| lpwan Working Group | A. Minaburo |
| Internet-Draft | Acklio |
| Intended status: Standards Track | L. Toutain |
| Expires: November 27, 2020 | Institut MINES TELECOM; IMT Atlantique |
| R. Andreasen | |
| Universidad de Buenos Aires | |
| May 26, 2020 |
LPWAN Static Context Header Compression (SCHC) for CoAP
draft-ietf-lpwan-coap-static-context-hc-14
This draft defines the way Static Context Header Compression (SCHC) header compression can be applied to the Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP). SCHC is a header compression mechanism adapted for constrained devices. SCHC uses a static description of the header to reduce the redundancy and the size of the information in the header. While [rfc8724] describes the SCHC compression and fragmentation framework, and its application for IPv6/UDP headers, this document applies the use of SCHC for CoAP headers. The CoAP header structure differs from IPv6 and UDP since CoAP uses a flexible header with a variable number of options, themselves of variable length. The CoAP protocol messages format is asymmetric: the request messages have a header format different from the one in the response messages. This specification gives guidance on how to apply SCHC to flexible headers and how to leverage the asymmetry for more efficient compression Rules.
This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.
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This Internet-Draft will expire on November 27, 2020.
Copyright (c) 2020 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the document authors. All rights reserved.
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CoAP [rfc7252] is designed to easily interop with HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and is optimized for REST-based (Representational state transfer) services. Although CoAP was designed for constrained devices, the size of a CoAP header still is too large for the constraints of LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Networks) and some compression is needed to reduce the header size.
The [rfc8724] defines SCHC, a header compression mechanism for LPWAN network based on a static context. The section 5 of the [rfc8724] explains the architecture where compression and decompression are done. The context is known by both ends before transmission. The way the context is configured, provisioned or exchanged is out of the scope of this document.
SCHC compresses and decompresses headers based on shared contexts between devices. Each context consists of multiple Rules. Each Rule can match header fields and specific values or ranges of values. If a Rule matches, the matched header fields are substituted by the RuleID and optionally some residual bits. Thus, different Rules may correspond to different types of packets that a device expects to send or receive.
A Rule describes the complete header of the packet with an ordered list of fields descriptions, see section 7 of [rfc8724], thereby each description contains the field ID (FID), its length (FL) and its position (FP), a direction indicator (DI) (upstream, downstream and bidirectional) and some associated Target Values (TV).
A Matching Operator (MO) is associated to each header field description. The Rule is selected if all the MOs fit the TVs for all fields of the incoming header.
In that case, a Compression/Decompression Action (CDA) associated to each field defines how the compressed and the decompressed values are computed. Compression mainly results in one of 4 actions:
After applying the compression there may be some bits to be sent, these values are called Compression Residues.
SCHC is a general mechanism that can be applied to different protocols, the exact Rules to be used depend on the protocol and the application. The section 10 of the [rfc8724] describes the compression scheme for IPv6 and UDP headers. This document targets the CoAP header compression using SCHC.
The key words “MUST”, “MUST NOT”, “REQUIRED”, “SHALL”, “SHALL NOT”, “SHOULD”, “SHOULD NOT”, “RECOMMENDED”, “NOT RECOMMENDED”, “MAY”, and “OPTIONAL” in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14 [RFC2119][rfc8174] when, and only when, they appear in all capitals, as shown here.
The SCHC Compression Rules can be applied to CoAP headers. SCHC Compression of the CoAP header MAY be done in conjunction with the lower layers (IPv6/UDP) or independently. The SCHC adaptation layers as described in Section 5 of [rfc8724] and may be used as shown in Figure 1.
^ +------------+ ^ +------------+ ^ +------------+
| | CoAP | | | CoAP | inner | | CoAP |
| +------------+ v +------------+ x | OSCORE |
| | UDP | | DTLS | outer | +------------+
| +------------+ +------------+ | | UDP |
| | IPv6 | | UDP | | +------------+
v +------------+ +------------+ | | IPv6 |
| IPv6 | v +------------+
+------------+
Figure 1: Rule scope for CoAP
Figure 1 shows some examples for CoAP protocol stacks and the SCHC Rule’s scope.
In the first example, a Rule compresses the complete header stack from IPv6 to CoAP. In this case, SCHC C/D (Static Context Header Compression Compressor/Decompressor) is performed at the Sender and at the Receiver.
