Network Working Group M. Stapp
Request for Comments: 4701 Cisco Systems, Inc.
Category: Standards Track T. Lemon
Nominum, Inc.
A. Gustafsson
Araneus Information Systems Oy
October 2006
A DNS Resource Record (RR) for Encoding
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Information (DHCID RR)
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 (2006).
Abstract
It is possible for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) clients
to attempt to update the same DNS Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN)
or to update a DNS FQDN that has been added to the DNS for another
purpose as they obtain DHCP leases. Whether the DHCP server or the
clients themselves perform the DNS updates, conflicts can arise. To
resolve such conflicts, RFC 4703 proposes storing client identifiers
in the DNS to unambiguously associate domain names with the DHCP
clients to which they refer. This memo defines a distinct Resource
Record (RR) type for this purpose for use by DHCP clients and
servers: the "DHCID" RR.
Stapp, et al. Standards Track [Page 1]RFC 4701 The DHCID RR October 2006
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ....................................................3
2. Terminology .....................................................3
3. The DHCID RR ....................................................3
3.1. DHCID RDATA Format .........................................3
3.2. DHCID Presentation Format ..................................4
3.3. The DHCID RR Identifier Type Codes .........................4
3.4. The DHCID RR Digest Type Code ..............................4
3.5. Computation of the RDATA ...................................5
3.5.1. Using the Client's DUID .............................5
3.5.2. Using the Client Identifier Option ..................6
3.5.3. Using the Client's htype and chaddr .................6
3.6. Examples ...................................................6
3.6.1. Example 1 ...........................................6
3.6.2. Example 2 ...........................................7
3.6.3. Example 3 ...........................................7
4. Use of the DHCID RR .............................................8
5. Updater Behavior ................................................8
6. Security Considerations .........................................8
7. IANA Considerations .............................................9
8. Acknowledgements ................................................9
9. References ......................................................9
9.1. Normative References .......................................9
9.2. Informative References ....................................10
Stapp, et al. Standards Track [Page 2]RFC 4701 The DHCID RR October 2006
1. Introduction
A set of procedures to allow DHCP [7] [11] clients and servers to
automatically update the DNS ([3], [4]) is proposed in [1].
Conflicts can arise if multiple DHCP clients wish to use the same DNS
name or a DHCP client attempts to use a name added for another
purpose. To resolve such conflicts, [1] proposes storing client
identifiers in the DNS to unambiguously associate domain names with
the DHCP clients using them. In the interest of clarity, it is
preferable for this DHCP information to use a distinct RR type. This
memo defines a distinct RR for this purpose for use by DHCP clients
or servers: the "DHCID" RR.
In order to obscure potentially sensitive client identifying
information, the data stored is the result of a one-way SHA-256 hash
computation. The hash includes information from the DHCP client's
message as well as the domain name itself, so that the data stored in
the DHCID RR will be dependent on both the client identification used
in the DHCP protocol interaction and the domain name. This means
that the DHCID RDATA will vary if a single client is associated over
time with more than one name. This makes it difficult to 'track' a
client as it is associated with various domain names.
2. 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 [2].
3. The DHCID RR
The DHCID RR is defined with mnemonic DHCID and type code 49. The
DHCID RR is only defined in the IN class. DHCID RRs cause no
additional section processing.
3.1. DHCID RDATA Format
The RDATA section of a DHCID RR in transmission contains RDLENGTH
octets of binary data. The format of this data and its
interpretation by DHCP servers and clients are described below.
DNS software should consider the RDATA section to be opaque. DHCP
clients or servers use the DHCID RR to associate a DHCP client's
identity with a DNS name, so that multiple DHCP clients and servers
may deterministically perform dynamic DNS updates to the same zone.
From the updater's perspective, the DHCID resource record RDATA
consists of a 2-octet identifier type, in network byte order,
Stapp, et al. Standards Track [Page 3]
RFC 4701 The DHCID RR October 2006
followed by a 1-octet digest type, followed by one or more octets
representing the actual identifier:
< 2 octets > Identifier type code
< 1 octet > Digest type code
< n octets > Digest (length depends on digest type)
3.2. DHCID Presentation Format
In DNS master files, the RDATA is represented as a single block in
base-64 encoding identical to that used for representing binary data
in [8], Section 3. The data may be divided up into any number of
white-space-separated substrings, down to single base-64 digits,
which are concatenated to form the complete RDATA. These substrings
can span lines using the standard parentheses.
