YANG Truststore: A YANG Data Model for a Truststore
A standard YANG home for named bags of trusted certificates and public keys that other configuration can point to.
Watsen, K., "A YANG Data Model for a Truststore", RFC 9641, DOI 10.17487/RFC9641, October 2024, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9641>.
@misc{rfc9641,
series = {Request for Comments},
number = 9641,
howpublished = {RFC 9641},
publisher = {RFC Editor},
doi = {10.17487/RFC9641},
url = {https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9641},
author = {K. Watsen},
title = {{A YANG Data Model for a Truststore}},
pagetotal = 30,
year = 2024,
month = oct,
} RFC text
Contents
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) K. Watsen
Request for Comments: 9641 Watsen Networks
Category: Standards Track October 2024
ISSN: 2070-1721
A YANG Data Model for a Truststore
Abstract
This document presents a YANG module for configuring bags of
certificates and bags of public keys that can be referenced by other
data models for trust. Notifications are sent when certificates are
about to expire.
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 7841.
Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9641.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2024 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
(https://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 Revised BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the
Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described
in the Revised BSD License.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
1.1. Relation to Other RFCs
1.2. Specification Language
1.3. Adherence to the NMDA
1.4. Conventions
2. The "ietf-truststore" Module
2.1. Data Model Overview
2.2. Example Usage
2.3. YANG Module
3. Support for Built-In Trust Anchors
4. Security Considerations
4.1. Security of Data at Rest
4.2. Unconstrained Public Key Usage
4.3. Considerations for the "ietf-truststore" YANG Module
5. IANA Considerations
5.1. The IETF XML Registry
5.2. The YANG Module Names Registry
6. References
6.1. Normative References
6.2. Informative References
Acknowledgements
Author's Address
1. Introduction
This document presents a YANG 1.1 [RFC7950] module that has the
following characteristics:
* Provide a central truststore for storing raw public keys and/or
certificates.
* Provide support for storing named bags of raw public keys and/or
named bags of certificates.
* Provide types that can be used to reference raw public keys or
certificates stored in the central truststore.
* Provide groupings that enable raw public keys and certificates to
be configured inline or as references to truststore instances.
* Enable the truststore to be instantiated in other data models, in
addition to or in lieu of the central truststore instance.
1.1. Relation to Other RFCs
This document presents a YANG module [RFC7950] that is part of a
collection of RFCs that work together to ultimately support the
configuration of both the clients and servers of both the Network
Configuration Protocol (NETCONF) [RFC6241] and RESTCONF [RFC8040].
The dependency relationship between the primary YANG groupings
defined in the various RFCs is presented in the below diagram. In
some cases, a document may define secondary groupings that introduce
dependencies not illustrated in the diagram. The labels in the
diagram are shorthand names for the defining RFCs. The citation
references for shorthand names are provided below the diagram.
Please note that the arrows in the diagram point from referencer to
referenced. For example, the "crypto-types" RFC does not have any
dependencies, whilst the "keystore" RFC depends on the "crypto-types"
RFC.
crypto-types
^ ^
/ \
/ \
truststore keystore
^ ^ ^ ^
| +---------+ | |
| | | |
| +------------+ |
tcp-client-server | / | |
^ ^ ssh-client-server | |
| | ^ tls-client-server
| | | ^ ^ http-client-server
| | | | | ^
| | | +-----+ +---------+ |
| | | | | |
| +-----------|--------|--------------+ | |
| | | | | |
+-----------+ | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
netconf-client-server restconf-client-server
+========================+==========================+
| Label in Diagram | Reference |
+========================+==========================+
| crypto-types | [RFC9640] |
+------------------------+--------------------------+
| truststore | RFC 9641 |
+------------------------+--------------------------+
| keystore | [RFC9642] |
+------------------------+--------------------------+
| tcp-client-server | [RFC9643] |
+------------------------+--------------------------+
| ssh-client-server | [RFC9644] |
+------------------------+--------------------------+
| tls-client-server | [RFC9645] |
+------------------------+--------------------------+
| http-client-server | [HTTP-CLIENT-SERVER] |
+------------------------+--------------------------+
| netconf-client-server | [NETCONF-CLIENT-SERVER] |
+------------------------+--------------------------+
| restconf-client-server | [RESTCONF-CLIENT-SERVER] |
+------------------------+--------------------------+
Table 1: Label in Diagram to RFC Mapping
1.2. Specification Language
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.
1.3. Adherence to the NMDA
This document is compliant with the Network Management Datastore
Architecture (NMDA) [RFC8342]. For instance, trust anchors installed
during manufacturing (e.g., for trusted, well-known services) are
expected to appear in <operational> (see Section 3).
1.4. Conventions
Various examples in this document use "BASE64VALUE=" as a placeholder
value for binary data that has been base64 encoded (see Section 9.8
of [RFC7950]). This placeholder value is used because real
base64-encoded structures are often many lines long and hence
distracting to the example being presented.
Various examples in this document use the XML [W3C.REC-xml-20081126]
encoding. Other encodings, such as JSON [RFC8259], could
alternatively be used.
Various examples in this document contain long lines that may be
folded, as described in [RFC8792].
This document uses the adjective "central" with the word "truststore"
to refer to the top-level instance of the "truststore-grouping"
grouping when the "central-truststore-supported" feature is enabled.
Please be aware that consuming YANG modules MAY instantiate the
"truststore-grouping" grouping in other locations. All such other
instances are not the "central" instance.
2. The "ietf-truststore" Module
This section defines a YANG 1.1 [RFC7950] module called "ietf-
truststore". A high-level overview of the module is provided in
Section 2.1. Examples illustrating the module's use are provided in
Section 2.2 ("Example Usage"). The YANG module itself is defined in
Section 2.3.
2.1. Data Model Overview
This section provides an overview of the "ietf-truststore" module in
terms of its features, typedefs, groupings, and protocol-accessible
nodes.
2.1.1. Features
The following diagram lists all the "feature" statements defined in
the "ietf-truststore" module:
Features:
+-- central-truststore-supported
+-- inline-definitions-supported
+-- certificates
+-- public-keys
The diagram above uses syntax that is similar to but not defined in
[RFC8340].
2.1.2. Typedefs
The following diagram lists the "typedef" statements defined in the
"ietf-truststore" module:
Typedefs:
leafref
+-- central-certificate-bag-ref
+-- central-certificate-ref
+-- central-public-key-bag-ref
+-- central-public-key-ref
The diagram above uses syntax that is similar to but not defined in
[RFC8340].
Comments:
* All the typedefs defined in the "ietf-truststore" module extend
the base "leafref" type defined in [RFC7950].
* The leafrefs refer to certificates, public keys, and bags in the
central truststore when this module is implemented.
* These typedefs are provided to aid consuming modules that import
the "ietf-truststore" module.
2.1.3. Groupings
The "ietf-truststore" module defines the following "grouping"
statements:
* central-certificate-ref-grouping
* central-public-key-ref-grouping
* inline-or-truststore-certs-grouping
* inline-or-truststore-public-keys-grouping
* truststore-grouping
Each of these groupings are presented in the following subsections.