In the second example, the SCHC compression is applied in the CoAP layer, compressing the CoAP header independently of the other layers. The RuleID and the Compression Residue are encrypted using a mechanism such as DTLS. Only the other end can decipher the information. If needed, layers below use SCHC to compress the header as defined in [rfc8724] document. This use case realizes an End-to-End context initialization between the sender and the receiver, see Appendix A.
In the third example, the Object Security for Constrained RESTful Environments (OSCORE) [rfc8613] is used. In this case, two rulesets are used to compress the CoAP message. A first ruleset focused on the inner header and is applied end to end by both ends. A second ruleset compresses the outer header and the layers below and is done between the Sender and the Receiver.
The use of SCHC over the CoAP header uses the same description and compression/decompression techniques as the one for IP and UDP explained in the [rfc8724]. For CoAP, SCHC Rules description uses the direction information to optimize the compression by reducing the number of Rules needed to compress headers. The field description MAY define both request/response headers and target values in the same Rule, using the DI (direction indicator) to make the difference. As for other protocols, when the compressor does not find a correct Rule to compress the header, the packet MUST be sent uncompressed using the RuleID dedicated to this purpose, and the Compression Residue is the complete header of the packet. See section 6 of [rfc8724].
CoAP compression differs from IPv6 and UDP compression on the following aspects:
This section discusses the compression of the different CoAP header fields. The CoAP compression with SCHC follows the Section 7.1 of [rfc8724].
CoAP version is bidirectional and MUST be elided during the SCHC compression, since it always contains the same value. In the future, if new versions of CoAP are defined, new Rules will be needed to avoid ambiguities between versions.
The CoAP Protocol [rfc7252] has four type of messages: two request (CON, NON); one response (ACK) and one empty message (RST).
The field SHOULD be elided if for instance a client is sending only NON or only CON messages. For the RST message a dedicated Rule may be needed. For other usages a mapping list can be used.
The code field indicates the Request Method used in CoAP, a IANA registry [rfc7252]. The compression of the CoAP code field follows the same principle as that of the CoAP type field. If the device plays a specific role, the set of code values can be split in two parts, the request codes with the 0 class and the response values.
If the device only implements a CoAP client, the request code can be reduced to the set of requests the client is able to process.
A mapping list can be used for known values. For other values the field cannot be compressed an the value needs to be sent in the Compression Residue.
The Message ID field can be compressed with the MSB(x) MO and the Least Significant Bits (LSB) CDA, see section 7.4 of [rfc8724].
Token is defined through two CoAP fields, Token Length in the mandatory header and Token Value directly following the mandatory CoAP header.
Token Length is processed as any protocol field. If the value does not change, the size can be stored in the TV and elided during the transmission. Otherwise, it will have to be sent in the Compression Residue.
Token Value MUST NOT be sent as a variable length residue to avoid ambiguity with Token Length. Therefore, Token Length value MUST be used to define the size of the Compression Residue. A specific function designated as “TKL” MUST be used in the Rule. During the decompression, this function returns the value contained in the Token Length field.
CoAP defines options that are placed after the based header in Option Numbers order, see [rfc7252]. Each Option instance in a message uses the format Delta-Type (D-T), Length (L), Value (V). When applying SCHC compression to the Option, the D-T, L, and V format serves to make the Rule description of the Option. The SCHC compression builds the description of the Option by using in the Field ID the Option Number built from D-T; in TV, the Option Value; and the Option Length uses section 7.4 of RFC8724. When the Option Length has a wellknown size it can be stored in the Rule. Therefore, SCHC compression does not send it. Otherwise, SCHC Compression carries the length of the Compression Residue in addition to the Compression Residue value.
Note that length coding differs between CoAP options and SCHC variable size Compression Residue.
The following sections present how SCHC compresses some specific CoAP Options.
These fields are both unidirectional and MUST NOT be set to bidirectional in a Rule entry.
If a single value is expected by the client, it can be stored in the TV and elided during the transmission. Otherwise, if several possible values are expected by the client, a matching-list SHOULD be used to limit the size of the Compression Residue. Otherwise, the value has to be sent as a Compression Residue (fixed or variable length).
These fields are unidirectional and MUST NOT be set to bidirectional in a Rule DI entry, see section 7.1 of [rfc8724]. They are used only by the server to inform of the caching duration and is never found in client requests.
If the duration is known by both ends, the value can be elided.
A matching list can be used if some well-known values are defined.
