7 Network Working Group J. Hodges
8 Request for Comments: 3377 Sun Microsystems Inc.
9 Category: Standards Track R. Morgan
10 University of Washington
14 Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (v3):
15 Technical Specification
19 This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
20 Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
21 improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
22 Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
23 and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
27 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2002). All Rights Reserved.
31 This document specifies the set of RFCs comprising the Lightweight
32 Directory Access Protocol Version 3 (LDAPv3), and addresses the "IESG
33 Note" attached to RFCs 2251 through 2256.
35 1. Background and Motivation
37 The specification for the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
38 version 3 (LDAPv3) nominally comprises eight RFCs which were issued
39 in two distinct subsets at separate times -- RFCs 2251 through 2256
40 first, then RFCs 2829 and 2830 following later.
42 RFC 2251 through 2256 do not mandate the implementation of any
43 satisfactory authentication mechanisms and hence were published with
44 an "IESG Note" discouraging implementation and deployment of LDAPv3
45 clients or servers implementing update functionality until a Proposed
46 Standard for mandatory authentication in LDAPv3 is published.
48 RFC 2829 was subsequently published in answer to the IESG Note.
50 The purpose of this document is to explicitly specify the set of RFCs
51 comprising LDAPv3, and formally address the IESG Note through
52 explicit inclusion of RFC 2829.
58 Hodges & Morgan Standards Track [Page 1]
60 RFC 3377 LDAPv3: Technical Specification September 2002
63 2. Specification of LDAPv3
65 The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol version 3 (LDAPv3) is
66 specified by this set of nine RFCs:
68 [RFC2251] Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (v3) [the
69 specification of the LDAP on-the-wire protocol]
71 [RFC2252] Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (v3): Attribute
74 [RFC2253] Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (v3): UTF-8
75 String Representation of Distinguished Names
77 [RFC2254] The String Representation of LDAP Search Filters
79 [RFC2255] The LDAP URL Format
81 [RFC2256] A Summary of the X.500(96) User Schema for use with
84 [RFC2829] Authentication Methods for LDAP
86 [RFC2830] Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (v3): Extension
87 for Transport Layer Security
89 And, this document (RFC3377).
91 The term "LDAPv3" is often used informally to refer to the protocol
92 specified by the above set of RFCs, or subsets thereof. However, the
93 LDAPv3 protocol suite, as defined here, should be formally identified
94 in other documents by a normative reference to this document.
96 3. Addressing the "IESG Note" in RFCs 2251 through 2256
98 The IESG approved publishing RFCs 2251 through 2256 with an attendant
99 IESG Note included in each document. The Note begins with:
101 This document describes a directory access protocol that provides
102 both read and update access. Update access requires secure
103 authentication, but this document does not mandate implementation
104 of any satisfactory authentication mechanisms.
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116 RFC 3377 LDAPv3: Technical Specification September 2002
119 The Note ends with this statement:
121 Implementors are hereby discouraged from deploying LDAPv3 clients
122 or servers which implement the update functionality, until a
123 Proposed Standard for mandatory authentication in LDAPv3 has been
124 approved and published as an RFC.
126 [RFC2829] is expressly the "Proposed Standard for mandatory
127 authentication in LDAPv3" called for in the Note. Thus, the IESG
128 Note in [RFC2251], [RFC2252], [RFC2253], [RFC2254], [RFC2255], and
129 [RFC2256] is addressed.
131 4. Security Considerations
133 This document does not directly discuss security, although the
134 context of the aforementioned IESG Note is security related, as is
135 the manner in which it is addressed.
137 Please refer to the referenced documents, especially [RFC2829],
138 [RFC2251], and [RFC2830], for further information concerning LDAPv3
143 The authors thank Patrik Faltstrom, Leslie Daigle, Thomas Narten, and
144 Kurt Zeilenga for their contributions to this document.
148 [RFC2251] Wahl, M., Kille, S. and T. Howes, "Lightweight Directory
149 Access Protocol (v3)", RFC 2251, December 1997.
151 [RFC2252] Wahl, M., Coulbeck, A., Howes, T. and S. Kille,
152 "Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (v3): Attribute
153 Syntax Definitions", RFC 2252, December 1997.
155 [RFC2253] Kille, S., Wahl, M. and T. Howes, "Lightweight Directory
156 Access Protocol (v3): UTF-8 String Representation of
157 Distinguished Names", RFC 2253, December 1997.
159 [RFC2254] Howes, T., "The String Representation of LDAP Search
160 Filters", RFC 2254, December 1997.
162 [RFC2255] Howes, T. and M. Smith, "The LDAP URL Format", RFC 2255,
165 [RFC2256] Wahl, M., "A Summary of the X.500(96) User Schema for use
166 with LDAPv3", RFC 2256, December 1997.
170 Hodges & Morgan Standards Track [Page 3]
172 RFC 3377 LDAPv3: Technical Specification September 2002
175 [RFC2829] Wahl, M., Alvestrand, H., Hodges, J. and R. Morgan,
176 "Authentication Methods for LDAP", RFC 2829, May 2000.
178 [RFC2830] Hodges, J., Morgan, R. and M. Wahl, "Lightweight Directory
179 Access Protocol (v3): Extension for Transport Layer
180 Security", RFC 2830, May 2000.
182 7. Intellectual Property Rights Notices
184 The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
185 intellectual property or other rights that might be claimed to
186 pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
187 this document or the extent to which any license under such rights
188 might or might not be available; neither does it represent that it
189 has made any effort to identify any such rights. Information on the
190 IETF's procedures with respect to rights in standards-track and
191 standards-related documentation can be found in BCP-11. Copies of
192 claims of rights made available for publication and any assurances of
193 licenses to be made available, or the result of an attempt made to
194 obtain a general license or permission for the use of such
195 proprietary rights by implementors or users of this specification can
196 be obtained from the IETF Secretariat.
198 The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
199 copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary
200 rights which may cover technology that may be required to practice
201 this standard. Please address the information to the IETF Executive
226 Hodges & Morgan Standards Track [Page 4]
228 RFC 3377 LDAPv3: Technical Specification September 2002
231 8. Authors' Addresses
234 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
235 901 San Antonio Road, USCA22-212
239 Phone: +1-408-276-5467
240 EMail: Jeff.Hodges@sun.com
244 Computing and Communications
245 University of Washington
249 Phone: +1-206-221-3307
250 EMail: rlmorgan@washington.edu
282 Hodges & Morgan Standards Track [Page 5]
284 RFC 3377 LDAPv3: Technical Specification September 2002
287 9. Full Copyright Statement
289 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2002). All Rights Reserved.
291 This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
292 others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
293 or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
294 and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
295 kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
296 included on all such copies and derivative works. However, this
297 document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
298 the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
299 Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
300 developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
301 copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
302 followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
305 The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
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308 This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
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310 TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
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312 HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
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317 Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
338 Hodges & Morgan Standards Track [Page 6]