<?xml version="1.0"encoding="utf-8"?>encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE rfcSYSTEM "rfc2629.dtd"[ <!ENTITYrfc1034 SYSTEM "https://xml2rfc.tools.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.1034.xml">nbsp " "> <!ENTITYrfc1035 SYSTEM "https://xml2rfc.tools.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.1035.xml">zwsp "​"> <!ENTITYrfc2119 SYSTEM "https://xml2rfc.tools.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.2119.xml">nbhy "‑"> <!ENTITYrfc2181 SYSTEM "https://xml2rfc.tools.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.2181.xml"> <!ENTITY rfc4033 SYSTEM "https://xml2rfc.tools.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.4033.xml"> <!ENTITY rfc5246 SYSTEM "https://xml2rfc.tools.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.5246.xml"> <!ENTITY rfc5936 SYSTEM "https://xml2rfc.tools.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.5936.xml"> <!ENTITY rfc6347 SYSTEM "https://xml2rfc.tools.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.6347.xml"> <!ENTITY rfc6672 SYSTEM "https://xml2rfc.tools.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.6672.xml"> <!ENTITY rfc6895 SYSTEM "https://xml2rfc.tools.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.6895.xml"> <!ENTITY rfc6973 SYSTEM "https://xml2rfc.tools.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.6973.xml"> <!ENTITY rfc7816 SYSTEM "https://xml2rfc.tools.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.7816.xml"> <!ENTITY rfc8020 SYSTEM "https://xml2rfc.tools.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.8020.xml"> <!ENTITY rfc8174 SYSTEM "https://xml2rfc.tools.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.8174.xml"> <!ENTITY rfc8198 SYSTEM "https://xml2rfc.tools.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.8198.xml"> <!ENTITY rfc8499 SYSTEM "https://xml2rfc.tools.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.8499.xml"> <!ENTITY rfc9076 SYSTEM "https://xml2rfc.tools.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.9076.xml">wj "⁠"> ]> <rfc xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" docName="draft-ietf-dnsop-rfc7816bis-11"category="std"number="9156" ipr="trust200902" obsoletes="7816"consensus="yes"> <?rfc toc="yes"?> <?rfc sortrefs="yes"?> <?rfc compact="yes"?> <?rfc subcompact="no"?>updates="" submissionType="IETF" category="std" consensus="true" xml:lang="en" tocInclude="true" sortRefs="true" symRefs="true" version="3"> <!-- xml2rfc v2v3 conversion 3.9.1 --> <front> <title abbrev="QNAME Minimisation">DNS Query Name Minimisation to Improve Privacy</title> <seriesInfo name="RFC" value="9156"/> <author fullname="Stephane Bortzmeyer" initials="S." surname="Bortzmeyer"> <organization>AFNIC</organization> <address> <postal> <street>1, rue Stephenson</street> <code>78180</code> <city>Montigny-le-Bretonneux</city> <country>France</country> </postal> <phone>+33 1 39 30 83 46</phone> <email>bortzmeyer+ietf@nic.fr</email> <uri>https://www.afnic.fr/</uri> </address> </author> <author fullname="Ralph Dolmans" initials="R." surname="Dolmans"> <organization>NLnet Labs</organization> <address> <email>ralph@nlnetlabs.nl</email> </address> </author> <author fullname="Paul Hoffman" initials="P." surname="Hoffman"> <organization>ICANN</organization> <address> <email>paul.hoffman@icann.org</email> </address> </author> <date/>year="2021" month="November"/> <keyword>QNAME</keyword> <abstract> <t>This document describes a technique called "QNAME minimisation" to improve DNS privacy, where the DNS resolver no longer always sends the full original QNAME and original QTYPE to the upstream name server. This document obsoletes RFC 7816.</t> </abstract> </front> <middle> <section anchor="intro"title="Introductionnumbered="true" toc="default"> <name>Introduction andBackground">Background</name> <t>The problem statement for this document is described in <xreftarget="RFC9076"/>.target="RFC9076" format="default"/>. This specific solution is not intended to fully solvethe DNSthe DNS privacy problem; instead, it should be viewed as one tool amongst many.</t> <t>QNAME minimisation follows the principle explained inSection 6.1 of<xreftarget="RFC6973"/>:target="RFC6973" sectionFormat="of" section="6.1"/>: the less data you send out, the fewer privacy problemsyou have.