RFC 7193 INFORMATIONAL CMS · MIME · SECURITY

The application/cms Media Type

A media type for Cryptographic Message Syntax content, and the two parameters that name its layers.

On rfc-editor.org ↗
PUBLISHED
April 2014
AUTHORS
S. Turner, R. Housley, J. Schaad
STREAM
IETF
TYPE NAME
application
SUBTYPE NAME
cms
FILE EXTENSION
.cmsc
OPTIONAL PARAMETERS
encapsulatingContent and innerContent
REGISTRY ALLOCATION POLICY
Expert Review
OUTERMOST ENCAPSULATION
ContentInfo
DOI
10.17487/RFC7193
ERRATA
Reported errata

RFC text

Contents
Original text · RFC Editor View on rfc-editor.org ↗
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                         S. Turner
Request for Comments: 7193                                          IECA
Category: Informational                                       R. Housley
ISSN: 2070-1721                                           Vigil Security
                                                               J. Schaad
                                                 Soaring Hawk Consulting
                                                              April 2014


                     The application/cms Media Type

Abstract

   This document registers the application/cms media type for use with
   the corresponding CMS (Cryptographic Message Syntax) content types.

Status of This Memo

   This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
   published for informational purposes.

   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).  Not all documents
   approved by the IESG are a candidate for any level of Internet
   Standard; see 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/rfc7193.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2014 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.

1.  Introduction

   [RFC5751] registered the application/pkc7-mime media type.  That
   document defined five optional smime-type parameters.  The smime-type
   parameter originally conveyed details about the security applied to
   the data content type, indicating whether it was signed or enveloped,
   as well as the name of the data content; it was later expanded to
   indicate whether the data content is compressed and whether the data
   content contained a certs-only message.  This document does not
   affect those registrations as this document places no requirements on
   S/MIME (Secure Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) agents.

   The registration done by the S/MIME documents was done assuming that
   there would be a MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions)
   wrapping layer around each of the different enveloping contents;
   thus, there was no need to include more than one item in each smime-
   type.  This is no longer the case with some of the more advanced
   enveloping types.  Some protocols such as the CMC (Certificate
   Management over Cryptographic Message Syntax) [RFC5273] have defined
   additional S/MIME types.  New protocols that intend to wrap MIME
   content should continue to define a smime-type string; however, new
   protocols that intend to wrap non-MIME types should use this
   mechanism instead.

   CMS (Cryptographic Message Syntax) [RFC5652] associates a content
   type identifier (OID) with specific content; CMS content types have
   been widely used to define contents that can be enveloped using other
   CMS content types and to define enveloping content types some of
   which provide security services.  CMS protecting content types, those
   that provide security services, include: Signed-Data [RFC5652],
   Enveloped-Data [RFC5652], Digested-Data [RFC5652], Encrypted-Data
   [RFC5652], Authenticated-Data [RFC5652], Authenticated-Enveloped-Data
   [RFC5083], and Encrypted Key Package [RFC6032].  CMS non-protecting
   content types, those that provide no security services but
   encapsulate other CMS content types, include: Content Information
   [RFC5652], Compressed Data [RFC3274], Content Collection [RFC4073],
   and Content With Attributes [RFC4073].  Then, there are the innermost
   content types that include: Data [RFC5652], Asymmetric Key Package
   [RFC5958], Symmetric Key Package [RFC6031], Firmware Package
   [RFC4108], Firmware Package Load Receipt [RFC4108], Firmware Package
   Load Error [RFC4108], Trust Anchor List [RFC5914], TAMP Status Query,
   TAMP Status Response, TAMP Update, TAMP Update Confirm, TAMP Apex
   Update, TAMP Apex Update Confirmation, TAMP Community Update, TAMP
   Community Update Confirm, TAMP Sequence Adjust, TAMP Sequence Adjust
   Confirmation, TAMP Error [RFC5934], Key Package Error, and Key
   Package Receipt [RFC7191].

   To support conveying CMS content types, this document defines a media
   type and parameters that indicate the enveloping and embedded CMS
   content types.

   New CMS content types should be affirmative in defining the string
   that identifies the new content type and should additionally define
   if the new content type is expected to appear in the
   encapsulatedContent or innerContent parameter.

1.1.  Requirements Terminology

   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.  CMS Media Type Registration Applications

   This section provides the media type registration application for the
   application/cms media type (see [RFC6838], Section 5.6).

