That is a good catch of an inconsistency in JWT/RFC7519 that is deserving of errata. Note however that JWE/RFC7516 says that the "rules about handling Header Parameters that are not understood by the implementation are also the same [as JWS]"* so the correcting errata text should probably be more generally applicable to all JWTs.
* see https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc7516#section-4 On Wed, Jul 31, 2024 at 7:27 AM RFC Errata System <rfc-edi...@rfc-editor.org> wrote: > The following errata report has been submitted for RFC7519, > "JSON Web Token (JWT)". > > -------------------------------------- > You may review the report below and at: > https://www.rfc-editor.org/errata/eid8060 > > -------------------------------------- > Type: Technical > Reported by: Pieter Kasselman <prkassel...@gmail.com> > > Section: 7.2 > > Original Text > ------------- > 5. Verify that the resulting JOSE Header includes only parameters > and values whose syntax and semantics are both understood and > supported or that are specified as being ignored when not > understood. > > Corrected Text > -------------- > 5. Verify that the resulting JOSE Header includes only parameters > and values whose syntax and semantics are both understood and > supported or that are specified as being ignored when not > understood. If the JWT is a JWS, the steps specified in > RFC7515 takes precedence when validating JOSE Header parameters. > > Notes > ----- > Validation step 5 in section 7.2 of RFC 7519 states that header parameters > should only be ignored if they are explicitly specified as needing to be > ignored. > > This is contrary to step 7 in section 7.2 which requires that the > processing rules of RFC 1515 be used if the JWT is a JWS (defined in RFC > 1515). RFC 7515 does not include any special provisions for only ignoring > header parameters if they are specified as being ignored, but instead > requires all header parameters to be ignored if they are not understood > (repeated below for convenience). > > "Unless listed as a critical Header Parameter, per > Section 4.1.11, all Header Parameters not defined by this > specification MUST be ignored when not understood." > > A discussion with the authors at IETF 120 confirmed that all header > parameters that are not understood must be ignored. > > The proposed errata aims to clarify that if the JWT is a JWS, the > processing rules of RFC 7151 should apply (including ignoring header > parameters that are not understood). This is consistent with point 7.2, > which requires that RFC 7515 [JWS] rules applies and avoids the impression > that a new requirement on when parameters are ignored is being introduced > in (i.e. the need to be explicitly defined as needing to be ignored). > > Instructions: > ------------- > This erratum is currently posted as "Reported". (If it is spam, it > will be removed shortly by the RFC Production Center.) Please > use "Reply All" to discuss whether it should be verified or > rejected. When a decision is reached, the verifying party > will log in to change the status and edit the report, if necessary. > > -------------------------------------- > RFC7519 (draft-ietf-oauth-json-web-token-32) > -------------------------------------- > Title : JSON Web Token (JWT) > Publication Date : May 2015 > Author(s) : M. Jones, J. Bradley, N. Sakimura > Category : PROPOSED STANDARD > Source : Web Authorization Protocol > Stream : IETF > Verifying Party : IESG > > _______________________________________________ > OAuth mailing list -- oauth@ietf.org > To unsubscribe send an email to oauth-le...@ietf.org > -- _CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email may contain confidential and privileged material for the sole use of the intended recipient(s). Any review, use, distribution or disclosure by others is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately by e-mail and delete the message and any file attachments from your computer. Thank you._
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