draft-ietf-httpauth-basicauth-update-05.txt   draft-ietf-httpauth-basicauth-update-latest.txt 
HTTPAuth Working Group J. Reschke HTTPAuth Working Group J. Reschke
Internet-Draft greenbytes Internet-Draft greenbytes
Obsoletes: 2617 (if approved) January 16, 2015 Obsoletes: 2617 (if approved) February 7, 2024
Intended status: Standards Track Intended status: Standards Track
Expires: July 20, 2015 Expires: August 10, 2024
The 'Basic' HTTP Authentication Scheme The 'Basic' HTTP Authentication Scheme
draft-ietf-httpauth-basicauth-update-05 draft-ietf-httpauth-basicauth-update-latest
Abstract Abstract
This document defines the "Basic" Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) This document defines the "Basic" Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
Authentication Scheme, which transmits credentials as userid/password authentication scheme, which transmits credentials as user-id/
pairs, obfuscated by the use of Base64 encoding. password pairs, encoded using Base64.
Editorial Note (To be removed by RFC Editor before publication) Editorial Note (To be removed by RFC Editor before publication)
Discussion of this draft takes place on the HTTPAuth working group Discussion of this draft takes place on the HTTPAuth working group
mailing list (http-auth@ietf.org), which is archived at <http:// mailing list (http-auth@ietf.org), which is archived at
www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/http-auth/current/maillist.html>. <http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/http-auth/current/
maillist.html>.
XML versions, latest edits and the issues list for this document are XML versions, latest edits and the issues list for this document are
available from <http://greenbytes.de/tech/ available from <http://greenbytes.de/tech/webdav/#draft-ietf-
webdav/#draft-ietf-httpauth-basicauth-update>. httpauth-basicauth-update>.
The changes in this draft are summarized in Appendix C.6.
Status of This Memo Status of This Memo
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provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79. provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.
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This Internet-Draft will expire on July 20, 2015. This Internet-Draft will expire on August 10, 2024.
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Table of Contents Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1. Notational Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1.1. Terminology and Notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.1. Syntax Notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2. The 'Basic' Authentication Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. The 'Basic' Authentication Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.1. The 'charset' auth-param . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1. The 'charset' auth-param . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2.2. Reusing Credentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.2. Re-using Credentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 3. Internationalization Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3. Internationalization Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 4. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 5. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 6. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
6. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 6.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
7. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 6.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
7.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Appendix A. Changes from RFC 2617 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
7.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Appendix A. Changes from RFC 2617 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Appendix B. Deployment Considerations for the 'charset' Appendix B. Deployment Considerations for the 'charset'
Parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
B.1. User Agents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 B.1. User Agents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
B.2. Origin Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 B.2. Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
B.3. Why not simply switch the default encoding to UTF-8? . . . 13 B.3. Why not simply switch the default encoding to UTF-8? . . 14
Appendix C. Change Log (to be removed by RFC Editor before Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
publication) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
C.1. Since RFC 2617 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
C.2. Since draft-ietf-httpauth-basicauth-update-00 . . . . . . 13
C.3. Since draft-ietf-httpauth-basicauth-update-01 . . . . . . 14
C.4. Since draft-ietf-httpauth-basicauth-update-02 . . . . . . 14
C.5. Since draft-ietf-httpauth-basicauth-update-03 . . . . . . 14
C.6. Since draft-ietf-httpauth-basicauth-update-04 . . . . . . 14
1. Introduction 1. Introduction
This document defines the "Basic" Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) This document defines the "Basic" Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
Authentication Scheme, which transmits credentials as userid/password authentication scheme, which transmits credentials as user-id/
pairs, obfuscated by the use of Base64 encoding (HTTP authentication password pairs, encoded using Base64 (HTTP authentication schemes are
schemes are defined in [RFC7235]). defined in [RFC7235]).
This scheme is not considered to be a secure method of user This scheme is not considered to be a secure method of user
authentication unless used in conjunction with some external secure authentication unless used in conjunction with some external secure
system such as TLS (Transport Layer Security, [RFC5246]), as the user system such as TLS (Transport Layer Security, [RFC5246]), as the
name and password are passed over the network as cleartext. user-id and password are passed over the network as cleartext.
The "Basic" scheme previously was defined in Section 2 of [RFC2617]. The "Basic" scheme previously was defined in Section 2 of [RFC2617].
This document updates the definition, and also addresses This document updates the definition, and also addresses
internationalization issues by introducing the "charset" internationalization issues by introducing the 'charset'
authentication parameter (Section 2.1). authentication parameter (Section 2.1).
Other documents updating RFC 2617 are "Hypertext Transfer Protocol Other documents updating RFC 2617 are "Hypertext Transfer Protocol
(HTTP/1.1): Authentication" ([RFC7235], defining the authentication (HTTP/1.1): Authentication" ([RFC7235], defining the authentication
framework) and "HTTP Digest Access Authentication" ([DIGEST], framework), "HTTP Digest Access Authentication" ([RFC7616], updating
updating the definition of the '"Digest" authentication scheme). the definition of the "Digest" authentication scheme), and "HTTP
Taken together, these three documents obsolete RFC 2617. Authentication-Info and Proxy-Authentication-Info Response Header
Fields" ([RFC7615]). Taken together, these four documents obsolete
RFC 2617.