</t>you have.</t> <t>Before QNAME minimisation, when a resolver received the query "What is the AAAA record for www.example.com?", it sent to the root (assuming aresolverresolver, whose cache is empty) the very same question. Sending the full QNAME to the authoritativename servername server was a tradition, not a protocol requirement. In a conversation with one of the authors inJanuary 2015,January 2015, Paul Mockapetris explained that this tradition comes from a desire to optimise the number of requests, when the samename servername server is authoritative for many zones in a given name (something that was more common in the old days, where the samename serversname servers served .com and the root) or when the samename servername server is both recursive and authoritative (something that is strongly discouraged now). Whatever the merits of this choice at this time, the DNS is quite different now.</t> <t>QNAME minimisation is compatible with the current DNS system and therefore can easily be deployed. Because it is only a change to the way that the resolver operates, it does not change the DNS protocol itself. The behaviour suggested here (minimising the amount of data sent in QNAMEs from the resolver) is allowed bySection 5.3.3 of<xreftarget="RFC1034"/>target="RFC1034" sectionFormat="of" section="5.3.3"/> andSection 7.2 of<xreftarget="RFC1035"/>.</t>target="RFC1035" sectionFormat="of" section="7.2"/>.</t> <sectiontitle="Experience Fromnumbered="true" toc="default"> <name>Experience from RFC7816">7816</name> <t>This document obsoletes <xref target="RFC7816"/>. RFC 7816format="default"/>. <xref target="RFC7816" format="default"/> waslabelled "experimental",categorised "Experimental", but ideas from it were widely deployed since its publication. Many resolver implementations now support QNAME minimisation. The lessons learned from implementing QNAME minimisation were used to create this new revision.</t> <t>Data from DNSThought <xref target="dnsthought-qnamemin"/>,format="default"/>, Verisign <xref target="verisign-qnamemin"/>format="default"/>, and APNIC <xreftarget="apnic-qnamemin"/>target="apnic-qnamemin" format="default"/> shows that a large percentage of the resolvers deployed on the Internet already support QNAME minimisation in some way.</t> <t>Academic research has been performed on QNAME minimisation <xreftarget="devries-qnamemin"/>.target="devries-qnamemin" format="default"/>. This work shows that QNAME minimisation in relaxed mode causes almost no problems. The paper recommends using the AQTYPE,QTYPE and limiting the number of queries in some way. Some of the issues that the paper found are covered in <xreftarget="perf_cons"/>.</t>target="perf_cons" format="default"/>.</t> </section> <sectiontitle="Terminology">numbered="true" toc="default"> <name>Terminology</name> <t>The terminology used in this document is defined in <xreftarget="RFC8499"/>.</t>target="RFC8499" format="default"/>.</t> <t>In this document, a "cold" cache is one that is empty, having literally no entries in it. A "warm" cache is one that has some entries in it.</t><t>The<t> The key words“MUST”, “MUST NOT”, “REQUIRED”, “SHALL”, “SHALL NOT”, “SHOULD”, “SHOULD NOT”, “RECOMMENDED”, “NOT RECOMMENDED”, “MAY”,"<bcp14>MUST</bcp14>", "<bcp14>MUST NOT</bcp14>", "<bcp14>REQUIRED</bcp14>", "<bcp14>SHALL</bcp14>", "<bcp14>SHALL NOT</bcp14>", "<bcp14>SHOULD</bcp14>", "<bcp14>SHOULD NOT</bcp14>", "<bcp14>RECOMMENDED</bcp14>", "<bcp14>NOT RECOMMENDED</bcp14>", "<bcp14>MAY</bcp14>", and“OPTIONAL”"<bcp14>OPTIONAL</bcp14>" in this document are to be interpreted as described inBCP 14BCP 14 <xref target="RFC2119"/> <xref target="RFC8174"/> when, and only when, they appear in all capitals, as shownhere.</t>here. </t> </section> </section> <section anchor="qname-main"title="Descriptionnumbered="true" toc="default"> <name>Description of QNAMEMinimisation">Minimisation</name> <t>The idea behind QNAME minimisation is to minimise the amount of privacy-sensitive data sent from the DNS resolver to the authoritativename server.name server. This section describes how to do QNAME minimisation. The algorithm is summarised in <xreftarget="zonecutalgo"/>.