Otherwise these options can be sent as a Compression Residue (fixed or variable length).
These fields are unidirectional and MUST NOT be set to bidirectional in a Rule entry. They are used only by the client to access a specific resource and are never found in server responses.
Uri-Path and Uri-Query elements are a repeatable options, the Field Position (FP) gives the position in the path.
A Mapping list can be used to reduce the size of variable Paths or Queries. In that case, to optimize the compression, several elements can be regrouped into a single entry. Numbering of elements do not change, MO comparison is set with the first element of the matching.
+-------------+---+--+--+--------+---------+-------------+ | Field |FL |FP|DI| Target | Match | CDA | | | | | | Value | Opera. | | +-------------+---+--+--+--------+---------+-------------+ |URI-Path | | 1|up|["/a/b",|equal |not-sent | | | | | |"/c/d"] | | | |URI-Path |var| 3|up| |ignore |value-sent | +-------------+---+--+--+--------+---------+-------------+
Figure 2: complex path example
In Figure 2 a single bit residue can be used to code one of the 2 paths. If regrouping were not allowed, a 2 bits residue would be needed. The third path element is sent as a variable size residue.
When the length is not known at the Rule creation, the Field Length MUST be set to variable, and the unit is set to bytes.
The MSB MO can be applied to a Uri-Path or Uri-Query element. Since MSB value is given in bit, the size MUST always be a multiple of 8 bits.
The length sent at the beginning of a variable length residue indicates the size of the LSB in bytes.
For instance for a CORECONF path /c/X6?k=”eth0” the Rule can be set to:
+-------------+---+--+--+--------+---------+-------------+ | Field |FL |FP|DI| Target | Match | CDA | | | | | | Value | Opera. | | +-------------+---+--+--+--------+---------+-------------+ |URI-Path | 8| 1|up|"c" |equal |not-sent | |URI-Path |var| 2|up| |ignore |value-sent | |URI-Query |var| 1|up|"k=" |MSB(16) |LSB | +-------------+---+--+--+--------+---------+-------------+
Figure 3: CORECONF URI compression
Figure 3 shows the parsing and the compression of the URI, where c is not sent. The second element is sent with the length (i.e. 0x2 X 6) followed by the query option (i.e. 0x05 “eth0”).
The number of Uri-path or Uri-Query elements in a Rule is fixed at the Rule creation time. If the number varies, several Rules SHOULD be created to cover all the possibilities. Another possibility is to define the length of Uri-Path to variable and send a Compression Residue with a length of 0 to indicate that this Uri-Path is empty. This adds 4 bits to the variable Residue size. See section 7.5.2 [rfc8724]
These fields are unidirectional and MUST NOT be set to bidirectional in a Rule DI entry, see section 7.1 of the [rfc8724]. They are used only by the client to access a specific resource and are never found in server response.
If the field value has to be sent, TV is not set, MO is set to “ignore” and CDA is set to “value-sent”. A mapping MAY also be used.
Otherwise, the TV is set to the value, MO is set to “equal” and CDA is set to “not-sent”.
These fields are unidirectional.
These fields values cannot be stored in a Rule entry. They MUST always be sent with the Compression Residues.
Block [rfc7959] allows a fragmentation at the CoAP level. SCHC also includes a fragmentation protocol. They can be both used. If a block option is used, its content MUST be sent as a Compression Residue.
The [rfc7641] defines the Observe option. The TV is not set, MO is set to “ignore” and the CDA is set to “value-sent”. SCHC does not limit the maximum size for this option (3 bytes). To reduce the transmission size, either the device implementation MAY limit the delta between two consecutive values, or a proxy can modify the increment.
Since an RST message may be sent to inform a server that the client does not require Observe response, a Rule MUST allow the transmission of this message.
The [rfc7967] defines a No-Response option limiting the responses made by a server to a request. If the value is known by both ends, then TV is set to this value, MO is set to “equal” and CDA is set to “not-sent”.
Otherwise, if the value is changing over time, TV is not set, MO is set to “ignore” and CDA to “value-sent”. A matching list can also be used to reduce the size.
OSCORE [rfc8613] defines end-to-end protection for CoAP messages. This section describes how SCHC Rules can be applied to compress OSCORE-protected messages.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 <--------- n bytes ------------->
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+---------------------------------
|0 0 0|h|k| n | Partial IV (if any) ...
