





Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                            L. Yeh
Request for Comments: 7037                       Freelancer Technologies
Category: Standards Track                                   M. Boucadair
ISSN: 2070-1721                                           France Telecom
                                                            October 2013


                RADIUS Option for the DHCPv6 Relay Agent

Abstract

   The DHCPv6 RADIUS option provides a mechanism to exchange
   authorization and identification information between the DHCPv6 relay
   agent and DHCPv6 server.  This architecture assumes that the Network
   Access Server (NAS) acts as both a DHCPv6 relay agent and RADIUS
   client.  When receiving messages from the DHCPv6 clients, the NAS
   consults the RADIUS server and adds the RADIUS response when
   forwarding the DHCPv6 client's messages to the DHCPv6 server.  The
   DHCPv6 server then uses that additional information to generate an
   appropriate response to the DHCPv6 client's requests.

Status of This Memo

   This is an Internet Standards Track document.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
   received public review and has been approved for publication by the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Further information on
   Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 5741.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7037.

















Yeh & Boucadair              Standards Track                    [Page 1]

RFC 7037                  DHCPv6 RADIUS Option              October 2013


Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2013 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Terminology and Language  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  Network Scenarios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   4.  DHCPv6 RADIUS Option  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     4.1.  RADIUS Attributes Permitted in DHCPv6 RADIUS Option . . .   7
   5.  DHCPv6 Relay Agent Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   6.  DHCPv6 Server Behavior  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   7.  DHCPv6 Client Behavior  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   8.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   9.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   10. Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
   11. References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     11.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     11.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10

1.  Introduction

   DHCPv6 provides a mechanism that allows the server to assign or
   delegate both stateful and stateless configuration parameters to
   clients.  The stateful configuration parameters include IPv6
   addresses [RFC3315] and IPv6 prefixes [RFC3633].  The stateless
   configuration parameters [RFC3736] include, for example, DNS
   [RFC3646], or a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) of an Address
   Family Transition Router (AFTR) [RFC6334].  In the scenarios
   described in this document, the DHCPv6 server is deployed in the
   central part of an ISP network.

   RADIUS [RFC2865] is widely used as the centralized authentication,
   authorization, and user management mechanism for service provision in
   a Broadband access network.  [RFC3162], [RFC4818], [RFC6519], and
   [RFC6911] specify the attributes that support the service provision



Yeh & Boucadair              Standards Track                    [Page 2]

RFC 7037                  DHCPv6 RADIUS Option              October 2013


   for IPv6-only and IPv6-transition access.  The RADIUS server
   authorizes the Network Access Server (NAS) to assign an IPv6 address
   or prefix from the indicated pool, or to assign an IPv6 address or
   prefix with an explicitly indicated value, and to indicate other
   configuration parameters as per the RADIUS attributes for the
   subscribers.

   When the NAS acts as the distributed DHCPv6 server and RADIUS client
   simultaneously, it communicates with the RADIUS server after
   receiving a request from the DHCPv6 client.  Upon receiving the
   Access-Accept message from the RADIUS server, the NAS then responds
   to the DHCPv6 client's requests per the associated authorization
   information indicated by the RADIUS attributes in the Access-Accept
   message.  When NAS acts as the DHCPv6 relay agent and RADIUS client
   simultaneously, and the centralized DHCPv6 server is co-located with
   the RADIUS server, they may share the same database of users.
   However, when the centralized DHCPv6 server is not located in the
   same place as the RADIUS server, a new communication mechanism is
   needed for the DHCPv6 relay agent to transfer the authorization
   information indicated by the RADIUS attributes to the DHCPv6 server.

2.  Terminology and Language

   This document specifies a new DHCPv6 option for the DHCPv6 Relay
   Agent to transfer the authorization information of RADIUS attributes
   received in the Access-Accept message from the RADIUS server to the
   centralized DHCPv6 server.  Definitions for terms and acronyms not
   specified in this document are defined in [RFC2865] and [RFC3315].

   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 [RFC2119].

3.  Network Scenarios

   Figures 1 and 2 show the typical network scenarios where the
   communication mechanism introduced in this document is necessary.  In
   these scenarios, the centralized DHCPv6 server is not co-located with
   the RADIUS server, but both are in the same administrative domain.
   The NAS acts as the DHCPv6 relay agent and the RADIUS client
   simultaneously.  Figure 1 shows the sequence of DHCPv6 and RADIUS
   messages for the IP over Ethernet (IPoE) access model, when the
   access loop adopts the direct Ethernet encapsulation.  Figure 2 shows
   the sequence of DHCPv6 and RADIUS messages for the PPP over Ethernet
   (PPPoE) access model.