</t>target="zonecutalgo" format="default"/>.</t> <t>When a resolver is not able to answer a query fromcachecache, it has to send a query to an authoritativenameserver. Traditionallyname server. Traditionally, these queries would contain the full QNAME and the original QTYPE as received in the client query.</t> <t>The full QNAME and original QTYPE are only needed at thenameservername server that is authoritative for the record requested by the client. All othernameserversname servers queried while resolving the query only need to receive enough of the QNAME to be able to answer with a delegation. The QTYPE in these queries is not relevant, as thenameservername server is not able to authoritatively answer the records the client is looking for. Sending the full QNAME and original QTYPE to thesenameserversname servers therefore exposes more privacy-sensitive data than necessary to resolve the client's request.</t> <t>A resolver that implements QNAME minimisation obscures the QNAME and QTYPE in queries directed to an authoritativenameservername server that is not known to be responsible for the original QNAME. These queriescontain: <list style="symbols"> <t>acontain:</t> <ul spacing="normal"> <li>a QTYPE selected by the resolver to possibly obscure the originalQTYPE</t> <t>theQTYPE</li> <li>the QNAME that is the original QNAME, stripped to just one label more than the longest matching domain name for which thenameservername server is known to beauthoritative</t> </list></t>authoritative</li> </ul> <sectiontitle="QTYPE Selection">numbered="true" toc="default"> <name>QTYPE Selection</name> <t>Note that this document relaxes the recommendation inRFC 7816<xref target="RFC7816" format="default"/> to use the NS QTYPE to hide the original QTYPE. Using the NS QTYPE is still allowed. The authority of NS records lies at the child side. The parent side of the delegation will answer using a referral, like it will do for queries with other QTYPEs. Using the NS QTYPE therefore has no added value over other QTYPEs.</t> <t>The QTYPE to use while minimising queries can be any possible data type (as defined in <xreftarget="RFC6895"/> Section 3.1)target="RFC6895" section="3.1" sectionFormat="of" format="default"/>) for which the authority always lies below the zone cut(i.e.(i.e., not DS, NSEC, NSEC3, OPT, TSIG, TKEY, ANY, MAILA, MAILB, AXFR, and IXFR), as long as there is no relation between the incoming QTYPE and the selection of the QTYPE to use while minimising.Good candidatesThe A or AAAA QTYPEs aretoalways good candidates to usethe "A" or "AAAA" QTYPEbecause these are the least likely to raise issues in DNS software and middleboxes that do not properly support all QTYPEs. QTYPE=A or QTYPE=AAAA queries will also blend into traffic fromnon-minimisingnonminimising resolvers, making it in some cases harder to observe that the resolver is using QNAME minimisation. Using a QTYPE that occurs most in incoming queries will slightly reduce the number of queries, as there is no extra check needed for delegations on non-apexrecords. </t>records.</t> </section> <sectiontitle="QNAME Selection">numbered="true" toc="default"> <name>QNAME Selection</name> <t>The minimising resolver works perfectly when it knows the zone cut (zone cuts are described inSection 6 of<xreftarget="RFC2181"/>).target="RFC2181" sectionFormat="of" section="6"/>). But zone cuts do not necessarily exist at every label boundary. In the name www.foo.bar.example, it is possible that there is a zone cut between "foo" and "bar" but not between "bar" and "example". So, assuming that the resolver already knows thename serversname servers of example, when it receives the query "What is the AAAA record of www.foo.bar.example?", it does not always know where the zone cut will be. To find thezone cut,zone cut, it will query the examplename serversname servers for a record for bar.example. It will get a non-referral answer, so it has to query the examplename serversname servers again with one more label, and so on. (<xreftarget="zonecutalgo"/>target="zonecutalgo" format="default"/> describes this algorithm in deeper detail.)