2.1.3.1. The "central-certificate-ref-grouping" Grouping
The following tree diagram [RFC8340] illustrates the "central-
certificate-ref-grouping" grouping:
grouping central-certificate-ref-grouping:
+-- certificate-bag? ts:central-certificate-bag-ref
| {central-truststore-supported,certificates}?
+-- certificate? ts:central-certificate-ref
{central-truststore-supported,certificates}?
Comments:
* The "central-certificate-ref-grouping" grouping is provided solely
as a convenience to consuming modules that wish to enable the
configuration of a reference to a certificate in a certificate-bag
in the truststore.
* The "certificate-bag" leaf uses the "central-certificate-bag-ref"
typedef defined in Section 2.1.2.
* The "certificate" leaf uses the "central-certificate-ref" typedef
defined in Section 2.1.2.
2.1.3.2. The "central-public-key-ref-grouping" Grouping
The following tree diagram [RFC8340] illustrates the "central-public-
key-ref-grouping" grouping:
grouping central-public-key-ref-grouping:
+-- public-key-bag? ts:central-public-key-bag-ref
| {central-truststore-supported,public-keys}?
+-- public-key? ts:central-public-key-ref
{central-truststore-supported,public-keys}?
Comments:
* The "central-public-key-ref-grouping" grouping is provided solely
as a convenience to consuming modules that wish to enable the
configuration of a reference to a public-key in a public-key-bag
in the truststore.
* The "public-key-bag" leaf uses the "central-public-key-bag-ref"
typedef defined in Section 2.1.2.
* The "public-key" leaf uses the "central-public-key-ref" typedef
defined in Section 2.1.2.
2.1.3.3. The "inline-or-truststore-certs-grouping" Grouping
The following tree diagram [RFC8340] illustrates the "inline-or-
truststore-certs-grouping" grouping:
grouping inline-or-truststore-certs-grouping:
+-- (inline-or-truststore)
+--:(inline) {inline-definitions-supported}?
| +-- inline-definition
| +-- certificate* [name]
| +-- name string
| +---u ct:trust-anchor-cert-grouping
+--:(central-truststore)
{central-truststore-supported,certificates}?
+-- central-truststore-reference?
ts:central-certificate-bag-ref
Comments:
* The "inline-or-truststore-certs-grouping" grouping is provided
solely as a convenience to consuming modules that wish to offer an
option whether a bag of certificates can be defined inline or as a
reference to a bag in the truststore.
* A "choice" statement is used to expose the various options. Each
option is enabled by a "feature" statement. Additional "case"
statements MAY be augmented in if, e.g., there is a need to
reference a bag in an alternate location.
* For the "inline-definition" option, the "certificate" node uses
the "trust-anchor-cert-grouping" grouping discussed in
Section 2.1.4.8 of [RFC9640].
* For the "central-truststore" option, the "central-truststore-
reference" node is an instance of the "central-certificate-bag-
ref" discussed in Section 2.1.2.
2.1.3.4. The "inline-or-truststore-public-keys-grouping" Grouping
The following tree diagram [RFC8340] illustrates the "inline-or-
truststore-public-keys-grouping" grouping:
grouping inline-or-truststore-public-keys-grouping:
+-- (inline-or-truststore)
+--:(inline) {inline-definitions-supported}?
| +-- inline-definition
| +-- public-key* [name]
| +-- name string
| +---u ct:public-key-grouping
+--:(central-truststore)
{central-truststore-supported,public-keys}?
+-- central-truststore-reference?
ts:central-public-key-bag-ref
Comments:
* The "inline-or-truststore-public-keys-grouping" grouping is
provided solely as a convenience to consuming modules that wish to
offer an option whether a bag of public keys can be defined inline
or as a reference to a bag in the truststore.
* A "choice" statement is used to expose the various options. Each
option is enabled by a "feature" statement. Additional "case"
statements MAY be augmented in if, e.g., there is a need to
reference a bag in an alternate location.
* For the "inline-definition" option, the "public-key" node uses the
"public-key-grouping" grouping discussed in Section 2.1.4.4 of
[RFC9640].
* For the "central-truststore" option, the "central-truststore-
reference" is an instance of the "certificate-bag-ref" discussed
in Section 2.1.2.
2.1.3.5. The "truststore-grouping" Grouping
The following tree diagram [RFC8340] illustrates the "truststore-
grouping" grouping:
grouping truststore-grouping:
+-- certificate-bags {certificates}?
| +-- certificate-bag* [name]
| +-- name string
| +-- description? string
| +-- certificate* [name]
| +-- name string
| +---u ct:trust-anchor-cert-grouping
+-- public-key-bags {public-keys}?
+-- public-key-bag* [name]
+-- name string
+-- description? string
+-- public-key* [name]
+-- name string
+---u ct:public-key-grouping
Comments:
* The "truststore-grouping" grouping defines a truststore instance
as being composed of certificates and/or public keys, both of
which are enabled by "feature" statements. The structures
supporting certificates and public keys are essentially the same,
having an outer list of "bags" containing an inner list of objects
(i.e., certificates or public keys). The bags enable trust
anchors serving a common purpose to be grouped and referenced
together.
* For certificates, each certificate is defined by the "trust-
anchor-cert-grouping" grouping (Section 2.1.4.8 of [RFC9640]).
The "cert-data" node is a Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS)
structure that can be composed of a chain of one or more
certificates. Additionally, the "certificate-expiration"
notification enables the server to alert clients when certificates
are nearing expiration or have already expired.
* For public keys, each public key is defined by the "public-key-
grouping" grouping (Section 2.1.4.4 of [RFC9640]). The "public-
key" node can be one of any number of structures specified by the
"public-key-format" identity node.
2.1.4. Protocol-Accessible Nodes
The following tree diagram [RFC8340] lists all the protocol-
accessible nodes defined in the "ietf-truststore" module without
expanding the "grouping" statements:
module: ietf-truststore
+--rw truststore {central-truststore-supported}?
+---u truststore-grouping
The following tree diagram [RFC8340] lists all the protocol-
accessible nodes defined in the "ietf-truststore" module with all
"grouping" statements expanded, enabling the truststore's full
structure to be seen:
module: ietf-truststore
+--rw truststore {central-truststore-supported}?
+--rw certificate-bags {certificates}?
| +--rw certificate-bag* [name]
| +--rw name string
| +--rw description? string
| +--rw certificate* [name]
| +--rw name string
| +--rw cert-data trust-anchor-cert-cms
| +---n certificate-expiration
| {certificate-expiration-notification}?
| +-- expiration-date yang:date-and-time
+--rw public-key-bags {public-keys}?
+--rw public-key-bag* [name]
+--rw name string
+--rw description? string
+--rw public-key* [name]
+--rw name string
+--rw public-key-format identityref
+--rw public-key binary
Comments:
* Protocol-accessible nodes are those nodes that are accessible when
the module is "implemented", as described in Section 5.6.5 of
[RFC7950].
* The protocol-accessible nodes for the "ietf-truststore" module are
instances of the "truststore-grouping" grouping discussed in
Section 2.1.3.5.
* The top-level "truststore" node is additionally constrained by the
"central-truststore-supported" feature.
* The "truststore-grouping" grouping is discussed in
Section 2.1.3.5.
* The reason for why the "truststore-grouping" grouping exists
separate from the protocol-accessible nodes definition is to
enable instances of the truststore to be instantiated in other
locations, as may be needed or desired by some modules.