Yeh & Boucadair              Standards Track                    [Page 3]

RFC 7037                  DHCPv6 RADIUS Option              October 2013


   The mechanism introduced in this document is a generic mechanism and
   might also be employed in other network scenarios where the DHCPv6
   relay agent and the RADIUS client are located in the same device.

   +-------+                   +-------+                    +-------+
   |DHCPv6 |   Access Model:   |  NAS  |                    |RADIUS |
   |Client |       IPoE        |       |                    |Server |
   +-------+                   +-------+                    +-------+
                      RADIUS Client/DHCPv6 Relay Agent

       |                           |                            |
       |---Solicit---------------->|                            |
       |                           |---Access-Request---------->|
       |                           |                            |
       |                           |<--Access-Accept------------|
       |                           |(e.g. Delegated-IPv6-Prefix)|
       |                           |                            |

              DHCPv6 messages             RADIUS messages

                                                            +-------+
                                                            |DHCPv6 |
                                                            |Server |
                                                            +-------+
       |                           |                            |
       |                           |---Relay-forward----------->|
       |                           |  (OPTION_RADIUS)           |
       |                           |                            |
       |                           |<--Relay-reply -------------|
       |<--Advertise---------------|                            |
       |  (e.g., IA_PD)            |                            |
       |                           |                            |
       |---Request---------------->|                            |
       |  (e.g., IA_PD)            |---Relay-forward----------->|
       |                           |  (OPTION_RADIUS)           |
       |                           |                            |
       |                           |<--Relay-reply -------------|
       |<--Reply-------------------|                            |
       |  (e.g., IA_PD)            |                            |
       |                           |                            |

              DHCPv6 messages             DHCPv6 messages

   Figure 1: Network Scenario and Message Sequence When Employing DHCPv6
                       RADIUS Option in IPoE Access






Yeh & Boucadair              Standards Track                    [Page 4]

RFC 7037                  DHCPv6 RADIUS Option              October 2013


   +-------+                   +-------+                    +-------+
   |DHCPv6 |   Access Model:   |  NAS  |                    |RADIUS |
   |Client |      PPPoE        |       |                    |Server |
   +-------+                   +-------+                    +-------+
                      RADIUS Client/DHCPv6 Relay Agent

       |                           |                            |
       |--PPP LCP Config-Request-->|                            |
       |                           |---Access-Request---------->|
       |                           |                            |
       |                           |<--Access-Accept------------|
       |<----PPP LCP Config-ACK----|(e.g. Delegated-IPv6-Prefix)|
       |                           |                            |

               PPP messages               RADIUS messages

                                                            +-------+
                                                            |DHCPv6 |
                                                            |Server |
                                                            +-------+
       |                           |                            |
       |---Solicit---------------->|                            |
       |                           |---Relay-forward----------->|
       |                           |  (OPTION_RADIUS)           |
       |                           |                            |
       |                           |<--Relay-reply -------------|
       |<--Advertise---------------|                            |
       |  (e.g., IA_PD)            |                            |
       |                           |                            |
       |---Request---------------->|                            |
       |  (e.g., IA_PD)            |---Relay-forward----------->|
       |                           |  (OPTION_RADIUS)
       |                           |                            |
       |                           |<--Relay-reply -------------|
       |<--Reply-------------------|                            |
       |  (e.g., IA_PD)            |                            |
       |                           |                            |

              DHCPv6 messages             DHCPv6 messages

   Figure 2: Network Scenario and Message Sequence When Employing DHCPv6
                       RADIUS Option in PPPoE Access

   If the authentication or the authorization through RADIUS fails, the
   associated message sequences will stop.  The NAS acting as the DHCPv6
   relay agent will not forward the message received from the client to
   the DHCPv6 server.  If the authentication or the authorization
   through RADIUS passes, the NAS MUST store the information indicated



Yeh & Boucadair              Standards Track                    [Page 5]

RFC 7037                  DHCPv6 RADIUS Option              October 2013


   in the RADIUS attributes received in the Access-Accept message from
   the RADIUS server during the whole session.  How the NAS manages this
   information during the RADIUS session is out of the scope of this
   document.

   After receiving a RENEW (5) message from the DHCPv6 client, the NAS
   SHOULD NOT initiate a new Access-Request/Access-Accept message
   exchange with the RADIUS server.  After receiving a REBIND (6)
   message from the DHCPv6 client, the NAS MUST initiate a new Access-
   Request/Access-Accept message exchange with the RADIUS server, unless
   RADIUS capability is disabled on the NAS.

4.  DHCPv6 RADIUS Option

   The OPTION_RADIUS is a DHCPv6 option used by the DHCPv6 relay agent
   to carry the authorization information of RADIUS attributes received
   in the Access-Accept message from the RADIUS server.

