Independent Submission A. Melnikov
Request for Comments: 7912 Isode Ltd
Category: Informational June 2016
ISSN: 2070-1721
Message Authorizing Email Header Field and Its Use for the
Draft and Release Procedure
Abstract
This document describes a procedure for when a Military Message
Handling System (MMHS) message is composed by one user and is only
released to the mail transfer system when one or more Authorizing
Users authorize release of the message by adding the
MMHS-Authorizing-Users header field. The resulting message can be
optionally signed by the sender and/or reviewer, allowing recipients
to verify both the original signature (if any) and the review
signatures.
Status of This Memo
This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
published for informational purposes.
This is a contribution to the RFC Series, independently of any other
RFC stream. The RFC Editor has chosen to publish this document at
its discretion and makes no statement about its value for
implementation or deployment. Documents approved for publication by
the RFC Editor are not a candidate 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
http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 7912.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2016 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.
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Conventions Used in This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. Draft and Release Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.1. Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.2. Handling of Initial Message Submission by the MSA . . . . 3
3.3. Review by Authorizing User(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.3.1. Processing of Encrypted Messages . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.3.2. Authorizing S/MIME Signatures . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.4. Role of Other Messaging Agents at the Sender's Domain . . 6
3.4.1. MDA at the Sender's Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.4.2. Border MTA at the Sender's Domain . . . . . . . . . . 6
4. MMHS-Authorizing-Users Header Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5. Updated MIXER Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5.1. Mapping from RFC 5322/MIME to X.400 . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5.2. Mapping from X.400 to RFC 5322/MIME . . . . . . . . . . . 7
6. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
7. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
7.1. Forged Header Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
7.2. Intentionally Malformed Header Fields . . . . . . . . . . 9
8. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
8.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
8.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1. Introduction
In some secure environments, email messages can't be released to the
Message Transfer System (MTS); thus, they can't be delivered to
recipients unless they are authorized by one or more Authorizing
Users (e.g., Releasing Officers or Release Authorities). This
document describes how this mechanism can be realized by an
additional Internet Email [RFC 5322] header field and optionally
protected using S/MIME [RFC 5750] [RFC 5751] or DomainKeys Identified
Mail (DKIM) [RFC 6376].
This document describes a procedure for how an email message composed
by one user can be released to the MTS when one or more Authorizing
Users authorize and optionally countersign the message. The MMHS-
Authorizing-Users header field (see Section 4) communicates which
user(s) authorized the message. If S/MIME signed, the resulting
message allows recipients to verify both the original (if any) and
counter signatures. The original S/MIME signature generated by the
sender (if any) is unaffected by additional S/MIME review signatures.
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2. Conventions Used in This Document
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 [RFC 2119].
The formal syntax uses the Augmented Backus-Naur Form (ABNF)
[RFC 5234] notation, including the core rules defined in Appendix B of
RFC 5234 [RFC 5234]. Terms not defined in this document are taken
from [RFC 5322].
3. Draft and Release Procedure
3.1. Terminology
Drafter: Any email user that composes a message (Draft Message)
needing authorization before it is released to its intended
recipients.
Authorizing User (also Releaser or Authorizer): The mailbox of a user
or a group of users that must inspect and authorize the release of a
Draft Message before it can be sent. An organization may require
more than one Authorizing User to authorize the release of a Draft
Message.
3.2. Handling of Initial Message Submission by the MSA
The original email message to be sent doesn't include the MMHS-
Authorizing-Users header field. It may or may not include the
sender's S/MIME signature.
The message to be sent is first submitted over SMTP [RFC 6409]. The
specific mechanism for how it arrives to the Authorizing User(s) is
not specified in this document. One possibility is for the Message
Submission Agent (MSA) to redirect all email messages not addressed
to Authorizing Users and not submitted by Authorizing Users to a
preconfigured mailbox(es) that can be accessed by Authorizing
User(s). Another possibility is for the MSA to redirect all email
messages without the MMHS-Authorizing-Users header field and/or
corresponding S/MIME review signatures to a preconfigured mailbox(es)
that can be accessed by Authorizing User(s).
In order to prevent a malicious sender from bypassing or altering the
Draft and Release procedure, the MSA MUST check that the MMHS-
Authorizing-Users header field (if present) is syntactically valid,
contains the email addresses of entities authorized to act as
Authorizing Users, and, when review signatures are used, that every
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entity listed has one or more matching review signature (or
signature) that is valid.
