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Re: [DNSOP] Definition of "validating resolver"

Paul Hoffman <paul.hoffman@vpnc.org> Mon, 09 March 2015 14:00 UTC

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From: Paul Hoffman <paul.hoffman@vpnc.org>
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Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2015 06:59:14 -0700
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To: Tony Finch <dot@dotat.at>
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Subject: Re: [DNSOP] Definition of "validating resolver"
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Thanks, but I'm having a hard time grokking this. It seems other on the list are as well.

On Mar 9, 2015, at 3:45 AM, Tony Finch <dot@dotat.at> wrote:
> 
> Paul Hoffman <paul.hoffman@vpnc.org> wrote:
>> 
>> My personal interpretation is that "validating resolver" is a synonym
>> for "security-aware resolver". Do others agree? If not, how would you
>> differentiate them?
> 
> No, "security-aware" means that the doftware understands the special
> semantics of RRSIG, NSEC, DS, etc. but does not necessarily validate.

What does "understand" mean in that sentence?

> It
> is clear from RFC 4033 that validation is separate from security awareness
> because of "Non-Validating Security-Aware Stub Resolver".

Maybe. Note that this is the only defined term with "non-validating" in it. Was this possibly an artifact of the world-view that Ralf mentioned?

> For instance, by default, BIND is a security-aware validating resolver.
> (Except it can't validate anything until you configure a trust anchor.)
> You can turn off validation with "dnssec-validation no" and switch it into
> security-oblivious mode with "dnssec-enable no".

If you turn off validation with "dnssec-validation no", in what way is it security-aware any more?

--Paul Hoffman

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