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IETF RFC 8423
Reclassification of Suite B Documents to Historic Status
Last modified on Wednesday, August 1st, 2018
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Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) R. Housley
Request for Comments: 8423 Vigil Security
Category: Informational L. Zieglar
ISSN: 2070-1721 National Security Agency
July 2018
Reclassification of Suite B Documents to Historic Status
 Abstract
This document reclassifies the RFCs related to the United States
National Security Agency (NSA) Suite B cryptographic algorithms as
Historic, and it discusses the reasons for doing so. This document
moves seven Informational RFCs to Historic status: RFCs 5759, 6239,
6318, 6379, 6380, 6403, and 6460. In addition, it moves three
obsolete Informational RFCs to Historic status: RFCs 4869, 5008, and
5430.
Status of This Memo
This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
published for informational purposes.
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). Not all documents
approved by the IESG are candidates for any level of Internet
Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 7841.
Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 8423.
Housley & Zieglar Informational PAGE 1 
RFC 8423 Suite B to Historic July 2018
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2018 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
(https://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. Rationale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. The RFCs Related to Suite B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4. Documents That Reference the Suite-B-Related RFCs . . . . . . 3
4.1. Documents That Reference RFC 4869 . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4.2. Documents That Reference RFC 5759 . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4.3. Documents That Reference RFC 6379 . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4.4. Documents That Reference RFC 6403 . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4.5. Documents That Reference RFC 6460 . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5. Impact of Reclassifying the Suite-B-Related RFCs to Historic 5
6. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
7. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
8. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
8.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
8.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1. Introduction
Several RFCs profile security protocols for use with the National
Security Agency (NSA) Suite B Cryptography. Suite B is no longer
supported by NSA, and the web pages that specify the cryptographic
algorithms are no longer available.
In July 2015, NSA published the Committee for National Security
Systems Advisory Memorandum 02-15 as the first step in replacing
Suite B with NSA's Commercial National Security Algorithm (CNSA)
Suite. Information about the CNSA Suite can be found in [CNSA].
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RFC 8423 Suite B to Historic July 2018
2. Rationale
As indicated in [CNSA], NSA is transitioning from Suite B to the CNSA
Suite. As a result, the profiles of the security protocols for the
Suite B algorithms are now only of historic interest.
3. The RFCs Related to Suite B
Between 2007 and 2012, several Suite-B-related RFCs were published to
profile security protocols for use with the Suite B algorithms. They
are:
o [RFC 4869], "Suite B Cryptographic Suites for IPsec" (Obsoleted by
RFC 6379)
o [RFC 5008], "Suite B in Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail
Extensions (S/MIME)" (Obsoleted by RFC 6318)
o [RFC 5430], "Suite B Profile for Transport Layer Security (TLS)"
(Obsoleted by RFC 6460)
o [RFC 5759], "Suite B Certificate and Certificate Revocation List
(CRL) Profile"
o [RFC 6239], "Suite B Cryptographic Suites for Secure Shell (SSH)"
o [RFC 6318], "Suite B in Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail
Extensions (S/MIME)"
o [RFC 6379], "Suite B Cryptographic Suites for IPsec"
o [RFC 6380], "Suite B Profile for Internet Protocol Security
(IPsec)"
o [RFC 6403], "Suite B Profile of Certificate Management over CMS"
o [RFC 6460], "Suite B Profile for Transport Layer Security (TLS)"
4. Documents That Reference the Suite-B-Related RFCs
These RFCs reference each other several times. These cross-
references are not examined further in this document.
Other RFCs make reference to these Suite-B-related RFCs; these
references are discussed in the following subsections.
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RFC 8423 Suite B to Historic July 2018
4.1. Documents That Reference RFC 4869
One other RFC makes reference to RFC 4869 [RFC 4869].
RFC 6071, "IP Security (IPsec) and Internet Key Exchange (IKE)
Document Roadmap" [RFC 6071], points out that RFC 4869 adds four pre-
defined suites based upon Suite B specifications. They are:
o IKE/ESP suite "Suite-B-GCM-128"
o IKE/ESP suite "Suite-B-GCM-256"
o IKE/AH suite "Suite-B-GMAC-128"
o IKE/AH suite "Suite-B-GMAC-256"
In each case, these suite definitions make use of algorithms that are
defined in other RFCs. No interoperability or security concerns are
raised if implementations continue to make use of these suite names.