1.1. Notational Conventions 1.1. Terminology and Notation
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119]. document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].
1.1.1. Syntax Notation The terms ""protection space"" and ""realm"" are defined in
Section 2.2 of [RFC7235].
This specification uses the Augmented Backus-Naur Form (ABNF)
notation of [RFC5234].
The terms "protection space" and "realm" are defined in Section 2.2
of [RFC7235].
The terms (character) "repertoire" and "character encoding scheme" The terms ""(character) repertoire"" and ""character encoding
are defined in Section 2 of [RFC6365]. scheme"" are defined in Section 2 of [RFC6365].
2. The 'Basic' Authentication Scheme 2. The 'Basic' Authentication Scheme
The "Basic" authentication scheme is based on the model that the The Basic authentication scheme is based on the model that the client
client needs to authenticate itself with a user-ID and a password for needs to authenticate itself with a user-id and a password for each
each protection space ("realm"). The realm value is an opaque string protection space ("realm"). The realm value is a free-form string
which can only be compared for equality with other realms on that that can only be compared for equality with other realms on that
server. The server will service the request only if it can validate server. The server will service the request only if it can validate
the user-ID and password for the protection space applying to the the user-id and password for the protection space applying to the
requested resource. requested resource.
The "Basic" authentication scheme utilizes the Authentication The Basic authentication scheme utilizes the Authentication Framework
Framework as follows: as follows.
In challenges: In challenges:
o the scheme name is "Basic" o The scheme name is "Basic".
o the authentication parameter "realm" is REQUIRED ([RFC7235], o The authentication parameter 'realm' is REQUIRED ([RFC7235],
Section 2.2) Section 2.2).
o the authentication parameter "charset" is OPTIONAL (see o The authentication parameter 'charset' is OPTIONAL (see
Section 2.1) Section 2.1).
o no other authentication parameters are defined -- unknown o No other authentication parameters are defined -- unknown
parameters MUST be ignored by recipients, and new parameters can parameters MUST be ignored by recipients, and new parameters can
only be defined by revising this specification only be defined by revising this specification.
See also Section 4.1 of [RFC7235], which discusses the complexity of
parsing challenges properly.
Note that both scheme and parameter names are matched case- Note that both scheme and parameter names are matched case-
insensitively. insensitively.
For credentials, the "token68" syntax defined in Section 2.1 of For credentials, the "token68" syntax defined in Section 2.1 of
[RFC7235] is used. The value is computed based on user-id and [RFC7235] is used. The value is computed based on user-id and
password as defined below. password as defined below.
Upon receipt of a request for a URI within the protection space that Upon receipt of a request for a URI within the protection space that
lacks credentials, the server can reply with a challenge using the lacks credentials, the server can reply with a challenge using the
401 (Unauthorized) status code ([RFC7235], Section 3.1) and the WWW- 401 (Unauthorized) status code ([RFC7235], Section 3.1) and the WWW-
Authenticate header field ([RFC7235], Section 4.1). Authenticate header field ([RFC7235], Section 4.1).
For instance: For instance:
HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
Date: Mon, 04 Feb 2014 16:50:53 GMT Date: Mon, 04 Feb 2014 16:50:53 GMT
WWW-Authenticate: Basic realm="WallyWorld" WWW-Authenticate: Basic realm="WallyWorld"
...where "WallyWorld" is the string assigned by the server to where "WallyWorld" is the string assigned by the server to identify
identify the protection space. the protection space.
A proxy can respond with a similar challenge using the 407 (Proxy A proxy can respond with a similar challenge using the 407 (Proxy
Authentication Required) status code ([RFC7235], Section 3.2) and the Authentication Required) status code ([RFC7235], Section 3.2) and the
Proxy-Authenticate header field ([RFC7235], Section 4.3). Proxy-Authenticate header field ([RFC7235], Section 4.3).
To receive authorization, the client To receive authorization, the client
1. obtains the userid and password from the user, 1. obtains the user-id and password from the user,
2. constructs the user-pass by concatenating userid, a single colon 2. constructs the user-pass by concatenating the user-id, a single
(":") character, and the password, colon (":") character, and the password,
3. encodes the user-pass into an octet sequence (see below for a 3. encodes the user-pass into an octet sequence (see below for a
discussion of character encoding schemes), discussion of character encoding schemes),
4. and obtains the basic-credentials by encoding this octet sequence 4. and obtains the basic-credentials by encoding this octet sequence
using base64 ([RFC4648], Section 4) into a sequence of US-ASCII using Base64 ([RFC4648], Section 4) into a sequence of US-ASCII
characters ([RFC0020]). characters ([RFC0020]).