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+---------------------------------
| | |
|<-- CoAP -->|<------ CoAP OSCORE_piv ------> |
OSCORE_flags
<- 1 byte -> <------ s bytes ----->
+------------+----------------------+-----------------------+
| s (if any) | kid context (if any) | kid (if any) ... |
+------------+----------------------+-----------------------+
| | |
| <------ CoAP OSCORE_kidctxt ----->|<-- CoAP OSCORE_kid -->|
Figure 4: OSCORE Option
The encoding of the OSCORE Option Value defined in Section 6.1 of [rfc8613] is repeated in Figure 4.
The first byte specifies the content of the OSCORE options using flags. The three most significant bits of this byte are reserved and always set to 0. Bit h, when set, indicates the presence of the kid context field in the option. Bit k, when set, indicates the presence of a kid field. The three least significant bits n indicate the length of the piv (Partial Initialization Vector) field in bytes. When n = 0, no piv is present.
The flag byte is followed by the piv field, kid context field, and kid field in this order, and if present, the length of the kid context field is encoded in the first byte denoting by s the length of the kid context in bytes.
This specification recommends identifying the OSCORE Option and the fields it contains Conceptually, it discerns up to 4 distinct pieces of information within the OSCORE option: the flag bits, the piv, the kid context, and the kid. The SCHC Rule splits into four field descriptions the OSCORE option to compress them:
The OSCORE Option shows superimposed these four fields using the format Figure 4, the CoAP OSCORE_kidctxt field includes the size bits s.
In this first scenario, the LPWAN Compressor at the Network Gateway side receives from an Internet client a POST message, which is immediately acknowledged by the Device. For this simple scenario, the Rules are described Figure 5.
RuleID 1 +-------------+--+--+--+------+---------+-------------++------------+ | Field |FL|FP|DI|Target| Match | CDA || Sent | | | | | |Value | Opera. | || [bits] | +-------------+--+--+--+------+---------+-------------++------------+ |CoAP version | | |bi| 01 |equal |not-sent || | |CoAP Type | | |dw| CON |equal |not-sent || | |CoAP Type | | |up|[ACK, | | || | | | | | | RST] |match-map|matching-sent|| T | |CoAP TKL | | |bi| 0 |equal |not-sent || | |CoAP Code | | |bi|[0.00,| | || | | | | | | ... | | || | | | | | | 5.05]|match-map|matching-sent|| CC CCC | |CoAP MID | | |bi| 0000 |MSB(7 ) |LSB || M-ID| |CoAP Uri-Path| | |dw| path |equal 1 |not-sent || | +-------------+--+--+--+------+---------+-------------++------------+
Figure 5: CoAP Context to compress header without token
The version and Token Length fields are elided. The 26 method and response codes defined in [rfc7252] has been shrunk to 5 bits using a matching list. Uri-Path contains a single element indicated in the matching operator.
SCHC Compression reduces the header sending only the Type, a mapped code and the least significant bits of Message ID (9 bits in the example above).
Note that a request sent by a client located in an Application Server to a server located in the device, may not be compressed through this Rule since the MID will not start with 7 bits equal to 0. A CoAP proxy, before the core SCHC C/D can rewrite the message ID to a value matched by the Rule.
OSCORE aims to solve the problem of end-to-end encryption for CoAP messages. The goal, therefore, is to hide as much of the message as possible while still enabling proxy operation.
Conceptually this is achieved by splitting the CoAP message into an Inner Plaintext and Outer OSCORE Message. The Inner Plaintext contains sensitive information which is not necessary for proxy operation. This, in turn, is the part of the message which can be encrypted until it reaches its end destination. The Outer Message acts as a shell matching the format of a regular CoAP message, and includes all Options and information needed for proxy operation and caching. This decomposition is illustrated in Figure 6.
CoAP options are sorted into one of 3 classes, each granted a specific type of protection by the protocol:
Additionally, the OSCORE Option is added as an Outer option, signalling that the message is OSCORE protected. This option carries the information necessary to retrieve the Security Context with which the message was encrypted so that it may be correctly decrypted at the other end-point.
Original CoAP Message
+-+-+---+-------+---------------+
|v|t|tkl| code | Msg Id. |
+-+-+---+-------+---------------+....+
| Token |
+-------------------------------.....+
| Options (IEU) |
. .
. .