</t> </section> <section anchor="number-of-queries"title="Limitnumbered="true" toc="default"> <name>Limitation of the Number ofQueries">Queries</name> <t>When using QNAME minimisation, the number of labels in the received QNAME can influence the number of queries sent from the resolver. This opens an attack vector and can decrease performance. Resolvers supporting QNAME minimisationMUST<bcp14>MUST</bcp14> implement a mechanism to limit the number of outgoing queries per user request.</t> <t>Take for example an incoming QNAME with many labels, like www.host.group.department.example.com, where host.group.department.example.com is hosted on example.com'sname servers.name servers. (Such deep domains are especially common under ip6.arpa.) Assume a resolver that knows only thename serversname servers of example.com. Without QNAME minimisation, it would send these example.comname serversname servers a query for www.host.group.department.example.com and immediately get a specific referral or an answer, without the need for more queries to probe for the zone cut. For such a name, a cold resolver with QNAME minimisation will send more queries, one per label. Once the cache is warm, there will be less difference with a traditional resolver. Testing of this is described in <xreftarget="Huque-QNAME-Min"/>.target="Huque-QNAME-Min" format="default"/>. </t> <t>The behaviour of sending multiple queries can be exploited by sending queries with a large number of labels in the QNAME that will be answered using a wildcard record. Take for example a record for *.example.com, hosted on example.com's name servers. An incoming query containing a QNAME with more than 100 labels, ending in example.com, will result in a query per label. By using random labels, the attacker can bypass the cache and always require the resolver to send many queries upstream. Note that <xreftarget="RFC8198"/>target="RFC8198" format="default"/> can limit this attack in some cases.</t> <t>One mechanism thatMAY<bcp14>MAY</bcp14> be used to reduce this attack vector is by appending more than one label per iteration for QNAMEs with a large number of labels. To do this, a maximum number of QNAME minimisation iterationsMUST<bcp14>MUST</bcp14> be selected (MAX_MINIMISE_COUNT); aRECOMMENDED<bcp14>RECOMMENDED</bcp14> value is 10. Optionally, a value for the number of queries that should only have one label appendedMAY<bcp14>MAY</bcp14> be selected(MINIMISE_ONE_LAB),(MINIMISE_ONE_LAB); a good value is 4. The assumption here is that the number of labels on delegations higher in the hierarchy are rathersmall, thereforesmall; therefore, not exposing too many labels early on has the most privacy benefit.</t> <t>Another potential, optional mechanism for limiting the number of queries is to assume that labels that begin with an underscore (_) character do not represent privacy-relevant administrative boundaries. For example, if the QNAME is "_25._tcp.mail.example.org" and the algorithm has already searched for "mail.example.org", the next query can be for all the underscore-prefixed names together, namely "_25._tcp.mail.example.org".</t> <t>When a resolver needs to send out a query, it will look for theclosest knownclosest-known delegation point in its cache. The number ofnot yet exposednot-yet-exposed labels is the difference between this closestnameservername server and the incoming QNAME. The first MINIMISE_ONE_LAB labels will be handled as described in <xreftarget="qname-main"/>.target="qname-main" format="default"/>. The number of labels that are still not exposed now need to be divided proportionally over the remaining iterations (MAX_MINIMISE_COUNT - MINIMISE_ONE_LAB). If thenot yet exposednot-yet-exposed labelscan notcannot be equally divided over the remaining iterations, the remainder of the division should be added to the last iterations. For example, when resolving a QNAME with 18 labels with MAX_MINIMISE_COUNT set to 10 and MINIMISE_ONE_LAB set to 4, the number of labels added per iteration are: 1,1,1,1,2,2,2,2,3,3.