The original definition of this authentication scheme failed to The original definition of this authentication scheme failed to
specify the character encoding scheme used to convert the user-pass specify the character encoding scheme used to convert the user-pass
into an octet sequence. In practice, most implementations chose into an octet sequence. In practice, most implementations chose
either a local-specific encoding such as ISO-8859-1 ([ISO-8859-1]), either a locale-specific encoding such as ISO-8859-1 ([ISO-8859-1]),
or UTF-8 ([RFC3629]). For backwards compatibility reasons, this or UTF-8 ([RFC3629]). For backwards compatibility reasons, this
specification continues to leave the default encoding undefined, as specification continues to leave the default encoding undefined, as
long as it is compatible with US-ASCII (mapping any US-ASCII long as it is compatible with US-ASCII (mapping any US-ASCII
character to a single octet matching the US-ASCII character code). character to a single octet matching the US-ASCII character code).
The userid and password MUST NOT contain any control characters (see The user-id and password MUST NOT contain any control characters (see
"CTL" in Appendix B.1 of [RFC5234]). "CTL" in Appendix B.1 of [RFC5234]).
Furthermore, a userid containing a colon character is invalid, as Furthermore, a user-id containing a colon character is invalid, as
recipients will split the user-pass at the first occurence of a colon the first colon in a user-pass string separates user-id and password
character. Note that many user agents however will accept a colon in from one another; text after the first colon is part of the password.
userid, thereby producing a user-pass string that recipients will User-ids containing colons cannot be encoded in user-pass strings.
likely treat in a way not intended by the user.
If the user agent wishes to send the userid "Aladdin" and password Note that many user agents produce user-pass strings without checking
that user-ids supplied by users do not contain colons; recipients
will then treat part of the username input as part of the password.
If the user agent wishes to send the user-id "Aladdin" and password
"open sesame", it would use the following header field: "open sesame", it would use the following header field:
Authorization: Basic QWxhZGRpbjpvcGVuIHNlc2FtZQ== Authorization: Basic QWxhZGRpbjpvcGVuIHNlc2FtZQ==
2.1. The 'charset' auth-param 2.1. The 'charset' auth-param
In challenges, servers can use the "charset" authentication parameter In challenges, servers can use the 'charset' authentication parameter
to indicate the character encoding scheme they expect the user agent to indicate the character encoding scheme they expect the user agent
to use when generating "user-pass" (a sequence of octets). This to use when generating "user-pass" (a sequence of octets). This
information is purely advisory. information is purely advisory.
The only allowed value is "UTF-8", to be matched case-insensitively The only allowed value is "UTF-8"; it is to be matched case-
(see [RFC2978], Section 2.3). It indicates that the server expects insensitively (see [RFC2978], Section 2.3). It indicates that the
character data to be converted to Unicode Normalization Form C server expects character data to be converted to Unicode
("NFC", see Section 3 of [RFC5198]) and to be encoded into octets Normalization Form C ("NFC"; see Section 3 of [RFC5198]) and to be
using the UTF-8 character encoding scheme ([RFC3629]). encoded into octets using the UTF-8 character encoding scheme
([RFC3629]).
For the userid, recipients MUST support all characters defined in the For the user-id, recipients MUST support all characters defined in
"UsernameCasePreserved" profile defined in in Section 3.3 of the "UsernameCasePreserved" profile defined in Section 3.3 of
[PRECIS], with the exception of the colon (":") character. [RFC7613], with the exception of the colon (":") character.
For the password, recipients MUST support all characters defined in For the password, recipients MUST support all characters defined in
the "OpaqueString" profile defined in in Section 4.2 of [PRECIS]. the "OpaqueString" profile defined in Section 4.2 of [RFC7613].
Other values are reserved for future use. Other values are reserved for future use.
Note: The 'charset' is only defined on challenges, as "Basic" uses Note: The 'charset' is only defined on challenges, as Basic
a single token for credentials ('token68' syntax), thus the authentication uses a single token for credentials ('token68'
credentials syntax isn't extensible. syntax); thus, the credentials syntax isn't extensible.
Note: The name 'charset' has been chosen for consistency with Note: The name 'charset' has been chosen for consistency with
Section 2.1.1 of [RFC2831]. A better name would have been Section 2.1.1 of [RFC2831]. A better name would have been
'accept-charset', as it is not about the message it appears in, 'accept-charset', as it is not about the message it appears in,
but the server's expectation. but the server's expectation.
In the example below, the server prompts for authentication in the In the example below, the server prompts for authentication in the
"foo" realm, using Basic authentication, with a preference for the "foo" realm, using Basic authentication, with a preference for the
UTF-8 character encoding scheme: UTF-8 character encoding scheme:
WWW-Authenticate: Basic realm="foo", charset="UTF-8" WWW-Authenticate: Basic realm="foo", charset="UTF-8"
Note that the parameter value can be either a token or a quoted Note that the parameter value can be either a token or a quoted
string; in this case the server chose to use the quoted-string string; in this case, the server chose to use the quoted-string
notation. notation.
