Re: [Curdle] call for adoption for draft-mu-curdle-ssh-xmss-00

"Hammell, Jonathan F" <Jonathan.Hammell@cyber.gc.ca> Thu, 28 November 2019 19:59 UTC

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From: "Hammell, Jonathan F" <Jonathan.Hammell@cyber.gc.ca>
To: "'curdle@ietf.org'" <curdle@ietf.org>
Thread-Topic: Re: [Curdle] call for adoption for draft-mu-curdle-ssh-xmss-00
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Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2019 19:59:53 +0000
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Subject: Re: [Curdle] call for adoption for draft-mu-curdle-ssh-xmss-00
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Hash-based signature schemes, such as XMSS, are appropriate for use cases where a limited number of signing operations will take place (due to the tree-based structure and high cost of signature generation) and those signatures will be validated far in the future (requiring the quantum-safe property).  Signing for SSH connections does not fit this model.  Furthermore, as others have pointed out, there are many concerns with managing the state of the private key in typical SSH scenarios.

I only see security concerns with using XMSS in SSH and no strong advantages.  Therefore, I am opposed to adoption.

Jonathan
--
Canadian Centre for Cyber Security

> Daniel Migault <daniel.migault@ericsson.com> Wed, 20 November 2019 14:38 UTCShow header
>
> Hi,
>
> This mail starts a call for adoption for draft-mu-curdle-ssh-xmss-00 XMSS
> public key algorithms for the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol. Please state on
> the mailing list whether you support the adoption of the draft or if you
> have any objection by December 5.
>
> Yours,
> Rich and Daniel
>
> [1] https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-mu-curdle-ssh-xmss/