   Type name: application

   Subtype name: cms

   Required parameters: None.

   Optional parameters:

      encapsulatingContent=y; where y is one or more CMS ECT
      (Encapsulating Content Type) identifiers; multiple values are
      encapsulated in quotes and separated by a folding-whitespace, a
      comma, and folding-whitespace.  ECT values are based on content
      types found in [RFC3274], [RFC4073], [RFC5083], [RFC5652], and
      [RFC6032].  This list can later be extended; see Section 4.

         authData
         compressedData
         contentCollection
         contentInfo
         contentWithAttrs
         authEnvelopedData
         encryptedKeyPkg
         digestData
         encryptedData
         envelopedData
         signedData

   innerContent=x; where x is one or more CMS ICT (Inner Content Type)
   identifiers; multiple values encapsulated in quotes and are separated
   by a folding-whitespace, a comma, and folding-whitespace.  ICT values
   are based on content types found in [RFC4108], [RFC5914], [RFC5934],
   [RFC5958], [RFC6031], and [RFC7191].  This list can later be
   extended; see Section 4.

         firmwarePackage
         firmwareLoadReceipt
         firmwareLoadError
         aKeyPackage
         sKeyPackage
         trustAnchorList
         TAMP-statusQuery
         TAMP-statusResponse
         TAMP-update
         TAMP-updateConfirm
         TAMP-apexUpdate
         TAMP-apexUpdateConfirm
         TAMP-communityUpdate
         TAMP-communityUpdateConfirm
         TAMP-seqNumAdjust
         TAMP-seqNumAdjustConfirm
         TAMP-error
         keyPackageReceipt
         keyPackageError

   The optional parameters are case sensitive.

   Encoding considerations:

      Binary.

      [RFC5652] requires that the outermost encapsulation be
      ContentInfo.

   Security considerations:

      The following security considerations apply:

      RFC       | CMS Protecting Content Type and Algorithms
      ----------+-------------------------------------------
      [RFC3370] | signedData, envelopedData,
      [RFC5652] | digestedData, encryptedData, and
      [RFC5753] | authData
      [RFC5754] |
      ----------+-------------------------------------------
      [RFC5958] | aKeyPackage
      [RFC5959] |
      [RFC6162] |
      ----------+-------------------------------------------
      [RFC6031] | sKeyPackage
      [RFC6160] |
      ----------+-------------------------------------------
      [RFC6032] | encryptedKeyPkg
      [RFC6033] |
      [RFC6161] |
      ----------+-------------------------------------------
      [RFC5914] | trustAnchorList
      ----------+-------------------------------------------
      [RFC3274] | compressedData
      ----------+-------------------------------------------
      [RFC5083] | authEnvelopedData
      [RFC5084] |
      ----------+-------------------------------------------
      [RFC4073] | contentCollection and
                | contentWithAttrs
      ----------+-------------------------------------------
      [RFC4108] | firmwarePackage,
                | firmwareLoadReceipt, and
                | firmwareLoadError
      ----------+-------------------------------------------
      [RFC5934] | TAMP-statusQuery, TAMP-statusResponse,
                | TAMP-update, TAMP-updateConfirm,
                | TAMP-apexUpdate,
                | TAMP-apexUpdateConfirm,
                | TAMP-communityUpdate,
                | TAMP-communityUpdateConfirm,
                | TAMP-seqNumAdjust,
                | TAMP-seqNumAdjustConfirm, and
                | TAMP-error
      ----------+-------------------------------------------
      [RFC7191] |keyPackageReceipt and keyPackageError
      ----------+-------------------------------------------
      In some circumstances, significant information can be leaked by
      disclosing what the innermost ASN.1 structure is.  In these cases,
      it is acceptable to disclose the wrappers without disclosing the
      inner content type.

      ASN.1 encoding rules (e.g., DER and BER) have a type-length-value
      structure, and it is easy to construct malicious content with
      invalid length fields that can cause buffer overrun conditions.
      ASN.1 encoding rules allows for arbitrary levels of nesting, which
      may make it possible to construct malicious content that will
      cause a stack overflow.  Interpreters of ASN.1 structures should
      be aware of these issues and should take appropriate measures to
      guard against buffer overflows and stack overruns in particular
      and malicious content in general.

