[CFRG] Re: RG Last Call on draft-irtf-cfrg-hybrid-kems-12 and draft-irtf-cfrg-concrete-hybrid-kems-04

"D. J. Bernstein" <djb@cr.yp.to> Sat, 11 July 2026 02:18 UTC

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Date: Sat, 11 Jul 2026 02:18:11 -0000
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Subject: [CFRG] Re: RG Last Call on draft-irtf-cfrg-hybrid-kems-12 and draft-irtf-cfrg-concrete-hybrid-kems-04
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The specific context here is that I cited a 2024 paper as follows: "For
the concrete KEMs, https://cr.yp.to/papers.html#safecurves reviews how
X25519 avoids various security dangers of NIST P-256."

Soatok Dreamseeker writes:
> I would like to add that SafeCurves is woefully outdated.
> https://eprint.iacr.org/2015/1060
> https://eprint.iacr.org/2014/043

I see no justification for this claim. Can you please quote a statement
that you claim is rendered obsolete by https://eprint.iacr.org/2015/1060
and/or https://eprint.iacr.org/2014/043?

---D. J. Bernstein


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The official language from IETF's "Legend Instructions" for the
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<https://trustee.ietf.org/wp-content/uploads/Corrected-TLP-5.0-legal-provsions.pdf>

The same language is used in, e.g., RFC 5831. The same language hereby
applies to this document. This is not disclaiming or limiting the
applicability of IETF policies; it is strictly following IETF policies.

IESG claims that the "explicitly disallowed" provision in BCP 78 is
limited to the examples in Section 3 in BCP 78. That is incorrect. BCP
78 states that Section 5, "Rights in Contributions", is normative, while
Section 3, "Exposition of Why These Procedures Are the Way They Are", is
informative. The opt-out provision in the normative text is clear, and
cannot be limited by an informative section. BCP 78 does not give IESG
any authority to issue changes or purported clarifications of the rules.

Rationale for exercising the BCP 78 opt-out provision: I'm fine with
redistribution of copies of this document. The issue is instead with
modification, such as (1) IESG's May 2025 posting of an IESG-mangled
version of an appeal that I had filed and (2) IETF management selling
IETF mailing-list text to AI companies. This goes far beyond what
copyright law allows as fair use (such as giving quotes for purposes of
commentary). When I complained about the mangled document, the IETF
Executive Director responded not by apologizing but instead by asserting
that IETF management had the power to do whatever it wanted.