The user's name is "test", and the password is the string "123" The user's name is "test", and the password is the string "123"
followed by the Unicode character U+00A3 (POUND SIGN). Using the followed by the Unicode character U+00A3 (POUND SIGN). Using the
character encoding scheme UTF-8, the user-pass becomes: character encoding scheme UTF-8, the user-pass becomes:
't' 'e' 's' 't' ':' '1' '2' '3' pound 't' 'e' 's' 't' ':' '1' '2' '3' pound
74 65 73 74 3A 31 32 33 C2 A3 74 65 73 74 3A 31 32 33 C2 A3
Encoding this octet sequence in Base64 ([RFC4648], Section 4) yields: Encoding this octet sequence in Base64 ([RFC4648], Section 4) yields:
dGVzdDoxMjPCow== dGVzdDoxMjPCow==
Thus the Authorization header field would be: Thus, the Authorization header field would be:
Authorization: Basic dGVzdDoxMjPCow== Authorization: Basic dGVzdDoxMjPCow==
Or, for proxy authentication: Or, for proxy authentication:
Proxy-Authorization: Basic dGVzdDoxMjPCow== Proxy-Authorization: Basic dGVzdDoxMjPCow==
2.2. Re-using Credentials 2.2. Reusing Credentials
Given the absolute URI ([RFC3986], Section 4.3) of an authenticated Given the absolute URI ([RFC3986], Section 4.3) of an authenticated
request, the "authentication scope" of that request is obtained by request, the "authentication scope" of that request is obtained by
removing all characters after the last slash ("/") character of the removing all characters after the last slash ("/") character of the
path component ("hier_part", see [RFC3986], Section 3). A client path component ("hier_part"; see [RFC3986], Section 3). A client
SHOULD assume that resources identified by URIs with a prefix-match SHOULD assume that resources identified by URIs with a prefix-match
of the authentication scope are also within the protection space of the authentication scope are also within the protection space
specified by the realm value of the that authenticated request. specified by the realm value of that authenticated request.
A client MAY preemptively send the corresponding Authorization header A client MAY preemptively send the corresponding Authorization header
field with requests for resources in that space without receipt of field with requests for resources in that space without receipt of
another challenge from the server. Similarly, when a client sends a another challenge from the server. Similarly, when a client sends a
request to a proxy, it may reuse a userid and password in the Proxy- request to a proxy, it MAY reuse a user-id and password in the Proxy-
Authorization header field without receiving another challenge from Authorization header field without receiving another challenge from
the proxy server. the proxy server.
For example, given an authenticated request to: For example, given an authenticated request to:
http://example.com/docs/index.html http://example.com/docs/index.html
...requests to the URIs below could use the known credentials: requests to the URIs below could use the known credentials:
http://example.com/docs/ http://example.com/docs/
http://example.com/docs/test.doc http://example.com/docs/test.doc
http://example.com/docs/?page=1 http://example.com/docs/?page=1
...while the URIs while the URIs
http://example.com/other/ http://example.com/other/
https://example.com/docs/ https://example.com/docs/
would be considered to be outside the authentication scope. would be considered to be outside the authentication scope.
Note that a URI can be part of multiple authentication scopes (such Note that a URI can be part of multiple authentication scopes (such
as "http://example.com/" and "http://example.com/docs/"). This as "http://example.com/" and "http://example.com/docs/"). This
specification does not define which of these should be treated with specification does not define which of these should be treated with
higher priority. higher priority.
3. Internationalization Considerations 3. Internationalization Considerations
User names or passwords containing characters outside the US-ASCII User-ids or passwords containing characters outside the US-ASCII
character repertoire will cause interoperability issues, unless both character repertoire will cause interoperability issues, unless both
communication partners agree on what character encoding scheme is to communication partners agree on what character encoding scheme is to
be used. Servers can use the new 'charset' parameter (Section 2.1) be used. Servers can use the new 'charset' parameter (Section 2.1)
to indicate a preference of "UTF-8", increasing the probability that to indicate a preference of "UTF-8", increasing the probability that
clients will switch to that encoding. clients will switch to that encoding.
The "realm" parameter carries data that can be considered textual, The 'realm' parameter carries data that can be considered textual;
however [RFC7235] does not define a way to reliably transport non-US- however, [RFC7235] does not define a way to reliably transport non-
ASCII characters. This is a known issue that would need to be US-ASCII characters. This is a known issue that would need to be
addressed in that specification. addressed in a revision to that specification.
4. Security Considerations 4. Security Considerations
The Basic authentication scheme is not a secure method of user The Basic authentication scheme is not a secure method of user
authentication, nor does it in any way protect the entity, which is authentication, nor does it in any way protect the entity, which is
transmitted in cleartext across the physical network used as the transmitted in cleartext across the physical network used as the
carrier. HTTP does not prevent the addition of enhancements (such as carrier. HTTP does not prevent the addition of enhancements (such as
schemes to use one-time passwords) to Basic authentication. schemes to use one-time passwords) to Basic authentication.
The most serious flaw in Basic authentication is that it results in The most serious flaw of Basic authentication is that it results in
the cleartext transmission of the user's password over the physical the cleartext transmission of the user's password over the physical
network. Many other authentication schemes address this problem. network. Many other authentication schemes address this problem.
