Re: [TLS] TLS grammar checker?

Paul Hoffman <paul.hoffman@vpnc.org> Mon, 17 June 2013 13:48 UTC

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From: Paul Hoffman <paul.hoffman@vpnc.org>
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Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2013 06:48:44 -0700
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To: Peter Gutmann <pgut001@cs.auckland.ac.nz>
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Subject: Re: [TLS] TLS grammar checker?
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On Jun 16, 2013, at 11:09 PM, Peter Gutmann <pgut001@cs.auckland.ac.nz> wrote:

> Paul Hoffman <paul.hoffman@vpnc.org> writes:
> 
>> Greetings again. The recent errata shows that some of the TLS documents that
>> use the grammar invented for SSL can have some errors. People have developed
>> tools for checking ABNF grammar in Internet Drafts and RFCs; has anyone
>> developed an SSL grammar checker?
> 
> The SSL grammar isn't, AFAIK, any kind of machine-parseable formal grammar, in
> published automated analyses the authors had to re-state what was going on in
> their own notation in order to make it amenable to automated analysis, and
> even then could usually only do a subset of the protocol.  So you'd need to
> come up with your own grammar that's amenable to automated processing and re-
> specific TLS in that.  I can't really see that happening any time soon.

Indeed, so my question was hopeful that it had been done in the past. 

> (Having said that, I'd like to see it done.  The grammar used in the SSL/TLS
> RFCs is pretty confusing in places).

It could be / would have been an interesting task for a CS intern or summer student, or a prof researching widely-used grammars.

--Paul Hoffman