+------+-------------------+
| 0xFF |
+------+------------------------+
| |
| Payload |
| |
+-------------------------------+
/ \
/ \
/ \
/ \
Outer Header v v Plaintext
+-+-+---+--------+---------------+ +-------+
|v|t|tkl|new code| Msg Id. | | code |
+-+-+---+--------+---------------+....+ +-------+-----......+
| Token | | Options (E) |
+--------------------------------.....+ +-------+------.....+
| Options (IU) | | OxFF |
. . +-------+-----------+
. OSCORE Option . | |
+------+-------------------+ | Payload |
| 0xFF | | |
+------+ +-------------------+
Figure 6: A CoAP message is split into an OSCORE outer and plaintext
Figure 6 shows the message format for the OSCORE Message and Plaintext.
In the Outer Header, the original message code is hidden and replaced by a default dummy value. As seen in Sections 4.1.3.5 and 4.2 of the [rfc8613], the message code is replaced by POST for requests and Changed for responses when Observe is not used. If Observe is used, the message code is replaced by FETCH for requests and Content for responses.
The original message code is put into the first byte of the Plaintext. Following the message code, the class E options comes and if present the original message Payload is preceded by its payload marker.
The Plaintext is now encrypted by an AEAD algorithm which integrity protects Security Context parameters and eventually any class I options from the Outer Header. Currently no CoAP options are marked class I. The resulting Ciphertext becomes the new Payload of the OSCORE message, as illustrated in Figure 7.
This Ciphertext is, as defined in RFC 5116, the concatenation of the encrypted Plaintext and its authentication tag. Note that Inner Compression only affects the Plaintext before encryption, thus we can only aim to reduce this first, variable length component of the Ciphertext. The authentication tag is fixed in length and considered part of the cost of protection.
Outer Header
+-+-+---+--------+---------------+
|v|t|tkl|new code| Msg Id. |
+-+-+---+--------+---------------+....+
| Token |
+--------------------------------.....+
| Options (IU) |
. .
. OSCORE Option .
+------+-------------------+
| 0xFF |
+------+---------------------------+
| |
| Ciphertext: Encrypted Inner |
| Header and Payload |
| + Authentication Tag |
| |
+----------------------------------+
Figure 7: OSCORE message
The SCHC Compression scheme consists of compressing both the Plaintext before encryption and the resulting OSCORE message after encryption, see Figure 8.
This translates into a segmented process where SCHC compression is applied independently in 2 stages, each with its corresponding set of Rules, with the Inner SCHC Rules and the Outer SCHC Rules. This way compression is applied to all fields of the original CoAP message.
Note that since the Inner part of the message can only be decrypted by the corresponding end-point, this end-point will also have to implement Inner SCHC Compression/Decompression.
Outer Message OSCORE Plaintext
+-+-+---+--------+---------------+ +-------+
|v|t|tkl|new code| Msg Id. | | code |
+-+-+---+--------+---------------+....+ +-------+-----......+
| Token | | Options (E) |
+--------------------------------.....+ +-------+------.....+
| Options (IU) | | OxFF |
. . +-------+-----------+
. OSCORE Option . | |
+------+-------------------+ | Payload |
| 0xFF | | |
+------+------------+ +-------------------+
| Ciphertext |<---------\ |
| | | v
+-------------------+ | +-----------------+
| | | Inner SCHC |
v | | Compression |
+-----------------+ | +-----------------+
| Outer SCHC | | |
| Compression | | v
+-----------------+ | +-------+
| | |RuleID |
v | +-------+--+
+--------+ +------------+ | Residue |
|RuleID' | | Encryption | <--- +----------+--------+
+--------+--+ +------------+ | |
| Residue' | | Payload |
+-----------+-------+ | |
| Ciphertext | +-------------------+
| |
+-------------------+
Figure 8: OSCORE Compression Diagram
An example is given with a GET Request and its consequent Content Response from a device-based CoAP client to a cloud-based CoAP server. A possible set of Rules for the Inner and Outer SCHC Compression is shown. A dump of the results and a contrast between SCHC + OSCORE performance with SCHC + COAP performance is also listed. This gives an approximation to the cost of security with SCHC-OSCORE.
Our first example CoAP message is the GET Request in Figure 9
Original message:
=================
0x4101000182bb74656d7065726174757265
Header:
0x4101
01 Ver
00 CON
0001 tkl
00000001 Request Code 1 "GET"
0x0001 = mid
0x82 = token
Options:
0xbb74656d7065726174757265
Option 11: URI_PATH
Value = temperature
Original msg length: 17 bytes.
