My point was really that it is not all or none.  We could do as some has 
suggested doing some subset.

spt

Sent from my iPhone

> On Dec 16, 2024, at 18:47, Watson Ladd <watsonbl...@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> On Mon, Dec 16, 2024 at 2:01 PM Sean Turner <s...@sn3rd.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Note that there are three parts to this email; the “ask” is at the end.
>> 
>> Requests:
>> 
>> Ciphersuite discussions in this WG often turn nasty, so we would like to 
>> remind everyone to keep it civil while we explain our thinking WRT recent 
>> requests for WG adoptions of some PQ-related I-Ds.
>> 
>> Also, the chairs are trying to gather information here, not actually do the 
>> calls. If we decide to do them we will do them in the new year.
>> 
>> Background:
>> 
>> Currently, the TLS WG has adopted one I-D related to PQ:
>> Hybrid key exchange in TLS 1.3;
>>  see https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-tls-hybrid-design/
>> This I-D provides a construction for hybrid key exchange in the TLS 1.3. The 
>> I-D has completed WG last call and is about to progress to IETF LC.
>> 
>> There are a number of Individual I-Ds that specify PQ cipher suite for TLS 
>> currently being developed that specify either “pure” PQ or composite/hybrid:
>> 
>> ML-KEM Post-Quantum Key Agreement for TLS 1.3;
>>  see https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-connolly-tls-mlkem-key-agreement/
>> PQ hybrid ECDHE-MLKEM Key Agreement for TLSv1.3,
>>  see https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-kwiatkowski-tls-ecdhe-mlkem/
> 
> I'd like to see adoption calls particularly for the second one of these.
> 
>> Use of Composite ML-DSA in TLS 1.3;
>>  see https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-reddy-tls-composite-mldsa/
>> Use of SLH-DSA in TLS 1.3;
>>  see https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-reddy-tls-slhdsa/
> 
> I think these are less urgent but why wouldn't we have a call?
> Nonadoption now doesn't preclude adoption in the future.
> 
>> 
>> The IANA requests for code points in the I-Ds (now) all have the same 
>> setting for the “Recommended” column; namely, they request that the 
>> Recommended column be set to “N”. As a reminder (from RFC 8447bis), “N”:
>> 
>>      Indicates that the item has not been evaluated by the IETF and
>>      that the IETF has made no statement about the suitability of the
>>      associated mechanism.  This does not necessarily mean that the
>>      mechanism is flawed, only that no consensus exists.  The IETF
>>      might have consensus to leave  items marked as "N" on the basis
>>      of it having limited applicability or usage constraints.
>> 
>> With an “N”, the authors are free to request code points from IANA without 
>> working group adoption. Currently, five code points have been assigned; 3 
>> for ML-KEM and 2 for ECDHE-MLKEM.
>> 
>> While there have been calls to run WG adoption calls for these I-Ds, the WG 
>> chairs have purposely NOT done so. The WG consensus, as we understand it, is 
>> that because the IANA rules permit registrations in the Specification 
>> Required with an I-D that there has been no need to burden the WG; there is, 
>> obviously, still some burden because the I-Ds are discussed on-list (and yes 
>> there have been some complaints about the volume of messages about these 
>> cipher suites).
>> 
>> There are a couple of other reasons:
>> 
>> * The ADs are formulating a plan for cipher suites; see 
>> https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-pwouters-crypto-current-practices/.
> 
> Do they expect work to stop in the meantime on this? Honestly CFRG
> workload and structure is the big problem that needs addressing, not
> TLS dealing or not with these. Anyway, this seems to drift from the
> very clear question asked.
>> 
>> * There are a lot of different opinions and that likely leads to a lack of 
>> consensus. Based on discussions at and since Brisbane, we do not think there 
>> will be consensus to mark these ciphersuites as "Y" at this point, however 
>> the working group can take action to do so in the future.
> 
> Why wouldn't one of the hybrids get recommended Y, even if the pure didn't?
>> 
>> * There have been a few calls to change the MTI (Mandatory to Implement) 
>> algorithms in TLS, but in July 2024 at IETF 120 the WG consensus was that 
>> draft-ietf-tls-rfc8446bis would not be modified to add an additional 
>> ciphersuite because the update was for clarifications.
> 
> I wouldn't equate these two. No reason a me (or someone else) with
> much free time couldn't write a draft to update this outside of the
> bis.
> 
>> 
>> * Adopting these or some subset of these I-Ds, will inevitably result in 
>> others requesting code points too. The WG has historically not been good 
>> about progressing cipher suite related I-Ds, either the discussion rapidly 
>> turns unproductive or interest wanes during the final stages in the 
>> publication process. So while there is great interest (based on the number 
>> of messages to the list) about these I-Ds, we are unsure how to avoid the 
>> inevitable complaints that would follow failure to adopt or not adopt a 
>> specific I-D based on different requirements of different individuals.We 
>> know some of you are thinking that that’s “tough”, but if we do not need to 
>> have this fight, see the previous paragraph, we do not see the harm in 
>> avoiding these complaints.
>> 
>> The chairs would also like to note that currently the WG consensus is to NOT 
>> port PQ cipher suites back to (D)TLS 1.2.
>> 
>> Ask:
>> 
>> Is the WG consensus to run four separate adoption calls for the individual 
>> I-Ds in question?
> 
> I think we should.
> 
>> 
>> The Chairs,
>> Deirdre, Joe, and Sean
>> _______________________________________________
>> TLS mailing list -- tls@ietf.org
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> 
> 
> 
> --
> Astra mortemque praestare gradatim

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