3.3. The DHCID RR Identifier Type Codes
The DHCID RR Identifier Type Code specifies what data from the DHCP
client's request was used as input into the hash function. The
identifier type codes are defined in a registry maintained by IANA,
as specified in Section 7. The initial list of assigned values for
the identifier type code and that type's identifier is:
+------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| Identifier Type | Identifier |
| Code | |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| 0x0000 | The 1-octet 'htype' followed by 'hlen' octets |
| | of 'chaddr' from a DHCPv4 client's DHCPREQUEST |
| | [7]. |
| 0x0001 | The data octets (i.e., the Type and |
| | Client-Identifier fields) from a DHCPv4 |
| | client's Client Identifier option [10]. |
| 0x0002 | The client's DUID (i.e., the data octets of a |
| | DHCPv6 client's Client Identifier option [11] |
| | or the DUID field from a DHCPv4 client's |
| | Client Identifier option [6]). |
| 0x0003 - 0xfffe | Undefined; available to be assigned by IANA. |
| 0xffff | Undefined; RESERVED. |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------+
3.4. The DHCID RR Digest Type Code
The DHCID RR Digest Type Code is an identifier for the digest
algorithm used. The digest is calculated over an identifier and the
canonical FQDN as described in the next section.
Stapp, et al. Standards Track [Page 4]RFC 4701 The DHCID RR October 2006
The digest type codes are defined in a registry maintained by IANA,
as specified in Section 7. The initial list of assigned values for
the digest type codes is: value 0 is reserved, and value 1 is
SHA-256. Reserving other types requires IETF standards action.
Defining new values will also require IETF standards action to
document how DNS updaters are to deal with multiple digest types.
3.5. Computation of the RDATA
The DHCID RDATA is formed by concatenating the 2-octet identifier
type code with variable-length data.
The RDATA for all type codes other than 0xffff, which is reserved for
future expansion, is formed by concatenating the 2-octet identifier
type code, the 1-octet digest type code, and the digest value (32
octets for SHA-256).
< identifier-type > < digest-type > < digest >
The input to the digest hash function is defined to be:
digest = SHA-256(< identifier > < FQDN >)
The FQDN is represented in the buffer in the canonical wire format as
described in [9], Section 6.2. The identifier type code and the
identifier are related as specified in Section 3.3: the identifier
type code describes the source of the identifier.
A DHCPv4 updater uses the 0x0002 type code if a Client Identifier
option is present in the DHCPv4 messages and it is encoded as
specified in [6]. Otherwise, the updater uses 0x0001 if a Client
Identifier option is present, and 0x0000 if not.
A DHCPv6 updater always uses the 0x0002 type code.
3.5.1. Using the Client's DUID
When the updater is using the Client's DUID (either from a DHCPv6
Client Identifier option or from a portion of the DHCPv4 Client
Identifier option encoded as specified in [6]), the first two octets
of the DHCID RR MUST be 0x0002, in network byte order. The third
octet is the digest type code (1 for SHA-256). The rest of the DHCID
RR MUST contain the results of computing the SHA-256 hash across the
octets of the DUID followed by the FQDN.
Stapp, et al. Standards Track [Page 5]RFC 4701 The DHCID RR October 2006
3.5.2. Using the Client Identifier Option
When the updater is using the DHCPv4 Client Identifier option sent by
the client in its DHCPREQUEST message, the first two octets of the
DHCID RR MUST be 0x0001, in network byte order. The third octet is
the digest type code (1 for SHA-256). The rest of the DHCID RR MUST
contain the results of computing the SHA-256 hash across the data
octets (i.e., the Type and Client-Identifier fields) of the option,
followed by the FQDN.
3.5.3. Using the Client's htype and chaddr
When the updater is using the client's link-layer address as the
identifier, the first two octets of the DHCID RDATA MUST be zero.
The third octet is the digest type code (1 for SHA-256). To generate
the rest of the resource record, the updater computes a one-way hash
using the SHA-256 algorithm across a buffer containing the client's
network hardware type, link-layer address, and the FQDN data.
Specifically, the first octet of the buffer contains the network
hardware type as it appeared in the DHCP 'htype' field of the
client's DHCPREQUEST message. All of the significant octets of the
'chaddr' field in the client's DHCPREQUEST message follow, in the
same order in which the octets appear in the DHCPREQUEST message.
The number of significant octets in the 'chaddr' field is specified
in the 'hlen' field of the DHCPREQUEST message. The FQDN data, as
specified above, follows.
