RFC: Private Networks (aka PNet) #10

Kubuxu · 2017-02-21T02:38:45Z

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Kubuxu · 2017-03-07T13:40:29Z

Can someone take a look at this?

daviddias

It would be good to have some visual diagram (ASCII art for the win) :D

daviddias · 2017-03-07T16:22:32Z

pnet/Private-Networks-PSK-V1.md

@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+## Pre-shared Key Based Private Networks in IPFS
+
+This document describes the first version of private networks (PN) featured in IPFS.


Instead of 'first', let's just terminology like 'alpha' that has a clear meaning in software.

We should settle on Pre-Shared Key (PSK) or PN for the name, so that there is no ambiguity (I would prefer to call it PSK networks as people know what that means directly from using wifi). We will have other kinds of Private Networks.

daviddias · 2017-03-07T16:26:27Z

pnet/Private-Networks-PSK-V1.md

+
+For the first implementation, only pre-shared key (PSK) functionality is available, as the Public Key Infrastructure approach is much more complex and requires more technical preparation.
+
+It was implemented as an additional encryption layer before any IPFS traffic, and was designed to leak the absolute minimum of information on its own. All traffic leaving the node inside a PN is encrypted and there is no characteristic handshake.


Let's be explicit here on what kind of information is actually leaked, 'minimum' is a relative measure that tells something different to different users.

I would even make it a table with "PSK ON, PSK OFF" and rows describing what can be eavesdropped.

Also, leak has a very negative connotation, let's use words around 'public' or 'publish' instead.

daviddias · 2017-03-07T16:27:20Z

pnet/Private-Networks-PSK-V1.md

+
+### Interface
+
+An IPFS node or libp2p swarm is either in a a public network, or it is a member of a private network.


s/swarm/node

Describe public as "anyone can join" and private as "only authorized people can be part of"

daviddias · 2017-03-07T16:27:37Z

pnet/Private-Networks-PSK-V1.md

+
+An IPFS node or libp2p swarm is either in a a public network, or it is a member of a private network.
+
+A private network is defined by the 256-bit secret key, which has to be known and used by all members inside the network.


s/defined/secured

daviddias · 2017-03-07T16:28:47Z

pnet/Private-Networks-PSK-V1.md

+
+#### Security Guarantees
+
+Nodes of different private networks must not be able to connect to each other. This extends to node in private network connecting to node in public network. This means that no information exchange, apart from the handshakeing required for private network authentication, should take place.


must not be able suggests that there is no strict guarantee, which comes off in the 'Security Guarantees' section, perhaps 'Security Considerations?'

daviddias · 2017-03-07T16:29:06Z

pnet/Private-Networks-PSK-V1.md

+
+Nodes of different private networks must not be able to connect to each other. This extends to node in private network connecting to node in public network. This means that no information exchange, apart from the handshakeing required for private network authentication, should take place.
+
+These guarnetee is only provided when knowledge of private key is limited to trusted party. 


typo s/guarnetee/guarantee

daviddias · 2017-03-07T16:29:38Z

pnet/Private-Networks-PSK-V1.md

+
+#### Choosing stream ciphers
+
+We considered three stream siphers: AES-CTR, Salsa20 and ChaCha. Salsa20 and ChaCha are very similar ciphers, as ChaCha is fully based on Salsa20. And unfortunately, due of ChaCha's lack of adoption, we were not able to find vetted implementations in relevant programming languages. Because of this, the final consideration was between AES-CTR and Salsa20.


You can remove the 'Because of this'

daviddias · 2017-03-07T16:30:19Z

there you go @Kubuxu :)

daviddias · 2017-07-08T16:15:12Z

@Kubuxu anything blocking you from finishing this one?

Kubuxu · 2017-07-08T16:18:58Z

Sorry, forgot about this a bit.

daviddias · 2018-06-03T16:08:24Z

@jacobheun, given that you have been implementing Private Networks for js-libp2p, how do you feel about the current state of the spec?

jacobheun · 2018-06-04T15:35:01Z

@diasdavid Overall I think the current spec is a blend of a spec and a proposal. While I think there is a lot of value in understanding the direction behind the eventual spec, I think it would be good to separate those components and make the spec more instructional and specific. Once that's done, the spec could point to the "proposal" or details in a notes section, for further reading.

Below is an example of the direction I am thinking, based off of the current spec. If that looks good to everyone, I can put together a full spec proposal. I'd also like it to contain more details on expected behaviors for when a node is unable to decrypt a message (an incompatible private key), just so that behavior is clear (stop talking to the node right away).

