1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613
|
<pre>Independent Submission A. Melnikov
Request for Comments: 7281 Isode Ltd
Category: Informational June 2014
ISSN: 2070-1721
<span class="h1">Authentication-Results Registration for S/MIME Signature Verification</span>
Abstract
<a href="./rfc7001">RFC 7001</a> specifies the Authentication-Results header field for
conveying results of message authentication checks. This document
defines a new authentication method to be used in the Authentication-
Results header field for S/MIME-related signature checks.
Status of This Memo
This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
published for informational purposes.
This is a contribution to the RFC Series, independently of any other
RFC stream. The RFC Editor has chosen to publish this document at
its discretion and makes no statement about its value for
implementation or deployment. Documents approved for publication by
the RFC Editor are not a candidate for any level of Internet
Standard; see <a href="./rfc5741#section-2">Section 2 of RFC 5741</a>.
Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
<a href="http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7281">http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7281</a>.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2014 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
This document is subject to <a href="https://www.rfc-editor.org/bcp/bcp78">BCP 78</a> and the IETF Trust's Legal
Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
(<a href="http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info">http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info</a>) 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.
<span class="grey">Melnikov Informational [Page 1]</span></pre>
<hr class='noprint'/><!--NewPage--><pre class='newpage'><span id="page-2" ></span>
<span class="grey"><a href="./rfc7281">RFC 7281</a> Authentication-Results Registration for S/MIME June 2014</span>
Table of Contents
<a href="#section-1">1</a>. Introduction ....................................................<a href="#page-2">2</a>
<a href="#section-2">2</a>. Conventions Used in This Document ...............................<a href="#page-2">2</a>
<a href="#section-3">3</a>. "smime" Authentication Method ...................................<a href="#page-2">2</a>
<a href="#section-3.1">3.1</a>. S/MIME Results .............................................<a href="#page-3">3</a>
<a href="#section-3.2">3.2</a>. Email Authentication Parameters for S/MIME .................<a href="#page-4">4</a>
<a href="#section-3.2.1">3.2.1</a>. body.smime-part .....................................<a href="#page-4">4</a>
<a href="#section-3.2.2">3.2.2</a>. body.smime-identifier ...............................<a href="#page-4">4</a>
<a href="#section-3.2.3">3.2.3</a>. body.smime-serial and body.smime-issuer .............<a href="#page-5">5</a>
<a href="#section-3.3">3.3</a>. Examples ...................................................<a href="#page-5">5</a>
<a href="#section-4">4</a>. IANA Considerations .............................................<a href="#page-7">7</a>
<a href="#section-5">5</a>. Security Considerations .........................................<a href="#page-9">9</a>
<a href="#section-6">6</a>. References .....................................................<a href="#page-10">10</a>
<a href="#section-6.1">6.1</a>. Normative References ......................................<a href="#page-10">10</a>
<a href="#section-6.2">6.2</a>. Informative References ....................................<a href="#page-10">10</a>
<a href="#appendix-A">Appendix A</a>. Acknowledgements ......................................<a href="#page-11">11</a>
<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="section-1" href="#section-1">1</a>. Introduction</span>
[<a id="ref-RFC7001">RFC7001</a>] specifies the Authentication-Results header field for
conveying results of message authentication checks. As S/MIME
signature verification (and alteration) is sometimes implemented in
border message transfer agents, guards, and gateways (for example,
see [<a href="./rfc3183" title=""Domain Security Services using S/MIME"">RFC3183</a>]), there is a need to convey signature verification
status to Mail User Agents (MUAs) and downstream filters. This
document defines a new authentication method to be used in the
Authentication-Results header field for S/MIME-related signature
checks.
<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="section-2" href="#section-2">2</a>. Conventions Used in This Document</span>
The formal syntax uses the Augmented Backus-Naur Form (ABNF)
[<a href="./rfc5234" title=""Augmented BNF for Syntax Specifications: ABNF"">RFC5234</a>] notation, including the core rules defined in <a href="./rfc5234#appendix-B">Appendix B of
[RFC5234]</a>.
<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="section-3" href="#section-3">3</a>. "smime" Authentication Method</span>
S/MIME signature and countersignature verification is represented by
the "smime" method and is defined in [<a href="./rfc5751" title=""Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME) Version 3.2 Message Specification"">RFC5751</a>].
