Network Working GroupJ. Reschke
Internet-Draftgreenbytes
Intended status: Standards TrackFebruary 7, 2024
Expires: August 10, 2024

The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) Authentication-Info and Proxy-Authentication-Info Response Header Fields

Abstract

This specification defines the "Authentication-Info" and "Proxy-Authentication-Info" response header fields for use in HTTP authentication schemes which need to return additional information during or after authentication.

Editorial Note (To be removed by RFC Editor before publication)

Distribution of this document is unlimited. Although this is not a work item of the HTTPbis Working Group, comments should be sent to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) mailing list at ietf-http-wg@w3.org, which may be joined by sending a message with subject "subscribe" to ietf-http-wg-request@w3.org.

Discussions of the HTTPbis Working Group are archived at <http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/ietf-http-wg/>.

XML versions and latest edits for this document are available from <http://greenbytes.de/tech/webdav/#draft-reschke-httpauth-auth-info>.

Status of This Memo

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1. Introduction

This specification defines the "Authentication-Info" and "Proxy-Authentication-Info" response header fields for use in HTTP authentication schemes ([RFC7235]) which need to return additional information during or after authentication.

Both were previously defined in Section 3 of [RFC2617], defining the HTTP "Digest" authentication scheme. This document generalizes the description for use not only in "Digest" ([DIGEST]), but also other future schemes that might have the same requirements for carrying additional information during authentication.

2. Notational Conventions

This specification uses the Augmented Backus-Naur Form (ABNF) notation of [RFC5234] with a list extension, defined in Section 7 of [RFC7230], that allows for compact definition of comma-separated lists using a '#' operator (similar to how the '*' operator indicates repetition). The ABNF production for "auth-param" is defined in Section 2.1 of [RFC7235].

3. The Authentication-Info Response Header Field

HTTP authentication schemes can use the Authentication-Info response header field to return additional information applicable to the authentication currently in use.

The field value is a list of parameters (name/value pairs), using the "auth-param" syntax defined in Section 2.1 of [RFC7235]. This specification only describes the generic format; authentication schemes using "Authentication-Info" will define the individual parameters. The "Digest" Authentication Scheme, for instance, defines multiple parameters in Section 3.5.1 of [DIGEST].

  Authentication-Info = #auth-param

The Authentication-Info header field can be used in any HTTP response, independently of request method and status code. Its semantics are defined by the applicable authentication scheme. Intermediaries are not allowed to modify the field value in any way. Authentication-Info can be used inside trailers ([RFC7230], Section 4.1.2).

3.1. Parameter Value Format

Parameter values can be expressed either as "token" or as "quoted-string" (Section 3.2.6 of [RFC7230]).

Authentication scheme definitions need to allow both notations, both for senders and recipients. This allows recipients to use generic parsing components, independent of the authentication scheme in use.

For backwards compatibility, authentication scheme definitions can restrict the format for senders to one of the two variants. This can be important when it is known that deployed implementations will fail when encountering one of the two formats.

4. The Proxy-Authentication-Info Response Header Field

The Proxy-Authentication-Info response header field is equivalent to Authentication-Info, except that it applies to proxy authentication ([RFC7235]):

  Proxy-Authentication-Info = #auth-param

5. Security Considerations

Adding information to HTTP responses that are sent over an unencrypted channel can affect security and privacy. The presence of the header fields alone indicates that HTTP authentication is in use. Additional information could be exposed by the contents of the authentication-scheme specific parameters; this will have to be considered in the definitions of these schemes.

6. IANA Considerations

HTTP header fields are registered within the "Message Headers" registry located at <http://www.iana.org/assignments/message-headers>, as defined by [BCP90].

This document updates the definitions of the "Authentication-Info" and "Proxy-Authentication-Info" header fields, so the "Permanent Message Header Field Names" registry shall be updated accordingly:

Header Field NameProtocolStatusReference
Authentication-InfohttpstandardSection 3 of this document
Proxy-Authentication-InfohttpstandardSection 4 of this document

7. Acknowledgements

This document is based on the header field definitions in RFCs 2069 and 2617, whose authors are: John Franks, Phillip M. Hallam-Baker, Jeffery L. Hostetler, Scott D. Lawrence, Paul J. Leach, Ari Luotonen, Eric W. Sink, and Lawrence C. Stewart.

Additional thanks go to the members of the HTTPAuth and HTTPbis Working Groups, namely Amos Jeffries, Benjamin Kaduk, Alexey Melnikov, Yutaka Oiwa, Rifaat Shekh-Yusef, and Martin Thomson.

8. References

8.2. Informative References

[BCP90]
Klyne, G., Nottingham, M., and J. Mogul, “Registration Procedures for Message Header Fields”, BCP 90, RFC 3864, September 2004, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/bcp90>.
[DIGEST]
Shekh-Yusef, R., Ed., Ahrens, D., and S. Bremer, “HTTP Digest Access Authentication”, Internet-Draft draft-ietf-httpauth-digest-12 (work in progress), January 2015.
[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>.

Appendix A. Change Log (to be removed by RFC Editor before publication)

A.1. draft-reschke-httpauth-auth-info-00

Changed boilerplate to ask feedback in the HTTPbis WG. Added Acknowledgements.

In the Security Considerations, remind people that those apply to unencryped channels.

Make it clearer that these are really just response header fields.

Author's Address

Julian F. Reschke
greenbytes GmbH
Hafenweg 16
Muenster, NW 48155
Germany
Email: julian.reschke@greenbytes.de
URI: http://greenbytes.de/tech/webdav/