3.6. Examples
3.6.1. Example 1
A DHCP server allocates the IPv6 address 2001:DB8::1234:5678 to a
client that included the DHCPv6 client-identifier option data 00:01:
00:06:41:2d:f1:66:01:02:03:04:05:06 in its DHCPv6 request. The
server updates the name "chi6.example.com" on the client's behalf and
uses the DHCP client identifier option data as input in forming a
DHCID RR. The DHCID RDATA is formed by setting the two type octets
to the value 0x0002, the 1-octet digest type to 1 for SHA-256, and
performing a SHA-256 hash computation across a buffer containing the
14 octets from the client-id option and the FQDN (represented as
specified in Section 3.5).
chi6.example.com. AAAA 2001:DB8::1234:5678
chi6.example.com. DHCID ( AAIBY2/AuCccgoJbsaxcQc9TUapptP69l
OjxfNuVAA2kjEA= )
If the DHCID RR type is not supported, the RDATA would be encoded
[13] as:
Stapp, et al. Standards Track [Page 6]RFC 4701 The DHCID RR October 2006
\# 35 ( 000201636fc0b8271c82825bb1ac5c41cf5351aa69b4febd94e8f17cd
b95000da48c40 )
3.6.2. Example 2
A DHCP server allocates the IPv4 address 192.0.2.2 to a client that
included the DHCP client-identifier option data 01:07:08:09:0a:0b:0c
in its DHCP request. The server updates the name "chi.example.com"
on the client's behalf and uses the DHCP client identifier option
data as input in forming a DHCID RR. The DHCID RDATA is formed by
setting the two type octets to the value 0x0001, the 1-octet digest
type to 1 for SHA-256, and performing a SHA-256 hash computation
across a buffer containing the seven octets from the client-id option
and the FQDN (represented as specified in Section 3.5).
chi.example.com. A 192.0.2.2
chi.example.com. DHCID ( AAEBOSD+XR3Os/0LozeXVqcNc7FwCfQdW
L3b/NaiUDlW2No= )
If the DHCID RR type is not supported, the RDATA would be encoded
[13] as:
\# 35 ( 0001013920fe5d1dceb3fd0ba3379756a70d73b17009f41d58bddbfcd
6a2503956d8da )
3.6.3. Example 3
A DHCP server allocating the IPv4 address 192.0.2.3 to a client with
the Ethernet MAC address 01:02:03:04:05:06 using domain name
"client.example.com" uses the client's link-layer address to identify
the client. The DHCID RDATA is composed by setting the two type
octets to zero, the 1-octet digest type to 1 for SHA-256, and
performing an SHA-256 hash computation across a buffer containing the
1-octet 'htype' value for Ethernet, 0x01, followed by the six octets
of the Ethernet MAC address, and the domain name (represented as
specified in Section 3.5).
client.example.com. A 192.0.2.3
client.example.com. DHCID ( AAABxLmlskllE0MVjd57zHcWmEH3pCQ6V
ytcKD//7es/deY= )
If the DHCID RR type is not supported, the RDATA would be encoded
[13] as:
\# 35 ( 000001c4b9a5b249651343158dde7bcc77169841f7a4243a572b5c283
fffedeb3f75e6 )
Stapp, et al. Standards Track [Page 7]RFC 4701 The DHCID RR October 2006
4. Use of the DHCID RR
This RR MUST NOT be used for any purpose other than that detailed in
[1]. Although this RR contains data that is opaque to DNS servers,
the data must be consistent across all entities that update and
interpret this record. Therefore, new data formats may only be
defined through actions of the DHC Working Group, as a result of
revising [1].
5. Updater Behavior
The data in the DHCID RR allows updaters to determine whether more
than one DHCP client desires to use a particular FQDN. This allows
site administrators to establish policy about DNS updates. The DHCID
RR does not establish any policy itself.
Updaters use data from a DHCP client's request and the domain name
that the client desires to use to compute a client identity hash, and
then compare that hash to the data in any DHCID RRs on the name that
they wish to associate with the client's IP address. If an updater
discovers DHCID RRs whose RDATA does not match the client identity
that they have computed, the updater SHOULD conclude that a different
client is currently associated with the name in question. The
updater SHOULD then proceed according to the site's administrative
policy. That policy might dictate that a different name be selected,
or it might permit the updater to continue.