<span class="grey">Melnikov Informational [Page 2]</span></pre>
<hr class='noprint'/><!--NewPage--><pre class='newpage'><span id="page-3" ></span>
<span class="grey"><a href="./rfc7281">RFC 7281</a> Authentication-Results Registration for S/MIME June 2014</span>
<span class="h3"><a class="selflink" id="section-3.1" href="#section-3.1">3.1</a>. S/MIME Results</span>
The result values used by S/MIME [<a href="./rfc5751" title=""Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME) Version 3.2 Message Specification"">RFC5751</a>] are as follows:
+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------+
| Result | Meaning |
| code | |
+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------+
| none | The message was not signed. |
| | |
| pass | The message was signed, the signature or signatures |
| | were acceptable to the verifier, and the signature(s) |
| | passed verification tests. |
| | |
| fail | The message was signed and the signature or |
| | signatures were acceptable to the verifier, but they |
| | failed the verification test(s). |
| | |
| policy | The message was signed and signature(s) passed |
| | verification tests, but the signature or signatures |
| | were not acceptable to the verifier. |
| | |
| neutral | The message was signed but the signature or |
| | signatures contained syntax errors or were not |
| | otherwise able to be processed. This result is also |
| | used for other failures not covered elsewhere in this |
| | list. |
| | |
| temperror | The message could not be verified due to some error |
| | that is likely transient in nature, such as a |
| | temporary inability to retrieve a certificate or |
| | Certificate Revocation List (CRL). A later attempt |
| | may produce a final result. |
| | |
| permerror | The message could not be verified due to some error |
| | that is unrecoverable, such as a required header |
| | field being absent or the signer's certificate not |
| | being available. A later attempt is unlikely to |
| | produce a final result. |
+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------+
A signature is "acceptable to the verifier" if it passes local policy
checks (or there are no specific local policy checks). For example,
a verifier might require that the domain in the rfc822Name
subjectAltName in the signing certificate matches the domain in the
address of the sender of the message (value of the Sender header
field, if present; value of the From header field otherwise), thus
making third-party signatures unacceptable. [<a href="./rfc5751" title=""Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME) Version 3.2 Message Specification"">RFC5751</a>] advises that
<span class="grey">Melnikov Informational [Page 3]</span></pre>
<hr class='noprint'/><!--NewPage--><pre class='newpage'><span id="page-4" ></span>
<span class="grey"><a href="./rfc7281">RFC 7281</a> Authentication-Results Registration for S/MIME June 2014</span>
if a message fails verification, it should be treated as an unsigned
message. A report of "fail" here permits the receiver of the report
to decide how to handle the failure. A report of "neutral" or "none"
preempts that choice, ensuring that the message will be treated as if
it had not been signed.
<span class="h3"><a class="selflink" id="section-3.2" href="#section-3.2">3.2</a>. Email Authentication Parameters for S/MIME</span>
This document defines several new authentication parameters for
conveying S/MIME-related information, such as the location of an
S/MIME signature and the identity associated with the entity that
signed the message or one of its body parts.
<span class="h4"><a class="selflink" id="section-3.2.1" href="#section-3.2.1">3.2.1</a>. body.smime-part</span>
body.smime-part contains the MIME body part reference that contains
the S/MIME signature. The syntax of this property is described by
the smime-part ABNF production below. application/pkcs7-signature or
application/pkcs7-mime (containing SignedData) media type body parts
are referenced using the <section> syntax (see <a href="./rfc3501#section-6.4.5">Section 6.4.5 of
[RFC3501]</a>). If the signature being verified is encapsulated by
another Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS) content type (e.g.,
application/pkcs7-mime containing EnvelopedData, which contains
SignedData), such an inner signature body part can be referenced
using "section[/section..." syntax.
smime-part = section ["/" smime-subpart]
smime-subpart = smime-part
section = <Defined in <a href="./rfc3501#section-6.4.5">Section 6.4.5 of [RFC3501]</a>>
<span class="h4"><a class="selflink" id="section-3.2.2" href="#section-3.2.2">3.2.2</a>. body.smime-identifier</span>
body.smime-identifier contains the email address [<a href="./rfc5322" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC5322</a>] associated
with the S/MIME signature referenced in the corresponding
body.smime-part. The email address can be specified explicitly in
the signer's X.509 certificate or derived from the identity of the
signer. Note that this email address can correspond to a
countersignature.