   The format of the OPTION_RADIUS option is defined as follows:

    0                   1                   2                   3
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |         OPTION_RADIUS         |          option-len           |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |            option-data (List of RADIUS Attributes)
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   option-code      81
   option-len       Length of the option-data in octets
   option-data      List of one or more RADIUS attributes


   The option-data of OPTION_RADIUS is a list of one or more RADIUS
   attributes received in the Access-Accept message from the RADIUS
   server.  The format of RADIUS attributes is defined in Section 5 of
   [RFC2865] as well as Sections 2.1 and 2.2 of [RFC6929].  If multiple
   attributes with the same type (including the Long Extended Type
   defined in Section 2.2 of [RFC6929]) are present, the order of
   attributes with the same type MUST be the same as that received from
   the RADIUS server.  The OPTION_RADIUS can only contain the RADIUS
   attributes listed in the "RADIUS Attributes Permitted in DHCPv6
   RADIUS Option" registry.








Yeh & Boucadair              Standards Track                    [Page 6]

RFC 7037                  DHCPv6 RADIUS Option              October 2013


   According to the network scenarios described in Section 3, the
   OPTION_RADIUS should appear in the RELAY-FORW (12) message relaying
   SOLICIT (1), REQUEST (3), and REBIND (6) from the DHCPv6 client and
   may appear in the RELAY-FORW (12) relaying any other message from the
   DHCPv6 client.

4.1.  RADIUS Attributes Permitted in DHCPv6 RADIUS Option

   The RADIUS attributes listed in the following table are the initial
   attributes registered in the "RADIUS Attributes Permitted in DHCPv6
   RADIUS Option" registry.  New RADIUS attributes can be added to this
   list after Expert Review [RFC5226].

   Type Code  Attribute                   Reference
   26         Vendor-Specific             [RFC2865]
   123        Delegated-IPv6-Prefix       [RFC4818]
   144        DS-Lite-Tunnel-Name         [RFC6519]
   168        Framed-IPv6-Address         [RFC6911]
   169        DNS-Server-IPv6-Address     [RFC6911]
   171        Delegated-IPv6-Prefix-Pool  [RFC6911]
   172        Stateful-IPv6-Address-Pool  [RFC6911]


   Note: The RADIUS attribute's 'Length' defined in Section 5 of
   [RFC2865] includes the length of 'Type' and 'Length' fields.

5.  DHCPv6 Relay Agent Behavior

   If the Relay Agent is configured to send OPTION_RADIUS, and the
   Access-Accept message from the RADIUS server contained RADIUS
   attributes permitted for use in OPTION_RADIUS, the Relay Agent MUST
   include OPTION_RADIUS in the RELAY-FORW (12) message.  The DHCPv6
   relay agent adds the permitted RADIUS attributes into OPTION_RADIUS
   one by one; if multiple attributes with the same type are present,
   the order of attributes with the same type MUST be the same as that
   received from the RADIUS server.

6.  DHCPv6 Server Behavior

   Upon receipt of the RELAY-FORW (12) message with OPTION_RADIUS from a
   relay agent, the DHCPv6 server that supports OPTION_RADIUS SHOULD
   extract and interpret the RADIUS attributes in the OPTION_RADIUS and
   use that information to select configuration parameters for the
   requesting client.  If the DHCPv6 server does not support
   OPTION_RADIUS, the DHCPv6 server MUST silently discard this option.






Yeh & Boucadair              Standards Track                    [Page 7]

RFC 7037                  DHCPv6 RADIUS Option              October 2013


7.  DHCPv6 Client Behavior

   OPTION_RADIUS is only exchanged between the relay agents and the
   servers.  DHCPv6 clients are not aware of the usage of OPTION_RADIUS.
   DHCPv6 clients MUST NOT send OPTION_RADIUS and MUST ignore
   OPTION_RADIUS if received.

8.  Security Considerations

   Known security vulnerabilities of the DHCPv6 and RADIUS protocols may
   apply to their options.  Security issues related with DHCPv6 are
   described in Section 23 of [RFC3315].  Security issues related with
   RADIUS are described in Section 8 of [RFC2865], Section 5 of
   [RFC3162], and Section 11 of [RFC6929].

   The mechanism described in this document may introduce a new attack
   vector against the DHCPv6 server in cases where the DHCPv6 relay
   agent is compromised.  By forging the RADIUS attributes contained in
   the OPTION_RADIUS of the RELAY-FORW (12) messages, the attacker may
   influence the parameter assignment on the DHCPv6 server for the
   DHCPv6 clients.  However, as described in the Section 3, NAS always
   belongs to the same administrative domain of the DHCPv6 server in the
   real deployment.