6. Security Considerations
The DHCID record as such does not introduce any new security problems
into the DNS. In order to obscure the client's identity information,
a one-way hash is used. Further, in order to make it difficult to
'track' a client by examining the names associated with a particular
hash value, the FQDN is included in the hash computation. Thus, the
RDATA is dependent on both the DHCP client identification data and on
each FQDN associated with the client.
However, it should be noted that an attacker that has some knowledge,
such as of MAC addresses commonly used in DHCP client identification
data, may be able to discover the client's DHCP identify by using a
brute-force attack. Even without any additional knowledge, the
number of unknown bits used in computing the hash is typically only
48 to 80.
Administrators should be wary of permitting unsecured DNS updates to
zones, whether or not they are exposed to the global Internet. Both
DHCP clients and servers SHOULD use some form of update
authentication (e.g., [12]) when performing DNS updates.
Stapp, et al. Standards Track [Page 8]
RFC 4701 The DHCID RR October 2006
7. IANA Considerations
IANA has allocated a DNS RR type number for the DHCID record type.
This specification defines a new number-space for the 2-octet
identifier type codes associated with the DHCID RR. IANA has
established a registry of the values for this number-space. Three
initial values are assigned in Section 3.3, and the value 0xFFFF is
reserved for future use. New DHCID RR identifier type codes are
assigned through Standards Action, as defined in [5].
This specification defines a new number-space for the 1-octet digest
type codes associated with the DHCID RR. IANA has established a
registry of the values for this number-space. Two initial values are
assigned in Section 3.4. New DHCID RR digest type codes are assigned
through Standards Action, as defined in [5].
8. Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Harald Alvestrand, Ralph Droms, Olafur Gudmundsson,
Sam Hartman, Josh Littlefield, Pekka Savola, and especially Bernie
Volz for their review and suggestions.
9. References
9.1. Normative References
[1] Stapp, M. and B. Volz, "Resolution of Fully Qualified Domain
Name (FQDN) Conflicts among Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
(DHCP) Clients", RFC 4703, October 2006.
[2] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement
Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
[3] Mockapetris, P., "Domain names - concepts and facilities",
STD 13, RFC 1034, November 1987.
[4] Mockapetris, P., "Domain names - implementation and
specification", STD 13, RFC 1035, November 1987.
[5] Narten, T. and H. Alvestrand, "Guidelines for Writing an IANA
Considerations Section in RFCs", BCP 26, RFC 2434, October 1998.
[6] Lemon, T. and B. Sommerfeld, "Node-specific Client Identifiers
for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Version Four (DHCPv4)",
RFC 4361, February 2006.
Stapp, et al. Standards Track [Page 9]RFC 4701 The DHCID RR October 2006
9.2. Informative References
[7] Droms, R., "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol", RFC 2131,
March 1997.
[8] Josefsson, S., "The Base16, Base32, and Base64 Data Encodings",
RFC 3548, July 2003.
[9] Arends, R., Austein, R., Larson, M., Massey, D., and S. Rose,
"Resource Records for the DNS Security Extensions", RFC 4034,
March 2005.
[10] Alexander, S. and R. Droms, "DHCP Options and BOOTP Vendor
Extensions", RFC 2132, March 1997.
[11] Droms, R., Bound, J., Volz, B., Lemon, T., Perkins, C., and M.
Carney, "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for IPv6
(DHCPv6)", RFC 3315, July 2003.
[12] Vixie, P., Gudmundsson, O., Eastlake, D., and B. Wellington,
"Secret Key Transaction Authentication for DNS (TSIG)",
RFC 2845, May 2000.
[13] Gustafsson, A., "Handling of Unknown DNS Resource Record (RR)
Types", RFC 3597, September 2003.
Stapp, et al. Standards Track [Page 10]RFC 4701 The DHCID RR October 2006
Authors' Addresses
Mark Stapp
Cisco Systems, Inc.
1414 Massachusetts Ave.
Boxborough, MA 01719
USA
Phone: 978.936.1535
EMail: mjs@cisco.com
Ted Lemon
Nominum, Inc.
950 Charter St.
Redwood City, CA 94063
USA
EMail: mellon@nominum.com
Andreas Gustafsson
Araneus Information Systems Oy
Ulappakatu 1
02320 Espoo
Finland
EMail: gson@araneus.fi
Stapp, et al. Standards Track [Page 11]
RFC 4701 The DHCID RR October 2006
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Stapp, et al. Standards Track [Page 12]