Figure 9: CoAP GET Request
Its corresponding response is the CONTENT Response in Figure 10.
Original message:
=================
0x6145000182ff32332043
Header:
0x6145
01 Ver
10 ACK
0001 tkl
01000101 Successful Response Code 69 "2.05 Content"
0x0001 = mid
0x82 = token
0xFF Payload marker
Payload:
0x32332043
Original msg length: 10
Figure 10: CoAP CONTENT Response
The SCHC Rules for the Inner Compression include all fields that are already present in a regular CoAP message. The methods described in Section 4 applies to these fields. As an example, see Figure 11.
RuleID 0 +---------------+--+--+-----------+-----------+-----------++------+ | Field |FP|DI| Target | MO | CDA || Sent | | | | | Value | | ||[bits]| +---------------+--+--+-----------+-----------+-----------++------+ |CoAP Code | |up| 1 | equal |not-sent || | |CoAP Code | |dw|[69,132] | match-map |match-sent || c | |CoAP Uri-Path | |up|temperature| equal |not-sent || | |COAP Option-End| |dw| 0xFF | equal |not-sent || | +---------------+--+--+-----------+-----------+-----------++------+
Figure 11: Inner SCHC Rules
Figure 12 shows the Plaintext obtained for our example GET Request and follows the process of Inner Compression and Encryption until we end up with the Payload to be added in the outer OSCORE Message.
In this case the original message has no payload and its resulting Plaintext can be compressed up to only 1 byte (size of the RuleID). The AEAD algorithm preserves this length in its first output, but also yields a fixed-size tag which cannot be compressed and has to be included in the OSCORE message. This translates into an overhead in total message length, which limits the amount of compression that can be achieved and plays into the cost of adding security to the exchange.
________________________________________________________
| |
| OSCORE Plaintext |
| |
| 0x01bb74656d7065726174757265 (13 bytes) |
| |
| 0x01 Request Code GET |
| |
| bb74656d7065726174757265 Option 11: URI_PATH |
| Value = temperature |
|________________________________________________________|
|
|
| Inner SCHC Compression
|
v
_________________________________
| |
| Compressed Plaintext |
| |
| 0x00 |
| |
| RuleID = 0x00 (1 byte) |
| (No residue) |
|_________________________________|
|
| AEAD Encryption
| (piv = 0x04)
v
_________________________________________________
| |
| encrypted_plaintext = 0xa2 (1 byte) |
| tag = 0xc54fe1b434297b62 (8 bytes) |
| |
| ciphertext = 0xa2c54fe1b434297b62 (9 bytes) |
|_________________________________________________|
Figure 12: Plaintext compression and encryption for GET Request
In Figure 13 the process is repeated for the example CONTENT Response. The residue is 1 bit long. Note that since SCHC adds padding after the payload, this misalignment causes the hexadecimal code from the payload to differ from the original, even though it has not been compressed.
On top of this, the overhead from the tag bytes is incurred as before.
________________________________________________________
| |
| OSCORE Plaintext |
| |
| 0x45ff32332043 (6 bytes) |
| |
| 0x45 Successful Response Code 69 "2.05 Content" |
| |
| ff Payload marker |
| |
| 32332043 Payload |
|________________________________________________________|
|
|
| Inner SCHC Compression
|
v
__________________________________________
| |
| Compressed Plaintext |
| |
| 0x001919902180 (6 bytes) |
| |
| 00 RuleID |
| |
| 0b0 (1 bit match-map residue) |
| 0x32332043 >> 1 (shifted payload) |
| 0b0000000 Padding |
|__________________________________________|
|
| AEAD Encryption
| (piv = 0x04)
v
_________________________________________________________
| |
| encrypted_plaintext = 0x10c6d7c26cc1 (6 bytes) |
| tag = 0xe9aef3f2461e0c29 (8 bytes) |
| |
| ciphertext = 0x10c6d7c26cc1e9aef3f2461e0c29 (14 bytes) |
|_________________________________________________________|
Figure 13: Plaintext compression and encryption for CONTENT Response
The Outer SCHC Rules (Figure 16) must process the OSCORE Options fields. In Figure 14 and Figure 15 we show a dump of the OSCORE Messages generated from our example messages once they have been provided with the Inner Compressed Ciphertext in the payload. These are the messages that have to be compressed by the Outer SCHC Compression.
