ntp_auth(5) File Formats Manual ntp_auth(5)
NAME
ntp_auth - Authentication Options
INTRODUCTION
This page describes the various cryptographic authentication provisions
in NTPv4. Details about the configuration commands and options are
given on the Configuration Options page. Details about the automatic
server discovery schemes are described on the Automatic Server Discov-
ery Schemes page. Additional information is available in the papers,
reports, memoranda and briefings cited on the NTP Project page.
Authentication support allows the NTP client to verify that servers are
in fact known and trusted and not intruders intending accidentally or
intentionally to masquerade as a legitimate server.
The NTPv3 specification RFC-1305 defines a scheme properly described
as symmetric key cryptography. It uses the Data Encryption Standard
(DES) algorithm operating in cipher-block chaining (CBC) mode. Subse-
quently, this scheme was replaced by the RSA Message Digest 5 (MD5)
algorithm commonly called keyed-MD5. Either algorithm computes a mes-
sage digest or one-way hash which can be used to verify the client has
the same key and key identifier as the server. If the OpenSSL crypto-
graphic library is installed, support is available for all algorithms
included in the library. Note however, if conformance to FIPS 140-2 is
required, only a limited subset of these algorithms is available.
NTPv4 includes the NTPv3 scheme and optionally a new scheme based on
public key cryptography and called Autokey. Public key cryptography is
generally considered more secure than symmetric key cryptography, since
the security is based on private and public values which are generated
by each participant and where the private value is never revealed.
Autokey uses X.509 public certificates, which can be produced by com-
mercial services, utility programs in the OpenSSL software library or
the ntp-keygen utility program in the NTP software distribution.
While the algorithms for MD5 symmetric key cryptography are included in
the NTPv4 software distribution, modern algorithms for symmetric key
and public key cryptograpny requires the OpenSSL software library to be
installed before building the NTP distribution. This library is avail-
able from http://www.openssl.org and can be installed using the proce-
dures outlined in the Building and Installing the Distribution page.
Once installed, the configure and build process automatically detects
the library and links the library routines required.
Note that according to US law, NTP binaries including OpenSSL library
components, including the OpenSSL library itself, cannot be exported
outside the US without license from the US Department of Commerce.
Builders outside the US are advised to obtain the OpenSSL library
directly from OpenSSL, which is outside the US, and build outside the
US.
Authentication is configured separately for each association using the
key or autokey option of the server configuration command, as described
in the Server Options page, and the options described on this page. The
ntp-keygen page describes the files required for the various authenti-
cation schemes. Further details are in the briefings, papers and
reports at the NTP project page linked from www.ntp.org.
SYMMETRIC KEY CRYPTOGRAPHY
The original RFC-1305 specification allows any one of possibly 65,534
keys (excluding zero), each distinguished by a 32-bit key ID, to
authenticate an association. The servers and clients involved must
agree on the key, key ID and key type to authenticate NTP packets. If
an NTP packet includes a message authentication code (MAC), consisting
of a key ID and message digest, it is accepted only if the key ID
matches a trusted key and the message digest is verified with this key.
Note that for historic reasons the message digest algorithm is not con-
sistent with RFC-1828. The digest is computed directly from the con-
catenation of the key string followed by the packet contents with the
exception of the MAC itself.
Keys and related information are specified in a keys file, usually
called ntp.keys, which must be distributed and stored using secure
means beyond the scope of the NTP protocol itself. Besides the keys
used for ordinary NTP associations, additional keys can be used as
passwords for the ntpq and ntpdc utility programs. Ordinarily, the
ntp.keys file is generated by the ntp-keygen program, but it can be
constructed and edited using an ordinary text editor. The program gen-
erates pseudo-random keys, one key for each line. Each line consists of
three fields, the key identifier as a decimal number from 1 to 65534
inclusive, a key type chosen from the keywords of the digest option of
the crypto command, and a 20-character printable ASCII string or a
40-character hex string as the key itself.