   Interoperability considerations:

      See [RFC3274], [RFC4073], [RFC4108], [RFC5083], [RFC5652],
      [RFC5914], [RFC5934], [RFC5958], [RFC6031], [RFC6032], and
      [RFC7191].

      In all cases, CMS content types are encapsulated within
      ContentInfo structures [RFC5652]; that is the outermost enveloping
      structure is ContentInfo.

      CMS [RFC5652] defines slightly different processing rules for
      SignedData than does PKCS #7 [RFC2315].  This media type employs
      the CMS processing rules.

      The Content-Type header field of all application/cms objects
      SHOULD include the optional "encapsulatingContent" and
      "innerContent" parameters.

      The Content-Disposition header field [RFC4021] can also be
      included along with Content-Type's optional name parameter.

   Published specification: This specification.

   Applications that use this media type:

      Applications that support CMS (Cryptographic Message Syntax)
      content types.

   Fragment identifier considerations: N/A
   Additional information:

      Magic number(s): None
      File extension(s): .cmsc
      Macintosh File Type Code(s):

   Person & email address to contact for further information:

      Sean Turner <turners@ieca.com>

   Intended usage: COMMON

   Restrictions on usage: none

   Author: Sean Turner <turners@ieca.com>

   Change controller: The IESG <iesg@ietf.org>

3.  Example

   The following is an example encrypted status response message:

      MIME-Version: 1.0
      Content-Type: application/cms; encapsulatingContent=encryptedData;
                    innerContent=TAMP-statusResponse; name=status.cmsc
      Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64

      MIIFLQYJKoZIhvcNAQcDoIIFHjCCBRoCAQAxggFhMIIBXQIBADBFMEAxC
      zAJBgNVBAYTAlVTMR8wHQYDVQQKExZUZXN0IENlcnRpZmljYXRlcyAyMD
      ExMRAwDgYDVQQDEwdHb29kIENBAgEBMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUABIIBAEa
      uaXQeVsOyZ7gz0pJikRQ6Jqr64k2dbHBE4SDZL/uErP9FJUIja9LaJrc5
      S83EZ7wf3mODUBaDhGfQVKoPrNTsLmw98fE/O+wcdpI2XKaILOR62xDJR
      emQQST+EPfMwZmCwgsImmY3AxefAgzp8hVgK7SDiXGXfa9ux9PMdCSjHP
      IgcAUFHmTiqxYd72Gl08kLCMIXmn3g5RsYUggxooeFNHiFNR28TV5HctG
      i6Ay5++iKUGrUQyXD+GlwakFToGFmFj3FMyZi7+kYV/X00BiBP3kpIgVJ
      4jCj+nYtKWh6JXPoEqEsa39GmDEFGq4/58GEu70amWvW1DA++7kDP4gwg
      gOuBgkqhkiG9w0BBwEwHQYJYIZIAWUDBAECBBCH5yTQqZ4KYiTTeYdjoY
      4sgIIDgArSpOcengKnZS4SCjfuQkMxB5wfSaud1thlZ+gUFCgzbFtkfYM
      Qx/T7gnkneniyj2rwOmZxCQXpPlCDXH6mS83ngfrNN8ay3HrMPpVkEOmW
      UMc5jI6oNObwqi8a3ezzhYRxF06jzdD2R/6SAPALz3Q4NU8eX+PnuekgR
      oxo/INzhT4iGvokn9xVah6piSbjhPA+QZp1HgQrlWyyM3lG9jn4thchKl
      FQqZEy/EBaCWq+sJG7LLxqS5k29CiAVx0JSItqAPvX1ZvLMY2aq//MQMw
      0VFEx7Kt5aWNvKHTor9RUuuzwiZ5kwXt2vJt6bFiV7yS+EXofpFEmqyJP
      VJzyAFIXJRTv4k007n0M1UpXQpGjywECI6DbIhfBL8CsNskTCjrsfU+Tw
      RRkRKAbtJYughs9bDYkDu9UsKd/AE4zXk4prwo8/f1chpmzpHKOXiWzt+
      xaCj648I4rOjdI9s4JP8J0qwVKoLEMGeiZlf2UlaiyMzZYzTOxI03PHp1
      Whk6TXhnmMVPWGYjjelvE38gq/XynobbQRGEJdnnHzH7SrS27FmgRcnBO
      3QQUPJChVn7iBHmdui++GAxpHoGdS6nSo4kQ6d5u5rL/Ctcnwu0k+s0Xi
      ZMzOqp7L31xl1jvYUWIswLQYsIFoiejU3UTKzq/Cpd5MK+I8cwCM3aQ2c
      D08URTPgu+U92pnYqm3auptywyjGAU/hkZ13XN7YRhLk/kuX8QXo3tZdj
      dKA4f/uNf1DURpJK9004uCkxuAtu5HemMv7YPTTx9Ua2pZFW5O+k2Mf2Z
      F/geOvtNw7UV8wOT1nokXu9lnIZ9Xcs1cGGmRYE7jW15F07uGnMi1s2Gt
      LAST7t/PlTNZU6h0rVExErVa7T+VNidrgwGIke0YqYIwvTINRs+9VeJE3
      AJeatDlQs+01jrqqFWWmGmmsEBTTRuoDQHK7YBFFy4xIwQqZGW0EVre39
      OU5CL5LHIYiAVoV16YwiGd5WvFF8P1ZJK4ki8GFgYiMcPKmjQgP7DumqG
      n7eQtMD5tezTQeC07ntV3bi5pdznZHVcF2Kqg+qHjJQlhUdK7Pew3kq7k
      mfCdQV0BmQSYyjEAaTijaw4fAMxAbiw4OU0eNeU//zcpp04AuTFfJorIg
      oZ+iCTYei8HMUA9/ysLFXA64wdsuCj0zXmNiYwosisuNg3TXfoBOzohKq
      fkeXt