<span class="grey">Melnikov Informational [Page 4]</span></pre>
<hr class='noprint'/><!--NewPage--><pre class='newpage'><span id="page-5" ></span>
<span class="grey"><a href="./rfc7281">RFC 7281</a> Authentication-Results Registration for S/MIME June 2014</span>
<span class="h4"><a class="selflink" id="section-3.2.3" href="#section-3.2.3">3.2.3</a>. body.smime-serial and body.smime-issuer</span>
body.smime-serial contains the serialNumber of the X.509 certificate
associated with the S/MIME signature (see <a href="./rfc5280#section-4.1.2.2">Section 4.1.2.2 of
[RFC5280]</a>) referenced in the corresponding body.smime-part.
body.smime-issuer contains the issuer name DN (distinguished name)
(e.g., "CN=CA1,ST=BC,c=CA") of the X.509 certificate associated with
the S/MIME signature (see <a href="./rfc5280#section-4.1.2.4">Section 4.1.2.4 of [RFC5280]</a>) referenced in
the corresponding body.smime-part.
Either both or neither of body.smime-serial and body.smime-issuer
should be present in an Authentication-Results header field.
body.smime-serial and body.smime-issuer are used for cases when
body.smime-identifier (email address) can't be derived by the entity
adding the corresponding Authentication-Results header field. For
example, this can be used when gatewaying from X.400.
<span class="h3"><a class="selflink" id="section-3.3" href="#section-3.3">3.3</a>. Examples</span>
Return-Path: <aliceDss@example.com>
Authentication-Results: example.net;
smime=fail (certificate is revoked by CRL)
body.smime-identifier=aliceDss@example.com
body.smime-part=2
Received: from ietfa.example.com (localhost [IPv6:::1])
by ietfa.example.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2875111E81A0;
Fri, 06 Sep 2002 00:35:14 -0700 (PDT)
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: User2@example.com
From: aliceDss@example.com
Subject: Example 4.8
Message-Id: <020906002550300.249@example.com>
Date: Fri, 06 Sep 2002 00:25:21 -0700
Content-Type: multipart/signed;
micalg=SHA1;
boundary="----=_NextBoundary____Fri,_06_Sep_2002_00:25:21";
protocol="application/pkcs7-signature"
<span class="grey">Melnikov Informational [Page 5]</span></pre>
<hr class='noprint'/><!--NewPage--><pre class='newpage'><span id="page-6" ></span>
<span class="grey"><a href="./rfc7281">RFC 7281</a> Authentication-Results Registration for S/MIME June 2014</span>
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
------=_NextBoundary____Fri,_06_Sep_2002_00:25:21
This is some sample content.
------=_NextBoundary____Fri,_06_Sep_2002_00:25:21
Content-Type: application/pkcs7-signature; name=smime.p7s
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=smime.p7s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------=_NextBoundary____Fri,_06_Sep_2002_00:25:21--
<span class="grey">Melnikov Informational [Page 6]</span></pre>
<hr class='noprint'/><!--NewPage--><pre class='newpage'><span id="page-7" ></span>
<span class="grey"><a href="./rfc7281">RFC 7281</a> Authentication-Results Registration for S/MIME June 2014</span>
<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="section-4" href="#section-4">4</a>. IANA Considerations</span>
IANA has added the following entries to the "Email Authentication
Methods" sub-registry of the "Email Authentication Parameters"
registry:
+------+----------+-------+------------+----------------+-------+------+
|Method| Defined | ptype | Property | Value |Status | Ver- |
| | in | | | | | sion |
+------+----------+-------+------------+----------------+-------+------+
| smime| [<a href="./rfc5751" title=""Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME) Version 3.2 Message Specification"">RFC5751</a>]| body | smime-part | A reference to |active | 1 |
| | | | | the MIME body | | |
| | | | | part that | | |
| | | | | contains the | | |
| | | | | signature, as | | |
| | | | | defined in | | |
| | | | | <a href="#section-3.2.1">Section 3.2.1</a> | | |
| | | | | of [<a href="./rfc7281">RFC7281</a>]. | | |
| | | | | | | |
| smime| [<a href="./rfc5751" title=""Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME) Version 3.2 Message Specification"">RFC5751</a>]| body | smime- | The email |active | 1 |
| | | | identifier | address | | |
| | | | | [<a href="./rfc5322" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC5322</a>] | | |
| | | | | associated | | |
| | | | | with the | | |
| | | | | S/MIME | | |
| | | | | signature. | | |
| | | | | The email | | |
| | | | | address can be | | |
| | | | | specified | | |
| | | | | explicitly or | | |
| | | | | derived from | | |
| | | | | the identity | | |