2.2. Example Usage
The examples in this section are encoded using XML, such as might be
the case when using the NETCONF protocol. Other encodings MAY be
used, such as JSON when using the RESTCONF protocol.
2.2.1. A Truststore Instance
This section presents an example illustrating trust anchors in
<intended>, as per Section 2.1.4. Please see Section 3 for an
example illustrating built-in values in <operational>.
The example contained in this section defines eight bags of trust
anchors. There are four certificate-based bags and four public-key-
based bags. The following diagram provides an overview of the
contents in the example:
Certificate Bags
+-- Trust anchor certs for authenticating a set of remote servers
+-- End entity certs for authenticating a set of remote servers
+-- Trust anchor certs for authenticating a set of remote clients
+-- End entity certs for authenticating a set of remote clients
Public Key Bags
+-- SSH keys to authenticate a set of remote SSH servers
+-- SSH keys to authenticate a set of remote SSH clients
+-- Raw public keys to authenticate a set of remote SSH servers
+-- Raw public keys to authenticate a set of remote SSH clients
=============== NOTE: '\' line wrapping per RFC 8792 ================
<truststore
xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-truststore"
xmlns:ct="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-crypto-types">
<!-- A bag of Certificate Bags -->
<certificate-bags>
<!-- Trust Anchor Certs for Authenticating Servers -->
<certificate-bag>
<name>trusted-server-ca-certs</name>
<description>
Trust anchors (i.e., CA certs) used to authenticate server
certificates. A server certificate is authenticated if its
end-entity certificate has a chain of trust to one of these
certificates.
</description>
<certificate>
<name>Server Cert Issuer #1</name>
<cert-data>BASE64VALUE=</cert-data>
</certificate>
<certificate>
<name>Server Cert Issuer #2</name>
<cert-data>BASE64VALUE=</cert-data>
</certificate>
</certificate-bag>
<!-- End Entity Certs for Authenticating Servers -->
<certificate-bag>
<name>trusted-server-ee-certs</name>
<description>
Specific end-entity certificates used to authenticate server
certificates. A server certificate is authenticated if its
end-entity certificate is an exact match to one of these
certificates.
</description>
<certificate>
<name>My Application #1</name>
<cert-data>BASE64VALUE=</cert-data>
</certificate>
<certificate>
<name>My Application #2</name>
<cert-data>BASE64VALUE=</cert-data>
</certificate>
</certificate-bag>
<!-- Trust Anchor Certs for Authenticating Clients -->
<certificate-bag>
<name>trusted-client-ca-certs</name>
<description>
Trust anchors (i.e., CA certs) used to authenticate client
certificates. A client certificate is authenticated if its
end-entity certificate has a chain of trust to one of these
certificates.
</description>
<certificate>
<name>Client Identity Issuer #1</name>
<cert-data>BASE64VALUE=</cert-data>
</certificate>
<certificate>
<name>Client Identity Issuer #2</name>
<cert-data>BASE64VALUE=</cert-data>
</certificate>
</certificate-bag>
<!-- End Entity Certs for Authenticating Clients -->
<certificate-bag>
<name>trusted-client-ee-certs</name>
<description>
Specific end-entity certificates used to authenticate client
certificates. A client certificate is authenticated if its
end-entity certificate is an exact match to one of these
certificates.
</description>
<certificate>
<name>George Jetson</name>
<cert-data>BASE64VALUE=</cert-data>
</certificate>
<certificate>
<name>Fred Flintstone</name>
<cert-data>BASE64VALUE=</cert-data>
</certificate>
</certificate-bag>
</certificate-bags>
<!-- A List of Public Key Bags -->
<public-key-bags>
<!-- Public Keys for Authenticating SSH Servers -->
<public-key-bag>
<name>trusted-ssh-public-keys</name>
<description>
Specific SSH public keys used to authenticate SSH server
public keys. An SSH server public key is authenticated if
its public key is an exact match to one of these public keys.
This list of SSH public keys is analogous to OpenSSH's
"/etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts" file.
</description>
<public-key>
<name>corp-fw1</name>
<public-key-format>ct:ssh-public-key-format</public-key-form\
at>
<public-key>BASE64VALUE=</public-key>
</public-key>
<public-key>
<name>corp-fw2</name>
<public-key-format>ct:ssh-public-key-format</public-key-form\
at>
<public-key>BASE64VALUE=</public-key>
</public-key>
</public-key-bag>
<!-- SSH Public Keys for Authenticating Application A -->
<public-key-bag>
<name>SSH Public Keys for Application A</name>
<description>
SSH public keys used to authenticate application A's SSH
public keys. An SSH public key is authenticated if it
is an exact match to one of these public keys.
</description>
<public-key>
<name>Application Instance #1</name>
<public-key-format>ct:ssh-public-key-format</public-key-form\
at>
<public-key>BASE64VALUE=</public-key>
</public-key>
<public-key>
<name>Application Instance #2</name>
<public-key-format>ct:ssh-public-key-format</public-key-form\
at>
<public-key>BASE64VALUE=</public-key>
</public-key>
</public-key-bag>
<!-- Raw Public Keys for TLS Servers -->
<public-key-bag>
<name>Raw Public Keys for TLS Servers</name>
<public-key>
<name>Raw Public Key #1</name>
<public-key-format>ct:subject-public-key-info-format</public\
-key-format>
<public-key>BASE64VALUE=</public-key>
</public-key>
<public-key>
<name>Raw Public Key #2</name>
<public-key-format>ct:subject-public-key-info-format</public\
-key-format>
<public-key>BASE64VALUE=</public-key>
</public-key>
</public-key-bag>
<!-- Raw Public Keys for TLS Clients -->
<public-key-bag>
<name>Raw Public Keys for TLS Clients</name>
<public-key>
<name>Raw Public Key #1</name>
<public-key-format>ct:subject-public-key-info-format</public\
-key-format>
<public-key>BASE64VALUE=</public-key>
</public-key>
<public-key>
<name>Raw Public Key #2</name>
<public-key-format>ct:subject-public-key-info-format</public\
-key-format>
<public-key>BASE64VALUE=</public-key>
</public-key>
</public-key-bag>
</public-key-bags>
</truststore>
2.2.2. A Certificate Expiration Notification
The following example illustrates the "certificate-expiration"
notification (per Section 2.1.4.7 of [RFC9640]) for a certificate
configured in the truststore described in Section 2.2.1.
=============== NOTE: '\' line wrapping per RFC 8792 ================
<notification
xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:notification:1.0">
<eventTime>2018-05-25T00:01:00Z</eventTime>
<truststore xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-truststore">
<certificate-bags>
<certificate-bag>
<name>trusted-client-ee-certs</name>
<certificate>
<name>George Jetson</name>
<certificate-expiration>
<expiration-date>2024-01-05T14:18:53-05:00</expiration-d\
ate>
</certificate-expiration>
</certificate>
</certificate-bag>
</certificate-bags>
</truststore>
</notification>
2.2.3. The "Inline or Truststore" Groupings
This section illustrates the various "inline-or-truststore" groupings
defined in the "ietf-truststore" module, specifically the "inline-or-
truststore-certs-grouping" (Section 2.1.3.3) and "inline-or-
truststore-public-keys-grouping" (Section 2.1.3.4) groupings.
