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Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
Request for Comments: 6604
Updates: 1035, 2308, 2672
Category: Standards Track
ISSN: 2070-1721
D. Eastlake 3rd
Huawei
April 2012

xNAME RCODE and Status Bits Clarification

Abstract

The Domain Name System (DNS) has long provided means, such as the CNAME (Canonical Name), whereby a DNS query can be redirected to a different name. A DNS response header has an RCODE (Response Code) field, used for indicating errors, and response status bits. This document clarifies, in the case of such redirected queries, how the RCODE and status bits correspond to the initial query cycle (where the CNAME or the like was detected) and subsequent or final query cycles.

Status of This Memo

This is an Internet Standards Track document.

This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). It represents the consensus of the IETF community. It has received public review and has been approved for publication by the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Further information on Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 5741.

Information about the current status of this document, any errata, and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6604.

Copyright Notice

Copyright © 2012 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the document authors. All rights reserved.

This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document. Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ....................................................2
      1.1. Conventions Used in This Document ..........................3
   2. Restatement of Status Bits and What They Mean ...................3
      2.1. The Authoritative Answer Bit ...............................3
      2.2. The Authentic Data Bit .....................................3
   3. RCODE Clarification .............................................3
   4. Security Considerations .........................................4
   5. References ......................................................4
      5.1. Normative References .......................................4
      5.2. Informative References .....................................5

1. Introduction

The Domain Name System (DNS) has long provided means, such as the CNAME (Canonical Name [RFC1035]) and DNAME [RFC2672] RRs (Resource Records), whereby a DNS query can be redirected to a different name. In particular, CNAME normally causes a query to its owner name to be redirected, while DNAME normally causes a query to any lower-level name to be redirected. There has been a proposal for another redirection RR. In addition, as specified in [RFC2672], redirection through a DNAME also results in the synthesis of a CNAME RR in the response. In this document, we will refer to all RRs causing such redirection as xNAME RRs.

xNAME RRs can be explicitly retrieved by querying for the xNAME type. When a different type is queried and an xNAME RR is encountered, the xNAME RR (and possibly a synthesized CNAME) is added to the answer in the response, DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) [RFC4035] RRs applicable to the xNAME RR may be added to the response, and the query is restarted with the name to which it was redirected.

An xNAME may redirect a query to a name at which there is another xNAME and so on. In this document, we use "xNAME chain" to refer to a series of one or more xNAMEs each of which refers to another xNAME except the last, which refers to a non-xNAME or results in an error.

A DNS response header has an RCODE (Response Code) field, used for indicating errors, and status bits that indicate whether an answer is authoritative and/or authentic. This document clarifies, in the case of such redirected queries, how the RCODE and status bits correspond to the initial query cycle (where the (first) xNAME was detected) and subsequent or final query cycles.

1.1. Conventions Used in This Document

The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].

2. Restatement of Status Bits and What They Mean

There are two status bits returned in query responses for which a question could arise as to how, in the case of an xNAME chain, they relate to the first, possible intermediate, and/or last queries, as below. Note that the following is unchanged from [RFC1035] and [RFC4035]. The meaning of these bits is simply restated here for clarity, because of observations of released implementations that did not follow these meanings.

2.1. The Authoritative Answer Bit

The AA, or Authoritative Answer bit, in the DNS response header indicates that the answer returned is from a DNS server authoritative for the zone containing that answer. For an xNAME chain, this "authoritative" status could be different for each answer in that chain.

[RFC1035] states that the AA bit is to be set based on whether the server providing the answer with the first owner name in the answer section is authoritative. This specification of the AA bit has not been changed.

2.2. The Authentic Data Bit

The AD, or Authentic Data bit, indicates that the response returned is authentic according to the dictates of DNSSEC [RFC4035]. [RFC4035] unambiguously states that the AD bit is to be set in a DNS response header only if the DNSSEC-enabled server believes all RRs in the answer and authority sections of that response to be authentic. This specification of the AD bit has not been changed.

3. RCODE Clarification

The RCODE field in a DNS query response header is non-zero to indicate an error. Section 4.3.2 of [RFC1034] has a resolution algorithm that includes CNAME processing but has been found to be unclear concerning the ultimate setting of RCODE in the case of such redirection. Section 2.1 of [RFC2308] implies that the RCODE should be set based on the last query cycle in the case of an xNAME chain, but Section 2.2.1 of [RFC2308] says that some servers don't do that!

When there is an xNAME chain, the RCODE field is set as follows:

When an xNAME chain is followed, all but the last query cycle necessarily had no error. The RCODE in the ultimate DNS response MUST BE set based on the final query cycle leading to that response. If the xNAME chain was terminated by an error, it will be that error code. If the xNAME chain terminated without error, it will be zero.

4. Security Considerations

The AA header flag bit is not protected by DNSSEC [RFC4033]. To secure it, secure communications are needed between the querying resolver and the DNS server. Such security can be provided by DNS transaction security, either TSIG [RFC2845] or SIG(0) [RFC2931].

An AD header flag bit and the RCODE in a response are not, in general, protected by DNSSEC, so the same conditions as stated in the previous paragraph generally apply to them; however, this is not always true. In particular, if the following apply, then the AD bit and an NXDOMAIN RCODE are protected by DNSSEC in the sense that the querier can calculate whether they are correct:

  1. The zone where an NXDOMAIN RCODE occurs or all the zones where the data whose authenticity would be indicated by the AD flag bit are signed zones.
  1. The query or queries involved indicate that DNSSEC RRs are OK in responses.
  1. The responses providing these indications are from servers that include the additional DNSSEC RRs required by DNSSEC.
  1. The querier has appropriate trust anchor(s) and appropriately validates and processes the DNSSEC RRs in the response.

5. References

5.1. Normative References

   [RFC1034]   Mockapetris, P., "Domain names - concepts and
               facilities", STD 13, RFC 1034, November 1987.
   
   [RFC1035]   Mockapetris, P., "Domain names - implementation and
               specification", STD 13, RFC 1035, November 1987.
   
   [RFC2119]   Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
               Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
   
   [RFC2672]   Crawford, M., "Non-Terminal DNS Name Redirection",
               RFC 2672, August 1999.
   
   [RFC4035]   Arends, R., Austein, R., Larson, M., Massey, D., and S.
               Rose, "Protocol Modifications for the DNS Security
               Extensions", RFC 4035, March 2005.

5.2. Informative References

   [RFC2308]   Andrews, M., "Negative Caching of DNS Queries (DNS
               NCACHE)", RFC 2308, March 1998.
   
   [RFC2845]   Vixie, P., Gudmundsson, O., Eastlake 3rd, D., and B.
               Wellington, "Secret Key Transaction Authentication for
               DNS (TSIG)", RFC 2845, May 2000.
   
   [RFC2931]   Eastlake 3rd, D., "DNS Request and Transaction Signatures
               ( SIG(0)s )", RFC 2931, September 2000.
   
   [RFC4033]   Arends, R., Austein, R., Larson, M., Massey, D., and S.
               Rose, "DNS Security Introduction and Requirements",
               RFC 4033, March 2005.

Author's Address

   Donald E. Eastlake 3rd
   Huawei R&D USA
   155 Beaver Street
   Milford, MA  01757
   
   Phone: +1-508-333-2270
   EMail: d3e3e3@gmail.com