Pre-shared Key Based Private Networks

This specification details the design and usage of Pre-shared Key Based Private Networks, or PSK Network, in IPFS.

Encryption

A PSK Network handles stream encryption via the XSalsa20 cipher.
All network traffic, aside from the initial exchange of Nonce's, is encrypted.
Authenticity of data is not performed by the PSK Network and should be handled by a separate encryption suite such as secio or TLS1.3 (when available).

Enforcement

A node exposed to the environment variable LIBP2P_FORCE_PNET=1 when started, must enforce the existence of a PSK Network compliant protector.
- If enforcement is turned on, and no protector is provided, the node must terminated immediately.

Private Shared Key

A Private Shared Key is made available to the IPFS node, by adding a swarm.key file to the root of the IPFS Repo, prior to node creation.
The key file must comply to the format detailed at Private Shared Key Format

Private Shared Key Format

The Private Shared Key file, swarm.key, should contain 3 lines.
- Line 1 should define the path-based multicodec for the key, /key/swarm/psk/1.0.0/.
- Line 2 should define the path-based multicodec in which the rest of the file is encoded, such as /base16/.
- Line 3 should contain the 32 byte Private Shared Key used for the private IPFS nodes, which should be encoded based on the above multicodec.

PSK File Example

This example is for illustration purposes only. DO NOT USE THIS KEY FOR PRODUCTION!!!

/key/swarm/psk/1.0.0/
/base16/
0ff05394c733304ec26b3861ef23a4ffef9cd2e7d2040e028e5e9bb321d2eea3

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RFC: Private Networks (aka PNet) #10

RFC: Private Networks (aka PNet) #10

Kubuxu commented Feb 21, 2017

Kubuxu commented Mar 7, 2017

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daviddias commented Mar 7, 2017

daviddias commented Jul 8, 2017 •

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jacobheun commented Jun 4, 2018

daviddias commented Jun 25, 2018 •

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daviddias commented Jul 7, 2018

jacobheun commented Oct 10, 2018

		@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
		## Pre-shared Key Based Private Networks in IPFS

		This document describes the first version of private networks (PN) featured in IPFS.


		For the first implementation, only pre-shared key (PSK) functionality is available, as the Public Key Infrastructure approach is much more complex and requires more technical preparation.

		It was implemented as an additional encryption layer before any IPFS traffic, and was designed to leak the absolute minimum of information on its own. All traffic leaving the node inside a PN is encrypted and there is no characteristic handshake.


		### Interface

		An IPFS node or libp2p swarm is either in a a public network, or it is a member of a private network.


		An IPFS node or libp2p swarm is either in a a public network, or it is a member of a private network.

		A private network is defined by the 256-bit secret key, which has to be known and used by all members inside the network.


		#### Security Guarantees

		Nodes of different private networks must not be able to connect to each other. This extends to node in private network connecting to node in public network. This means that no information exchange, apart from the handshakeing required for private network authentication, should take place.


		Nodes of different private networks must not be able to connect to each other. This extends to node in private network connecting to node in public network. This means that no information exchange, apart from the handshakeing required for private network authentication, should take place.

		These guarnetee is only provided when knowledge of private key is limited to trusted party.


		#### Choosing stream ciphers

		We considered three stream siphers: AES-CTR, Salsa20 and ChaCha. Salsa20 and ChaCha are very similar ciphers, as ChaCha is fully based on Salsa20. And unfortunately, due of ChaCha's lack of adoption, we were not able to find vetted implementations in relevant programming languages. Because of this, the final consideration was between AES-CTR and Salsa20.

RFC: Private Networks (aka PNet) #10

RFC: Private Networks (aka PNet) #10

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daviddias commented Mar 7, 2017

daviddias commented Jul 8, 2017 • edited Loading

Kubuxu commented Jul 8, 2017

daviddias commented Jun 3, 2018

jacobheun commented Jun 4, 2018

Pre-shared Key Based Private Networks

Encryption

Enforcement

Private Shared Key

Private Shared Key Format

PSK File Example

Further Reading

daviddias commented Jun 25, 2018 • edited Loading

Posting here the url to today's Private Networks on js-libp2p/js-ipfs from @jacobheun https://youtu.be/fObld4alGag?t=47 \o/!

daviddias commented Jul 7, 2018

jacobheun commented Oct 10, 2018

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