3.3. Review by Authorizing User(s)
Each user agent (UA) that is used by an authorized user MUST perform
the following steps (if there are multiple Authorizing Users, the
whole sequence of steps below is repeated for each Authorizing User):
1. Verify the origination of the message (From/Sender header
fields). The exact mechanism to do that is out of scope for this
document, but one example is by verifying the S/MIME signature,
making sure that the signature protects all header fields (i.e.,
wrapped by message/RFC 822, as described in Section 3.1 of
[RFC 5751]) and that it matches the sender of the message, as
described in [RFC 5750]. Another example is by verifying a DKIM
signature [RFC 6376] (added by the Drafter's Mail User Agent (MUA)
or MSA) that covers the From/Sender header fields.
2. Check if the message already contains the MMHS-Authorizing-Users
header field with the email address of the Authorizing User.
(This can happen, for example, if the email system is
misconfigured and thus contains a loop, or if a malicious sender
or attacker is trying to affect the authorization procedure.) If
the message doesn't contain the email address of the Authorizing
User in the MMHS-Authorizing-Users header field, then go to the
next step. If the MMHS-Authorizing-Users header field contains
the email address of the Authorizing User, verify the validity of
the header field (for example, by checking for the S/MIME
signature/review signature or for the DKIM signature) and also
verify that the email address associated with the signature
matches the email address of the Authorizing User. If the
validity of the MMHS-Authorizing-Users header field can be
verified, go to step 5 below. Otherwise, return the message to
the sender (bounce) or redirect the message to a designated abuse
mailbox.
3. Allow the Authorizing User to review the content of the message.
Some of the checks can be automated (for example, search for
keywords). (See Section 3.3.1 for additional considerations.)
If, based on the check, the Authorizing User is happy to release
the message to the MTS (or to the next Authorizing User, if
multiple authorizations are required), the UA SHOULD enable the
Authorizing User to protect additions to the MMHS-Authorizing-
Users header field, for example, by allowing the addition of the
S/MIME review signature (if S/MIME is used for protecting the
MMHS-Authorizing-Users header field. See Section 3.3.2 for more
details). If the Authorizing User wants to reject the message,
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it SHOULD be returned to the Drafter with an explanatory note or
it MAY be discarded. The Authorizing User can also choose to
forward the message to another Authorizing User for additional
approval or become a new Drafter of the message. If the
Authorizing User becomes the new Drafter, its UA MUST strip any
existing email addresses from the MMHS-Authorizing-Users header
field.
4. If there is an existing MMHS-Authorizing-Users header field
containing the email address of the Authorizing User, skip this
step. Otherwise, insert a new MMHS-Authorizing-Users header
field (if absent) containing the email address of the Authorizing
User or append the email address of the Authorizing User to the
end of the existing MMHS-Authorizing-Users header field.
5. The (possibly) updated email message is either released to the
MTS or to the next Authorizing User, as per email system
configuration. Note that if the Authorizing User updates the
message in a manner that invalidates existing S/MIME or DKIM
signature(s), the Authorizing User becomes the Drafter and needs
to reapply any protections.
3.3.1. Processing of Encrypted Messages
Any encrypted message sent in an environment where the Draft and
Release procedure is in force also needs to be encrypted to all
Authorizing Users, so that they can perform review of the message.
If a User Agent used by an Authorizing User can't decrypt the
message, it SHOULD notify the sender (which can be the Drafter or a
previous Authorizing User) about the problem using a non-delivery
Delivery Status Notification (DSN) or through some other means. The
ciphertext that cannot be decrypted by the Authorizing User MAY be
included in the notification to aid debugging. A possible reason not
to notify the sender is to avoid Denial-of-Service attacks, for
example, if an attacker discovers a way to inject fake messages with
encryption that doesn't validate in order to overflow the sender's
INBOX.
3.3.2. Authorizing S/MIME Signatures
If S/MIME were not used, the Authorizing User can become the original
signer of the message.