</t> </section> <sectiontitle="Stubnumbered="true" toc="default"> <name>Implementation by Stub and ForwardingResolvers">Resolvers</name> <t>Stub and forwarding resolversMAY<bcp14>MAY</bcp14> implement QNAME minimisation. Minimising queries that will be sent to an upstream resolver does not help in hiding data from the upstream resolver because all information will end up there anyway. Itmight, however,might however limit the data exposure between the upstream resolver and the authoritativenameservername server in the situation where the upstream resolver does not support QNAME minimisation. Using QNAME minimisation in a stub or forwardingresolversresolver that does not have a mechanism to find and cache zone cuts will drastically increase the number of outgoing queries.</t> </section> </section> <section anchor="zonecutalgo"title="Algorithmnumbered="true" toc="default"> <name>Algorithm to Perform QNAMEMinimisation">Minimisation</name> <t>This algorithm performs name resolution with QNAME minimisation in the presence of zone cuts that are not yet known.</t> <t>Although a validating resolver already has the logic to find thezone cuts,zone cuts, implementers of resolvers may want to use this algorithm to locate the zonecuts. <list style="hanging" hangIndent="4"> <t hangText="(0)">Ifcuts.</t> <ol type="(%d)" start="0"> <li>If the query can be answered from the cache, do so; otherwise, iterate asfollows:</t> <t hangText="(1)">Getfollows:</li> <li> <t>Get the closest delegation point that can be used for the original QNAME from thecache. <list style="hanging" hangIndent="5"> <t hangText="(1a)"> Forcache.</t> <ol type="(1%c)"> <li>For queries with a QTYPE for which the authority only lies at the parent side (likeQTYPE=DS)QTYPE=DS), this is the NS RRset with the owner matching the most labels with QNAME stripped by one label. QNAME will be a subdomain of (but not equal to) this NS RRset. Call thisANCESTOR.</t> <t hangText="(1b)"> ForANCESTOR.</li> <li>For queries with other originalQTYPEsQTYPEs, this is the NS RRset with the owner matching the most labels with QNAME. QNAME will be equal to or a subdomain of this NS RRset. Call thisANCESTOR.</t> </list></t> <t hangText="(2)">InitialiseANCESTOR.</li> </ol> </li> <li>Initialise CHILD to the same asANCESTOR.</t> <t hangText="(3)">IfANCESTOR.</li> <li>If CHILD is the same as QNAME, or if CHILD is one label shorter than QNAME and the original QTYPE can only be at the parent side (like QTYPE=DS), resolve the original query asnormalnormal, starting from ANCESTOR'sname servers.name servers. Start over from step 0 if new names need to be resolved as a result of this answer, forexampleexample, when the answer contains a CNAME or DNAME <xreftarget="RFC6672"/> record.</t> <t hangText="(4)">Otherwise,target="RFC6672" format="default"/> record.</li> <li>Otherwise, update the value of CHILD by adding the next relevant label or labels from QNAME to the start of CHILD. The number of labels to add is discussed in <xreftarget="number-of-queries"/>.</t> <t hangText="(5)">Looktarget="number-of-queries" format="default"/>.</li> <li>Look for a cache entry for the RRset at CHILD with the original QTYPE. If the cached response code is NXDOMAIN and the resolver has support for <xreftarget="RFC8020"/>,target="RFC8020" format="default"/>, the NXDOMAIN can be used in response to the original query, and stop. If the cached response code is NOERROR (including NODATA), go back to step 3. If the cached response code is NXDOMAIN and the resolver does not supportRFC 8020,<xref target="RFC8020" format="default"/>, go back to step3.</t> <t hangText="(6)">Query3.</li> <li><t>Query for CHILD with the selected QTYPE using one of ANCESTOR'sname servers.name servers. The response canbe: <list style="hanging" hangIndent="5"> <t hangText="(6a)">Abe:</t> <ol type="(6%c)"> <li>A referral. Cache the NS RRset from the authority section, and go back to step1.</t> <t hangText="(6b)">A1.</li> <li>A DNAME response. Proceed as if a DNAME is received for the original query. Start over from step 0 to resolve the new name based on the DNAMEtarget.</t> <t hangText="(6c)">Alltarget.</li> <li>All other NOERROR answers (including NODATA). Cache this answer. Regardless of the answered RRset type, including CNAMEs, continue with the algorithm from step 3 by building the originalQNAME.</t> <t hangText="(6d)">AnQNAME.</li> <li>An NXDOMAIN response. If the resolver supportsRFC8020,<xref target="RFC8020" format="default"/>, return an NXDOMAIN response to the originalqueryquery, and stop. If the resolver does not supportRFC8020,<xref target="RFC8020" format="default"/>, go to step3.