.1 and
 1.2 come from Bill's negotiation protocol proposal.  The attendees of
 an interim meeting of the DHC WG held in June, 1998, including Peter
 Ford, Kim Kinnear, Glenn Waters, Rob Stevens, Bill Arbaugh, Baiju
 Patel, Carl Smith, Thomas Narten, Stewart Kwan, Munil Shah, Olafur
 Gudmundsson, Robert Watson, Ralph Droms, Mike Dooley, Greg Rabil and
 Arun Kapur, developed the threat model and reviewed several
 alternative proposals.
 The replay detection method field is due to Vipul Gupta.
 Other input from Bill Sommerfield is gratefully acknowledged.
 Thanks also to John Wilkins, Ran Atkinson, Shawn Mamros and Thomas
 Narten for reviewing earlier drafts of this document.

Droms & Arbaugh Standards Track [Page 13] RFC 3118 Authentication for DHCP Messages June 2001

9. Security Considerations

 This document describes authentication and verification mechanisms
 for DHCP.

9.1 Protocol vulnerabilities

 The configuration token authentication mechanism is vulnerable to
 interception and provides only the most rudimentary protection
 against inadvertently instantiated DHCP servers.
 The delayed authentication mechanism described in this document is
 vulnerable to a denial of service attack through flooding with
 DHCPDISCOVER messages, which are not authenticated by this protocol.
 Such an attack may overwhelm the computer on which the DHCP server is
 running and may exhaust the addresses available for assignment by the
 DHCP server.
 Delayed authentication may also be vulnerable to a denial of service
 attack through flooding with authenticated messages, which may
 overwhelm the computer on which the DHCP server is running as the
 authentication keys for the incoming messages are computed.

9.2 Protocol limitations

 Delayed authentication does not support interdomain authentication.
 A real digital signature mechanism such as RSA, while currently
 computationally infeasible, would provide better security.

Droms & Arbaugh Standards Track [Page 14] RFC 3118 Authentication for DHCP Messages June 2001

10. Editors' Addresses

 Ralph Droms
 Cisco Systems
 300 Apollo Drive
 Chelmsford, MA 01824
 Phone: (978) 244-4733
 EMail: rdroms@cisco.com
 Bill Arbaugh
 Department of Computer Science
 University of Maryland
 A.V. Williams Building
 College Park, MD 20742
 Phone: (301) 405-2774
 EMail: waa@cs.umd.edu

Droms & Arbaugh Standards Track [Page 15] RFC 3118 Authentication for DHCP Messages June 2001

Appendix A - Key Management Technique

 To avoid centralized management of a list of random keys, suppose K
 for each client is generated from the pair (client identifier [6],
 subnet address, e.g., 192.168.1.0), which must be unique to that
 client.  That is, K = MAC(MK, unique-id), where MK is a secret master
 key and MAC is a keyed one-way function such as HMAC-MD5.
 Without knowledge of the master key MK, an unauthorized client cannot
 generate its own key K.  The server can quickly validate an incoming
 message from a new client by regenerating K from the client-id.  For
 known clients, the server can choose to recover the client's K
 dynamically from the client-id in the DHCP message, or can choose to
 precompute and cache all of the Ks a priori.
 By deriving all keys from a single master key, the DHCP server does
 not need access to clear text passwords, and can compute and verify
 the keyed MACs without requiring help from a centralized
 authentication server.
 To avoid compromise of this key management system, the master key,
 MK, MUST NOT be stored by any clients.  The client SHOULD only be
 given its key, K.  If MK is compromised, a new MK SHOULD be chosen
 and all clients given new individual keys.

Droms & Arbaugh Standards Track [Page 16] RFC 3118 Authentication for DHCP Messages June 2001

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Acknowledgement

 Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
 Internet Society.

Droms & Arbaugh Standards Track [Page 17]

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