4.  IANA Considerations

   IANA has registered the media type application/cms in the Standards
   tree using the applications provided in Section 2 of this document.

   IANA has established two subtype registries called "CMS Encapsulating
   Content Types" and "CMS Inner Content Types".  Entries in these
   registries are allocated by Expert Review [RFC5226].  The Expert will
   determine whether the content is an ECT or an ICT, where the rule is
   that an ICT does not encapsulate another content type while an ECT
   does encapsulate another content type.

   Initial values are as follows:

   CMS Encapsulating Content Types

   Name                        | Document | Object Identifier
   ----------------------------+----------+---------------------------
   authData                    |[RFC5652] | 1.2.840.113549.1.9.16.1.2
   compressedData              |[RFC3274] | 1.2.840.113549.1.9.16.1.9
   contentCollection           |[RFC4073] | 1.2.840.113549.1.9.16.1.19
   contentInfo                 |[RFC5652] | 1.2.840.113549.1.9.16.1.6
   contentWithAttrs            |[RFC4073] | 1.2.840.113549.1.9.16.1.20
   authEnvelopedData           |[RFC5083] | 1.2.840.113549.1.9.16.1.23
   encryptedKeyPkg             |[RFC6032] | 2.16.840.1.101.2.1.2.78.2
   digestData                  |[RFC5652] | 1.2.840.113549.1.9.16.1.5
   encryptedData               |[RFC5652] | 1.2.840.113549.1.9.16.1.6
   envelopedData               |[RFC5652] | 1.2.840.113549.1.9.16.1.3
   signedData                  |[RFC5652] | 1.2.840.113549.1.9.16.1.2

   CMS Inner Content Types

   Name                        | Document | Object Identifier
   ----------------------------+----------+---------------------------
   firmwarePackage             |[RFC4108] | 1.2.840.113549.1.9.16.1.16
   firmwareLoadReceipt         |[RFC4108] | 1.2.840.113549.1.9.16.1.17
   firmwareLoadError           |[RFC4108] | 1.2.840.113549.1.9.16.1.18
   aKeyPackage                 |[RFC5958] | 2.16.840.1.101.2.1.2.78.5
   sKeyPackage                 |[RFC6031] | 1.2.840.113549.1.9.16.1.25
   trustAnchorList             |[RFC5914] | 1.2.840.113549.1.9.16.1.34
   TAMP-statusQuery            |[RFC5934] | 2.16.840.1.101.2.1.2.77.1
   TAMP-statusResponse         |[RFC5934] | 2.16.840.1.101.2.1.2.77.2
   TAMP-update                 |[RFC5934] | 2.16.840.1.101.2.1.2.77.3
   TAMP-updateConfirm          |[RFC5934] | 2.16.840.1.101.2.1.2.77.4
   TAMP-apexUpdate             |[RFC5934] | 2.16.840.1.101.2.1.2.77.5
   TAMP-apexUpdateConfirm      |[RFC5934] | 2.16.840.1.101.2.1.2.77.6
   TAMP-communityUpdate        |[RFC5934] | 2.16.840.1.101.2.1.2.77.7
   TAMP-communityUpdateConfirm |[RFC5934] | 2.16.840.1.101.2.1.2.77.8
   TAMP-seqNumAdjust           |[RFC5934] | 2.16.840.1.101.2.1.2.77.10
   TAMP-seqNumAdjustConfirm    |[RFC5934] | 2.16.840.1.101.2.1.2.77.11
   TAMP-error                  |[RFC5934] | 2.16.840.1.101.2.1.2.77.9
   keyPackageReceipt           |[RFC7191] | 2.16.840.1.101.2.1.2.78.3
   keyPackageError             |[RFC7191] | 2.16.840.1.101.2.1.2.78.6