These examples assume the existence of an example module called "ex-
truststore-usage" that has the namespace "https://example.com/ns/
example-truststore-usage".
The "ex-truststore-usage" module is first presented using tree
diagrams [RFC8340], followed by an instance example illustrating all
the "inline-or-truststore" groupings in use, followed by the YANG
module itself.
The following tree diagram illustrates the "ex-truststore-usage"
module without expanding the "grouping" statements:
module: ex-truststore-usage
+--rw truststore-usage
+--rw cert* [name]
| +--rw name string
| +---u ts:inline-or-truststore-certs-grouping
+--rw public-key* [name]
+--rw name string
+---u ts:inline-or-truststore-public-keys-grouping
The following tree diagram illustrates the "ex-truststore-usage"
module with all "grouping" statements expanded, enabling the
truststore's full structure to be seen:
module: ex-truststore-usage
+--rw truststore-usage
+--rw cert* [name]
| +--rw name string
| +--rw (inline-or-truststore)
| +--:(inline) {inline-definitions-supported}?
| | +--rw inline-definition
| | +--rw certificate* [name]
| | +--rw name string
| | +--rw cert-data
| | | trust-anchor-cert-cms
| | +---n certificate-expiration
| | {certificate-expiration-notification}?
| | +-- expiration-date yang:date-and-time
| +--:(central-truststore)
| {central-truststore-supported,certificates}?
| +--rw central-truststore-reference?
| ts:central-certificate-bag-ref
+--rw public-key* [name]
+--rw name string
+--rw (inline-or-truststore)
+--:(inline) {inline-definitions-supported}?
| +--rw inline-definition
| +--rw public-key* [name]
| +--rw name string
| +--rw public-key-format identityref
| +--rw public-key binary
+--:(central-truststore)
{central-truststore-supported,public-keys}?
+--rw central-truststore-reference?
ts:central-public-key-bag-ref
The following example provides two equivalent instances of each
grouping, the first being a reference to a truststore and the second
being defined inline. The instance having a reference to a
truststore is consistent with the truststore defined in
Section 2.2.1. The two instances are equivalent, as the inlined
instance example contains the same values defined by the truststore
instance referenced by its sibling example.
=============== NOTE: '\' line wrapping per RFC 8792 ================
<truststore-usage
xmlns="https://example.com/ns/example-truststore-usage"
xmlns:ct="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-crypto-types">
<!-- The following two equivalent examples illustrate -->
<!-- the "inline-or-truststore-certs-grouping" grouping: -->
<cert>
<name>example 1a</name>
<central-truststore-reference>trusted-client-ca-certs</central-t\
ruststore-reference>
</cert>
<cert>
<name>example 1b</name>
<inline-definition>
<certificate>
<name>Client Identity Issuer #1</name>
<cert-data>BASE64VALUE=</cert-data>
</certificate>
<certificate>
<name>Client Identity Issuer #2</name>
<cert-data>BASE64VALUE=</cert-data>
</certificate>
</inline-definition>
</cert>
<!-- The following two equivalent examples illustrate the -->
<!-- "inline-or-truststore-public-keys-grouping" grouping: -->
<public-key>
<name>example 2a</name>
<central-truststore-reference>trusted-ssh-public-keys</central-t\
ruststore-reference>
</public-key>
<public-key>
<name>example 2b</name>
<inline-definition>
<public-key>
<name>corp-fw1</name>
<public-key-format>ct:ssh-public-key-format</public-key-form\
at>
<public-key>BASE64VALUE=</public-key>
</public-key>
<public-key>
<name>corp-fw2</name>
<public-key-format>ct:ssh-public-key-format</public-key-form\
at>
<public-key>BASE64VALUE=</public-key>
</public-key>
</inline-definition>
</public-key>
</truststore-usage>
Following is the "ex-truststore-usage" module's YANG definition:
module ex-truststore-usage {
yang-version 1.1;
namespace "https://example.com/ns/example-truststore-usage";
prefix etu;
import ietf-truststore {
prefix ts;
reference
"RFC 9641: A YANG Data Model for a Truststore";
}
organization
"Example Corporation";
contact
"Author: YANG Designer <mailto:yang.designer@example.com>";
description
"This example module illustrates notable groupings defined
in the 'ietf-truststore' module.";
revision 2024-10-10 {
description
"Initial version.";
reference
"RFC 9641: A YANG Data Model for a Truststore";
}
container truststore-usage {
description
"An illustration of the various truststore groupings.";
list cert {
key "name";
leaf name {
type string;
description
"An arbitrary name for this cert.";
}
uses ts:inline-or-truststore-certs-grouping;
description
"A cert that may be configured locally or be
a reference to a cert in the truststore.";
}
list public-key {
key "name";
leaf name {
type string;
description
"An arbitrary name for this cert.";
}
uses ts:inline-or-truststore-public-keys-grouping;
description
"A public key that may be configured locally or be
a reference to a public key in the truststore.";
}
}
}
2.3. YANG Module
This YANG module imports modules from [RFC8341] and [RFC9640].
<CODE BEGINS> file "ietf-truststore@2024-10-10.yang"
module ietf-truststore {
yang-version 1.1;
namespace "urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-truststore";
prefix ts;
import ietf-netconf-acm {
prefix nacm;
reference
"RFC 8341: Network Configuration Access Control Model";
}
import ietf-crypto-types {
prefix ct;
reference
"RFC 9640: YANG Data Types and Groupings for Cryptography";
}
organization
"IETF NETCONF (Network Configuration) Working Group";
contact
"WG Web: https://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/netconf
WG List: NETCONF WG list <mailto:netconf@ietf.org>
Author: Kent Watsen <kent+ietf@watsen.net>";
description
"This module defines a 'truststore' to centralize management
of trust anchors, including certificates and public keys.
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 (RFC 2119)
(RFC 8174) when, and only when, they appear in all
capitals, as shown here.
Copyright (c) 2024 IETF Trust and the persons identified
as authors of the code. All rights reserved.
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with
or without modification, is permitted pursuant to, and
subject to the license terms contained in, the Revised
BSD License set forth in Section 4.c of the IETF Trust's
Legal Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
(https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info).
