Recommendations for Secure Use of Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS)

Abstract

Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) are widely used to protect data exchanged over application protocols such as HTTP, SMTP, IMAP, POP, SIP, and XMPP. Over the last few years, several serious attacks on TLS have emerged, including attacks on its most commonly used cipher suites and their modes of operation. This document provides recommendations for improving the security of deployed services that use TLS and DTLS. The recommendations are applicable to the majority of use cases.

Path Computation Element Communication Protocol (PCEP) Extensions for Stateful PCE

“…As a general precaution, it is RECOMMENDED that these PCEP extensions only be activated on authenticated and encrypted sessions across PCEs and PCCs belonging to the same administrative authority, using Transport Layer Security (TLS) [PCEPS], as per the recommendations and best current practices in [RFC7525].…”

Generic Event Delivery Using HTTP Push

“…The push service MUST use HTTP over Transport Layer Security (TLS) [RFC2818] following the recommendations in [RFC7525]. The push service shares the same default port number (443/TCP) with HTTPS, but MAY also advertise the IANA-allocated TCP System Port (1001) using HTTP alternative services [RFC7838].…”

“…This protocol MUST use HTTP over TLS [RFC2818] following the recommendations in [RFC7525]. This includes any communications between the user agent and the push service, plus communications between the application server and the push service.…”

Protocol to Access White-Space (PAWS) Databases

“…TLS provides message integrity and confidentiality between the Master Device and the Database, but only when best current practices are adopted, including use of recommended cipher suites and modes of operation. Consequently, to improve PAWS security and interoperability, implementations of the Database and Master Device MUST follow best current practices defined by "Recommendations for Secure Use of Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS)" [RFC7525].…”