[TLS] Re: WG Adoption Call for Post-Quantum Hybrid ECDHE-MLKEM Key Agreement for TLSv1.3

[Thom Wiggers <[e-mail]>]

I support adoption of this draft. 

> Op 26 feb 2025, om 20:16 heeft Christopher Wood <[e-mail]> het volgende geschreven:
> 
> As I understand it, the purpose of this draft is to specify an interoperable key exchange mechanism that we can deploy. The draft already has code points allocated to it, and they exist in the registry <https://www.iana.org/assignments/tls-parameters/tls-parameters.xhtml#tls-parameters-8>, so I wonder: what is the point of adopting this draft when the important work is already done? If it’s that some folks won’t implement it until there’s an RFC number assigned to it, well, that’s pretty silly. I support adoption if it helps this work get implemented more broadly, but I think it’s worth asking whether or not this is a good use of an already busy working group’s time.

I agree with Chris’s point, but as others have also echoed, third parties don’t seem to really appreciate the finer points of the levels of IETF standardizations. 

I recently read this in the UK NCSC’s guidance on PQC:

> The NCSC strongly advises that operational systems should use protocol implementations based on RFCs, not on Internet Drafts.

https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/whitepaper/next-steps-preparing-for-post-quantum-cryptography

So it seems we either have a lot of educating to do, or we can just settle for adopting a few more drafts while acknowledging that it’s slightly performative.

Cheers,

Thom


> 
> Best,
> Chris
> 
>> On Feb 26, 2025, at 1:26 PM, Sean Turner <[e-mail]> wrote:
>> 
>> At IETF 121, the WG discussed “Post-Quantum Hybrid ECDHE-MLKEM Key Agreement for TLSv1.3”; see [0] and [1]. We also had some discussion in an information gathering thread; see [2]. We would like to now determine whether there is support to adopt this I-D. If you support adoption and are willing to review and contribute text, please send a message to the list. If you do not support adoption of this I-D, please send a message to the list and indicate why. This WG adoption call will close at 2359 UTC on 12 March 2025.
>> 
>> One special note: this adoption call has nothing to do with picking the mandatory-to-implement cipher suites in TLS.
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> Sean & Joe
>> 
>> [0] Link to I-D: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-kwiatkowski-tls-ecdhe-mlkem/
>> [1] Link to slides: https://datatracker.ietf.org/meeting/121/materials/slides-121-tls-post-quantum-hybrid-ecdhe-mlkem-key-agreement-for-tlsv13-00
>> [2] Link to information gather thread: https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/tls/yGZV5dBTcxHJhG-JtfaP6beTd68/
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