3993
PROPOSED STANDARD
Subscriber-ID Suboption for the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Relay Agent Option
Authors: R. Johnson, T. Palaniappan, M. Stapp
Date: March 2005
Area: int
Working Group: dhc
Stream: IETF
Abstract
This memo defines a new Subscriber-ID suboption for the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol's (DHCP) relay agent information option. The suboption allows a DHCP relay agent to associate a stable "Subscriber-ID" with DHCP client messages in a way that is independent of the client and of the underlying physical network infrastructure. [STANDARDS-TRACK]
RFC 3993
PROPOSED STANDARD
Network Working Group R. Johnson
Request for Comments: 3993 T. Palaniappan
Category: Standards Track M. Stapp
Cisco Systems, Inc.
March 2005
<span class="h1">Subscriber-ID Suboption for the</span>
<span class="h1">Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Relay Agent Option</span>
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 (2005).
Abstract
This memo defines a new Subscriber-ID suboption for the Dynamic Host
Configuration Protocol's (DHCP) relay agent information option. The
suboption allows a DHCP relay agent to associate a stable
"Subscriber-ID" with DHCP client messages in a way that is
independent of the client and of the underlying physical network
infrastructure.
Table of Contents
<a href="#section-1">1</a>. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <a href="#page-2">2</a>
<a href="#section-2">2</a>. Requirements Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <a href="#page-2">2</a>
<a href="#section-3">3</a>. The Subscriber-ID Suboption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <a href="#page-2">2</a>
<a href="#section-3.1">3.1</a>. Suboption Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <a href="#page-3">3</a>
<a href="#section-4">4</a>. Relay Agent Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <a href="#page-3">3</a>
<a href="#section-5">5</a>. DHCP Server Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <a href="#page-4">4</a>
<a href="#section-6">6</a>. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <a href="#page-4">4</a>
<a href="#section-7">7</a>. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <a href="#page-5">5</a>
<a href="#section-8">8</a>. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <a href="#page-5">5</a>
<a href="#section-9">9</a>. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <a href="#page-5">5</a>
<a href="#section-9.1">9.1</a>. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <a href="#page-5">5</a>
<a href="#section-9.2">9.2</a>. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <a href="#page-5">5</a>
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <a href="#page-6">6</a>
Full Copyright Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <a href="#page-7">7</a>
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<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="section-1" href="#section-1">1</a>. Introduction</span>
DHCP (<a href="./rfc2131">RFC 2131</a> [<a href="#ref-2" title=""Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol"">2</a>]) provides IP addresses and configuration
information for IPv4 clients. It includes a relay agent capability
in which processes within the network infrastructure receive
broadcast messages from clients and forward them to DHCP servers as
unicast messages. In network environments such as DOCSIS data-over-
cable and xDSL, it has proven useful for the relay agent to add
information to the DHCP message before forwarding it, by using the
relay agent information option (<a href="./rfc3046">RFC 3046</a> [<a href="#ref-3" title=""DHCP Relay Agent Information Option"">3</a>]).
Servers that recognize the relay agent option echo it back in their
replies, and some of the information that relays add may be used to
help an edge device efficiently return replies to clients. The
information that relays supply can also be used in the server's
decision making about the addresses and configuration parameters that
the client should receive.
In many service provider environments, it is desirable to associate
some provider-specific information with clients' DHCP messages. This
is often done by using the relay agent information option. <a href="./rfc3046">RFC 3046</a>
defines Remote-ID and Circuit-ID suboptions that are used to carry
such information. The values of those suboptions, however, are
usually based on a network resource such as an IP address of a
network access device, an ATM Virtual Circuit identifier, or a DOCSIS
cable-modem identifier. As a result, the values carried in these
suboptions are dependent on the physical network configuration. If a
client connects to the service provider network through different
paths, different values are carried in network-dependent suboptions.
<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="section-2" href="#section-2">2</a>. Requirements Terminology</span>
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 <a href="./rfc2119">RFC 2119</a> [<a href="#ref-1" title=""Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels"">1</a>].
<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="section-3" href="#section-3">3</a>. The Subscriber-ID Suboption</span>
In complex service provider environments, connecting a customer's
DHCP configuration and administrative information is necessary. The
Subscriber-ID suboption carries a value that can be independent of
the physical network configuration through which the subscriber is
connected. This value complements, and might well be used in
addition to, the network-based relay agent option suboptions
discussed in <a href="#section-2">Section 2</a>. The "subscriber-id" assigned by the provider
is intended to be stable as customers connect through different
paths, and as network changes occur.
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The Subscriber-ID information allows the service provider to
assign/activate subscriber-specific actions; e.g., assignment of host
IP address and subnet mask, DNS configuration, or trigger accounting.
This suboption is de-coupled from the access network's physical
structure, so subscriber moves from one access-point to another, for
example, would not require reconfiguration at the service provider's
DHCP servers.
The Subscriber-ID is an ASCII string; the encoding of the string is
defined in <a href="#section-3.1">Section 3.1</a>. The semantic contents of the Subscriber-ID
string are, of course, provider-specific. This specification does
not establish any semantic requirements on the data in the string.
<span class="h3"><a class="selflink" id="section-3.1" href="#section-3.1">3.1</a>. Suboption Format</span>
This memo defines a new DHCP relay agent option suboption that
carries a "Subscriber-ID" value. The value is an ASCII string. The
suboption takes a form similar to that of many other relay
information option suboptions:
0 1 2 3 4 5
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+--
|Code | Len | Subscriber-ID string ...
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+--
The Code for the suboption is 6.
The one-octet Len field is the length of the ID string, in octets.
The minimum length of the ID string is 1 octet.