Because Basic authentication involves the cleartext transmission of Because Basic authentication involves the cleartext transmission of
passwords it SHOULD NOT be used (without enhancements such as HTTPS passwords, it SHOULD NOT be used (without enhancements such as HTTPS
[RFC2818]) to protect sensitive or valuable information. [RFC2818]) to protect sensitive or valuable information.
A common use of Basic authentication is for identification purposes A common use of Basic authentication is for identification purposes
-- requiring the user to provide a user name and password as a means -- requiring the user to provide a user-id and password as a means of
of identification, for example, for purposes of gathering accurate identification, for example, for purposes of gathering accurate usage
usage statistics on a server. When used in this way it is tempting statistics on a server. When used in this way it is tempting to
to think that there is no danger in its use if illicit access to the think that there is no danger in its use if illicit access to the
protected documents is not a major concern. This is only correct if protected documents is not a major concern. This is only correct if
the server issues both user name and password to the users and in the server issues both user-id and password to the users and, in
particular does not allow the user to choose his or her own password. particular, does not allow the user to choose his or her own
The danger arises because naive users frequently reuse a single password. The danger arises because naive users frequently reuse a
password to avoid the task of maintaining multiple passwords. single password to avoid the task of maintaining multiple passwords.
If a server permits users to select their own passwords, then the If a server permits users to select their own passwords, then the
threat is not only unauthorized access to documents on the server but threat is not only unauthorized access to documents on the server but
also unauthorized access to any other resources on other systems that also unauthorized access to any other resources on other systems that
the user protects with the same password. Furthermore, in the the user protects with the same password. Furthermore, in the
server's password database, many of the passwords may also be users' server's password database, many of the passwords may also be users'
passwords for other sites. The owner or administrator of such a passwords for other sites. The owner or administrator of such a
system could therefore expose all users of the system to the risk of system could therefore expose all users of the system to the risk of
unauthorized access to all those sites if this information is not unauthorized access to all those other sites if this information is
maintained in a secure fashion. This raises both security and not maintained in a secure fashion. This raises both security and
privacy concerns ([RFC6973]). If the same username and password privacy concerns ([RFC6973]). If the same user-id and password
combination is in use to access other accounts, such as an email or combination is in use to access other accounts, such as an email or
health portal account, personal information could be exposed. health portal account, personal information could be exposed.
Basic Authentication is also vulnerable to spoofing by counterfeit Basic authentication is also vulnerable to spoofing by counterfeit
servers. If a user can be led to believe that he is connecting to a servers. If a user can be led to believe that she is connecting to a
host containing information protected by Basic authentication when, host containing information protected by Basic authentication when,
in fact, he is connecting to a hostile server or gateway, then the in fact, she is connecting to a hostile server or gateway, then the
attacker can request a password, store it for later use, and feign an attacker can request a password, store it for later use, and feign an
error. This type of attack is not possible with Digest error. Server implementers ought to guard against this sort of
Authentication. Server implementers SHOULD guard against the counterfeiting; in particular, software components that can take over
possibility of this sort of counterfeiting by gateways or CGI control over the message framing on an existing connection need to be
scripts. In particular it is very dangerous for a server to simply used carefully or not at all (for instance: NPH ("Non-Parsed Header")
turn over a connection to a gateway. That gateway can then use the scripts as described in Section 5 of [RFC3875]).
persistent connection mechanism to engage in multiple transactions
with the client while impersonating the original server in a way that
is not detectable by the client.
The use of the UTF-8 character encoding scheme introduces additional Servers and proxies implementing Basic authentication need to store
security considerations; see Section 10 of [RFC3629] for more user passwords in some form in order to authenticate a request.
information. These passwords ought to be stored in such a way that a leak of the
password data doesn't make them trivially recoverable. This is
especially important when users are allowed to set their own
passwords, since users are known to choose weak passwords and to
reuse them across authentication realms. While a full discussion of
good password hashing techniques is beyond the scope of this
document, server operators ought to make an effort to minimize risks
to their users in the event of a password data leak. For example,
servers ought to avoid storing user passwords in plaintext or as
unsalted digests. For more discussion about modern password hashing
techniques, see the "Password Hashing Competition"
(<https://password-hashing.net>).
5. IANA Considerations The use of the UTF-8 character encoding scheme and of normalization
introduces additional security considerations; see Section 10 of
[RFC3629] and Section 6 of [RFC5198] for more information.
IANA maintains the registry of HTTP Authentication Schemes 5. IANA Considerations
([RFC7235]) at <http://www.iana.org/assignments/http-authschemes>.
The entry for the "Basic" Authentication Scheme shall be updated with IANA maintains the "Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) Authentication
a pointer to this specification. Scheme Registry" ([RFC7235]) at <http://www.iana.org/assignments/
http-authschemes>.
6. Acknowledgements The entry for the "Basic" authentication scheme has been updated to
reference this specification.
This specification takes over the definition of the "Basic" HTTP 6. References
Authentication Scheme, previously defined in RFC 2617. We thank John
Franks, Phillip M. Hallam-Baker, Jeffery L. Hostetler, Scott D.
