[TLS] [Technical Errata Reported] RFC9846 (9161)

rfc-editor@rfc-editor.org Wed, 02 September 2026 18:57 UTC

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
From: rfc-editor@rfc-editor.org
To: sean@sn3rd.com, ekr@rtfm.com, stndrds-inacio@andrew.cmu.edu, paul.wouters@aiven.io, debcooley1@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 02 Sep 2026 18:57:39 -0000
message-id: <178837545957.17.2251527631225923490@rfc-editor.org>
Message-ID-Hash: QL6QDMMYQBNH6UG7SQMYREKCYHP6IXYL
CC: rfc-editor@rfc-editor.org, tls@ietf.org, antunjurkovic@gmail.com
Precedence: list
Subject: [TLS] [Technical Errata Reported] RFC9846 (9161)
Archived-At: <https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/tls/3Whu9LrLPlejYAlheF_Wr2P7RB4>

The following errata report has been submitted for RFC9846,
"The Transport Layer Security (TLS) Protocol Version 1.3"

--------------------------------------
You may review the report below and at:
https://errata.rfc-editor.org/eid9161/

--------------------------------------
Type: Technical
Reported by: Antun Jurkovikj <antunjurkovic@gmail.com>

Section 1.2 says:

Original Text
-------------
Correct the lower bound on CertificateRequest.extensions to be 0 bytes. This was an error
in the syntax as it is possible to send no extensions, which results in length 0.

Corrected Text
--------------
Correct the lower bound on CertificateRequest.extensions to be 0 bytes. This corrects the presentation
syntax to represent an empty vector; Section 4.4.2 nevertheless requires the "signature_algorithms" extension in a conforming CertificateRequest.

Notes
-----
The presentation-language bound and the message-specific sender requirement address different layers. Extension extensions<0..2^16-1> makes a zero-length vector syntactically representable. However, Section 4.4.2 requires the "signature_algorithms" extension in every conforming CertificateRequest under the base specification. The existing Section 1.2 sentence conflates syntactic representability with permitted sender behavior. The corrected text changes no wire rule or sender requirement.

Instructions:
-------------
This erratum is currently posted as "Reported". Please
use "Reply All" to discuss whether it should be verified or
rejected. When a decision is reached, the verifying party
will log in to change the status and edit the report, if necessary.

--------------------------------------
RFC9846 (draft-ietf-tls-rfc8446bis)
--------------------------------------
Title : The Transport Layer Security (TLS) Protocol Version 1.3
Publication Date : July 2026
Author(s) : E. Rescorla
Category : Proposed Standard
Source : tls (sec)
Stream : IETF
Verifying Party : IESG

[TLS] [Technical Errata Reported] RFC9846 (9161) rfc-editor