   Network administrators should be aware that although RADIUS messages
   are encrypted, DHCPv6 messages are always unencrypted.  It is
   possible that some RADIUS vendor-specific attributes might contain
   sensitive or confidential information.  Network administrators are
   strongly advised to prevent such information from being included in
   DHCPv6 messages.

   If the use of vendor-specific attributes with confidential content is
   required, administrators are advised to use IPsec with encryption to
   protect the confidentiality of the RADIUS attributes.  Relay agents
   and servers implementing this specification MUST support the use of
   IPsec Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) with encryption in
   transport mode, according to Section 3.1.1 of [RFC4303] and
   Section 21.1 of [RFC3315].

9.  IANA Considerations

   IANA has assigned OPTION_RADIUS (81) in the "DHCP Option Codes"
   registry, as defined in Section 4.  In addition, IANA has created a
   new registry entitled "RADIUS Attributes Permitted in DHCPv6 RADIUS
   Option" in the "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for IPv6
   (DHCPv6)" registry, as defined in Section 4.1.  The new registry
   enumerates the RADIUS Attributes Types
   (http://www.iana.org/assignments/radius-types) that are permitted for



Yeh & Boucadair              Standards Track                    [Page 8]

RFC 7037                  DHCPv6 RADIUS Option              October 2013


   inclusion in the DHCPv6 RADIUS option.  The allocation policy of this
   "RADIUS Attributes Permitted in DHCPv6 RADIUS Option" registry is
   Expert Review per [RFC5226].  Designated experts should carefully
   consider the security implications of allowing the relay agent to
   include new RADIUS attributes to this registry.

10.  Acknowledgements

   Thanks to Tomek Mrugalski, Bernie Volz, Gaurav Halwasia, and Roberta
   Maglione for their thorough review comments in the DHC working group
   mailing list.  Thanks also to Ted Lemon for his continuous
   encouragement and technical guidance.

11.  References

11.1.  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

   [RFC2865]  Rigney, C., Willens, S., Rubens, A., and W. Simpson,
              "Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS)", RFC
              2865, June 2000.

   [RFC3315]  Droms, R., Bound, J., Volz, B., Lemon, T., Perkins, C.,
              and M. Carney, "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for
              IPv6 (DHCPv6)", RFC 3315, July 2003.

   [RFC4303]  Kent, S., "IP Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP)", RFC
              4303, December 2005.

   [RFC4818]  Salowey, J. and R. Droms, "RADIUS Delegated-IPv6-Prefix
              Attribute", RFC 4818, April 2007.

   [RFC5226]  Narten, T. and H. Alvestrand, "Guidelines for Writing an
              IANA Considerations Section in RFCs", BCP 26, RFC 5226,
              May 2008.

   [RFC6519]  Maglione, R. and A. Durand, "RADIUS Extensions for Dual-
              Stack Lite", RFC 6519, February 2012.

   [RFC6911]  Dec, W., Sarikaya, B., Zorn, G., Miles, D., and B.
              Lourdelet, "RADIUS Attributes for IPv6 Access Networks",
              RFC 6911, April 2013.

   [RFC6929]  DeKok, A. and A. Lior, "Remote Authentication Dial In User
              Service (RADIUS) Protocol Extensions", RFC 6929, April
              2013.



Yeh & Boucadair              Standards Track                    [Page 9]

RFC 7037                  DHCPv6 RADIUS Option              October 2013


11.2.  Informative References

   [RFC3162]  Aboba, B., Zorn, G., and D. Mitton, "RADIUS and IPv6", RFC
              3162, August 2001.

   [RFC3633]  Troan, O. and R. Droms, "IPv6 Prefix Options for Dynamic
              Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) version 6", RFC 3633,
              December 2003.

   [RFC3646]  Droms, R., "DNS Configuration options for Dynamic Host
              Configuration Protocol for IPv6 (DHCPv6)", RFC 3646,
              December 2003.

   [RFC3736]  Droms, R., "Stateless Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
              (DHCP) Service for IPv6", RFC 3736, April 2004.

   [RFC6334]  Hankins, D. and T. Mrugalski, "Dynamic Host Configuration
              Protocol for IPv6 (DHCPv6) Option for Dual-Stack Lite",
              RFC 6334, August 2011.

Authors' Addresses

   Leaf Y. Yeh
   Freelancer Technologies
   P. R. China

   EMail: leaf.yeh.sdo@gmail.com


   Mohamed Boucadair
   France Telecom
   France

   EMail: mohamed.boucadair@orange.com

















Yeh & Boucadair              Standards Track                   [Page 10]

