





Network Working Group                                         J. Salowey
Request for Comments: 4818                                      R. Droms
Category: Standards Track                            Cisco Systems, Inc.
                                                              April 2007


                 RADIUS Delegated-IPv6-Prefix Attribute

Status of This Memo

   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The IETF Trust (2007).

Abstract

   This document defines a RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial In User
   Service) attribute that carries an IPv6 prefix that is to be
   delegated to the user.  This attribute is usable within either RADIUS
   or Diameter.

























Salowey & Droms             Standards Track                     [Page 1]

RFC 4818            Delegated-IPv6-Prefix Attribute           April 2007


1.  Introduction

   This document defines the Delegated-IPv6-Prefix attribute as a RADIUS
   [1] attribute that carries an IPv6 prefix to be delegated to the
   user, for use in the user's network.  For example, the prefix in a
   Delegated-IPv6-Prefix attribute can be delegated to another node
   through DHCP Prefix Delegation [2].

   The Delegated-IPv6-Prefix attribute can be used in DHCP Prefix
   Delegation between the delegating router and a RADIUS server, as
   illustrated in the following message sequence.


   Requesting Router   Delegating Router                   RADIUS Server
         |                     |                                 |
         |-Solicit------------>|                                 |
         |                     |-Request------------------------>|
         |                     |<--Accept(Delegated-IPv6-Prefix)-|
         |<--Advertise(Prefix)-|                                 |
         |-Request(Prefix)---->|                                 |
         |<--Reply(Prefix)-----|                                 |
         |                     |                                 |
                DHCP PD                      RADIUS


   The Framed-IPv6-Prefix attribute [4] is not designed to support
   delegation of IPv6 prefixes to be used in the user's network, and
   therefore Framed-IPv6-Prefix and Delegated-IPv6-Prefix attributes may
   be included in the same RADIUS packet.

2.  Terminology

   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 [3].
















Salowey & Droms             Standards Track                     [Page 2]

RFC 4818            Delegated-IPv6-Prefix Attribute           April 2007


3.  Attribute Format

   The format of the Delegated-IPv6-Prefix is:

       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
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |     Type      |    Length     |  Reserved     | Prefix-Length |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                                   Prefix
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                                   Prefix
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                                   Prefix
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                                   Prefix                             |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      Type

           123 for Delegated-IPv6-Prefix

      Length

           The length of the entire attribute, in bytes.  At least 4 (to
           hold Type/Length/Reserved/Prefix-Length for a 0-bit prefix),
           and no larger than 20 (to hold Type/Length/ Reserved/Prefix-
           Length for a 128-bit prefix)

      Reserved

           Always set to zero by sender; ignored by receiver

      Prefix-Length

           The length of the prefix being delegated, in bits.  At least
           0 and no larger than 128 bits (identifying a single IPv6
           address)

   Note that the prefix field is only required to be long enough to hold
   the prefix bits and can be shorter than 16 bytes.  Any bits in the
   prefix field that are not part of the prefix MUST be zero.

   The Delegated-IPv6-Prefix MAY appear in an Access-Accept packet, and
   can appear multiple times.  It MAY appear in an Access-Request packet
   as a hint by the NAS to the server that it would prefer these
   prefix(es), but the server is not required to honor the hint.




Salowey & Droms             Standards Track                     [Page 3]

RFC 4818            Delegated-IPv6-Prefix Attribute           April 2007


   The Delegated-IPv6-Prefix attribute MAY appear in an Accounting-
   Request packet.

   The Delegated-IPv6-Prefix MUST NOT appear in any other RADIUS
   packets.

4.  Table of Attributes

   The following table provides a guide to which attributes may be found
   in which kinds of packets, and in what quantity.

   +-------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Request Accept Reject Challenge Accounting  #   Attribute         |
   |                                 Request                           |
   | 0+      0+     0      0         0+          123 Delegated-IPv6-   |
   |                                                 Prefix            |
   +-------------------------------------------------------------------+

   The meaning of the above table entries is as follows:
      0   This attribute MUST NOT be present.
      0+  Zero or more instances of this attribute MAY be present.
      0-1 Zero or one instance of this attribute MAY be present.
      1   Exactly one instance of this attribute MUST be present.
      1+  One or more of these attributes MUST be present.

5.  Diameter Considerations

   When used in Diameter, the attribute defined in this specification
   can be used as a Diameter AVP from the Code space 1-255, i.e., RADIUS
   attribute compatibility space.  No additional Diameter Code values
   are therefore allocated.  The data types of the attributes are as
   follows:

        Delegated-IPv6-Prefix             OctetString

   The attribute in this specification has no special translation
   requirements for Diameter to RADIUS or RADIUS to Diameter gateways,
   i.e., the attribute is copied as is, except for changes relating to
   headers, alignment, and padding.  See also RFC 3588 [5], Section 4.1,
   and RFC 4005 [6], Section 9.