5.  Security Considerations

   See the answer to the Security Considerations template questions in
   Section 2.

6.  Acknowledgments

   Special thanks to Carl Wallace for generating the example in
   Section 3.

7.  References

7.1.  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

   [RFC3274]  Gutmann, P., "Compressed Data Content Type for
              Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS)", RFC 3274, June 2002.

   [RFC3370]  Housley, R., "Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS)
              Algorithms", RFC 3370, August 2002.

   [RFC4021]  Klyne, G. and J. Palme, "Registration of Mail and MIME
              Header Fields", RFC 4021, March 2005.

   [RFC4073]  Housley, R., "Protecting Multiple Contents with the
              Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS)", RFC 4073, May 2005.

   [RFC4108]  Housley, R., "Using Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS) to
              Protect Firmware Packages", RFC 4108, August 2005.

   [RFC5083]  Housley, R., "Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS)
              Authenticated-Enveloped-Data Content Type", RFC 5083,
              November 2007.

   [RFC5084]  Housley, R., "Using AES-CCM and AES-GCM Authenticated
              Encryption in the Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS)", RFC
              5084, November 2007.

   [RFC5226]  Narten, T. and H. Alvestrand, "Guidelines for Writing an
              IANA Considerations Section in RFCs", BCP 26, RFC 5226,
              May 2008.

   [RFC5273]  Schaad, J. and M. Myers, "Certificate Management over CMS
              (CMC): Transport Protocols", RFC 5273, June 2008.

   [RFC5652]  Housley, R., "Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS)", STD 70,
              RFC 5652, September 2009.

   [RFC5753]  Turner, S. and D. Brown, "Use of Elliptic Curve
              Cryptography (ECC) Algorithms in Cryptographic Message
              Syntax (CMS)", RFC 5753, January 2010.

   [RFC5754]  Turner, S., "Using SHA2 Algorithms with Cryptographic
              Message Syntax", RFC 5754, January 2010.

   [RFC5914]  Housley, R., Ashmore, S., and C. Wallace, "Trust Anchor
              Format", RFC 5914, June 2010.

   [RFC5934]  Housley, R., Ashmore, S., and C. Wallace, "Trust Anchor
              Management Protocol (TAMP)", RFC 5934, August 2010.

   [RFC5958]  Turner, S., "Asymmetric Key Packages", RFC 5958, August
              2010.

   [RFC5959]  Turner, S., "Algorithms for Asymmetric Key Package Content
              Type", RFC 5959, August 2010.

   [RFC6031]  Turner, S. and R. Housley, "Cryptographic Message Syntax
              (CMS) Symmetric Key Package Content Type", RFC 6031,
              December 2010.

   [RFC6032]  Turner, S. and R. Housley, "Cryptographic Message Syntax
              (CMS) Encrypted Key Package Content Type", RFC 6032,
              December 2010.

   [RFC6033]  Turner, S., "Algorithms for Cryptographic Message Syntax
              (CMS) Encrypted Key Package Content Type", RFC 6033,
              December 2010.

   [RFC6160]  Turner, S., "Algorithms for Cryptographic Message Syntax
              (CMS) Protection of Symmetric Key Package Content Types",
              RFC 6160, April 2011.

   [RFC6161]  Turner, S., "Elliptic Curve Algorithms for Cryptographic
              Message Syntax (CMS) Encrypted Key Package Content Type",
              RFC 6161, April 2011.

   [RFC6162]  Turner, S., "Elliptic Curve Algorithms for Cryptographic
              Message Syntax (CMS) Asymmetric Key Package Content Type",
              RFC 6162, April 2011.