Lawrence, Paul J. Leach, Ari Luotonen, and Lawrence C. Stewart for
their work on that specification, from which significant amounts of
text were borrowed. See Section 6 of [RFC2617] for further
acknowledgements.
The internationalization problem with respect to the character 6.1. Normative References
encoding scheme used for user-pass has been reported as a Mozilla bug
back in the year 2000 (see
<https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=41489> and also the
more recent <https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=656213>).
It was Andrew Clover's idea to address it using a new auth-param.
We also thank the members of the HTTPAuth Working Group and other [RFC0020] Cerf, V., "ASCII format for network interchange", STD 80,
reviewers, namely Stephen Farrell, Bjoern Hoehrmann, Kari Hurtta, RFC 20, DOI 10.17487/RFC0020, October 1969,
Amos Jeffries, Benjamin Kaduk, Michael Koeller, James Manger, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc20>.
Kathleen Moriarty, Yaron Sheffer, Michael Sweet, and Martin Thomson
for feedback on this revision.
7. References [RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
7.1. Normative References Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.
[PRECIS] Saint-Andre, P. and A. Melnikov, "Preparation, [RFC2978] Freed, N. and J. Postel, "IANA Charset Registration
Enforcement, and Comparison of Internationalized Procedures", BCP 19, RFC 2978, DOI 10.17487/RFC2978,
Strings Representing Usernames and Passwords", October 2000, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2978>.
draft-ietf-precis-saslprepbis-12 (work in progress),
December 2014.
[RFC0020] Cerf, V., "ASCII format for network interchange", [RFC3629] Yergeau, F., "UTF-8, a transformation format of ISO
RFC 20, October 1969. 10646", STD 63, RFC 3629, DOI 10.17487/RFC3629, November
2003, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3629>.
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate [RFC3986] Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R., and L. Masinter, "Uniform
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997. Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax", STD 66,
RFC 3986, DOI 10.17487/RFC3986, January 2005,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3986>.
[RFC2978] Freed, N. and J. Postel, "IANA Charset Registration [RFC4648] Josefsson, S., "The Base16, Base32, and Base64 Data
Procedures", BCP 19, RFC 2978, October 2000. Encodings", RFC 4648, DOI 10.17487/RFC4648, October 2006,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4648>.
[RFC3629] Yergeau, F., "UTF-8, a transformation format of ISO [RFC5198] Klensin, J. and M. Padlipsky, "Unicode Format for Network
10646", STD 63, RFC 3629, November 2003. Interchange", RFC 5198, DOI 10.17487/RFC5198, March 2008,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5198>.
[RFC3986] Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R., and L. Masinter, [RFC5234] Crocker, D., Ed. and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for Syntax
"Uniform Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax", Specifications: ABNF", STD 68, RFC 5234,
STD 66, RFC 3986, January 2005. DOI 10.17487/RFC5234, January 2008,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5234>.
[RFC4648] Josefsson, S., "The Base16, Base32, and Base64 Data [RFC6365] Hoffman, P. and J. Klensin, "Terminology Used in
Encodings", RFC 4648, October 2006. Internationalization in the IETF", BCP 166, RFC 6365,
DOI 10.17487/RFC6365, September 2011,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6365>.
[RFC5198] Klensin, J. and M. Padlipsky, "Unicode Format for [RFC7235] Fielding, R., Ed. and J. Reschke, Ed., "Hypertext Transfer
Network Interchange", RFC 5198, March 2008. Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Authentication", RFC 7235,
DOI 10.17487/RFC7235, June 2014,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7235>.
[RFC5234] Crocker, D., Ed. and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for [RFC7613] Saint-Andre, P. and A. Melnikov, "Preparation,
Syntax Specifications: ABNF", STD 68, RFC 5234, Enforcement, and Comparison of Internationalized Strings
January 2008. Representing Usernames and Passwords", RFC 7613,
DOI 10.17487/RFC7613, August 2015,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7613>.
[RFC6365] Hoffman, P. and J. Klensin, "Terminology Used in 6.2. Informative References
Internationalization in the IETF", BCP 166, RFC 6365,
September 2011.
[RFC7235] Fielding, R., Ed. and J. Reschke, Ed., "Hypertext [ISO-8859-1]
Transfer Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Authentication", International Organization for Standardization,
RFC 7235, June 2014. "Information technology -- 8-bit single-byte coded graphic
character sets -- Part 1: Latin alphabet No. 1", ISO/
IEC 8859-1:1998, 1998.
7.2. Informative References [RFC2617] Franks, J., Hallam-Baker, P., Hostetler, J., Lawrence, S.,
Leach, P., Luotonen, A., and L. Stewart, "HTTP
Authentication: Basic and Digest Access Authentication",
RFC 2617, DOI 10.17487/RFC2617, June 1999,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2617>.
[DIGEST] Shekh-Yusef, R., Ed., Ahrens, D., and S. Bremer, "HTTP [RFC2818] Rescorla, E., "HTTP Over TLS", RFC 2818,
Digest Access Authentication", DOI 10.17487/RFC2818, May 2000,
draft-ietf-httpauth-digest-10 (work in progress), <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2818>.