When ntpd is first started, it reads the key file specified by the keys
command and installs the keys in the key cache. However, individual
keys must be activated with the trustedkey configuration command before
use. This allows, for instance, the installation of possibly several
batches of keys and then activating a key remotely using ntpdc. The
requestkey command selects the key ID used as the password for the
ntpdc utility, while the controlkey command selects the key ID used as
the password for the ntpq utility.
By default, the message digest algorithm is MD5 selected by the key
type M in the keys file. However, if the OpenSSL library is installed,
any message digest algorithm supported by that library can be used. The
key type is selected as the algorithm name given in the OpenSSL docu-
mentation. The key type is associated with the key and can be different
for different keys. The server and client must share the same key, key
ID and key type and both must be trusted. Note that if conformance to
FIPS 140-2 is required, the message digest algorithm must conform to
the Secure Hash Standard (SHS), which requires an algorithm from the
Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) family, and the digital signature encryp-
tion algorithm, if used, must conform to the Digital Signature Standard
(DSS), which requires the Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA).
In addition to the above means, ntpd now supports Microsoft Windows MS-
SNTP authentication using Active Directory services. This support was
contributed by the Samba Team and is still in development. It is
enabled using the mssntp flag of the restrict command described on the
Access Control Options page. Note: Potential users should be aware that
these services involve a TCP connection to another process that could
potentially block, denying services to other users. Therefore, this
flag should be used only for a dedicated server with no clients other
than MS-SNTP.
PUBLIC KEY CRYPTOGRAPHY
NTPv4 supports the Autokey security protocol, which is based on public
key cryptography. The Autokey Version 2 protocol described on the
Autokey Protocol page verifies packet integrity using MD5 message
digests and verifies the source using digital signatures and any of
several digest/signature schemes. Optional identity schemes described
on the Autokey Identity Schemes page are based on cryptographic chal-
lenge/response exchanges. These schemes provide strong security against
replay with or without message modification, spoofing, masquerade and
most forms of clogging attacks. These schemes are described along with
an executive summary, current status, briefing slides and reading list
on the Autonomous Authentication page.
Autokey authenticates individual packets using cookies bound to the IP
source and destination addresses. The cookies must have the same
addresses at both the server and client. For this reason operation with
network address translation schemes is not possible. This reflects the
intended robust security model where government and corporate NTP
servers are operated outside firewall perimeters.
There are three timeouts associated with the Autokey scheme. The key
list timeout, which defaults to about 1.1 h, specifies the interval
between generating new key lists. The revoke timeout, which defaults to
about 36 h, specifies the interval between generating new private val-
ues. The restart timeout, with default about 5 d, specifies the inter-
val between protocol restarts to refresh public values. In general, the
behavior when these timeouts expire is not affected by the issues dis-
cussed on this page.
NTP SECURE GROUPS
NTP secure groups are used to define cryptographic compartments and
security hierarchies. All hosts belonging to a secure group have the
same group name but different host names. The string specified in the
host option of the crypto command is the name of the host and the name
used in the host key, sign key and certificate files. The string speci-
fied in the ident option of the crypto command is the group name of all
group hosts and the name used in the identity files. The file naming
conventions are described on the ntp-keygen page.
Each group includes one or more trusted hosts (THs) operating at the
root, or lowest stratum in the group. The group name is used in the
subject and issuer fields of the TH self-signed trusted certificate for
these hosts. The host name is used in the subject and issuer fields of
the self-signed certificates for all other hosts.
All group hosts are configured to provide an unbroken path, called a
certificate trail, from each host, possibly via intermediate hosts and
ending at a TH. When a host starts up, it recursively retrieves the
certificates along the trail in order to verify group membership and
avoid masquerade and middleman attacks.
Secure groups can be configured as hierarchies where a TH of one group
can be a client of one or more other groups operating at a lower stra-
tum. A certificate trail consist of a chain of hosts starting at a
client, leading through secondary servers of progressively lower stra-
tum and ending at a TH. In one scenario, groups RED and GREEN can be
cryptographically distinct, but both be clients of group BLUE operating
at a lower stratum. In another scenario, group CYAN can be a client of
multiple groups YELLOW and MAGENTA, both operating at a lower stratum.
There are many other scenarios, but all must be configured to include
only acyclic certificate trails.