This version of this YANG module is part of RFC 9641
(https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9641); see the RFC
itself for full legal notices.";
revision 2024-10-10 {
description
"Initial version.";
reference
"RFC 9641: A YANG Data Model for a Truststore";
}
/****************/
/* Features */
/****************/
feature central-truststore-supported {
description
"The 'central-truststore-supported' feature indicates that
the server supports the truststore (i.e., implements the
'ietf-truststore' module).";
}
feature inline-definitions-supported {
description
"The 'inline-definitions-supported' feature indicates that
the server supports locally defined trust anchors.";
}
feature certificates {
description
"The 'certificates' feature indicates that the server
implements the /truststore/certificate-bags subtree.";
}
feature public-keys {
description
"The 'public-keys' feature indicates that the server
implements the /truststore/public-key-bags subtree.";
}
/****************/
/* Typedefs */
/****************/
typedef central-certificate-bag-ref {
type leafref {
path "/ts:truststore/ts:certificate-bags/"
+ "ts:certificate-bag/ts:name";
}
description
"This typedef defines a reference to a certificate bag
in the central truststore.";
}
typedef central-certificate-ref {
type leafref {
path "/ts:truststore/ts:certificate-bags/ts:certificate-bag"
+ "[ts:name = current()/../certificate-bag]/"
+ "ts:certificate/ts:name";
}
description
"This typedef defines a reference to a specific certificate
in a certificate bag in the central truststore. This typedef
requires that there exist a sibling 'leaf' node called
'certificate-bag' that SHOULD have the
'central-certificate-bag-ref' typedef.";
}
typedef central-public-key-bag-ref {
type leafref {
path "/ts:truststore/ts:public-key-bags/"
+ "ts:public-key-bag/ts:name";
}
description
"This typedef defines a reference to a public key bag
in the central truststore.";
}
typedef central-public-key-ref {
type leafref {
path "/ts:truststore/ts:public-key-bags/ts:public-key-bag"
+ "[ts:name = current()/../public-key-bag]/"
+ "ts:public-key/ts:name";
}
description
"This typedef defines a reference to a specific public key
in a public key bag in the truststore. This typedef
requires that there exist a sibling 'leaf' node called
'public-key-bag' SHOULD have the
'central-public-key-bag-ref' typedef.";
}
/*****************/
/* Groupings */
/*****************/
// *-ref groupings
grouping central-certificate-ref-grouping {
description
"Grouping for the reference to a certificate in a
certificate-bag in the central truststore.";
leaf certificate-bag {
nacm:default-deny-write;
if-feature "central-truststore-supported";
if-feature "certificates";
type ts:central-certificate-bag-ref;
must '../certificate';
description
"Reference to a certificate-bag in the truststore.";
}
leaf certificate {
nacm:default-deny-write;
if-feature "central-truststore-supported";
if-feature "certificates";
type ts:central-certificate-ref;
must '../certificate-bag';
description
"Reference to a specific certificate in the
referenced certificate-bag.";
}
}
grouping central-public-key-ref-grouping {
description
"Grouping for the reference to a public key in a
public-key-bag in the central truststore.";
leaf public-key-bag {
nacm:default-deny-write;
if-feature "central-truststore-supported";
if-feature "public-keys";
type ts:central-public-key-bag-ref;
description
"Reference of a public key bag in the truststore, including
the certificate to authenticate the TLS client.";
}
leaf public-key {
nacm:default-deny-write;
if-feature "central-truststore-supported";
if-feature "public-keys";
type ts:central-public-key-ref;
description
"Reference to a specific public key in the
referenced public-key-bag.";
}
}
// inline-or-truststore-* groupings
grouping inline-or-truststore-certs-grouping {
description
"A grouping for the configuration of a list of certificates.
The list of certificates may be defined inline or as a
reference to a certificate bag in the central truststore.
Servers that wish to define alternate truststore locations
MUST augment in custom 'case' statements, enabling
references to those alternate truststore locations.";
choice inline-or-truststore {
nacm:default-deny-write;
mandatory true;
description
"A choice between an inlined definition and a definition
that exists in the truststore.";
case inline {
if-feature "inline-definitions-supported";
container inline-definition {
description
"A container for locally configured trust anchor
certificates.";
list certificate {
key "name";
min-elements 1;
description
"A trust anchor certificate or chain of certificates.";
leaf name {
type string;
description
"An arbitrary name for this certificate.";
}
uses ct:trust-anchor-cert-grouping {
refine "cert-data" {
mandatory true;
}
}
}
}
}
case central-truststore {
if-feature "central-truststore-supported";
if-feature "certificates";
leaf central-truststore-reference {
type ts:central-certificate-bag-ref;
description
"A reference to a certificate bag that exists in the
central truststore.";
}
}
}
}
grouping inline-or-truststore-public-keys-grouping {
description
"A grouping that allows the public keys to either be
configured locally, within the data model being used, or be a
reference to a public key bag stored in the truststore.
Servers that wish to define alternate truststore locations
SHOULD augment in custom 'case' statement, enabling
references to those alternate truststore locations.";
choice inline-or-truststore {
nacm:default-deny-write;
mandatory true;
description
"A choice between an inlined definition and a definition
that exists in the truststore.";
case inline {
if-feature "inline-definitions-supported";
container inline-definition {
description
"A container to hold local public key definitions.";
list public-key {
key "name";
description
"A public key definition.";
leaf name {
type string;
description
"An arbitrary name for this public key.";
}
uses ct:public-key-grouping;
}
}
}
case central-truststore {
if-feature "central-truststore-supported";
if-feature "public-keys";
leaf central-truststore-reference {
type ts:central-public-key-bag-ref;
description
"A reference to a bag of public keys that exists
in the central truststore.";
}
}
}
}
// the truststore grouping
grouping truststore-grouping {
description
"A grouping definition that enables use in other contexts.
Where used, implementations MUST augment new 'case'
statements into the various inline-or-truststore 'choice'
statements to supply leafrefs to the model-specific
location(s).";
container certificate-bags {
nacm:default-deny-write;
if-feature "certificates";
description
"A collection of certificate bags.";
list certificate-bag {
key "name";
description
"A bag of certificates. Each bag of certificates should
be for a specific purpose. For instance, one bag could
be used to authenticate a specific set of servers, while
another could be used to authenticate a specific set of
clients.";
leaf name {
type string;
description
"An arbitrary name for this bag of certificates.";
}
leaf description {
type string;
description
"A description for this bag of certificates. The
intended purpose for the bag SHOULD be described.";
}
list certificate {
key "name";
description
"A trust anchor certificate or chain of certificates.";
leaf name {
type string;
description
"An arbitrary name for this certificate.";
}
uses ct:trust-anchor-cert-grouping {
refine "cert-data" {
mandatory true;
}
}
}
}
}
container public-key-bags {
nacm:default-deny-write;
if-feature "public-keys";
description
"A collection of public key bags.";
list public-key-bag {
key "name";
description
"A bag of public keys. Each bag of keys SHOULD be for
a specific purpose. For instance, one bag could be used
to authenticate a specific set of servers, while another
could be used to authenticate a specific set of clients.";
leaf name {
type string;
description
"An arbitrary name for this bag of public keys.";
}
leaf description {
type string;
description
"A description for this bag of public keys. The
intended purpose for the bag MUST be described.";
}
list public-key {
key "name";
description
"A public key.";
leaf name {
type string;
description
"An arbitrary name for this public key.";
}
uses ct:public-key-grouping;
}
}
}
}
/*********************************/
/* Protocol-accessible nodes */
/*********************************/
container truststore {
if-feature "central-truststore-supported";
nacm:default-deny-write;
description
"The truststore contains bags of certificates and
public keys.";
uses truststore-grouping;
}
}
<CODE ENDS>
3. Support for Built-In Trust Anchors
In some implementations, a server may define some built-in trust
anchors. For instance, there may be built-in trust anchors enabling
the server to securely connect to well-known services (e.g., a Secure
Zero-Touch Provisioning (SZTP) [RFC8572] bootstrap server) or public
Certification Authority (CA) certificates to connect to arbitrary web
services using PKI.
Built-in trust anchors are expected to be set by a vendor-specific
process. Any ability for operators to set and/or modify built-in
trust anchors is outside the scope of this document.
