One document matched: draft-ietf-pppext-vendor-protocol-00.txt







Network Working Group                                      James Carlson
INTERNET-DRAFT                                          Sun Microsystems
Expires January 2004                                     Richard Winslow
                                                      L-3 Communications
                                                               July 2003


                          PPP Vendor Protocol
               <draft-ietf-pppext-vendor-protocol-00.txt>

Status of this Memo

   This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with
   all provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026.

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Abstract

   The Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) [1] defines a Link Control Protocol
   (LCP) and a method for negotiating the use of multi-protocol traffic
   over point-to-point links.  PPP Vendor Extensions [2] adds vendor-
   specific general-purpose Configuration Option and Code numbers.  This
   document extends these features to cover vendor-specific Network,
   Authentication, and Control Protocols.


1.  Introduction

   PPP Vendor Extensions [2] defines a general-purpose mechanism for the
   negotiation of various vendor-proprietary options and extensions to
   the kinds of control messages that may be sent via the Code field.





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   Some implementors may want to define proprietary network and control
   protocols in addition to the already-described features.  While it
   would be possible for such an implementor to use the existing LCP
   Vendor-Specific Option to enable the use of the proprietary protocol,
   this staged negotiation (enable via LCP, then negotiate via some
   locally-assigned protocol number) suffers from at least three
   problems:

   First, because it would be in LCP, the negotiation of the use of the
   protocol would begin before identification and authentication of the
   peer had been done.  This complicates the security analysis of the
   feature and constrains the way in which the protocol might be
   deployed.

   Second, where compulsory tunneling is in use, the system performing
   the initial LCP negotiation may be unrelated to the system that uses
   the proprietary protocol.  In such a scenario, enabling the protocol
   at LCP time would require either LCP renegotiation or support of the
   proprietary protocol in the initial negotiator, both of which raise
   deployment problems.

   Third, the fact that any protocol negotiated via such a mechanism
   would necessarily use a protocol number that is not assigned by IANA
   complicates matters for diagnostic tools used to monitor the
   datastream.  Having a fixed number allows these tools to display such
   protocols in a reasonable format.

   A cleaner solution is thus to define a set of vendor-specific
   protocols, one each in each of the four protocol number ranges
   defined by [1].  This specification reserves the following values:

   Value (in hex)  Protocol Name
   TBD-00XX        Vendor-Specific Network Protocol (VSNP)
   TBD-40XX        Vendor-Specific Protocol (VSP)
   TBD-80XX        Vendor-Specific Network Control Protocol (VSNCP)
   TBD-c0XX        Vendor-Specific Authentication Protocol (VSAP)

   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 BCP 14 [3].


2.  PPP Vendor-Specific Network Control Protocol (VSNCP)

   The Vendor-Specific Network Control Protocol (VSNCP) is responsible
   for negotiating the use of the Vendor-Specific Network Protocol
   (VSNP).  VSNCP uses the same option negotiation mechanism as LCP.




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   VSNCP packets MUST NOT be exchanged until PPP has reached the
   Network-Layer Protocol phase.  Any VSNCP packets received when not in
   that phase MUST be silently ignored.  If a VSNCP packet with an
   unrecognized OUI is received, an LCP Protocol-Reject SHOULD be sent
   in response.

   The network layer data, carried in VSNP packets, MUST NOT be sent
   unless VSNCP is in Opened state.  If a VSNP packet is received when
   VSNCP is not in Opened state and LCP is Opened, the implementation
   MAY respond using LCP Protocol-Reject.


2.1.  VSNCP Packet Format

   Exactly one VSNCP packet is carried in the PPP Information field,
   with the PPP Protocol field set to hex TBD-80XX (VSNCP).  A summary
   of the VSNCP packet format is shown below.  The fields are
   transmitted from left to right.

       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      |  Identifier   |            Length             |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                    OUI                        |    Data ...
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   Code

      Only LCP Code values 1 through 7 (Configure-Request,
      Configure-Ack, Configure-Nak, Configure-Reject, Terminate-Request,
      Terminate-Ack, and Code-Reject) are used.  All other codes SHOULD
      result in a VSNCP Code-Reject reply.

   Identifier and Length

      These are as documented for LCP.