IDENTITY SCHEMES AND CRYPTOTYPES
All configurations include a public/private host key pair and matching
certificate. Absent an identity scheme, this is a Trusted Certificate
(TC) scheme. There are three identity schemes, IFF, GQ and MV described
on the Identity Schemes page. With these schemes all servers in the
group have encrypted server identity keys, while clients have nonen-
crypted client identity parameters. The client parameters can be
obtained from a trusted agent (TA), usually one of the THs of the lower
stratum group. Further information on identity schemes is on the
Autokey Identity Schemes page.
A specific combination of authentication and identity schemes is called
a cryptotype, which applies to clients and servers separately. A group
can be configured using more than one cryptotype combination, although
not all combinations are interoperable. Note however that some crypto-
type combinations may successfully intemperate with each other, but may
not represent good security practice. The server and client cryptotypes
are defined by the the following codes.
NONE A client or server is type NONE if authentication is not avail-
able or not configured. Packets exchanged between client and
server have no MAC.
AUTH A client or server is type AUTH if the key option is specified
with the server configuration command and the client and server
keys are compatible. Packets exchanged between clients and
servers have a MAC.
PC A client or server is type PC if the autokey option is speci-
fied with the server configuration command and compatible host
key and private certificate files are present. Packets
exchanged between clients and servers have a MAC.
TC A client or server is type TC if the autokey option is speci-
fied with the server configuration command and compatible host
key and public certificate files are present. Packets exchanged
between clients and servers have a MAC.
IDENT A client or server is type IDENT if the autokey option is spec-
ified with the server configuration command and compatible host
key, public certificate and identity scheme files are present.
Packets exchanged between clients and servers have a MAC.
The compatible cryptotypes for clients and servers are listed in the
following table.
+------------------+---------+----------+---------+----------+---------+
| Client/Server | NONE | AUTH | PC | TC | IDENT |
+------------------+---------+----------+---------+----------+---------+
| NONE | yes | yes* | yes* | yes* | yes* |
+------------------+---------+----------+---------+----------+---------+
| AUTH | no | yes | no | no | no |
+------------------+---------+----------+---------+----------+---------+
| PC | no | no | yes | no | no |
+------------------+---------+----------+---------+----------+---------+
| TC | no | no | no | yes | yes |
+------------------+---------+----------+---------+----------+---------+
| IDENT | no | no | no | no | yes |
+------------------+---------+----------+---------+----------+---------+
* These combinations are not valid if the restriction list includes the
notrust option.
CONFIGURATION
Autokey has an intimidating number of configuration options, most of
which are not necessary in typical scenarios. The simplest scenario
consists of a TH where the host name of the TH is also the name of the
group. For the simplest identity scheme TC, the TH generates host key
and trusted certificate files using the ntp-keygen -T command, while
the remaining group hosts use the same command with no options to gen-
erate the host key and public certificate files. All hosts use the
crypto configuration command with no options. Configuration with pass-
words is described in the ntp-keygen page. All group hosts are config-
ured as an acyclic tree with root the TH.
When an identity scheme is included, for example IFF, the TH generates
host key, trusted certificate and private server identity key files
using the ntp-keygen -T -I -i group command, where group is the group
name. The remaining group hosts use the same command as above. All
hosts use the crypto ident group configuration command.
Hosts with no dependent clients can retrieve client parameter files
from an archive or web page. The ntp-keygen can export these data using
the -e option. Hosts with dependent clients other than the TH must
retrieve copies of the server key files using secure means. The ntp-
keygen can export these data using the -q option. In either case the
data are installed as a file and then renamed using the name given as
the first line in the file, but without the filestamp.
EXAMPLES
Consider a scenario involving three secure groups RED, GREEN and BLUE.
RED and BLUE are typical of national laboratories providing certified
time to the Internet at large. As shown ion the figure, RED TH mort and
BLUE TH macabre run NTP symmetric mode with each other for monitoring
or backup. For the purpose of illustration, assume both THs are primary
servers. GREEN is typical of a large university providing certified
time to the campus community. GREEN TH howland is a broadcast client of
both RED and BLUE. BLUE uses the IFF scheme, while both RED and GREEN
use the GQ scheme, but with different keys. YELLOW is a client of GREEN
and for purposes of illustration a TH for YELLOW.
