On 23 Jun 2021, at 12:28, Vladimír Čunát <vladimir.cunat+i...@nic.cz> wrote:

> On 18/06/2021 19.40, Peter van Dijk wrote:
> 
>> I propose replacing rfc5011-security-considerations with a short document 
>> deprecating 5011 in its entirety. I am happy to write text for that, if 
>> there is an appetite - when the WG queue is small enough!
> 
> I agree that 5011 doesn't seem really useful (anymore).
> 
> We have it in Knot Resolver but recommend not to use it, because it's just 
> more trouble than worth in practice.  Notably, (all) resolver software needs 
> much more frequent updates than the rate of root KSK rollovers, so it's 
> easier to distribute root DS within the updates; some Linux distros even 
> package these separately and share them among different resolver packages.  
> Even if you're conservative and use BIND ESV or similar, I believe it's a 
> better approach than 5011.  For non-root keys there doesn't seem much point 
> nowadays, as getting a chain from root is better.
> 
> (By the way, an "interesting" example: router with DNSSEC validation and 
> factory reset / rollback, commonly shelved for a year, unreliable clock, etc.)

There are a variety of mechanisms available to identify and configure a trust 
anchor to use in a validator, some automatic and some manual; some rely upon 
having an existing, functional trust anchor to introduce a new one, some use 
other trusted paths such as vendor update processes and the web PKI. There are 
almost certainly mechanisms we don't know about, as well as the variety with 
which we are familiar.

There are also a variety of scenarios in which trust anchor maintenance is 
important. Some scenarios involve informed administrators; some involve 
uninformed users; some involve isolated devices that have no immediate human 
administrator or user. Some (as you point out) feature long air-gapped periods 
between configuration and use. We do not have a complete understanding of the 
breadth of the set of scenarios.

Given that there is such a variety of existing mechanisms and possible 
use-cases, and considering the profound lack of measurement which could inform 
us about which mechanisms are being used (or work) and which are not (or 
don't), I think it's premature to start talking about retiring particular 
mechanisms either as operational practice or in the sense of deprecation.

As one of the people who spent painful amounts of time trying to contact people 
by phone and e-mail to find out whether the dirty signals we were worried about 
during the last (and only!) root zone KSK roll, I can attest that RFC 5011 
certainly works well for some people. I think it's fair to say we don't have a 
good way of quantifying that data point into a more general statement that is 
stronger than anecdotal. This is not a firm foundation on which to build a plan.


Joe
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