The DAKAMI RRTYPEThe Internetpaul@nohats.ca
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DNSOPDNSOPDAKAMIKaminsky
This document specifies a new DNS RR type DAKAMI. It is used to signify
and honor the impact of security researcher Dan Kaminsky on the DNS ecosystem.
This document defines a mechanism to send a DNS query honoring the security
researcher Dan Kaminsky, whose online handle was "dakami". Dan Kaminsky
suddenly passed away in April 2021 at the age of 42. He will be thoroughly missed.
The "Kaminsky Bug", formally known as CVE-2008-1447, allowed remote
attackers to spoof DNS traffic that is not protected by DNSSEC via a
birthday attack that uses in-bailiwick referrals to conduct cache
poisoning against recursive resolvers, related to insufficient
randomness of DNS transaction IDs and source ports.
While Dan Kaminsky was known in the DNS community for his famous bug and the
coordinated response that followed, he was also a well known (white hat)
hacker known for encouraging everyone to learn, teach and build a better
internet for each other. He has been, and continous to be, an inspiration
for Internet engineers and hackers world wide.
Dan Kaminsky has been nominated for the Internet Hall of Fame.
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL
NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED",
"MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as
described in BCP 14 when, and only when, they appear in all
capitals, as shown here.
The DAKAMI DNS resource record (RR) is used to honor and remember
the achievements of security researcher Dan Kaminsky.
The type value allocated for the DAKAMI RR type is 32767. The DAKAMI
RR is class independent.
The RDATA portion of a DAKAMI resource record contains a string that is
semantically equivalent to the TXT record.
There is no fixed location for this RR. Those who wish to publish this RR
MAY prefer to place it at their zone's apex.
An example string one might use is a single static null terminated string
consisting of the ascii text "Well Dan, I think you should know........".
This text was spoken by Dan's niece Sarah, in the famous video "Sarah on DNS"
which sent an important message about DNS in what later
would become known as the Kaminsky Bug. It can also be seen as the start of a message
that the DNS querier is sending to Dan.
The length of this example RDATA is 42 octets, signifying Dan Kaminsky's age at the time of his
untimely passing as well as signifying his quest to always learn more about life, the
universe and everything. The number 42 in ASCII also represents the wildcard, and Dan
Kaminsky definitely came into the IETF on a wildcard.
The example RDATA Wire Format consists of the following hexadecimal octets:
The example RDATA Presentation Format, as visible in zone files ,
consists of the following ascii string within double quotes:
The DAKAMI RR should have no operational impact on the operation of the DNS.
The RR SHOULD NOT be added to the Additional Section. If it is added to
the Additional Section, it MUST be added as the last RR and MUST NOT
cause truncation or fragmentation of the DNS response.
The DAKAMI RR does not alter the security of the DNS.
Dan Kaminsky considerably improved the security of DNS and the internet in
general. His handling of the Kaminsky Bug, together with the help of the
people at ISC and elsewhere, has raised the standard of responsible disclosure.
The implementation and usage of the DAKAMI RR has no privacy impact other
than revealing an appreciation for a lifetime of achievements by Dan Kaminsky.
This document defines a new DNS RR type, DAKAMI, whose value 32767 has
been allocated by IANA from the DNS Resource Record (RR) TYPEs registry.
Dan Kaminsky, we acknowledge you for a lifetime achievement of sharing
your technical expertise, for using your knowledge and charisma for
good, for inspiring and assisting others no matter what project they
were working on and for always reminding us that how we do things is as
important as what we do. May your DNS queries flow over the internet
for as long as we haven't build something better. Thank you Dan, for
everything.
Sarah On DNS