The BLUE TH macabre uses configuration commands
crypto pw qqsv ident blue peer mort autokey broadcast address autokey
where qqsv is the password for macabre files and address is the broad-
cast address for the local LAN. It generates BLUE files using the com-
mands
ntp-keygen -p qqsv -T -G -i blue ntp-keygen -p qqsv -e >ntp-
key_gqpar_blue
The first line generates the host, trusted certificate and private GQ
server keys file. The second generates the public GQ client parameters
file, which can have any nonconflicting mnemonic name.
The RED TH mort uses configuration commands
crypto pw xxx ident red peer macabre autokey broadcast address autokey
where xxx is the password for mort files. It generates RED files using
the commands
ntp-keygen -p xxx -T -I -i red ntp-keygen -p xxx -e >ntpkey_iffpar_red
The GREEN TH howland uses configuration commands
crypto pw yyy ident green broadcastclient
where yyy is the password for howland files. It generates GREEN files
using the commands
ntp-keygen -p yyy -T -G -i green ntp-keygen -p yyy -e >ntp-
key_gqpar_green ntp-keygen -p yyy -q zzz >zzz_ntpkey_gqkey_green
The first two lines serve the same purpose as the preceding examples.
The third line generates a copy of the private GREEN server file for
use on another server in the same group, say YELLOW, but encrypted with
the zzz password.
A client of GREEN, for example YELLOW, uses the configuration commands
crypto pw abc ident green server howland autokey
where abc is the password for its files. It generates files using the
command
ntp-keygen -p abc
The client retrieves the client file for that group from a public ar-
chive or web page using nonsecure means. In addition, each server in a
group retrieves the private server keys file from the TH of that group,
but it is encrypted and so must be sent using secure means. The files
are installed in the keys directory with name taken from the first line
in the file, but without the filestamp.
Note that if servers of different groups, in this case RED and BLUE,
share the same broadcast media, each server must have client files for
all groups other than its own, while each client must have client files
for all groups. Note also that this scenario is for illustration only
and probably would not be wise for practical use, as if one of the TH
reference clocks fails, the certificate trail becomes cyclic. In such
cases the symmetric path between RED and BLUE, each in a different
group, would not be a good idea.
AUTHENTICATION COMMANDS
automax [logsec]
Specifies the interval between regenerations of the session key
list used with the Autokey protocol, as a power of 2 in sec-
onds. Note that the size of the key list for each association
depends on this interval and the current poll interval. The
default interval is 12 (about 1.1 h). For poll intervals above
the specified interval, a session key list with a single entry
will be regenerated for every message sent.
controlkey keyid
Specifies the key ID to use with the ntpq utility, which uses
the standard protocol defined in RFC-1305. The keyid argument
is the key ID for a trusted key, where the value can be in the
range 1 to 65534, inclusive.
crypto [randfile file] [host name] [ident name] [pw password]
This command requires the OpenSSL library. It activates public
key cryptography and loads the required host key and public
certificate. If one or more files are left unspecified, the
default names are used as described below. Unless the complete
path and name of the file are specified, the location of a file
is relative to the keys directory specified in the keysdir con-
figuration command or default /etc/ntp/crypto. Following are
the options.
digest MD2 | MD4 | MD5 | MDC2 | RIPEMD160 | SHA | SHA1
Specify the message digest algorithm, with default MD5.
If the OpenSSL library is installed, name can be be any
message digest algorithm supported by the library not
exceeding 160 bits in length. However, all Autokey par-
ticipants in an Autokey subnet must use the same algo-
rithm. Note that the Autokey message digest algorithm
is separate and distinct form the symmetric key message
digest algorithms. Note: If compliance with FIPS 140-2
is required, the algorithm must be ether SHA or SHA1.
host name
Specifies the string used when constructing the names
for the host, sign and certificate files generated by
the ntp-keygen program with the -s name option.
ident name
Specifies the string used in constructing the identity
files generated by the ntp-keygen program with the -i
name option.