</t> <t hangText="(6e)"> A3.</li> <li>A timeout or response with another RCODE. The implementation may choose to retry step(6)6 with a different ANCESTOR nameserver.</t> </list></t> </list></t>server.</li> </ol> </li> </ol> </section> <sectiontitle="QNAMEnumbered="true" toc="default"> <name>QNAME MinimisationExamples">Examples</name> <t>As a first example, assume that a resolver receives a request to resolve foo.bar.baz.example. Assume that the resolver already knows that ns1.nic.example is authoritative for.example,.example and that the resolver does not know a more specific authoritativename server.name server. It will send the query with QNAME=baz.example and the QTYPE selected to hide the original QTYPE to ns1.nic.example.</t> <table align="left"> <name>Cold Cache, Traditional Resolution Algorithm without QNAME Minimisation, Request for MX Record of a.b.example.org</name> <thead> <tr> <th>QTYPE</th> <th>QNAME</th> <th>TARGET</th> <th>NOTE</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>MX</td> <td>a.b.example.org</td> <td>root name server</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>MX</td> <td>a.b.example.org</td> <td>org name server</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>MX</td> <td>a.b.example.org</td> <td>example.org name server</td> <td></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <t>The following are more detailed examples ofother queries with QNAME minimisation, using other names and authoritative servers:</t> <t>Cold cache, traditional resolution algorithm without QNAME minimisation, requestrequests for an MX record ofa.b.example.org: <figure><artwork> QTYPE QNAME TARGET NOTE MX a.b.example.org root nameserver MX a.b.example.org org nameserver MXa.b.example.orgexample.org nameserver </artwork></figure></t> <t>Cold cache,with QNAME minimisation,request for MX record of a.b.example.org,usingtheA QTYPE to hide the originalQTYPE: <figure><artwork>QTYPE and using other names and authoritative servers:</t> <table align="left"> <name>Cold Cache with QNAMETARGET NOTE A org root nameserver A example.org org nameserver A b.example.org example.org nameserver A a.b.example.org example.org nameserver "a"Minimisation</name> <thead> <tr> <th>QTYPE</th> <th>QNAME</th> <th>TARGET</th> <th>NOTE</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>A</td> <td>org</td> <td>root name server</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>A</td> <td>example.org</td> <td>org name server</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>A</td> <td>b.example.org</td> <td>example.org name server</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>A</td> <td>a.b.example.org</td> <td>example.org name server</td> <td>"a" may bedelegated MX a.b.example.org example.org nameserver </artwork></figure> Note thatdelegated</td> </tr> <tr> <td>MX</td> <td>a.b.example.org</td> <td>example.org name server</td> <td></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <t>Note that, in the aboveexampleexample, one query would have been saved if the incoming QTYPE was the same as the QTYPE selected by the resolver to hide the original QTYPE. Only one query for a.b.example.org would have been needed if the original QTYPE would have been A. Using themost usedmost-used QTYPE to hide the original QTYPE therefore slightly reduces the number of outgoing queries compared to using any other QTYPE to hide the originalQTYPE. </t> <t> Warm cacheQTYPE.</t> <table align="left"> <name>Warm Cache withonly org delegation known, (example.org's NS RRset is not known), request for MX record of a.b.example.org, using A QTYPE to hide the original QTYPE: <figure><artwork> QTYPEQNAMETARGET NOTE A example.org org nameserver A b.example.org example.org nameserver A a.b.example.org example.org nameserver "a"Minimisation</name> <thead> <tr> <th>QTYPE</th> <th>QNAME</th> <th>TARGET</th> <th>NOTE</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>A</td> <td>example.org</td> <td>org name server</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>A</td> <td>b.example.org</td> <td>example.org name