Re: QUIC-LB update: Eliminate block ciphers?

Christian Huitema <huitema@huitema.net> Wed, 06 October 2021 20:02 UTC

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Subject: Re: QUIC-LB update: Eliminate block ciphers?
To: Phillip Hallam-Baker <phill@hallambaker.com>, Martin Duke <martin.h.duke@gmail.com>
Cc: Antoine FRESSANCOURT <antoine.fressancourt@huawei.com>, IETF QUIC WG <quic@ietf.org>, Ian Swett <ianswett=40google.com@dmarc.ietf.org>
References: <CAM4esxT=QrJBaPsmK-6dXV+WUYn+tiHUEk_PpJu9L_agdU4EtQ@mail.gmail.com> <6f4f125359b247f588c8a74eb7ebfa1a@huawei.com> <CAKcm_gNRmKEDninEbHd6L_Jf7qJRBOvh5q2VyQT4FFabnDKL6g@mail.gmail.com> <CAM4esxQ7oUb2k3HKs21gUy15FxDr3wMDPH4EyR8FkX8q+a9A3Q@mail.gmail.com> <CAMm+Lwg2Ds=MdKXcry-ukRjc3nSjXy4XHXFdBU8eJP9S9xOchg@mail.gmail.com>
From: Christian Huitema <huitema@huitema.net>
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Date: Wed, 06 Oct 2021 13:02:14 -0700
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Phil,

What we have in the current LB spec is called a "stream cipher", but 
that's a misnomer. What we have in the spec is actually a variable size 
block cipher, derived from AES-ECB using a construct similar to FFX. 
Your review of that algorithm would be appreciated.

-- Christian Huitema

On 10/6/2021 11:13 AM, Phillip Hallam-Baker wrote:
> I came up against the same issue in a different spec. Stream ciphers appear
> to be the solution but open up a large attack surface. Stream ciphers are
> really difficult to get right and formal methods don't always help. There
> is a tendency to reduce the problem to what can be proved. If you use a
> stream cipher, you have to rekey for each encryption operation.
>
> Block ciphers are more expensive but they are really hard to mess up.
>
> One option is to use a shorter block cipher. I put out a request for
> shorter block cipher on the Cryptography list and we had a discussion there
> if people are interested in that approach.
>
> Yet another approach is to just use DES which has a short block. Which is
> obviously insecure for data encryption but this application has weaker
> requirements.
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 6, 2021 at 12:33 PM Martin Duke <martin.h.duke@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi Antoine,
>>
>> Yes, the configuration agent generates the key in both cases. Sorry this
>> is confusing; if the block cipher goes away, the entire section will need a
>> deep editorial rewrite that will hopefully remove the confusion.
>>
>> Martin
>>
>> On Wed, Oct 6, 2021 at 2:58 AM Ian Swett <ianswett=
>> 40google.com@dmarc.ietf.org> wrote:
>>
>>> I agree that the Block Cipher is not that likely to be deployed, and
>>> removing it simplifies the draft.
>>>
>>> On Wed, Oct 6, 2021 at 5:26 AM Antoine FRESSANCOURT <
>>> antoine.fressancourt@huawei.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hello,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> A side remark on the Stream cipher and block cipher CID sections. As I
>>>> was reading both sections, I struggled a bit with understanding which keys
>>>> were used in each cryptographic operation. The block cipher section tells
>>>> that the key is generated by the configuration agent and distributed to the
>>>> LB, but there is no such mention for the stream cipher section.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> As I don’t have a clear view about how keys are created and managed, I
>>>> would love to see those concerns answered in the draft (and unfortunately I
>>>> would only be able to push misinformation myself)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Antoine Fressancourt
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> *From:* QUIC [mailto:quic-bounces@ietf.org] *On Behalf Of *Martin Duke
>>>> *Sent:* Monday, October 4, 2021 10:21 PM
>>>> *To:* IETF QUIC WG <quic@ietf.org>
>>>> *Subject:* QUIC-LB update: Eliminate block ciphers?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Hello QUICWG,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> There has quietly been some recent work on tightening up the QUIC-LB
>>>> specification. At the moment, we are still short on implementations but I
>>>> am hearing something might happen soon.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Anyway, Christian Huitema has made substantial contributions to the
>>>> security properties of Stream Cipher CID, which allows smallish CIDs, by
>>>> making it a three-pass algorithm. We still have the "Block Cipher CID
>>>> option" which requires CIDs of at least 17 bytes; AFAICT the only advantage
>>>> at this point is that it can be decoded with 1 block encryption operation
>>>> instead of three.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> In principle, QUIC-LB load balancers can be run with no per-connection
>>>> state, in which case this would be a per-packet operation. I strongly
>>>> suspect that real LBs will keep some per-4tuple state, as they do today; if
>>>> so, this crypto operation only needs to occur once per packet where the
>>>> 4-tuple is new. If so, the CPU impact is vanishingly small except in a
>>>> storm of garbage packets.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> So AFAICT, the use case for Block Cipher is as follows:
>>>>
>>>> - Willing to run one crypto operation per packet/new 4-tuple
>>>>
>>>> - Not OK with doing three crypto operations
>>>>
>>>> - satisfied with 17B + CIDs
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I strongly suspect this does not describe a real implementer, and am
>>>> inclined to simply delete this option in my effort to simplify the design.
>>>> Nevertheless, I'm taking this to the list in case someone thinks this is an
>>>> important use case.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> This is Issue 138 in Github
>>>> <https://github.com/quicwg/load-balancers/issues/138>.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>>
>>>> Martin
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>