pw password
Specifies the password to decrypt files previously
encrypted by the ntp-keygen program with the -p option.
randfile file
Specifies the location of the random seed file used by
the OpenSSL library. The defaults are described on the
ntp-keygen page.
keys keyfile
Specifies the complete path to the MD5 key file containing the
keys and key IDs used by ntpd, ntpq and ntpdc when operating
with symmetric key cryptography. This is the same operation as
the -k command line option. Note that the directory path for
Autokey media is specified by the keysdir command.
keysdir pathK
This command specifies the default directory path for Autokey
cryptographic keys, parameters and certificates. The default is
/etc/ntp/crypto. Note that the path for the symmetric keys file
is specified by the keys command.
requestkey keyid
Specifies the key ID to use with the ntpdc utility program,
which uses a proprietary protocol specific to this implementa-
tion of ntpd. The keyid argument is a key ID for a trusted key,
in the range 1 to 65534, inclusive.
revoke [logsec]
Specifies the interval between re-randomization of certain
cryptographic values used by the Autokey scheme, as a power of
2 in seconds. These values need to be updated frequently in
order to deflect brute-force attacks on the algorithms; how-
ever, updating some values is a relatively expensive operation.
The default interval is 17 (about 36 h). For poll intervals
above the specified interval, the values will be updated for
every message sent.
trustedkey [keyid | (lowid ... highid)] [...]
Specifies the key ID(s) which are trusted for the purposes of
authenticating peers with symmetric key cryptography. Key IDs
used to authenticate ntpq and ntpdc operations must be listed
here and additionally be enabled with controlkey and/or
requestkey. The authentication procedure for time transfer
require that both the local and remote NTP servers employ the
same key ID and secret for this purpose, although different
keys IDs may be used with different servers. Ranges of trusted
key IDs may be specified: "trustedkey (1 ... 19) 1000 (100 ...
199)" enables the lowest 120 key IDs which start with the digit
1. The spaces surrounding the ellipsis are required when speci-
fying a range.
ERROR CODES
Errors can occur due to mismatched configurations, unexpected protocol
restarts, expired certificates and unfriendly people. In most cases the
protocol state machine recovers automatically by retransmission, time-
out and restart, where necessary. Some errors are due to mismatched
keys, digest schemes or identity schemes and must be corrected by
installing the correct media and/or correcting the configuration file.
One of the most common errors is expired certificates, which must be
regenerated and signed at least once per year using the ntp-keygen -
generate public and private keys program.
The following error codes are reported via the NTP control and monitor-
ing protocol trap mechanism and to the cryptostats monitoring file if
configured.
101 bad field format or length
The packet has invalid version, length or format.
102 bad timestamp
The packet timestamp is the same or older than the most recent
received. This could be due to a replay or a server clock time
step.
103 bad filestamp
The packet filestamp is the same or older than the most recent
received. This could be due to a replay or a key file genera-
tion error.
104 bad or missing public key
The public key is missing, has incorrect format or is an unsup-
ported type.
105 unsupported digest type
The server requires an unsupported digest/signature scheme.
106 unsupported identity type
The client or server has requested an identity scheme the other
does not support.
107 bad signature length
The signature length does not match the current public key.
108 signature not verified
The message fails the signature check. It could be bogus or
signed by a different private key.
109 certificate not verified
The certificate is invalid or signed with the wrong key.
110 host certificate expired
The old server certificate has expired.
111 bad or missing cookie
The cookie is missing, corrupted or bogus.
112 bad or missing leapseconds table
The leapseconds table is missing, corrupted or bogus.
113 bad or missing certificate
The certificate is missing, corrupted or bogus.
114 bad or missing group key
The identity key is missing, corrupt or bogus.
115 protocol error
The protocol state machine has wedged due to unexpected
restart.
FILES
See the ntp-keygen page. Note that provisions to load leap second val-
ues from the NIST files have been removed. These provisions are now
available whether or not the OpenSSL library is available. However, the
functions that can download these values from servers remains avail-
able.
SEE ALSO
ntp.conf(5), ntpd(8)
The official HTML documentation.
This file was automatically generated from HTML source.
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