server</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>A</td> <td>a.b.example.org</td> <td>example.org name server</td> <td>"a" may bedelegated MX a.b.example.org example.org nameserver </artwork></figure></t>delegated</td> </tr> <tr> <td>MX</td> <td>a.b.example.org</td> <td>example.org name server</td> <td></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </section> <sectiontitle="Performance Considerations" anchor="perf_cons">anchor="perf_cons" numbered="true" toc="default"> <name>Performance Considerations</name> <t>The main goal of QNAME minimisation is to improve privacy by sending less data. However, it may have other advantages. For instance, if a resolver sends a rootname servername server queries for A.example followed by B.example followed by C.example, the result will be three NXDOMAINs, since .example does not exist in the root zone. When using QNAME minimisation, the resolver would send only one question (for .example itself) to which they could answer NXDOMAIN. The resolver can cache this answer and use itasto prove that nothing below .example exists(<xref target="RFC8020"/>).<xref target="RFC8020" format="default"/>. A resolver now knows a priori that neither B.example nor C.example exist. Thus, in this common case, the total number of upstream queries under QNAME minimisation couldcounterintuitivelybe counterintuitively less than the number of queries under the traditional iteration (as described in the DNSstandard). </t>standard).</t> <t>QNAME minimisation can increase the number of queries based on the incoming QNAME. This is described in <xreftarget="number-of-queries"/>.target="number-of-queries" format="default"/>. As described in <xreftarget="devries-qnamemin"/>,target="devries-qnamemin" format="default"/>, QNAME minimisation both increases the number of DNS lookups by up to 26% and leads to up to 5% more failed lookups. Filling the cache in a production resolver will soften that overhead.</t> </section> <sectiontitle="Security Considerations">numbered="true" toc="default"> <name>Security Considerations</name> <t>QNAME minimisation's benefits are clear in the case where you want to decrease exposure of the queried name to the authoritativename server.name server. But minimising the amount of data sent also, in part, addresses the case of a wire sniffer as well as the case of privacy invasion by the authoritative name servers.(EncryptionEncryption is of course a better defense against wire sniffers, but, unlike QNAME minimisation, it changes the protocol and cannot be deployed unilaterally. Also, the effect of QNAME minimisation on wire sniffers depends on whether the sniffer is on the DNSpath.)</t>path.</t> <t>QNAME minimisation offers no protection against the recursive resolver, which still sees the full request coming from the stub resolver.</t> <t>A resolver using QNAME minimisation can possibly be used to cause a query storm to be sent to servers when resolving queries containing a QNAME with a large number of labels, as described in <xreftarget="number-of-queries"/>.target="number-of-queries" format="default"/>. That section proposes methods to significantly dampen the effects of such attacks.</t> </section> </middle> <back><references title='Normative References'> &rfc1034; &rfc1035; &rfc2119; &rfc6973; &rfc8174; &rfc8499;<references> <name>References</name> <references> <name>Normative References</name> <xi:include href="https://xml2rfc.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.1034.xml"/> <xi:include href="https://xml2rfc.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.1035.xml"/> <xi:include href="https://xml2rfc.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.2119.xml"/> <xi:include href="https://xml2rfc.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.6973.xml"/> <xi:include href="https://xml2rfc.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.8174.xml"/> <xi:include href="https://xml2rfc.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.8499.xml"/> </references><references title='Informative References'> &rfc2181; &rfc6672; &rfc6895; &rfc7816; &rfc8020; &rfc8198; &rfc9076;<references> <name>Informative References</name> <xi:include href="https://xml2rfc.