January 2015.
[ISO-8859-1] International Organization for Standardization, [RFC2831] Leach, P. and C. Newman, "Using Digest Authentication as a
"Information technology -- 8-bit single-byte coded SASL Mechanism", RFC 2831, DOI 10.17487/RFC2831, May 2000,
graphic character sets -- Part 1: Latin alphabet No. <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2831>.
1", ISO/IEC 8859-1:1998, 1998.
[RFC2617] Franks, J., Hallam-Baker, P., Hostetler, J., Lawrence, [RFC3875] Robinson, D. and K. Coar, "The Common Gateway Interface
S., Leach, P., Luotonen, A., and L. Stewart, "HTTP (CGI) Version 1.1", RFC 3875, October 2004,
Authentication: Basic and Digest Access <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3875>.
Authentication", RFC 2617, June 1999.
[RFC2818] Rescorla, E., "HTTP Over TLS", RFC 2818, May 2000. [RFC5246] Dierks, T. and E. Rescorla, "The Transport Layer Security
(TLS) Protocol Version 1.2", RFC 5246,
DOI 10.17487/RFC5246, August 2008,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5246>.
[RFC2831] Leach, P. and C. Newman, "Using Digest Authentication [RFC6973] Cooper, A., Tschofenig, H., Aboba, B., Peterson, J.,
as a SASL Mechanism", RFC 2831, May 2000. Morris, J., Hansen, M., and R. Smith, "Privacy
Considerations for Internet Protocols", RFC 6973,
DOI 10.17487/RFC6973, July 2013,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6973>.
[RFC5246] Dierks, T. and E. Rescorla, "The Transport Layer [RFC7231] Fielding, R., Ed. and J. Reschke, Ed., "Hypertext Transfer
Security (TLS) Protocol Version 1.2", RFC 5246, Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Semantics and Content", RFC 7231,
August 2008. DOI 10.17487/RFC7231, June 2014,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7231>.
[RFC6973] Cooper, A., Tschofenig, H., Aboba, B., Peterson, J., [RFC7615] Reschke, J., "HTTP Authentication-Info and Proxy-
Morris, J., Hansen, M., and R. Smith, "Privacy Authentication-Info Response Header Fields", RFC 7615,
Considerations for Internet Protocols", RFC 6973, DOI 10.17487/RFC7615, September 2015,
July 2013. <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7615>.
[RFC7231] Fielding, R., Ed. and J. Reschke, Ed., "Hypertext [RFC7616] Shekh-Yusef, R., Ed., Ahrens, D., and S. Bremer, "HTTP
Transfer Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Semantics and Content", Digest Access Authentication", RFC 7616,
RFC 7231, June 2014. DOI 10.17487/RFC7616, September 2015,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7616>.
Appendix A. Changes from RFC 2617 Appendix A. Changes from RFC 2617
The scheme definition has been rewritten to be consistent with newer The scheme definition has been rewritten to be consistent with newer
specifications such as [RFC7235]. specifications such as [RFC7235].
The new authentication parameter "charset" has been added. It is The new authentication parameter 'charset' has been added. It is
purely advisory, so existing implementations do not need to change, purely advisory, so existing implementations do not need to change,
unless they want to take advantage of the additional information unless they want to take advantage of the additional information that
which previously wasn't available. previously wasn't available.
Appendix B. Deployment Considerations for the 'charset' Parameter Appendix B. Deployment Considerations for the 'charset' Parameter
B.1. User Agents B.1. User Agents
User agents not implementing 'charset' will continue to work as User agents not implementing 'charset' will continue to work as
before, ignoring the new parameter. before, ignoring the new parameter.
User agents which already default to the UTF-8 encoding implement User agents that already default to the UTF-8 encoding implement
'charset' by definition. 'charset' by definition.
Other user agents can keep their default behavior, and switch to Other user agents can keep their default behavior and switch to UTF-8
UTF-8 when seeing the new parameter. when seeing the new parameter.
B.2. Origin Servers B.2. Servers
Origin servers that do not support non-US-ASCII characters in Servers that do not support non-US-ASCII characters in credentials do
credentials do not require any changes to support 'charset'. not require any changes to support 'charset'.
Origin servers that need to support non-US-ASCII characters, but Servers that need to support non-US-ASCII characters, but cannot use
cannot use the UTF-8 character encoding scheme will not be affected; the UTF-8 character encoding scheme will not be affected; they will
they will continue to function as well or as badly as before. continue to function as well or as badly as before.
Finally, origin servers that need to support non-US-ASCII characters Finally, servers that need to support non-US-ASCII characters and can
and can use the UTF-8 character encoding scheme can opt in as use the UTF-8 character encoding scheme can opt in by specifying the
described above. In the worst case, they'll continue to see either 'charset' parameter in the authentication challenge. Clients that do
broken credentials or no credentials at all (depending on how legacy understand the 'charset' parameter will then start to use UTF-8,
clients handle characters they can not encode). while other clients will continue to send credentials in their
default encoding, broken credentials, or no credentials at all.