The primary characteristic of the built-in trust anchors is that they
are provided by the server, as opposed to configuration. As such,
they are present in <operational> (Section 5.3 of [RFC8342]) and
<system> [NETMOD-SYSTEM-CONFIG], if implemented.
The example below illustrates what the truststore in <operational>
might look like for a server in its factory default state. Note that
the built-in trust anchor bags have the "or:origin" annotation value
"or:system".
<truststore
xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-truststore"
xmlns:ct="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-crypto-types"
xmlns:or="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-origin"
or:origin="or:intended">
<certificate-bags>
<certificate-bag or:origin="or:system">
<name>Built-In Manufacturer Trust Anchor Certificates</name>
<description>
Certificates built into the device for authenticating
manufacturer-signed objects, such as TLS server certificates,
vouchers, etc.
</description>
<certificate>
<name>Manufacturer Root CA Cert</name>
<cert-data>BASE64VALUE=</cert-data>
</certificate>
</certificate-bag>
<certificate-bag or:origin="or:system">
<name>Built-In Public Trust Anchor Certificates</name>
<description>
Certificates built into the device for authenticating
certificates issued by public certificate authorities,
such as the end-entity certificate for web servers.
</description>
<certificate>
<name>Public Root CA Cert 1</name>
<cert-data>BASE64VALUE=</cert-data>
</certificate>
<certificate>
<name>Public Root CA Cert 2</name>
<cert-data>BASE64VALUE=</cert-data>
</certificate>
<certificate>
<name>Public Root CA Cert 3</name>
<cert-data>BASE64VALUE=</cert-data>
</certificate>
</certificate-bag>
</certificate-bags>
</truststore>
4. Security Considerations
4.1. Security of Data at Rest
The YANG module specified in this document defines a mechanism called
a "truststore" that, by its name, suggests that its contents are
protected from unauthorized modification.
Security controls for the API (i.e., data in motion) are discussed in
Section 4.3, but controls for the data at rest (e.g., on disk) cannot
be specified by the YANG module.
In order to satisfy the expectations of a "truststore", server
implementations MUST ensure that the truststore contents are
protected from unauthorized modifications when at rest.
4.2. Unconstrained Public Key Usage
This module enables the configuration of public keys without
constraints on their usage, e.g., what operations the key is allowed
to be used for (encryption, verification, or both).
Trust anchors configured via this module are implicitly trusted to
validate certification paths that may include any name, be used for
any purpose, or be subject to constraints imposed by an intermediate
CA or by context in which the truststore is used. Implementations
are free to use alternative or auxiliary structures and validation
rules to define constraints that limit the applicability of a trust
anchor.
4.3. Considerations for the "ietf-truststore" YANG Module
This section is modeled after the template defined in Section 3.7.1
of [RFC8407].
The "ietf-truststore" YANG module defines "grouping" and "container"
statements that are designed to be accessed via YANG-based management
protocols, such as NETCONF [RFC6241] and RESTCONF [RFC8040]. These
protocols have mandatory-to-implement secure transport layers (e.g.,
Secure Shell (SSH) [RFC4252], TLS [RFC8446], and QUIC [RFC9000]) and
mandatory-to-implement mutual authentication.
The Network Configuration Access Control Model (NACM) [RFC8341]
provides the means to restrict access for particular users to a
preconfigured subset of all available protocol operations and
content.
Please be aware that this YANG module uses groupings from other YANG
modules that define nodes that may be considered sensitive or
vulnerable in network environments. Please review the security
considerations for dependent YANG modules for information as to which
nodes may be considered sensitive or vulnerable in network
environments.
Most of the readable data nodes defined in this YANG module are not
considered sensitive or vulnerable in network environments. However,
the "cert-data" node uses the NACM "default-deny-all" extension for
reasons described in Section 3.8 of [RFC9640].
All the writable data nodes defined by this module, both in the
"grouping" statements as well as the protocol-accessible "truststore"
instance, may be considered sensitive or vulnerable in some network
environments. For instance, any modification to a trust anchor or
reference to a trust anchor may dramatically alter the implemented
security policy. For this reason, the NACM "default-deny-write"
extension has been set for all data nodes defined in this module.
This module does not define any "rpc" or "action" statements, and
thus, the security considerations for such are not provided here.
5. IANA Considerations
5.1. The IETF XML Registry
IANA has registered the following URI in the "ns" registry defined of
the "IETF XML Registry" [RFC3688].
URI: urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-truststore
Registrant Contact: The IESG
XML: N/A; the requested URI is an XML namespace.
5.2. The YANG Module Names Registry
IANA has registered the following YANG module in the "YANG Module
Names" registry defined in [RFC6020].
Name: ietf-truststore
Namespace: urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-truststore
Prefix: ts
Reference: RFC 9641
6. References
6.1. Normative References
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.
[RFC4252] Ylonen, T. and C. Lonvick, Ed., "The Secure Shell (SSH)
Authentication Protocol", RFC 4252, DOI 10.17487/RFC4252,
January 2006, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4252>.
[RFC6241] Enns, R., Ed., Bjorklund, M., Ed., Schoenwaelder, J., Ed.,
and A. Bierman, Ed., "Network Configuration Protocol
(NETCONF)", RFC 6241, DOI 10.17487/RFC6241, June 2011,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6241>.
[RFC7950] Bjorklund, M., Ed., "The YANG 1.1 Data Modeling Language",
RFC 7950, DOI 10.17487/RFC7950, August 2016,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7950>.
[RFC8040] Bierman, A., Bjorklund, M., and K. Watsen, "RESTCONF
Protocol", RFC 8040, DOI 10.17487/RFC8040, January 2017,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8040>.
[RFC8174] Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8174>.
[RFC8341] Bierman, A. and M. Bjorklund, "Network Configuration
Access Control Model", STD 91, RFC 8341,
DOI 10.17487/RFC8341, March 2018,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8341>.
[RFC8446] Rescorla, E., "The Transport Layer Security (TLS) Protocol
Version 1.3", RFC 8446, DOI 10.17487/RFC8446, August 2018,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8446>.
[RFC9000] Iyengar, J., Ed. and M. Thomson, Ed., "QUIC: A UDP-Based
Multiplexed and Secure Transport", RFC 9000,
DOI 10.17487/RFC9000, May 2021,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9000>.
[RFC9640] Watsen, K., "YANG Data Types and Groupings for
Cryptography", RFC 9640, DOI 10.17487/RFC9640, October
2024, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9640>.
6.2. Informative References
[HTTP-CLIENT-SERVER]
Watsen, K., "YANG Groupings for HTTP Clients and HTTP
Servers", Work in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-
netconf-http-client-server-23, 15 August 2024,
<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-netconf-
http-client-server-23>.
[NETCONF-CLIENT-SERVER]
Watsen, K., "NETCONF Client and Server Models", Work in
Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-netconf-netconf-
client-server-37, 14 August 2024,
<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-netconf-
netconf-client-server-37>.
[NETMOD-SYSTEM-CONFIG]
Ma, Q., Wu, Q., and C. Feng, "System-defined
Configuration", Work in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-
ietf-netmod-system-config-09, 29 September 2024,
<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-netmod-
system-config-09>.