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.2181.xml"/> <xi:include href="https://xml2rfc.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.6672.xml"/> <xi:include href="https://xml2rfc.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.6895.xml"/> <xi:include href="https://xml2rfc.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.7816.xml"/> <xi:include href="https://xml2rfc.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.8020.xml"/> <xi:include href="https://xml2rfc.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.8198.xml"/> <xi:include href="https://xml2rfc.ietf.org/public/rfc/bibxml/reference.RFC.9076.xml"/> <reference anchor="Huque-QNAME-Min" target="https://indico.dns-oarc.net/event/21/contribution/9"> <front> <title>Query name minimization and authoritative server behavior</title> <author fullname="Shumon Huque" initials="S." surname="Huque"/> <date month="May" year="2015"/> </front> </reference> <reference anchor="dnsthought-qnamemin" target="https://dnsthought.nlnetlabs.nl/#qnamemin"> <front><title>DNSThought QNAME minimisation results. Using Atlas probes</title><title>Qname Minimisation</title> <author fullname="" initials="" surname=""/> <datemonth="March" year="2020"/>month="October" year="2021"/> </front> </reference> <reference anchor="devries-qnamemin" target="https://nlnetlabs.nl/downloads/publications/devries2019.pdf"> <front> <title>A First Look at QNAME Minimization in the Domain Name System</title> <authorfullname="de Vries et al." initials="" surname=""/>fullname="Wouter B. de Vries" initials="W" surname="de Vries"/> <author fullname="Quirin Scheitle" initials="Q" surname="Scheitle"/> <author fullname="Moritz Müller" initials="M" surname="Müller"/> <author fullname="Willem Toorop" initials="W" surname="Toorop"/> <author fullname="Ralph Dolmans" initials="R" surname="Dolmans"/> <author fullname="Roland van Rijswijk-Deij" initials="R" surname="van Rijswijk-Deij"/> <date month="March" year="2019"/> </front> </reference> <reference anchor="verisign-qnamemin" target="https://blog.verisign.com/security/maximizing-qname-minimization-a-new-chapter-in-dns-protocol-evolution/"> <front> <title>Maximizing Qname Minimization: A New Chapter in DNS Protocol Evolution</title> <author fullname="Matt Thomas" initials="M." surname="Thomas"/> <date month="September" year="2020"/> </front> </reference> <reference anchor="apnic-qnamemin" target="https://indico.dns-oarc.net/event/34/contributions/787/attachments/777/1326/2020-09-28-oarc33-qname-minimisation.pdf"> <front> <title>Measuring Query Name Minimization</title> <author fullname="Geoff Huston" initials="G." surname="Huston"/> <author fullname="Joao Damas" initials="J." surname="Damas"/> <date month="September" year="2020"/> </front> </reference> </references> </references> <sectiontitle="Acknowledgments" numbered="no">numbered="false" toc="default"> <name>Acknowledgments</name> <t>Theacknowledgementsacknowledgments from RFC 7816 apply here. In addition, many participants from the DNSOP Working Group helped with proposals for simplification, clarification, and general editorialhelp. </t> </section> <section title="Changes from RFC 7816" numbered="no"> <t>Changed in -07<list style="symbols"> <t>Stopped using the term "aggressive" for the method described</t> <t>Clarified some terminology</t> <t>More reorganization</t> </list></t> <t>Changed in -06<list style="symbols"> <t>Removed lots of text from when this was experimental</t> <t>Lots of reorganization</t> </list></t> <t>Changed in -04<list style="symbols"> <t>Start structure for implementation section</t> <t>Add clarification why the used QTYPE does not matter</t> <t>Make algorithm DS QTYPE compatible</t> </list></t> <t>Changed in -03<list style="symbols"> <t>Drop recommendation to use the NS QTYPE to hide the incoming QTYPE</t> <t>Describe DoS attach vector for QNAME with large number of labels, and propose a mitigation.</t> <t>Simplify examples and change qname to a.b.example.com to show the change in number of queries.</t> </list></t> <t>Changed in -00, -01, and -02<list style="symbols"> <t>Made changes to deal with errata #4644</t> <t>Changed status to be on standards track</t> <t>Major reorganization</t> </list></t>help.</t> </section> </back> </rfc>