   [RFC6838]  Freed, N., Klensin, J., and T. Hansen, "Media Type
              Specifications and Registration Procedures", BCP 13, RFC
              6838, January 2013.

   [RFC7191]  Housley, R., "Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS) Key
              Package Receipt and Error Content Types", RFC 7191, April
              2014.

7.2.  Informative References

   [RFC2315]  Kaliski, B., "PKCS #7: Cryptographic Message Syntax
              Version 1.5", RFC 2315, March 1998.

   [RFC5751]  Ramsdell, B. and S. Turner, "Secure/Multipurpose Internet
              Mail Extensions (S/MIME) Version 3.2 Message
              Specification", RFC 5751, January 2010.

Authors' Addresses

   Sean Turner
   IECA, Inc.
   3057 Nutley Street, Suite 106
   Fairfax, VA 22031
   USA

   EMail: turners@ieca.com
   Phone: +1.703.628.3180


   Russell Housley
   Vigil Security, LLC
   918 Spring Knoll Drive
   Herndon, VA 20170
   USA

   EMail: housley@vigilsec.com


   Jim Schaad
   Soaring Hawk Consulting

   EMail: ietf@augustcellars.com

ISO Plain Language

On this page
PROBLEMThe media type registered for S/MIME content carries a single smime-type parameter, which assumed that each piece of content had its own MIME wrapping layer. Some newer CMS content types break that assumption, so the type of the content inside the wrappers can no longer be told from the type outside them.
MECHANISMThe RFC registers the media type application/cms with two optional parameters. encapsulatingContent names the CMS content type that wraps the content, and innerContent names the type at the bottom, and each may hold a list of values.
WHY IT MATTERSIt is an Informational RFC that registers a media type with IANA and creates two registries of CMS content type names, allocated by Expert Review. The rule that separates them is simple: an inner content type does not encapsulate another content type, an encapsulating one does.

§1Why a New Media Type

RFC 5751 registered the media type application/pkc7-mime and defined five optional smime-type parameters. The smime-type parameter originally conveyed details about the security applied to the data content type, indicating whether it was signed or enveloped, and the name of the data content. It was later expanded to indicate whether the data content is compressed and whether it contained a certs-only message. This document does not affect those registrations, and it places no requirements on S/MIME agents.

The reason a new media type is needed is that the S/MIME registration assumed there would be a MIME wrapping layer around each of the different enveloping contents, so there was never a need to include more than one item in each smime-type. That is no longer true with some of the more advanced enveloping types. Some protocols, such as Certificate Management over Cryptographic Message Syntax, have defined additional S/MIME types. New protocols that intend to wrap MIME content should continue to define an smime-type string, while new protocols that intend to wrap non-MIME types should use the mechanism this document defines.

CMS associates a content type identifier, an object identifier, with specific content. CMS content types have been widely used to define contents that can be enveloped using other CMS content types, and to define enveloping content types, some of which provide security services. The document lists them in three groups: protecting content types, which provide security services, such as Signed-Data, Enveloped-Data, Digested-Data, Encrypted-Data, Authenticated-Data, Authenticated-Enveloped-Data and Encrypted Key Package; non-protecting content types, which provide no security services but encapsulate other CMS content types, such as Content Information, Compressed Data, Content Collection and Content With Attributes; and the innermost content types, such as Data, Asymmetric Key Package, Symmetric Key Package, the firmware package types, Trust Anchor List, the TAMP status and update types, and the key package receipt and error types.

CMS content sits in nested layers, and the label on the outside used to be enough to describe what was inside. Newer kinds of content have several layers at once, so the label has to name them separately.

THE THREE KINDS OF CMS CONTENT TYPE
  • CMS content Each layer is identified by an object identifier
    • Protecting content types These provide security services
      • Signed-Data
      • Enveloped-Data
      • Digested-Data
      • Encrypted-Data
      • Authenticated-Data
      • Authenticated-Enveloped-Data
      • Encrypted Key Package
    • Non-protecting content types These encapsulate other CMS content types
      • Content Information
      • Compressed Data
      • Content Collection
      • Content With Attributes
    • Innermost content types These do not encapsulate another content type
      • Data
      • Asymmetric Key Package
      • Symmetric Key Package
      • Firmware Package
      • Trust Anchor List
      • TAMP status and update types
      • Key Package Receipt and Error

§2The Media Type and Its Parameters

The registration application gives the type name as application and the subtype name as cms. There are no required parameters and two optional ones, and they are case sensitive.

