Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) W. Kumari
Request for Comments: 9672 Google, LLC
Updates: 8110 D. Harkins
Category: Informational Hewlett-Packard Enterprise
ISSN: 2070-1721 December 2024
Transferring Opportunistic Wireless Encryption to the IEEE 802.11
Working Group
Abstract
RFC 8110 describes Opportunistic Wireless Encryption (OWE), a mode
that allows unauthenticated clients to connect to a network using
encrypted traffic. This document transfers the ongoing maintenance
and further development of the protocol to the IEEE 802.11 Working
Group.
This document updates RFC 8110 by noting that future work on the
protocol described therein will occur in the IEEE 802.11 Working
Group.
Status of This Memo
This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
published for informational purposes.
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). Not all documents
approved by the IESG are candidates for any level of Internet
Standard; see 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/rfc9672.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2024 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Transfer of Maintenance
3. Security Considerations
4. IANA Considerations
5. References
5.1. Normative References
5.2. Informative References
Acknowledgments
Authors' Addresses
1. Introduction
Opportunistic Wireless Encryption (OWE) [RFC8110] is a mode of
opportunistic security [RFC7435] for IEEE Std 802.11 that provides
encryption of the wireless medium without authentication.
Since publication, [RFC8110] (also known as "[Wi-Fi_Enhanced_Open]")
has been widely implemented and deployed.
The IEEE 802.11 Working Group [IEEE_802.11] has requested the ability
to maintain and develop OWE (see [IEEE_LS]) to ensure that the
protocol remains in sync with the IEEE protocols. This document
represents concurrence that future work on OWE [RFC8110] will now
occur in the IEEE 802.11 Working Group.
2. Transfer of Maintenance
This document represents concurrence that future work on OWE
[RFC8110] will now occur in the IEEE 802.11 Working Group
[IEEE_802.11] to ensure that the protocol remains in sync with the
IEEE protocols.
The OWE protocol [RFC8110] will be duplicated by the IEEE 802.11
Working Group [IEEE_802.11] such that the document alone will be
enough to implement, maintain, and modify the protocol within the
IEEE under its policies and procedures.
3. Security Considerations
This document simply notes that future work on the protocol described
in [RFC8110] will now occur in the IEEE. As such, it does not
introduce any new security considerations.
4. IANA Considerations
This document has no IANA actions.
5. References
5.1. Normative References
[RFC8110] Harkins, D., Ed. and W. Kumari, Ed., "Opportunistic
Wireless Encryption", RFC 8110, DOI 10.17487/RFC8110,
March 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8110>.
5.2. Informative References
[IEEE_802.11]
IEEE, IEEE 802.11 Working Group,
<https://www.ieee802.org/11/>.
[IEEE_LS] "Liaison statement: OWE (RFC8110) now in 802.11", IETF
Liaison Statement, May 2024,
<https://datatracker.ietf.org/liaison/1929/>.
[RFC7435] Dukhovni, V., "Opportunistic Security: Some Protection
Most of the Time", RFC 7435, DOI 10.17487/RFC7435,
December 2014, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7435>.
[Wi-Fi_Enhanced_Open]
Harkins, D., "Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Enhanced Open: Transparent
Wi-Fi protections without complexity", Wi-Fi Alliance, The
Beacon Blog, <https://www.wi-fi.org/beacon/dan-harkins/wi-
fi-certified-enhanced-open-transparent-wi-fi-protections-
without-complexity>.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the IEEE 802.11 Working Group for
their work, and for taking on the responsibility for future work on
the protocol described in RFC 8110.
In addition, we would like to thank Stephen Farrell, the AD that
sponsored the original work, as well as Clemens Schimpe, Dorothy
Stanley, Paul Wouters, Eric Vyncke, Mike Montemurro, and Peter Yee.
Apologies to anyone we forgot to acknowledge; RFC 8110 was written 7+
years ago and we have had many conversations with many people since
then...
Authors' Addresses
Warren Kumari
Google, LLC
Email: warren@kumari.net