   The text in this specification describing the applicability of the
   Delegated-IPv6-Prefix attribute for RADIUS Access-Request applies in
   Diameter to AA-Request [6] or Diameter-EAP-Request [7].

   The text in this specification describing the applicability of the
   Delegated-IPv6-Prefix attribute for RADIUS Access-Accept applies in
   Diameter to AA-Answer or Diameter-EAP-Answer that indicates success.



Salowey & Droms             Standards Track                     [Page 4]

RFC 4818            Delegated-IPv6-Prefix Attribute           April 2007


   The text in this specification describing the applicability of the
   Delegated-IPv6-Prefix attribute for RADIUS Accounting-Request applies
   to Diameter Accounting-Request [6] as well.

   The AVP flag rules [5] for the Delegated-IPv6-Prefix attribute are:

                                      +---------------------+
                                      |    AVP Flag rules   |
                                      |----+-----+----+-----|----+
                     AVP              |    |     |SHLD| MUST|    |
     Attribute Name  Code  Value Type |MUST| MAY | NOT|  NOT|Encr|
     ---------------------------------|----+-----+----+-----|----|
     Delegated-IPv6- 123   OctetString| M  |  P  |    |  V  | Y  |
       Prefix                         |    |     |    |     |    |
     ---------------------------------|----+-----+----+-----|----|

6.  IANA Considerations

   IANA assigned a Type value, 123, for this attribute from the RADIUS
   Attribute Types registry.

7.  Security Considerations

   Known security vulnerabilities of the RADIUS protocol are discussed
   in RFC 2607 [8], RFC 2865 [1], and RFC 2869 [9].  Use of IPsec [10]
   for providing security when RADIUS is carried in IPv6 is discussed in
   RFC 3162.

   Security considerations for the Diameter protocol are discussed in
   RFC 3588 [5].

8.  References

8.1.  Normative References

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

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

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






Salowey & Droms             Standards Track                     [Page 5]

RFC 4818            Delegated-IPv6-Prefix Attribute           April 2007


9.2.  Informative References

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

   [5]  Calhoun, P., Loughney, J., Guttman, E., Zorn, G., and J. Arkko,
        "Diameter Base Protocol", RFC 3588, September 2003.

   [6]  Calhoun, P., Zorn, G., Spence, D., and D. Mitton, "Diameter
        Network Access Server Application", RFC 4005, August 2005.

   [7]  Eronen, P., Hiller, T., and G. Zorn, "Diameter Extensible
        Authentication Protocol (EAP) Application", RFC 4072, August
        2005.

   [8]  Aboba, B. and J. Vollbrecht, "Proxy Chaining and Policy
        Implementation in Roaming", RFC 2607, June 1999.

   [9]  Rigney, C., Willats, W., and P. Calhoun, "RADIUS Extensions",
        RFC 2869, June 2000.

   [10] Kent, S. and K. Seo, "Security Architecture for the Internet
        Protocol", RFC 4301, December 2005.

Authors' Addresses

   Joe Salowey
   Cisco Systems, Inc.
   2901 Third Avenue
   Seattle, WA  98121
   USA

   Phone: +1 206.310.0596
   EMail: jsalowey@cisco.com


   Ralph Droms
   Cisco Systems, Inc.
   1414 Massachusetts Avenue
   Boxborough, MA  01719
   USA

   Phone: +1 978.936.1674
   EMail: rdroms@cisco.com







Salowey & Droms             Standards Track                     [Page 6]

RFC 4818            Delegated-IPv6-Prefix Attribute           April 2007


Full Copyright Statement

   Copyright (C) The IETF Trust (2007).

   This document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions
   contained in BCP 78, and except as set forth therein, the authors
   retain all their rights.

   This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
   "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS
   OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY, THE IETF TRUST AND
   THE INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS
   OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF
   THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED
   WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Intellectual Property

   The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
   Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to
   pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
   this document or the extent to which any license under such rights
   might or might not be available; nor does it represent that it has
   made any independent effort to identify any such rights.  Information
   on the procedures with respect to rights in RFC documents can be
   found in BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any
   assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an
   attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use of
   such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this
   specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository at
   http://www.ietf.org/ipr.

   The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
   copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary
   rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement
   this standard.  Please address the information to the IETF at
   ietf-ipr@ietf.org.

Acknowledgement

   Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
   Internet Society.







Salowey & Droms             Standards Track                     [Page 7]