The encapsulatingContent parameter takes one or more CMS Encapsulating Content Type identifiers. Multiple values are enclosed in quotes and separated by a folding-whitespace, a comma and folding-whitespace. The values are based on the content types found in the CMS, compressed data, protecting multiple contents, authenticated-enveloped-data and encrypted key package documents, and the list can later be extended. The parameter innerContent works the same way for one or more CMS Inner Content Type identifiers, based on the content types found in the firmware package, trust anchor format, trust anchor management protocol, asymmetric key package, symmetric key package and key package receipt documents.

The encoding is binary, and CMS requires that the outermost encapsulation be ContentInfo. The Content-Type header field of all application/cms objects SHOULD include the optional encapsulatingContent and innerContent parameters. The Content-Disposition header field can also be included along with the Content-Type optional name parameter. The registered file extension is .cmsc, there is no magic number, the intended usage is COMMON, and there are no restrictions on usage.

The type is application/cms. Two optional parameters name the layers: one for the wrapping content type and one for the content at the bottom. Both can carry several values at once.

§3Example

The RFC gives an example of an encrypted status response message, showing the headers that carry the media type and its two parameters, together with the base64 transfer encoding of the body.

The Content-Type header names the subtype, then the encapsulatingContent parameter with the value encryptedData, then the innerContent parameter with the value TAMP-statusResponse, and finally the optional name parameter giving the file name status.cmsc. The body itself is the CMS structure, base64 encoded for transport.

The example is a TAMP status response wrapped in encrypted data. The header says both: which wrapper is used and what is inside it.

EXAMPLE HEADERS FROM THE RFC
An encrypted status response
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: application/cms; encapsulatingContent=encryptedData;
              innerContent=TAMP-statusResponse; name=status.cmsc
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64

§4The Two Registries

IANA has registered the media type application/cms in the Standards tree using the application in Section 2 of the document.

IANA has also established two subtype registries, called CMS Encapsulating Content Types and CMS Inner Content Types. Entries in both are allocated by Expert Review. The expert decides whether a content belongs in one or the other, and the rule is that an inner content type does not encapsulate another content type while an encapsulating content type does encapsulate another content type.

The initial values for the encapsulating registry are authData, compressedData, contentCollection, contentInfo, contentWithAttrs, authEnvelopedData, encryptedKeyPkg, digestData, encryptedData, envelopedData and signedData, each with the object identifier defined in the document that specifies it. The inner registry starts with firmwarePackage, firmwareLoadReceipt, firmwareLoadError, aKeyPackage, sKeyPackage, trustAnchorList, the twelve TAMP status and update types, and keyPackageReceipt and keyPackageError.

Two IANA lists hold the layer names. The rule for choosing a list is simple: if the layer wraps something else it goes in the encapsulating list, and if it does not it goes in the inner list.

TWO REGISTRIES, ONE RULE
RegistryWhat it holdsWhich parameter names it
CMS Encapsulating Content TypesContent types that encapsulate another content typeencapsulatingContent
CMS Inner Content TypesContent types that do not encapsulate another content typeinnerContent

§5Security Considerations

The Security Considerations section of the RFC points back to the answers given in the registration template of Section 2, which set out the content types and algorithms each protecting content type is defined with, and the interoperability considerations for each of them. In all cases CMS content types are encapsulated within ContentInfo structures, so the outermost enveloping structure is always ContentInfo, and the media type uses the CMS processing rules rather than the slightly different ones that PKCS #7 defines for SignedData.

Two general points are made. In some circumstances significant information can be leaked by disclosing what the innermost ASN.1 structure is, and in those cases it is acceptable to disclose the wrappers without disclosing the inner content type. And ASN.1 encoding rules, such as DER and BER, have a type-length-value structure, so it is easy to construct malicious content with invalid length fields that can cause buffer overrun conditions; the rules also allow arbitrary levels of nesting, which may make it possible to construct malicious content that causes a stack overflow. Interpreters of ASN.1 structures should guard against buffer overflows and stack overruns in particular, and against malicious content in general.

Naming the innermost layer can leak information, so the parameters can be left out. The bigger risk is in the ASN.1 parsing itself: bad length fields and deep nesting can overflow a buffer or a stack.

§6References