Until all clients are upgraded to support UTF-8, servers are likely
to see both UTF-8 and "legacy" encodings in requests. When
processing as UTF-8 fails (due to a failure to decode as UTF-8 or a
mismatch of user-id/password), a server might try a fallback to the
previously supported legacy encoding in order to accommodate these
legacy clients. Note that implicit retries need to be done
carefully; for instance, some subsystems might detect repeated login
failures and treat them as a potential credentials-guessing attack.
B.3. Why not simply switch the default encoding to UTF-8? B.3. Why not simply switch the default encoding to UTF-8?
There are sites in use today that default to a local character There are sites in use today that default to a local character
encoding scheme, such as ISO-8859-1 ([ISO-8859-1]), and expect user encoding scheme, such as ISO-8859-1 ([ISO-8859-1]), and expect user
agents to use that encoding. Authentication on these sites will stop agents to use that encoding. Authentication on these sites will stop
to work if the user agent switches to a different encoding, such as working if the user agent switches to a different encoding, such as
UTF-8. UTF-8.
Note that sites might even inspect the User-Agent header field Note that sites might even inspect the User-Agent header field
([RFC7231], Section 5.5.3) to decide what character encoding scheme ([RFC7231], Section 5.5.3) to decide which character encoding scheme
to expect from the client. Therefore they might support UTF-8 for to expect from the client. Therefore, they might support UTF-8 for
some user agents, but default to something else for others. User some user agents, but default to something else for others. User
agents in the latter group will have to continue to do what they do agents in the latter group will have to continue to do what they do
today until the majority of these servers have been upgraded to today until the majority of these servers have been upgraded to
always use UTF-8. always use UTF-8.
Appendix C. Change Log (to be removed by RFC Editor before publication) Acknowledgements
C.1. Since RFC 2617
This draft acts as a baseline for tracking subsequent changes to the
specification. As such, it extracts the definition of "Basic", plus
the related Security Considerations, and also adds the IANA
registration of the scheme. Changes to the actual definition will be
made in subsequent drafts.
C.2. Since draft-ietf-httpauth-basicauth-update-00
Fixed Base64 reference to point to an actual definition of Base64.
Update HTTPbis and Digest references.
Note that this spec, together with HTTPbis P7 and the Digest update,
obsoletes RFC 2617.
Rewrote text about authentication parameters and their extensibility.
Pulled in the definition of the "charset" parameter.
Removed a misleading statement about userids potentially being case-
sensitive, as the same is true for passwords.
Added TODOs with respect to path matching, and colons in userids.
C.3. Since draft-ietf-httpauth-basicauth-update-01
Minor improvements on Security Considerations.
Update Digest reference.
Rewrite scheme definition as algorithm rather than pseudo-ABNF.
Add a note about colons in userid.
Attempt to explain authentication scopes.
C.4. Since draft-ietf-httpauth-basicauth-update-02
Reference draft-ietf-precis-saslprepbis for the set of characters
that need to be supported in userids and passwords.
C.5. Since draft-ietf-httpauth-basicauth-update-03
Update reference for draft-ietf-precis-saslprepbis (which renames
"Password" to "OpaqueString").
Mention HTTPS as enhancement for securing the transmission of
credentials.
Update DIGEST reference and change it to informative.
Use RFC 20 as reference for ASCII. This specification takes over the definition of the "Basic" HTTP
Authentication Scheme, previously defined in RFC 2617. We thank John
Franks, Phillip M. Hallam-Baker, Jeffery L. Hostetler, Scott D.
Lawrence, Paul J. Leach, Ari Luotonen, and Lawrence C. Stewart for
their work on that specification, from which significant amounts of
text were borrowed. See Section 6 of [RFC2617] for further
acknowledgements.
C.6. Since draft-ietf-httpauth-basicauth-update-04 The internationalization problem with respect to the character
encoding scheme used for user-pass was reported as a Mozilla bug back
in the year 2000 (see <https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/
show_bug.cgi?id=41489> and also the more recent
<https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=656213>). It was
Andrew Clover's idea to address it using a new auth-param.
Fixed definition of authentication scope. Updated DIGEST reference. We also thank the members of the HTTPAUTH Working Group and other
reviewers, namely, Stephen Farrell, Roy Fielding, Daniel Kahn
Gillmor, Tony Hansen, Bjoern Hoehrmann, Kari Hurtta, Amos Jeffries,
Benjamin Kaduk, Michael Koeller, Eric Lawrence, Barry Leiba, James
Manger, Alexey Melnikov, Kathleen Moriarty, Juergen Schoenwaelder,
Yaron Sheffer, Meral Shirazipour, Michael Sweet, and Martin Thomson
for feedback on this revision.
Author's Address Author's Address
Julian F. Reschke Julian F. Reschke
greenbytes GmbH greenbytes GmbH
Hafenweg 16 Hafenweg 16
Muenster, NW 48155 Muenster, NW 48155
Germany Germany
EMail: julian.reschke@greenbytes.de EMail: julian.reschke@greenbytes.de
URI: http://greenbytes.de/tech/webdav/ URI: http://greenbytes.de/tech/webdav/
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