If a message is signed with multiple signatures (for example, using
different cryptographic algorithms, as described in [RFC 5752]), all
of the signatures that can be verified by an Authorizing User SHOULD
be signed with a review signature (authorizing signatures). A
recipient of the message can consider any chain of review signatures
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that matches MMHS-Authorizing-Users header field values as valid,
only if all signatures in the chain are verified. All of the
signatures that cannot be verified MUST be stripped by the
Authorizing User Agent.
When triple wrapping [RFC 2634] is used, authorizing signatures are
applied to the outer level, so that it can be verified by Message
Transfer Agents (MTAs) without the need to decrypt content.
3.4. Role of Other Messaging Agents at the Sender's Domain
3.4.1. MDA at the Sender's Domain
If a message being sent is to be delivered within the sender's
domain, Message Delivery Agents (MDAs) are responsible for ensuring
that the message was properly authorized by Authorizing User(s), as
determined by the sender's domain email system configuration. They
verify the presence and validity of the MMHS-Authorizing-Users header
field in the message, as well as the validity of associated
signatures on the message.
Note that the above requirements don't apply to direct delivery to
any user designated as an Authorizing User.
3.4.2. Border MTA at the Sender's Domain
The sender's domain border MTAs are responsible for ensuring that all
messages that leave the sender's domain were properly authorized by
the Authorizing User(s), as determined by the sender's domain email
system configuration. They verify the presence and validity of the
MMHS-Authorizing-Users header field in outgoing messages, as well as
the validity of associated signatures on the message.
4. MMHS-Authorizing-Users Header Field
The MMHS-Authorizing-Users header field specifies the list of
Authorizing Users (or entities(*)) that countersigned this email
message (for example, using S/MIME) before it was authorized for
release to the MTS. Each user/entity is described by the email
address.
(*) Note that in some environments, identities of Authorizing Users
are required to be hidden from recipients of email messages; so, upon
receipt, MMHS-Authorizing-Users might contain an email address
associated with a group of possible users. Such email addresses need
to have signatures that don't disclose group membership.
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The MMHS-Authorizing-Users header field specified in this document
MUST NOT appear more than once in message headers. An email message
that contains multiple MMHS-Authorizing-Users is malformed. An agent
processing such a malformed message SHOULD either return it to the
sender (if possible) or fix the message so that it contains only one
copy of the header field.
MMHS-Authorizing-Users = "MMHS-Authorizing-Users:"
mailbox-list CRLF
mailbox-list = <Defined in RFC 5322>
5. Updated MIXER Mapping
This section provides an updated version of the MIXER mapping
specified in [RFC 2156] for MMHS applications.
5.1. Mapping from RFC 5322/MIME to X.400
In the absence of the MMHS-Authorizing-Users header field, the From
and Sender header fields are mapped to their X.400 equivalents as
specified in [RFC 2156].
If the MMHS-Authorizing-Users header field is present:
1. If the Sender header field is present, it is mapped to
IPMS.Heading.originator; otherwise, the first From header field
address is mapped to IPMS.Heading.originator.
2. Map the From header field address(es) and the MMHS-Authorizing-
Users header field address(es) to IPMS.Heading.authorizing-users,
skipping the first From header field address if it was mapped to
IPMS.Heading.originator.
5.2. Mapping from X.400 to RFC 5322/MIME
Mapping from X.400 to the Internet is controlled by whether or not a
particular message is considered a military message. A message is
considered a military message (as defined by ACP 123 [ACP123] and
also specified in STANAG 4406 [STANAG-4406]) if there are any MMHS
heading extensions present. Alternatively, this MAY be done by
configuration (i.e., all messages can be considered military
messages).
For non-military messages, mapping from X.400 as specified in
[RFC 2156] is used.
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For military messages, the following mapping is used:
1. IPMS.Heading.originator is mapped to the From header field.
2. The IPMS.Heading.authorizing-users is mapped to the MMHS-
Authorizing-Users header field.
6. IANA Considerations
IANA has added the MMHS-Authorizing-Users header field specified in
Section 4 to the "Provisional Message Header Field Names" registry,
defined by "Registration Procedures for Message Header Fields"
[RFC 3864]. The registration template is as follows:
Header field name: MMHS-Authorizing-Users
Applicable protocol: mail ([RFC 5322])
Status: provisional
Author/Change controller: Alexey Melnikov <alexey.melnikov@isode.com>
Specification document(s): RFC 7912
Related information:
7. Security Considerations
In some military environments, the identities of Authorizing Users
are required to be hidden from recipients of email messages. This
can be accomplished by using a group address for the MMHS-
Authorizing-Users. In this way, the recipient will know that it was
released by an Authorizing User in that group, but the recipient will
not know which one of them took the action.