[RESTCONF-CLIENT-SERVER]
Watsen, K., "RESTCONF Client and Server Models", Work in
Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-netconf-restconf-
client-server-38, 14 August 2024,
<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-netconf-
restconf-client-server-38>.
[RFC3688] Mealling, M., "The IETF XML Registry", BCP 81, RFC 3688,
DOI 10.17487/RFC3688, January 2004,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3688>.
[RFC6020] Bjorklund, M., Ed., "YANG - A Data Modeling Language for
the Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF)", RFC 6020,
DOI 10.17487/RFC6020, October 2010,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6020>.
[RFC8259] Bray, T., Ed., "The JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) Data
Interchange Format", STD 90, RFC 8259,
DOI 10.17487/RFC8259, December 2017,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8259>.
[RFC8340] Bjorklund, M. and L. Berger, Ed., "YANG Tree Diagrams",
BCP 215, RFC 8340, DOI 10.17487/RFC8340, March 2018,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8340>.
[RFC8342] Bjorklund, M., Schoenwaelder, J., Shafer, P., Watsen, K.,
and R. Wilton, "Network Management Datastore Architecture
(NMDA)", RFC 8342, DOI 10.17487/RFC8342, March 2018,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8342>.
[RFC8407] Bierman, A., "Guidelines for Authors and Reviewers of
Documents Containing YANG Data Models", BCP 216, RFC 8407,
DOI 10.17487/RFC8407, October 2018,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8407>.
[RFC8572] Watsen, K., Farrer, I., and M. Abrahamsson, "Secure Zero
Touch Provisioning (SZTP)", RFC 8572,
DOI 10.17487/RFC8572, April 2019,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8572>.
[RFC8792] Watsen, K., Auerswald, E., Farrel, A., and Q. Wu,
"Handling Long Lines in Content of Internet-Drafts and
RFCs", RFC 8792, DOI 10.17487/RFC8792, June 2020,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8792>.
[RFC9642] Watsen, K., "A YANG Data Model for a Keystore", RFC 9642,
DOI 10.17487/RFC9642, October 2024,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9642>.
[RFC9643] Watsen, K. and M. Scharf, "YANG Groupings for TCP Clients
and TCP Servers", RFC 9643, DOI 10.17487/RFC9643, October
2024, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9643>.
[RFC9644] Watsen, K., "YANG Groupings for SSH Clients and SSH
Servers", RFC 9644, DOI 10.17487/RFC9644, October 2024,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9644>.
[RFC9645] Watsen, K., "YANG Groupings for TLS Clients and TLS
Servers", RFC 9645, DOI 10.17487/RFC9645, October 2024,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9645>.
[W3C.REC-xml-20081126]
Bray, T., Paoli, J., Sperberg-McQueen, C.M., Maler, E.,
and F. Yergeau, "Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0
(Fifth Edition)", World Wide Web Consortium
Recommendation REC-xml-20081126, November 2008,
<https://www.w3.org/TR/2008/REC-xml-20081126/>.
Acknowledgements
The authors especially thank Henk Birkholz for contributing YANG to
the "ietf-truststore" module supporting raw public keys and PSKs
(pre-shared or pairwise-symmetric keys). While these contributions
were eventually replaced by reusing the existing support for
asymmetric and symmetric trust anchors, respectively, it was only
through Henk's initiative that the WG was able to come to that
result.
The authors additionally thank the following for helping give shape
to this work (ordered by first name): Balázs Kovács, Carl Wallace,
Eric Voit, Éric Vyncke, Francesca Palombini, Jensen Zhang, Jürgen
Schönwälder, Lars Eggert, Liang Xia, Martin Björklund, Murray
Kucherawy, Nick Hancock, Paul Kyzivat, Qin Wu, Rob Wilton, Robert
Varga, Roman Danyliw, and Yoav Nir.
Author's Address
Kent Watsen
Watsen Networks
Email: kent+ietf@watsen.net
ISO Plain Language
On this page
§1Introduction
RFC 9641 presents a YANG 1.1 module with five characteristics. It provides a central truststore for storing raw public keys and certificates. It supports named bags of raw public keys and named bags of certificates. It provides types that other data models can use to reference a raw public key or a certificate held in the central truststore. It provides groupings that let keys and certificates be configured inline or as references to truststore instances. And it lets the truststore be instantiated in other data models, in addition to or instead of the central truststore instance.
The document is compliant with the Network Management Datastore Architecture, so trust anchors installed during manufacturing, for instance for trusted well-known services, are expected to appear in the operational datastore rather than in the configuration.
Throughout the document the word central is used with truststore to refer to the top-level instance of the truststore grouping when the central-truststore-supported feature is enabled. Consuming modules may instantiate the same grouping in other locations, and those other instances are not the central one.
This document gives network equipment a standard place to keep the keys and certificates it trusts. The keys are grouped into named sets, and other parts of the configuration can refer to a set by name instead of carrying their own copy. Equipment makers can also ship keys that are built in rather than configured.
§1.1Relation to Other Modules
The module is part of a collection of RFCs that together support the configuration of both the clients and the servers of NETCONF and RESTCONF. The dependency diagram in the document draws its arrows from a referencer to the module it references. The crypto-types module, defined in RFC 9640, has no dependencies of its own, and the keystore module of RFC 9642 depends on it. The truststore module defined here depends on crypto-types, which supplies the groupings that describe how a certificate or a public key is stored.
The client and server modules for TCP, SSH and TLS all depend on the truststore module, as do the HTTP client and server module and the NETCONF and RESTCONF client and server modules. The TCP, SSH and TLS documents are published as RFCs 9643, 9644 and 9645; the HTTP, NETCONF and RESTCONF client and server documents are still works in progress at the time of writing.
This module is one piece of a set. A base module supplies the format for storing a certificate or a key, this module holds the trusted ones, and the client and server modules for TCP, SSH, TLS and HTTP are built on top of it. The NETCONF and RESTCONF modules that read and write all of this sit underneath.
| Module | Reference | Depends on |
|---|---|---|
| crypto-types | RFC 9640 | Nothing |
| truststore THIS RFC | RFC 9641 | crypto-types |
| keystore | RFC 9642 | crypto-types, truststore |
| tcp-client-server | RFC 9643 | truststore |
| ssh-client-server | RFC 9644 | truststore |
| tls-client-server | RFC 9645 | truststore |
| http-client-server | work in progress | truststore |
| netconf-client-server | work in progress | truststore |
| restconf-client-server | work in progress | truststore |
§2.1Features, Typedefs and Groupings
The module defines four features. central-truststore-supported says the server implements the module and therefore supports the truststore. inline-definitions-supported says the server supports trust anchors defined locally. certificates says the server implements the certificate-bags subtree of the truststore, and public-keys says it implements the public-key-bags subtree.
It defines four typedefs, all of which extend the base leafref type: central-certificate-bag-ref, central-certificate-ref, central-public-key-bag-ref and central-public-key-ref. Each one is a path into the central truststore, so a consuming module can point at a named bag or at a single named entry inside a bag.
It defines five groupings. Two of them, central-certificate-ref-grouping and central-public-key-ref-grouping, offer a convenience way to configure a reference to a bag and to a single entry within it; the two leaves depend on each other, so neither can be set without the other. Two more, inline-or-truststore-certs-grouping and inline-or-truststore-public-keys-grouping, are choices: the keys are either defined inline in the configuration that uses them, or given as a reference to a bag in the central truststore. A server that wants truststore locations other than the central one augments its own case statements into those choices. The fifth grouping, truststore-grouping, defines the truststore itself.