Protected message:
==================
0x4102000182d8080904636c69656e74ffa2c54fe1b434297b62
(25 bytes)
Header:
0x4102
01 Ver
00 CON
0001 tkl
00000010 Request Code 2 "POST"
0x0001 = mid
0x82 = token
Options:
0xd8080904636c69656e74 (10 bytes)
Option 21: OBJECT_SECURITY
Value = 0x0904636c69656e74
09 = 000 0 1 001 Flag byte
h k n
04 piv
636c69656e74 kid
0xFF Payload marker
Payload:
0xa2c54fe1b434297b62 (9 bytes)
Figure 14: Protected and Inner SCHC Compressed GET Request
Protected message:
==================
0x6144000182d008ff10c6d7c26cc1e9aef3f2461e0c29
(22 bytes)
Header:
0x6144
01 Ver
10 ACK
0001 tkl
01000100 Successful Response Code 68 "2.04 Changed"
0x0001 = mid
0x82 = token
Options:
0xd008 (2 bytes)
Option 21: OBJECT_SECURITY
Value = b''
0xFF Payload marker
Payload:
0x10c6d7c26cc1e9aef3f2461e0c29 (14 bytes)
Figure 15: Protected and Inner SCHC Compressed CONTENT Response
For the flag bits, a number of compression methods has been shown to be useful depending on the application. The simplest alternative is to provide a fixed value for the flags, combining MO equal and CDA not- sent. This saves most bits but could prevent flexibility. Otherwise, match-mapping could be used to choose from an interested number of configurations to the exchange. Otherwise, MSB could be used to mask off the 3 hard-coded most significant bits.
Note that fixing a flag bit will limit the choice of CoAP Options that can be used in the exchange, since their values are dependent on certain options.
The piv field lends itself to having a number of bits masked off with MO MSB and CDA LSB. This could be useful in applications where the message frequency is low such as that found in LPWAN technologies. Note that compressing the sequence numbers effectively reduces the maximum amount of sequence numbers that can be used in an exchange. Once this amount is exceeded, the OSCORE keys need to be re-established.
The size s included in the kid context field MAY be masked off with CDA MSB. The rest of the field could have additional bits masked off, or have the whole field be fixed with MO equal and CDA not-sent. The same holds for the kid field.
Figure 16 shows a possible set of Outer Rules to compress the Outer Header.
RuleID 0 +-------------------+--+--+--------------+--------+---------++------+ | Field |FP|DI| Target | MO | CDA || Sent | | | | | Value | | ||[bits]| +-------------------+--+--+--------------+--------+---------++------+ |CoAP version | |bi| 01 |equal |not-sent || | |CoAP Type | |up| 0 |equal |not-sent || | |CoAP Type | |dw| 2 |equal |not-sent || | |CoAP TKL | |bi| 1 |equal |not-sent || | |CoAP Code | |up| 2 |equal |not-sent || | |CoAP Code | |dw| 68 |equal |not-sent || | |CoAP MID | |bi| 0000 |MSB(12) |LSB ||MMMM | |CoAP Token | |bi| 0x80 |MSB(5) |LSB ||TTT | |CoAP OSCORE_flags | |up| 0x09 |equal |not-sent || | |CoAP OSCORE_piv | |up| 0x00 |MSB(4) |LSB ||PPPP | |COAP OSCORE_kid | |up|0x636c69656e70|MSB(52) |LSB ||KKKK | |COAP OSCORE_kidctxt| |bi| b'' |equal |not-sent || | |CoAP OSCORE_flags | |dw| b'' |equal |not-sent || | |CoAP OSCORE_piv | |dw| b'' |equal |not-sent || | |CoAP OSCORE_kid | |dw| b'' |equal |not-sent || | |COAP Option-End | |dw| 0xFF |equal |not-sent || | +-------------------+--+--+--------------+--------+---------++------+
Figure 16: Outer SCHC Rules
These Outer Rules are applied to the example GET Request and CONTENT Response. The resulting messages are shown in Figure 17 and Figure 18.