| | | | | of the signer. | | |
| | | | | Note that this | | |
| | | | | email address | | |
| | | | | can correspond | | |
| | | | | to a counter- | | |
| | | | | signature. | | |
| | | | | | | |
<span class="grey">Melnikov Informational [Page 7]</span></pre>
<hr class='noprint'/><!--NewPage--><pre class='newpage'><span id="page-8" ></span>
<span class="grey"><a href="./rfc7281">RFC 7281</a> Authentication-Results Registration for S/MIME June 2014</span>
| smime| [<a href="./rfc5751" title=""Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME) Version 3.2 Message Specification"">RFC5751</a>]| body | smime- | serialNumber |active | 1 |
| | | | serial | of the | | |
| | | | | certificate | | |
| | | | | associated | | |
| | | | | with the | | |
| | | | | S/MIME | | |
| | | | | signature (see | | |
| | | | | Section | | |
| | | | | 4.1.2.2 of | | |
| | | | | [<a href="./rfc5280" title=""Internet X.509 Public Key Infrastructure Certificate and Certificate Revocation List (CRL) Profile"">RFC5280</a>]. | | |
| | | | | | | |
| smime| [<a href="./rfc5751" title=""Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME) Version 3.2 Message Specification"">RFC5751</a>]| body | smime- | Issuer name DN |active | 1 |
| | | | issuer | (e.g., "CN=CA1,| | |
| | | | | ST=BC,c=CA") | | |
| | | | | of the | | |
| | | | | certificate | | |
| | | | | associated | | |
| | | | | with the | | |
| | | | | S/MIME | | |
| | | | | signature (see | | |
| | | | | Section | | |
| | | | | 4.1.2.4 of | | |
| | | | | [<a href="./rfc5280" title=""Internet X.509 Public Key Infrastructure Certificate and Certificate Revocation List (CRL) Profile"">RFC5280</a>]. | | |
+------+----------+-------+------------+----------------+-------+------+
IANA has added the following entries to the "Email Authentication
Result Names" sub-registry of the "Email Authentication Parameters"
registry:
+-----------+-----------+----------+-----------------------+--------+
| Code | Defined | Auth | Meaning | Status |
| | | Method | | |
+-----------+-----------+----------+-----------------------+--------+
| none | [<a href="./rfc7281">RFC7281</a>] | smime | <a href="./rfc7281#section-3.1">[RFC7281] Section 3.1</a> | active |
| | | | | |
| pass | [<a href="./rfc7281">RFC7281</a>] | smime | <a href="./rfc7281#section-3.1">[RFC7281] Section 3.1</a> | active |
| | | | | |
| fail | [<a href="./rfc7281">RFC7281</a>] | smime | <a href="./rfc7281#section-3.1">[RFC7281] Section 3.1</a> | active |
| | | | | |
| policy | [<a href="./rfc7281">RFC7281</a>] | smime | <a href="./rfc7281#section-3.1">[RFC7281] Section 3.1</a> | active |
| | | | | |
| neutral | [<a href="./rfc7281">RFC7281</a>] | smime | <a href="./rfc7281#section-3.1">[RFC7281] Section 3.1</a> | active |
| | | | | |
| temperror | [<a href="./rfc7281">RFC7281</a>] | smime | <a href="./rfc7281#section-3.1">[RFC7281] Section 3.1</a> | active |
| | | | | |
| permerror | [<a href="./rfc7281">RFC7281</a>] | smime | <a href="./rfc7281#section-3.1">[RFC7281] Section 3.1</a> | active |
+-----------+-----------+----------+-----------------------+--------+
<span class="grey">Melnikov Informational [Page 8]</span></pre>
<hr class='noprint'/><!--NewPage--><pre class='newpage'><span id="page-9" ></span>
<span class="grey"><a href="./rfc7281">RFC 7281</a> Authentication-Results Registration for S/MIME June 2014</span>
<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="section-5" href="#section-5">5</a>. Security Considerations</span>
This document doesn't add new security considerations not already
covered by [<a href="./rfc7001" title=""Message Header Field for Indicating Message Authentication Status"">RFC7001</a>] and [<a href="./rfc5751" title=""Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME) Version 3.2 Message Specification"">RFC5751</a>]. In particular, security
considerations related to the use of weak cryptography over
plaintext, weakening and breaking of cryptographic algorithms over
time, and changing the behavior of message processing based on
presence of a signature specified in [<a href="./rfc5751" title=""Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME) Version 3.2 Message Specification"">RFC5751</a>] are relevant to this
document. Similarly, the following security considerations specified
in [<a href="./rfc7001" title=""Message Header Field for Indicating Message Authentication Status"">RFC7001</a>] are particularly relevant to this document: Forged
Header Fields, Misleading Results, Internal Mail Transfer Agent (MTA)
Lists, and Compromised Internal Hosts.