The module has four optional capabilities a device can say it supports, four reference types that point into the truststore, and five reusable pieces of the model. Two of those pieces let another model point at a bag or at one key inside it. Two more let the model choose between writing the keys inline and pointing at a bag. The last one is the truststore itself, which other models may place wherever they need it.
- central-truststore-supportedThe server implements the module and offers a truststore at the top level of its datastore.
- inline-definitions-supportedThe server supports trust anchors defined locally, next to the configuration that uses them.
- certificatesThe server implements the certificate-bags part of the truststore.
- public-keysThe server implements the public-key-bags part of the truststore.
§2.1.4The Truststore Data Tree
The module's only protocol-accessible node is the container truststore, which is present only when the central-truststore-supported feature is enabled and which uses the truststore grouping. Because that grouping is defined separately from the protocol-accessible node, other modules can instantiate a truststore somewhere else in their own tree.
Inside the truststore are two containers, certificate-bags and public-key-bags, each present only if the matching feature is enabled. A certificate bag is a list keyed by name, with a name leaf, an optional description leaf and a list of certificates, each keyed by name and carrying the cert-data node defined by the crypto-types module. The cert-data node is a Cryptographic Message Syntax structure that can hold a chain of one or more certificates, and it is mandatory in the truststore. Each certificate also carries the certificate-expiration notification, which lets the server alert clients when a certificate is nearing expiration or has already expired. A public-key bag has the same shape, with a list of public keys, each carrying a name, a public-key-format identity and the key itself as binary data.
Every writable node in the module carries the NACM default-deny-write extension, so an access control model can restrict who is allowed to change the truststore.
The truststore holds two kinds of group, one for certificates and one for public keys. Each group has a name, an optional description and a list of entries, and each entry has its own name. Certificates are stored in the CMS format defined by the crypto-types module, and each one can report the date it expires. Public keys are stored with a format label and the key bytes.
- truststore Only present when the central-truststore-supported feature is enabled
- certificate-bags Present when the certificates feature is enabled
- certificate-bag [name]
- name
- description
- certificate [name]
- certificate-bag [name]
- public-key-bags Present when the public-keys feature is enabled
- public-key-bag [name]
- name
- description
- public-key [name]
- public-key-bag [name]
- certificate-bags Present when the certificates feature is enabled
§2.2Example Usage
The examples are given in XML, as might be used with NETCONF; JSON can be used instead where RESTCONF is in use. The first example defines eight bags of trust anchors, four certificate bags and four public-key bags. The certificate bags cover trust anchor certificates for authenticating a set of remote servers, end entity certificates for authenticating a set of remote servers, trust anchor certificates for remote clients and end entity certificates for remote clients. The public-key bags cover SSH keys for remote servers, SSH keys for remote clients, raw public keys for remote servers and raw public keys for remote clients.
The descriptions in that example state how each bag is used. A server certificate is authenticated if its end-entity certificate has a chain of trust to one of the trust anchor certificates, and it is authenticated if the end-entity certificate is an exact match to one of the end entity certificates.
The second example shows the certificate-expiration notification for one of the configured certificates, naming the bag and the certificate and giving the expiration date. The third example illustrates the inline-or-truststore groupings with an example module. It gives two equivalent instances of each grouping, one referring to a bag in the truststore and one defining the same values inline. The two are equivalent because the inlined instance contains the same values as the truststore instance referenced by its sibling.
The worked example fills a truststore with eight groups, four of certificates and four of public keys, separated by whether they are used for servers or for clients. It then shows how a device reports that one of those certificates is about to expire, and how another model can either point at a group or write the same values inline.
<truststore xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-truststore">
<certificate-bags>
<certificate-bag>
<name>trusted-server-ca-certs</name>
<description>
Trust anchors (i.e., CA certs) used to authenticate server
certificates.
</description>
<certificate>
<name>Server Cert Issuer #1</name>
<cert-data>BASE64VALUE=</cert-data>
</certificate>
</certificate-bag>
</certificate-bags>
</truststore>§3Built-In Trust Anchors
Some implementations define built-in trust anchors. There may be built-in anchors that let the server connect securely to well-known services, such as a Secure Zero-Touch Provisioning bootstrap server, or public certification authority certificates for connecting to arbitrary web services using PKI.
Built-in trust anchors are expected to be set by a vendor-specific process, and any ability for operators to set or modify them is outside the scope of the document.
The defining characteristic of built-in trust anchors is that the server provides them rather than the configuration. They are therefore present in the operational datastore and in the system configuration, if implemented. In the example, the truststore bags that hold built-in anchors carry the origin annotation or:system, while the truststore itself carries or:intended.
Some devices ship with keys already installed, such as the certificate for a well-known bootstrap service. Because the device supplies them rather than the configuration, they belong in the operational datastore, which holds state rather than configuration, and they are marked as coming from the system.
§4Security Considerations
The name truststore suggests that its contents are protected from unauthorized modification. Controls for data in motion are described below, but controls for data at rest cannot be specified by a YANG module. To satisfy the expectations of a truststore, server implementations must ensure that the truststore contents are protected from unauthorized modification when at rest.
The module enables public keys to be configured without constraints on their usage, for instance whether a key may be used for encryption, for verification, or for both. Trust anchors configured this way are implicitly trusted to validate certification paths that may include any name, be used for any purpose, and be subject to no constraint imposed by an intermediate CA or by the context in which the truststore is used. Implementations are free to use alternative or auxiliary structures and validation rules that do limit how far a trust anchor applies.
The module defines groupings and containers designed to be reached over management protocols such as NETCONF and RESTCONF, which have mandatory-to-implement secure transport layers such as SSH, TLS and QUIC, and mandatory-to-implement mutual authentication. The Network Configuration Access Control Model provides the means to restrict a particular user's access to a preconfigured subset of the available operations and content.
Most of the readable data nodes in this module are not considered sensitive or vulnerable in network environments. The cert-data node is the exception: it uses the NACM default-deny-all extension. All the writable data nodes, both in the groupings and in the protocol-accessible truststore instance, may be considered sensitive or vulnerable in some network environments, because a change to a trust anchor or to a reference to one can change the security policy of the device outright. For that reason the default-deny-write extension has been set for all data nodes defined in this module. The module defines no rpc or action statements, so no security considerations are given for those.
The document sets two requirements. The device must protect the stored keys from being changed by anyone who is not allowed to change them, because a truststore others can edit is not a truststore. And a key added here is trusted for anything: it can validate any certificate name and serve any purpose, so a device that needs narrower rules has to add them itself. To help with that, every writable node in the module denies writes by default, and the certificate data itself denies reads by default.
§5IANA Considerations
IANA has registered the URI urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-truststore in the ns registry of the IETF XML registry, with the IESG as registrant contact.
IANA has also registered the YANG module ietf-truststore in the YANG Module Names registry, with that namespace, the prefix ts, and RFC 9641 as the reference.
The document asks IANA to register the module's XML namespace and the module name itself, so that other models can refer to it unambiguously. The prefix recommended for use in a configuration file is ts.