Compressed message:
==================
0x001489458a9fc3686852f6c4 (12 bytes)
0x00 RuleID
1489 Compression Residue
458a9fc3686852f6c4 Padded payload
Compression Residue:
0b 0001 010 0100 0100 (15 bits -> 2 bytes with padding)
mid tkn piv kid
Payload
0xa2c54fe1b434297b62 (9 bytes)
Compressed message length: 12 bytes
Figure 17: SCHC-OSCORE Compressed GET Request
Compressed message:
==================
0x0014218daf84d983d35de7e48c3c1852 (16 bytes)
0x00 RuleID
14 Compression Residue
218daf84d983d35de7e48c3c1852 Padded payload
Compression Residue:
0b0001 010 (7 bits -> 1 byte with padding)
mid tkn
Payload
0x10c6d7c26cc1e9aef3f2461e0c29 (14 bytes)
Compressed msg length: 16 bytes
Figure 18: SCHC-OSCORE Compressed CONTENT Response
For contrast, we compare these results with what would be obtained by SCHC compressing the original CoAP messages without protecting them with OSCORE. To do this, we compress the CoAP messages according to the SCHC Rules in Figure 19.
RuleID 1 +---------------+--+--+-----------+---------+-----------++--------+ | Field |FP|DI| Target | MO | CDA || Sent | | | | | Value | | || [bits] | +---------------+--+--+-----------+---------+-----------++--------+ |CoAP version | |bi| 01 |equal |not-sent || | |CoAP Type | |up| 0 |equal |not-sent || | |CoAP Type | |dw| 2 |equal |not-sent || | |CoAP TKL | |bi| 1 |equal |not-sent || | |CoAP Code | |up| 2 |equal |not-sent || | |CoAP Code | |dw| [69,132] |match-map|map-sent ||C | |CoAP MID | |bi| 0000 |MSB(12) |LSB ||MMMM | |CoAP Token | |bi| 0x80 |MSB(5) |LSB ||TTT | |CoAP Uri-Path | |up|temperature|equal |not-sent || | |COAP Option-End| |dw| 0xFF |equal |not-sent || | +---------------+--+--+-----------+---------+-----------++--------+
Figure 19: SCHC-CoAP Rules (No OSCORE)
This yields the results in Figure 20 for the Request, and Figure 21 for the Response.
Compressed message: ================== 0x0114 0x01 = RuleID Compression Residue: 0b00010100 (1 byte) Compressed msg length: 2
Figure 20: CoAP GET Compressed without OSCORE
Compressed message: ================== 0x010a32332043 0x01 = RuleID Compression Residue: 0b00001010 (1 byte) Payload 0x32332043 Compressed msg length: 6
Figure 21: CoAP CONTENT Compressed without OSCORE
As can be seen, the difference between applying SCHC + OSCORE as compared to regular SCHC + COAP is about 10 bytes of cost.
This document has no request to IANA.
The Security Considerations of SCHC header compression RFC8724 are valid for SCHC CoAP header compression. When CoAP uses OSCORE, the security considerations defined in RFC8613 does not change when SCHC header compression is applied.
The definition of SCHC over CoAP header fields permits the compression of header information only. The SCHC header compression itself does not increase or reduce the level of security in the communication. When the communication does not use any security protocol as OSCORE, DTLS, or other. It is highly necessary to use a layer two security.
DoS attacks are possible if an intruder can introduce a compressed SCHC corrupted packet onto the link and cause a compression efficiency reduction. However, an intruder having the ability to add corrupted packets at the link layer raises additional security issues than those related to the use of header compression.
SCHC compression returns variable-length Residues for some CoAP fields. In the compressed header, the length sent is not the original header field length but the length of the Residue. So if a corrupted packet comes to the decompressor with a longer or shorter length than the one in the original header, SCHC decompression will detect an error and drops the packet.
OSCORE compression is also based on the same compression method described in [rfc8724]. The size of the Initialisation Vector (IV) residue size must be considered carefully. A too large value has an impact on the compression efficiency and a too small value will force the device to renew its key more often. This operation may be long and energy consuming. The size of the compressed IV MUST be choosen regarding the highest expected traffic from the device.
SCHC header and compression Rules MUST remain tightly coupled. Otherwise, an encrypted residue may be decompressed in a different way by the receiver. To avoid this situation, if the Rule is modified in one location, the OSCORE keys MUST be re-established.
The authors would like to thank (in alphabetic order): Christian Amsuss, Dominique Barthel, Carsten Bormann, Theresa Enghardt, Thomas Fossati, Klaus Hartke, Francesca Palombini, Alexander Pelov and Goran Selander.
This section extends the RFC8724 Annex D list.