   OUI

      This three-octet field contains the vendors' Organizationally
      Unique Identifier.  The bits within the octet are in canonical
      order, and the most significant octet is transmitted first.  See
      Section 3 of [2] for more information on OUI values.







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   Data

      This field contains data in the same format as for the
      corresponding LCP Code numbers.


2.2.  VSNP Packet Format

   When VSNCP is in Opened state, VSNP packets may be sent by setting
   the PPP Protocol field to hex TBD-00XX (VSNP) and placing the
   vendor-specific data in the PPP Information field.  No restrictions
   are placed on this data.




3.  PPP Vendor-Specific Protocol (VSP)

   The Vendor-Specific Protocol (VSP) is intended for use in situations
   where the implementation of a complete Network Layer Protocol is
   unnecessary, or where per-link signaling is required (see section 6
   below).

   VSP packets MUST NOT be sent until PPP has reached either Network-
   Layer Protocol or Authentication phase.  VSP packets received before
   those phases MUST be silently ignored.  Once the proper phase has
   been reached, a VSP packet containing an unrecognized OUI value
   SHOULD be returned using LCP Protocol-Reject.

   Exactly one VSP packet is carried in the PPP Information field, with
   the PPP Protocol field set to TBD-40XX (VSP).  A summary of the VSP
   packet format is shown below.  The fields are transmitted from left
   to right.

       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
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                       Magic-Number                            |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                    OUI                        |   Reserved    |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |    Data ...
      +-+-+-+








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   Magic-Number

      The four-octet Magic-Number field is used to detect looped-back
      links.  If the Magic-Number Option was not negotiated by LCP, then
      this field MUST be set to 0.  Implementation of the LCP
      Magic-Number Option is RECOMMENDED.

   OUI

      This three-octet field contains the vendors' Organizationally
      Unique Identifier.  The bits within the octet are in canonical
      order, and the most significant octet is transmitted first.  See
      Section 3 of [2] for more information on OUI values.

   Reserved

      Reserved for future definition.  Must be zero on transmit and
      ignored on reception.

   Data

      Vendor-specific data.


4.  PPP Vendor-Specific Authentication Protocol (VSAP)

   The Vendor-Specific Authentication Protocol (VSAP) is used in two
   ways.  First, it is used with the LCP Authentication Option in order
   to negotiate the use of a vendor-specific authentication protocol to
   be used during the PPP Authentication phase.  Second, it is used in
   the PPP Protocol field to carry those proprietary authentication
   messages during PPP Authentication phase.


4.1.  VSAP Authentication Option Format

   This option is used in LCP Configure-Request, -Ack, -Nak, and -Reject
   messages.

       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
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |     Type      |    Length     |    Authentication-Protocol    |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                    OUI                        |    Data ...
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+





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   Type

      3

   Length

      >=7

   Authentication-Protocol

      The hex value TBD-c0XX, in Network Byte Order.

   OUI

      This three-octet field contains the vendors' Organizationally
      Unique Identifier.  The bits within the octet are in canonical
      order, and the most significant octet is transmitted first.  See
      Section 3 of [2] for more information on OUI values.

   Data

      This optional field contains options or other information specific
      to the operation of the vendor-specific authentication protocol.


4.2.  VSAP Authentication Data Format

       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      |  Identifier   |            Length             |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |    Data ...
      +-+-+-+-+

   The Identifier and Length fields are as for LCP.  The Code and Data
   fields and the processing of the messages are defined by the vendor-
   specific protocol.

   However, it is RECOMMENDED that vendor-specific protocols use Code 3
   for "Success" and Code 4 for "Failure," as with [4] and [5], in order
   to simplify the design of network monitoring equipment.









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5.  Multiple Vendor-Specific Protocols

   Vendors are encouraged to define their protocols to allow for future
   expansion, where necessary.  For example, it may be appropriate for a
   VSNP to include a locally-defined selector field to distinguish among
   multiple proprietary protocols carried via this mechanism, and
   appropriate Configuration Options in VSNCP to enable and disable
   these sub-protocols.  Because the requirements of such a selector are
   known only to the vendor defining such protocols, they are not
   described further in this document.

   An implementation MAY also support more than one vendor-specific
   protocol, distinguished by OUI.  In this case, the implementation
   MUST also treat LCP Protocol-Reject specially by examining the OUI
   field in the rejected message and disabling only the protocol to
   which it refers, rather than all use of the vendor-specific protocol
   number.  Note that such an implementation is compatible with a simple
   implementation that supports only one OUI: that implementation will
   respond with LCP Protocol-Reject for unrecognized OUIs and otherwise
   leave the negotiation state unmodified.