To repeat something already mentioned in <a href="./rfc7001#section-7.1">RFC 7001, Section 7.1</a>:
An MUA or filter that accesses a mailbox whose messages are
handled by a non-conformant MTA, and understands
Authentication-Results header fields, could potentially make false
conclusions based on forged header fields. A malicious user or
agent could forge a header field using the DNS domain of a
receiving ADMD as the authserv-id token in the value of the header
field and, with the rest of the value, claim that the message was
properly authenticated. The non-conformant MTA would fail to
strip the forged header field, and the MUA could inappropriately
trust it.
For this reason, it is best not to have processing of the
Authentication-Results header field enabled by default; instead,
it should be ignored, at least for the purposes of enacting
filtering decisions, unless specifically enabled by the user or
administrator after verifying that the border MTA is compliant.
It is acceptable to have an MUA aware of this specification but
have an explicit list of hostnames whose Authentication-Results
header fields are trustworthy; however, this list should initially
be empty.
So, to emphasize this point: whenever possible, MUAs should implement
their own S/MIME signature verification instead of implementing this
specification.
Note that agents adding Authentication-Results header fields
containing S/MIME authentication method might be unable to
verify S/MIME signatures inside encrypted CMS content types such
as EnvelopedData [<a href="./rfc5652" title=""Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS)"">RFC5652</a>]. So, agents processing
Authentication-Results header fields can't treat the lack of an
Authentication-Results header field with S/MIME authentication method
as an indication that the corresponding S/MIME signature is missing,
invalid, or valid.
<span class="grey">Melnikov Informational [Page 9]</span></pre>
<hr class='noprint'/><!--NewPage--><pre class='newpage'><span id="page-10" ></span>
<span class="grey"><a href="./rfc7281">RFC 7281</a> Authentication-Results Registration for S/MIME June 2014</span>
<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="section-6" href="#section-6">6</a>. References</span>
<span class="h3"><a class="selflink" id="section-6.1" href="#section-6.1">6.1</a>. Normative References</span>
[<a id="ref-RFC3501">RFC3501</a>] Crispin, M., "INTERNET MESSAGE ACCESS PROTOCOL -
VERSION 4rev1", <a href="./rfc3501">RFC 3501</a>, March 2003.
[<a id="ref-RFC5234">RFC5234</a>] Crocker, D. and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for Syntax
Specifications: ABNF", STD 68, <a href="./rfc5234">RFC 5234</a>, January 2008.
[<a id="ref-RFC5280">RFC5280</a>] Cooper, D., Santesson, S., Farrell, S., Boeyen, S.,
Housley, R., and W. Polk, "Internet X.509 Public Key
Infrastructure Certificate and Certificate Revocation List
(CRL) Profile", <a href="./rfc5280">RFC 5280</a>, May 2008.
[<a id="ref-RFC5322">RFC5322</a>] Resnick, P., Ed., "Internet Message Format", <a href="./rfc5322">RFC 5322</a>,
October 2008.
[<a id="ref-RFC5751">RFC5751</a>] Ramsdell, B. and S. Turner, "Secure/Multipurpose Internet
Mail Extensions (S/MIME) Version 3.2 Message
Specification", <a href="./rfc5751">RFC 5751</a>, January 2010.
[<a id="ref-RFC7001">RFC7001</a>] Kucherawy, M., "Message Header Field for Indicating
Message Authentication Status", <a href="./rfc7001">RFC 7001</a>, September 2013.
<span class="h3"><a class="selflink" id="section-6.2" href="#section-6.2">6.2</a>. Informative References</span>
[<a id="ref-RFC3183">RFC3183</a>] Dean, T. and W. Ottaway, "Domain Security Services using
S/MIME", <a href="./rfc3183">RFC 3183</a>, October 2001.
[<a id="ref-RFC5652">RFC5652</a>] Housley, R., "Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS)", STD 70,
<a href="./rfc5652">RFC 5652</a>, September 2009.
<span class="grey">Melnikov Informational [Page 10]</span></pre>
<hr class='noprint'/><!--NewPage--><pre class='newpage'><span id="page-11" ></span>
<span class="grey"><a href="./rfc7281">RFC 7281</a> Authentication-Results Registration for S/MIME June 2014</span>
<span class="h2"><a class="selflink" id="appendix-A" href="#appendix-A">Appendix A</a>. Acknowledgements</span>
Thank you to Murray S. Kucherawy, David Wilson, Jim Schaad, SM, and
Steve Kille for comments and corrections on this document.
Author's Address
Alexey Melnikov
Isode Ltd
14 Castle Mews
Hampton, Middlesex TW12 2NP
United Kingdom
EMail: Alexey.Melnikov@isode.com
Melnikov Informational [Page 11]
</pre>
|