4.2. Documents That Reference RFC 5759
One other RFC makes reference to RFC 5759 [RFC 5759].
RFC 6187, "X.509v3 Certificates for Secure Shell Authentication"
[RFC 6187], points out that RFC 5759 provides additional guidance for
Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) keys when used
with Suite B.
4.3. Documents That Reference RFC 6379
One other RFC makes reference to RFC 6379 [RFC 6379].
RFC 7321, "Cryptographic Algorithm Implementation Requirements and
Usage Guidance for Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) and
Authentication Header (AH)" [RFC 7321], points out that the AES-GCM
algorithm is used by Suite B, and it has emerged as the preferred
authenticated encryption method in IPsec. RFC 7321 has since been
obsoleted by RFC 8221.
4.4. Documents That Reference RFC 6403
Two other RFCs make reference to RFC 6403 [RFC 6403].
RFC 6402, "Certificate Management over CMS (CMC) Updates" [RFC 6402],
says that development of the profile for Suite B was the activity
that demonstrated the need for these updates.
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RFC 8423 Suite B to Historic July 2018
RFC 7030, "Enrollment over Secure Transport" [RFC 7030], points out
that the scenarios in Appendix of RFC 6403 are very similar to three
of the scenarios described.
4.5. Documents That Reference RFC 6460
Three other RFCs make reference to RFC 6460 [RFC 6460].
RFC 6605, "Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA) for
DNSSEC" [RFC 6605], states that material was copied liberally from RFC
6460. The Standards Track status of RFC 6605 is not affected by RFC
6460 moving to Historic status.
RFC 7525, "Recommendations for Secure Use of Transport Layer Security
(TLS) and Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS)" [RFC 7525],
observes that the Suite B profile of TLS 1.2 uses different
ciphersuites.
RFC 8253, "PCEPS: Usage of TLS to Provide a Secure Transport for the
Path Computation Element Communication Protocol (PCEP)" [RFC 8253],
points to RFC 6460 for the TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
and TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 ciphersuites. Both of
these ciphersuites are defined in [RFC 5289], which would have been a
better reference. The Standards Track status of RFC 8253 is not
affected by RFC 6460 moving to Historic status.
5. Impact of Reclassifying the Suite-B-Related RFCs to Historic
No interoperability or security concerns are raised by reclassifying
the Suite-B-related RFCs to Historic status. As described in
Section 4, none of the RFCs being moved to Historic status is the
sole specification of a cryptographic algorithm or an identifier for
a cryptographic algorithm.
6. IANA Considerations
This document has no IANA actions.
7. Security Considerations
No interoperability or security concerns are raised by reclassifying
the Suite-B-related RFCs to Historic status.
NSA is transitioning away from some of the cryptographic algorithms
and key sizes that were employed in the Suite B profiles.
Housley & Zieglar Informational PAGE 5
RFC 8423 Suite B to Historic July 2018
8. References
8.1. Normative References
[RFC 4869] Law, L. and J. Solinas, "Suite B Cryptographic Suites for
IPsec", RFC 4869, DOI 10.17487/RFC 4869, May 2007,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 4869>.
[RFC 5008] Housley, R. and J. Solinas, "Suite B in Secure/
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME)", RFC 5008,
DOI 10.17487/RFC 5008, September 2007,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 5008>.
[RFC 5430] Salter, M., Rescorla, E., and R. Housley, "Suite B Profile
for Transport Layer Security (TLS)", RFC 5430,
DOI 10.17487/RFC 5430, March 2009,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 5430>.
[RFC 5759] Solinas, J. and L. Zieglar, "Suite B Certificate and
Certificate Revocation List (CRL) Profile", RFC 5759,
DOI 10.17487/RFC 5759, January 2010,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 5759>.
[RFC 6239] Igoe, K., "Suite B Cryptographic Suites for Secure Shell
(SSH)", RFC 6239, DOI 10.17487/RFC 6239, May 2011,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 6239>.