For those organizations that do not wish to disclose the Authorizing
Users' group membership, care must also be taken to ensure that the
information included in the certificate used for signing email
messages does not disclose individuals in the group.
Further security considerations are described in subsections of this
section.
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7.1. Forged Header Fields
A malicious sender may add/change an MMHS-Authorizing-Users header
field to bypass or alter the message authorization procedure invoked
for messages with no MMHS-Authorizing-Users header field. For this
reason, it is important for agents and clients that rely on the
validity of the MMHS-Authorizing-Users header field to also verify
the review signature (or a similar protection mechanism) that
confirms that a particular person or entity authorized release of a
message.
7.2. Intentionally Malformed Header Fields
It is possible for an attacker to add an MMHS-Authorizing-Users
header field that is extraordinarily large or otherwise malformed in
an attempt to discover or exploit weaknesses in the header field
parsing code. Implementations MUST thoroughly verify all such header
fields received from MTAs and be robust against intentionally as well
as unintentionally malformed header fields.
8. References
8.1. Normative References
[ACP123] CCEB, "Common Messaging strategy and procedures", ACP 123
(B), May 2009.
[RFC 2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
DOI 10.17487/RFC 2119, March 1997,
<http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 2119>.
[RFC 2156] Kille, S., "MIXER (Mime Internet X.400 Enhanced Relay):
Mapping between X.400 and RFC 822/MIME", RFC 2156,
DOI 10.17487/RFC 2156, January 1998,
<http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 2156>.
[RFC 2634] Hoffman, P., Ed., "Enhanced Security Services for S/MIME",
RFC 2634, DOI 10.17487/RFC 2634, June 1999,
<http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 2634>.
[RFC 5234] Crocker, D., Ed. and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for Syntax
Specifications: ABNF", STD 68, RFC 5234,
DOI 10.17487/RFC 5234, January 2008,
<http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 5234>.
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[RFC 5322] Resnick, P., Ed., "Internet Message Format", RFC 5322,
DOI 10.17487/RFC 5322, October 2008,
<http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 5322>.
[RFC 5750] Ramsdell, B. and S. Turner, "Secure/Multipurpose Internet
Mail Extensions (S/MIME) Version 3.2 Certificate
Handling", RFC 5750, DOI 10.17487/RFC 5750, January 2010,
<http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 5750>.
[RFC 5751] Ramsdell, B. and S. Turner, "Secure/Multipurpose Internet
Mail Extensions (S/MIME) Version 3.2 Message
Specification", RFC 5751, DOI 10.17487/RFC 5751, January
2010, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 5751>.
[RFC 6376] Crocker, D., Ed., Hansen, T., Ed., and M. Kucherawy, Ed.,
"DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) Signatures", STD 76,
RFC 6376, DOI 10.17487/RFC 6376, September 2011,
<http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 6376>.
[RFC 6409] Gellens, R. and J. Klensin, "Message Submission for Mail",
STD 72, RFC 6409, DOI 10.17487/RFC 6409, November 2011,
<http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 6409>.
8.2. Informative References
[RFC 3864] Klyne, G., Nottingham, M., and J. Mogul, "Registration
Procedures for Message Header Fields", BCP 90, RFC 3864,
DOI 10.17487/RFC 3864, September 2004,
<http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 3864>.
[RFC 5752] Turner, S. and J. Schaad, "Multiple Signatures in
Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS)", RFC 5752,
DOI 10.17487/RFC 5752, January 2010,
<http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 5752>.
[STANAG-4406]
NATO, "STANAG 4406 Edition 2: Military Message Handling
System", STANAG 4406 Ed. 2, March 2005.
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Acknowledgements
Many thanks for reviews and text provided by Steve Kille, Jim Schaad,
Russ Housley, David Wilson, Chris Bonatti, and Sean Turner.
Some text in this document was copied from RFC 7001.
Author's Address
Alexey Melnikov
Isode Ltd
14 Castle Mews
Hampton, Middlesex TW12 2NP
United Kingdom
Email: Alexey.Melnikov@isode.com
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