   An OUI-distinguished mechanism is expected to be used only in the
   case of cooperating vendors.  Vendors are encouraged to use just a
   single OUI for all protocols defined by that vendor, if possible.


6.  Multilink and Compression Considerations

   The Vendor-Specific Network Protocol (VSNP) is defined to operate at
   the bundle level if Multilink PPP [6] is in use, and also above any
   Compression Protocols [7] in use.

   The Vendor-Specific Protocol (VSP) is defined to operate at the per-
   link level if Multilink PPP is in use, and MUST NOT be subjected to
   data compression.


7.  Security Considerations

   The security of any vendor-specific authentication protocol is
   subject to the provisions of that proprietary mechanism.
   Implementations that wish to avoid security problems associated with
   such protocols SHOULD send LCP Configure-Nak in response to an LCP
   Configure-Request specifying VSAP, or MAY terminate operation.

   The security of vendor-specific networking protocols is likewise
   subject to the security mechanisms defined by those protocols.
   Independent analysis of the security of any such protocol is



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   RECOMMENDED.


8.  IANA Considerations

   IANA has assigned four similarly-numbered PPP Protocol field values,
   TBD-00XX, TBD-40XX, TBD-80XX, and TBD-c0XX, as described in Section 1
   of this document.

   As described in [2], the IANA also maintains a 'CF0000' series block
   of non-IEEE OUIs that may be allocated for vendors who do not
   otherwise need an IEEE-assigned OUI.


9.  Normative References

   [1] W. Simpson, Editor, "The Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP)," RFC
       1661, July 1994

   [2] W. Simpson, "PPP Vendor Extensions," RFC 2153, May 1997

   [3] S. Bradner, "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement
       Levels," BCP 14 and RFC 2119, March 1997


10.  Informative References

   [4] W. Simpson, "PPP Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol
       (CHAP)," RFC 1994, August 1996

   [5] L. Blunk, J. Vollbrecht, "PPP Extensible Authentication Protocol
       (EAP)," RFC 2284, March 1998

   [6] K. Sklower, B. Lloyd, G. McGregor, D. Carr, T. Coradetti, "The
       PPP Multilink Protocol (MP)," RFC 1990, August 1996

   [7] D. Rand, "The PPP Compression Control Protocol (CCP)," RFC 1962,
       June 1996


11.  Acknowledgments

   The authors thank W. Mark Townsley and Thomas Narten for their
   comments and help.







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12.  Contacts


12.1.  L2TP Working Group Chair

   W. Mark Townsley
   Cisco Systems
   7025 Kit Creek Road
   PO Box 14987
   Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
   Email:  <townsley@cisco.com>


12.2.  Authors

   James Carlson
   Sun Microsystems
   1 Network Drive MS UBUR02-212
   Burlington MA  01803-2757
   Email:  <james.d.carlson@sun.com>
   Phone:  +1 781 442 2084
   Fax:    +1 781 442 1677

   Richard Winslow
   L-3 Communications Systems - East
   1 Federal Street A&E-2NE
   Camden, NJ 08102
   EMail: richard.winslow@l-3com.com


13.  Standard Notices


13.1.  IETF Intellectual Property Statement

   "The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
   intellectual property or other rights that might be claimed to
   pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
   this document or the extent to which any license under such rights
   might or might not be available; neither does it represent that it
   has made any effort to identify any such rights.  Information on the
   IETF's procedures with respect to rights in standards-track and
   standards-related documentation can be found in BCP-11.  Copies of
   claims of rights made available for publication and any assurances of
   licenses to be made available, or the result of an attempt made to
   obtain a general license or permission for the use of such
   proprietary rights by implementers or users of this specification can
   be obtained from the IETF Secretariat.



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   "The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
   copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary
   rights, which may cover technology that, may be required to practice
   this standard.  Please address the information to the IETF Executive
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13.2.  ISOC Copyright Statement

   "Copyright (C) The Internet Society 2003. All Rights Reserved.

   "This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
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   included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
   document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
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   "The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
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   "This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
   TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
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   HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
   MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE."


















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