Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) S. Moonesamy
Request for Comments: 7479 March 2015
Category: Informational
ISSN: 2070-1721
Using Ed25519 in SSHFP Resource Records
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RFC 7479 Using Ed25519 in SSHFP RRs March 2015
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
The Ed25519 [Ed25519] signature algorithm, specifically Ed25519-SHA-512, has been implemented in OpenSSH. RFC 4255 [RFC4255] defines a DNS resource record, "SSHFP", which can be used to publish a fingerprint of the SSH server public key in the DNS. This document updates the IANA "SSHFP RR Types for public key algorithms" registry by adding an algorithm number for Ed25519 [Ed25519].
2. Ed25519 Public Key with SHA-256 Fingerprint
The encoding of Ed25519 public keys is described in [Ed25519]. In brief, an Ed25519 public key is a 32-octet value representing a 255-bit y-coordinate of an elliptic curve point, and a sign bit indicating the corresponding x-coordinate.
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RFC 7479 Using Ed25519 in SSHFP RRs March 2015 3. Security ConsiderationsThe overall security of using SSHFP for SSH host key verification is dependent on the security policies of the SSH host administrator and DNS zone administrator (in transferring the fingerprint), detailed aspects of how verification is done in the SSH implementation, and in the client's diligence in accessing the DNS in a secure manner. Please refer to RFC 4255 [RFC4255] for a discussion of the security considerations.
4. IANA Considerations
IANA has added the following entry to the "SSHFP RR Types for public key algorithms" registry:
+--------+-------------+------------+
| Value | Description | Reference |
+--------+-------------+------------+
| 4 | Ed25519 | [RFC7479] |
+--------+-------------+------------+
5. References
5.1. Normative References
[Ed25519] Bernstein, D. J., Lange T., Schwabe P., and B-Y. Yang,
5.2. Informative References
[FIPS180-4] National Institute of Standards and Technology, "Secure
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RFC 7479 Using Ed25519 in SSHFP RRs March 2015
Acknowledgements