Subject: [COSE] Last Call: <draft-ietf-cose-rfc8152bis-algs-08.txt> (CBOR Object Signing and Encryption (COSE): Initial Algorithms) to Informational RFC

From: The IESG <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 15 May 2020 06:35:53 -0700

The IESG has received a request from the CBOR Object Signing and Encryption
WG (cose) to consider the following document: - 'CBOR Object Signing and
Encryption (COSE): Initial Algorithms'
  <draft-ietf-cose-rfc8152bis-algs-08.txt> as Informational RFC

The IESG plans to make a decision in the next few weeks, and solicits final
comments on this action. Please send substantive comments to the
[email-masked] mailing lists by 2020-05-29. Exceptionally, comments may
be sent to [email-masked] instead. In either case, please retain the beginning
of the Subject line to allow automated sorting.

Abstract

   Concise Binary Object Representation (CBOR) is a data format designed
   for small code size and small message size.  There is a need for the
   ability to have basic security services defined for this data format.
   This document defines the CBOR Object Signing and Encryption (COSE)
   protocol.  This specification describes how to create and process
   signatures, message authentication codes, and encryption using CBOR
   for serialization.  COSE additionally describes how to represent
   cryptographic keys using CBOR.

   In this specification the conventions for the use of a number of
   cryptographic algorithms with COSE.  The details of the structure of
   COSE are defined in [I-D.ietf-cose-rfc8152bis-struct].

   This document along with [I-D.ietf-cose-rfc8152bis-struct] obsoletes
   RFC8152.

The file can be obtained via
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-cose-rfc8152bis-algs/

No IPR declarations have been submitted directly on this I-D.

---

From: tom petch <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 22 May 2020 10:25:34 +0100

This I-D obsoletes RFC8152, which set up the IANA Registry 'COSE
Algorithms', and adds a new column to the registry but otherwise
contains no details thereof so that, in future, a user will need to
study the obsoleted RFC8152 and this I-D to understand the specification
of the registry.

In fact, it is more complicated than that since RFC8152 defines the
permitted values in a column while the Informational I-D
draft-ietf-cose-hash-algs, currently in IETF Last Call, introduces a new
permitted value 'Filter Only '; to me, this is an update to RFC8152 (the
author disagrees), obsolete or not.  A future user wanting to understand
the registry will need to look at
- the obsoleted RFC8152
- this obsoleting I-D
- the informational draft-ietf-cose-hash-algs

Could be simpler for a future user.

Tom Petch

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