7 Network Working Group R. Weltman
8 Request for Comments: 4370 Yahoo!, Inc.
9 Category: Standards Track February 2006
12 Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)
13 Proxied Authorization Control
17 This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
18 Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
19 improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
20 Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
21 and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
25 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006).
29 This document defines the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
30 (LDAP) Proxy Authorization Control. The Proxy Authorization Control
31 allows a client to request that an operation be processed under a
32 provided authorization identity instead of under the current
33 authorization identity associated with the connection.
37 Proxy authorization allows a client to request that an operation be
38 processed under a provided authorization identity instead of under
39 the current authorization identity associated with the connection.
40 This document defines support for proxy authorization using the
41 Control mechanism [RFC2251]. The Lightweight Directory Access
42 Protocol [LDAPV3] supports the use of the Simple Authentication and
43 Security Layer [SASL] for authentication and for supplying an
44 authorization identity distinct from the authentication identity,
45 where the authorization identity applies to the whole LDAP session.
46 The Proxy Authorization Control provides a mechanism for specifying
47 an authorization identity on a per-operation basis, benefiting
48 clients that need to perform operations efficiently on behalf of
51 The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", and "MAY"
52 used in this document are to be interpreted as described in
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60 RFC 4370 LDAP Proxied Authorization Control February 2006
63 2. Publishing Support for the Proxy Authorization Control
65 Support for the Proxy Authorization Control is indicated by the
66 presence of the Object Identifier (OID) "2.16.840.1.113730.3.4.18" in
67 the supportedControl attribute [RFC2252] of a server's root
68 DSA-specific Entry (DSE).
70 3. Proxy Authorization Control
72 A single Proxy Authorization Control may be included in any search,
73 compare, modify, add, delete, or modify Distinguished Name (DN) or
74 extended operation request message. The exception is any extension
75 that causes a change in authentication, authorization, or data
76 confidentiality [RFC2829], such as Start TLS [LDAPTLS] as part of the
77 controls field of the LDAPMessage, as defined in [RFC2251].
79 The controlType of the proxy authorization control is
80 "2.16.840.1.113730.3.4.18".
82 The criticality MUST be present and MUST be TRUE. This requirement
83 protects clients from submitting a request that is executed with an
84 unintended authorization identity.
86 Clients MUST include the criticality flag and MUST set it to TRUE.
87 Servers MUST reject any request containing a Proxy Authorization
88 Control without a criticality flag or with the flag set to FALSE with
89 a protocolError error. These requirements protect clients from
90 submitting a request that is executed with an unintended
91 authorization identity.
93 The controlValue SHALL be present and SHALL either contain an authzId
94 [AUTH] representing the authorization identity for the request or be
95 empty if an anonymous association is to be used.
97 The mechanism for determining proxy access rights is specific to the
98 server's proxy authorization policy.
100 If the requested authorization identity is recognized by the server,
101 and the client is authorized to adopt the requested authorization
102 identity, the request will be executed as if submitted by the proxy
103 authorization identity; otherwise, the result code 123 is returned.
105 4. Implementation Considerations
107 One possible interaction of proxy authorization and normal access
108 control is illustrated here. During evaluation of a search request,
109 an entry that would have been returned for the search (if submitted
110 by the proxy authorization identity directly) may not be returned if
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116 RFC 4370 LDAP Proxied Authorization Control February 2006
119 the server finds that the requester does not have the right to assume
120 the requested identity for searching the entry, even if the entry is
121 within the scope of a search request under a base DN that does imply
122 such rights. This means that fewer results, or no results, may be
123 returned than would be if the proxy authorization identity issued the
124 request directly. An example of such a case may be a system with
125 fine-grained access control, where the proxy right requester has
126 proxy rights at the top of a search tree, but not at or below a point
127 or points within the tree.
129 5. Security Considerations
131 The Proxy Authorization Control method is subject to general LDAP
132 security considerations [RFC2251] [AUTH] [LDAPTLS]. The control may
133 be passed over a secure channel as well as over an insecure channel.
135 The control allows for an additional authorization identity to be
136 passed. In some deployments, these identities may contain
137 confidential information that requires privacy protection.
139 Note that the server is responsible for determining if a proxy
140 authorization request is to be honored. "Anonymous" users SHOULD NOT
141 be allowed to assume the identity of others.
143 6. IANA Considerations
145 The OID "2.16.840.1.113730.3.4.18" is reserved for the Proxy
146 Authorization Control. It has been registered as an LDAP Protocol
149 A result code (123) has been assigned by the IANA for the case where
150 the server does not execute a request using the proxy authorization
155 Mark Smith, formerly of Netscape Communications Corp., Mark Wahl,
156 formerly of Sun Microsystems, Inc., Kurt Zeilenga of OpenLDAP
157 Foundation, Jim Sermersheim of Novell, and Steven Legg of Adacel have
158 contributed with reviews of this document.
170 Weltman Standards Track [Page 3]
172 RFC 4370 LDAP Proxied Authorization Control February 2006
175 8. Normative References
177 [KEYWORDS] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
178 Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
180 [LDAPV3] Hodges, J. and R. Morgan, "Lightweight Directory Access
181 Protocol (v3): Technical Specification", RFC 3377,
184 [SASL] Myers, J., "Simple Authentication and Security Layer
185 (SASL)", RFC 2222, October 1997.
187 [AUTH] Wahl, M., Alvestrand, H., Hodges, J., and R. Morgan,
188 "Authentication Methods for LDAP", RFC 2829, May 2000.
190 [LDAPTLS] Hodges, J., Morgan, R., and M. Wahl, "Lightweight
191 Directory Access Protocol (v3): Extension for Transport
192 Layer Security", RFC 2830, May 2000.
194 [RFC2251] Wahl, M., Howes, T., and S. Kille, "Lightweight Directory
195 Access Protocol (v3)", RFC 2251, December 1997.
197 [RFC2252] Wahl, M., Coulbeck, A., Howes, T., and S. Kille,
198 "Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (v3): Attribute
199 Syntax Definitions", RFC 2252, December 1997.
201 [RFC2829] Wahl, M., Alvestrand, H., Hodges, J., and R. Morgan,
202 "Authentication Methods for LDAP", RFC 2829, May 2000.
204 [RFC3383] Zeilenga, K., "Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)
205 Considerations for the Lightweight Directory Access
206 Protocol (LDAP)", BCP 64, RFC 3383, September 2002.
216 Phone: +1 408 349-5504
217 EMail: robw@worldspot.com
226 Weltman Standards Track [Page 4]
228 RFC 4370 LDAP Proxied Authorization Control February 2006
231 Full Copyright Statement
233 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006).
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