The "Subscriber-ID" is an NVT ASCII [<a href="#ref-4" title=""Telnet Protocol Specification"">4</a>] string. The string MUST NOT
be NULL terminated, as the length is specified in the "Len" field.
<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="section-4" href="#section-4">4</a>. Relay Agent Behavior</span>
DHCP relay agents MAY be configured to include a Subscriber-ID
suboption if they include a relay agent information option in relayed
DHCP messages. The subscriber-id strings themselves are assigned and
configured through mechanisms that are outside the scope of this
memo.
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<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="section-5" href="#section-5">5</a>. DHCP Server Behavior</span>
This suboption provides additional information to the DHCP server.
If it is configured to support this option, the DHCP server may use
this information in addition to other relay agent option data and
other options included in the DHCP client messages in order to assign
an IP address and/or other configuration parameters to the client.
There is no special additional processing for this suboption.
<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="section-6" href="#section-6">6</a>. Security Considerations</span>
Message authentication in DHCP for intradomain use where the out-of-
band exchange of a shared secret is feasible is defined in <a href="./rfc3118">RFC 3118</a>
[<a href="#ref-5" title=""Authentication for DHCP Messages"">5</a>]. Potential exposures to attacks are discussed in <a href="#section-7">section 7</a> of
the DHCP protocol specification in <a href="./rfc2131">RFC 2131</a> [<a href="#ref-2" title=""Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol"">2</a>].
The DHCP relay agent option depends on a trusted relationship between
the DHCP relay agent and the server, as described in section 5 of <a href="./rfc3046">RFC</a>
<a href="./rfc3046">3046</a>. Fraudulent relay agent option data could potentially lead to
theft-of-service or exhaustion of limited resources (like IP
addresses) by unauthorized clients. A host that tampered with relay
agent data associated with another host's DHCP messages could deny
service to that host, or interfere with its operation by leading the
DHCP server to assign it inappropriate configuration parameters.
While the introduction of fraudulent relay agent options can be
prevented by a perimeter defense that blocks these options unless the
relay agent is trusted, a deeper defense using authentication for
relay agent options via the Authentication Suboption [<a href="#ref-6" title=""The Authentication Suboption for the DHCP Relay Agent Option"">6</a>] or IPSec [<a href="#ref-7" title=""Authentication of Relay Agent Options Using IPSec"">7</a>]
SHOULD be deployed as well.
There are several data fields in a DHCP message conveying information
that may identify an individual host on the network. These include
the chaddr, the client-id option, and the hostname and client-fqdn
options. Depending on the type of identifier selected, the
Subscriber-ID suboption may also convey information that identifies a
specific host or a specific user on the network. In practice, this
information isn't exposed outside the internal service-provider
network, where DHCP messages are usually confined. Administrators
who configure data that's going to be used in DHCP Subscriber-ID
suboptions should be careful to use identifiers that are appropriate
for the types of networks they administer. If DHCP messages travel
outside the service-provider's own network, or if the suboption
values may become visible to other users, that may raise privacy
concerns for the access provider or service provider.
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<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="section-7" href="#section-7">7</a>. IANA Considerations</span>
IANA has assigned a value of 6 from the DHCP Relay Agent Information
Option [<a href="#ref-3" title=""DHCP Relay Agent Information Option"">3</a>] suboption codes for the Subscriber-ID Suboption described
in this document.
<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="section-8" href="#section-8">8</a>. Acknowledgements</span>
This document is the result of work done within Cisco Systems.
Thanks especially to Andy Sudduth for his review comments.
<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="section-9" href="#section-9">9</a>. References</span>
<span class="h3"><a class="selflink" id="section-9.1" href="#section-9.1">9.1</a>. Normative References</span>
[<a id="ref-1">1</a>] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement
Levels", <a href="https://www.rfc-editor.org/bcp/bcp14">BCP 14</a>, <a href="./rfc2119">RFC 2119</a>, March 1997.
[<a id="ref-2">2</a>] Droms, R., "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol", <a href="./rfc2131">RFC 2131</a>,
March 1997.
[<a id="ref-3">3</a>] Patrick, M., "DHCP Relay Agent Information Option", <a href="./rfc3046">RFC 3046</a>,
January 2001.
[<a id="ref-4">4</a>] Postel, J. and J. Reynolds, "Telnet Protocol Specification", STD
8, <a href="./rfc854">RFC 854</a>, May 1983.
<span class="h3"><a class="selflink" id="section-9.2" href="#section-9.2">9.2</a>. Informative References</span>
[<a id="ref-5">5</a>] Droms, R. and W. Arbaugh, "Authentication for DHCP Messages",
<a href="./rfc3118">RFC 3118</a>, June 2001.
[<a id="ref-6">6</a>] Stapp, M., "The Authentication Suboption for the DHCP Relay
Agent Option", Work in Progress.
[<a id="ref-7">7</a>] Droms, R., <a style="text-decoration: none" href='https://www.google.com/search?sitesearch=datatracker.ietf.org%2Fdoc%2Fhtml%2F&q=inurl:draft-+%22Authentication+of+Relay+Agent+Options+Using+IPSec%22'>"Authentication of Relay Agent Options Using IPSec"</a>,
Work in Progress.
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Authors' Addresses
Richard Johnson
Cisco Systems, Inc.
170 W. Tasman Dr.
San Jose, CA 95134
USA
Phone: 408.526.4000
EMail: [email protected]
Theyn Palaniappan
Cisco Systems, Inc.
170 W. Tasman Dr.
San Jose, CA 95134
USA
Phone: 408.526.4000
EMail: [email protected]
Mark Stapp
Cisco Systems, Inc.
1414 Massachusetts Ave.
Boxborough, MA 01719
USA
Phone: 978.936.0000
EMail: [email protected]
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