[ietf-nntp] Re: SASL capability

Charles Lindsey chl at clerew.man.ac.uk
Thu May 20 03:17:25 PDT 2004


In <Pine.LNX.4.58-039.0405190945520.14193 at sourcefour.andrew.cmu.edu> Rob Siemborski <rjs3 at andrew.cmu.edu> writes:

>The theory goes something like:

>Client asks for mechanism list
>Client picks "Best" mechanism, and authenticates
>If client now has a protection layer (integrity or encryption), it can ask
> for the list of mechanisms again.
>If there is now a stronger mechanism available, then presumably you've
> detected a MITM (note, there may be a weaker mechanism available as well,
> but generally the idea is that the list shouldn't change at all).

That sounds fine if encryption has been negotiated (assuming it cannot be
broken by the MITM), but if only integrity has been established and the
MITM is still there, then surely he can continue to report bogus lists of
extensions? Or are we only trying to make it proof against a passive MITM?

-- 
Charles H. Lindsey ---------At Home, doing my own thing------------------------
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