Re: [TLS] no fallbacks please [was: Downgrade protection, fallbacks, and server time]

[Bill Frantz <[e-mail]>]

On 6/3/16 at 2:28 AM, [e-mail] (Hubert Kario) wrote:

>That being said, I would prefer the solution to be a compliance 
>test suite that checks if servers do handle correctly future 
>versions, future extensions and future ciphersuites correctly.

I agree with Hubert. The big question is how you get the bug 
report to the server operator.

With servers which are currently maintained, it should be 
possible, although difficult in specific instances to contact 
the owner. With servers which aren't being maintained, e.g. 
those in imbedded devices, the problem becomes much harder.

If the client has a UI, it could explain the problem to the user 
and ask if the user wants to continue with degraded security. If 
so, then always use the remembered highest supported version 
with that server domain name, with perhaps occasional reminders 
to the user of the situation.

In any case, we should be addressing our efforts to getting bugs 
fixed, not just coding around them.

Cheers - Bill

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