[RFC 6318] Housley, R. and J. Solinas, "Suite B in Secure/
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME)", RFC 6318,
DOI 10.17487/RFC 6318, June 2011,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 6318>.
[RFC 6379] Law, L. and J. Solinas, "Suite B Cryptographic Suites for
IPsec", RFC 6379, DOI 10.17487/RFC 6379, October 2011,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 6379>.
[RFC 6380] Burgin, K. and M. Peck, "Suite B Profile for Internet
Protocol Security (IPsec)", RFC 6380,
DOI 10.17487/RFC 6380, October 2011,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 6380>.
[RFC 6403] Zieglar, L., Turner, S., and M. Peck, "Suite B Profile of
Certificate Management over CMS", RFC 6403,
DOI 10.17487/RFC 6403, November 2011,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 6403>.
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RFC 8423 Suite B to Historic July 2018
[RFC 6460] Salter, M. and R. Housley, "Suite B Profile for Transport
Layer Security (TLS)", RFC 6460, DOI 10.17487/RFC 6460,
January 2012, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 6460>.
8.2. Informative References
[CNSA] National Security Agency, "Commercial National Security
Algorithm Suite", August 2015,
<https://www.iad.gov/iad/programs/iad-initiatives/
cnsa-suite.cfm>.
[RFC 5289] Rescorla, E., "TLS Elliptic Curve Cipher Suites with SHA-
256/384 and AES Galois Counter Mode (GCM)", RFC 5289,
DOI 10.17487/RFC 5289, August 2008,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 5289>.
[RFC 6071] Frankel, S. and S. Krishnan, "IP Security (IPsec) and
Internet Key Exchange (IKE) Document Roadmap", RFC 6071,
DOI 10.17487/RFC 6071, February 2011,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 6071>.
[RFC 6187] Igoe, K. and D. Stebila, "X.509v3 Certificates for Secure
Shell Authentication", RFC 6187, DOI 10.17487/RFC 6187,
March 2011, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 6187>.
[RFC 6402] Schaad, J., "Certificate Management over CMS (CMC)
Updates", RFC 6402, DOI 10.17487/RFC 6402, November 2011,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 6402>.
[RFC 6605] Hoffman, P. and W. Wijngaards, "Elliptic Curve Digital
Signature Algorithm (DSA) for DNSSEC", RFC 6605,
DOI 10.17487/RFC 6605, April 2012,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 6605>.
[RFC 7030] Pritikin, M., Ed., Yee, P., Ed., and D. Harkins, Ed.,
"Enrollment over Secure Transport", RFC 7030,
DOI 10.17487/RFC 7030, October 2013,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 7030>.
[RFC 7321] McGrew, D. and P. Hoffman, "Cryptographic Algorithm
Implementation Requirements and Usage Guidance for
Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) and Authentication
Header (AH)", RFC 7321, DOI 10.17487/RFC 7321, August 2014,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 7321>.
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RFC 8423 Suite B to Historic July 2018
[RFC 7525] Sheffer, Y., Holz, R., and P. Saint-Andre,
"Recommendations for Secure Use of Transport Layer
Security (TLS) and Datagram Transport Layer Security
(DTLS)", BCP 195, RFC 7525, DOI 10.17487/RFC 7525, May
2015, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 7525>.
[RFC 8253] Lopez, D., Gonzalez de Dios, O., Wu, Q., and D. Dhody,
"PCEPS: Usage of TLS to Provide a Secure Transport for the
Path Computation Element Communication Protocol (PCEP)",
RFC 8253, DOI 10.17487/RFC 8253, October 2017,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 8253>.
Authors' Addresses
Russ Housley
Vigil Security, LLC
918 Spring Knoll Drive
Herndon, VA 20170
United States of America
Email: housley@vigilsec.com
Lydia Zieglar
National Security Agency
9800 Savage Road
Ft. George G. Meade, MD 20755-6940
United States of America
Email: llziegl@nsa.gov
Housley & Zieglar Informational PAGE 8
Reclassification of Suite B Documents to Historic Status
RFC TOTAL SIZE: 15626 bytes
PUBLICATION DATE: Wednesday, August 1st, 2018
LEGAL RIGHTS: The IETF Trust (see BCP 78)
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