openldap/doc/drafts/draft-masarati-ldap-deref.xml

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<rfc category="std" ipr="full3978" docName="draft-masarati-ldap-deref.txt">

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    <front>
        <title abbrev='LDAP Deref'>LDAP Dereference Control</title>
        <author initials='P.' surname="Masarati" fullname='Pierangelo Masarati'>
            <organization abbrev='Politecnico di Milano'>
                Politecnico di Milano
            </organization>
            <address>
                <postal>
                    <street>Dipartimento di Ingegneria Aerospaziale</street>
                    <street>via La Masa 34</street>
                    <city>Milano</city>
                    <code>20156</code>
                    <country>IT</country>
                </postal>
                <phone>+39 02 2399 8309</phone>
                <facsimile>+39 02 2399 8334</facsimile>
                <email>ando@OpenLDAP.org</email>
                <uri>http://www.aero.polimi.it/masarati/</uri>
            </address>
        </author>
        <author initials="H.Y." surname="Chu" fullname="Howard Y. Chu">
            <organization abbrev="Symas Corp.">
                Symas Corporation
            </organization>
            <address>
	    	<postal>
		    <street>18740 Oxnard St., Suite 313A</street>
		    <city>Tarzana</city>
		    <region>California</region>
		    <code>91356</code>
		    <country>USA</country>
		</postal>
		<phone>+1 818 757-7087</phone>
                <email>hyc@symas.com</email>
		<uri>http://www.symas.com/</uri>
            </address>
        </author>
        <!--date/-->
        <date month='October' year='2008' />
        <abstract>
            <t>
This document describes the Dereference Control for LDAP.
This control is intended to provide a concise means to collect
extra information related to cross-links present in entries
returned as part of search responses.
            </t>
        </abstract>
    </front>

    <middle>
        <section title="Background and Intended Use">
            <t>
Cross-links between entries are often used to describe relationships
between entries.
To exploit the uniqueness of entries naming, these links are usually
represented by the distinguished name (DN) of the linked entries.
            </t>

            <t>
In many cases, DUAs need to collect information about linked entries.
This requires to explicitly dereference each linked entry in order to
collect the desired attributes, resulting in the need to perform a
specific sequence of search operations, using the links as search base,
with a SearchRequest.scope of baseObject <xref target="RFC4511" />.
            </t>

            <t>
This document describes a LDAP Control <xref target="RFC4511" />
that allows a DUA to request the DSA to return specific attributes
of linked entries along with the link, under the assumption that
this operation can be performed by the DSA in a more efficient manner
than the DUA would itself by performing the complete sequence
of required search operations.
            </t>

            <t>
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL",
"SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY",
and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as
described in <xref target="RFC2119" />.
            </t>
        </section>

        <section title="The LDAP Dereference Control">
            <section title="Control Semantics">
                <t>
This control allows specifying a dereference attribute and a set
of attributes to be dereferenced, as illustrated
in <xref target="control_request" />.
The dereference attribute's syntax MUST be 1.3.6.1.4.1.1466.115.121.1.12
(DN) <xref target="RFC4517" />.
Each value of the dereference attribute in a SearchResultEntry SHOULD
result in dereferencing the corresponding entry, collecting the values
of the attributes to be dereferenced, and returning them as part
of the control value in the SearchResultEntry response, in the format
detailed in <xref target="control_response" />.
                </t>

                <t>
The control value may contain dereference attribute values without any
dereferenced attribute values, as detailed in
<xref target="control_response" />.
The control semantics does not specify whether this is a consequence
of a dangling link or of the application of access restrictions
on the values of the attributes to be dereferenced.
                </t>

                <t>
Attribute description hierarchy <xref target="RFC4512" /> SHALL NOT
be exploited when collecting the values of the attributes
to be dereferenced.
On the contrary, all of the attribute descriptions in an attribute
hierarchy SHOULD be treated as distinct and unrelated descriptions.
                </t>

                <t>
This control is only appropriate for the search operation
<xref target="RFC4511" />. This control MUST be ignored if the
Search was requested with SearchRequest.typesOnly specified as TRUE.
The dereference attribute MUST be part of the search result set.
                </t>

                <t>
The semantics of the criticality field are specified in
<xref target="RFC4511" />.
In detail, the criticality of the control determines whether the control
will or will not be used, and if it will not be used, whether the operation
will continue without the control, or fail returning
unavailableCriticalExtension.
If the control is appropriate for an operation and, for any reason,
it cannot be applied in its entirety to a single SearchResultEntry response,
it MUST NOT be applied to that specific SearchResultEntry response,
without affecting its application to any subsequent SearchResultEntry
response.
                </t>

                <t>
This control is totally unrelated to alias dereferencing
<xref target="RFC4511" />.
                </t>
            </section>

            <section anchor="control_request" title="Control Request">
                <figure>
                    <preamble>
The specification of the Dereference Control request is:
                    </preamble>
                    <artwork>
      controlValue ::= SEQUENCE OF derefSpec DerefSpec

      DerefSpec ::= SEQUENCE {
          derefAttr       attributeDescription,    ; with DN syntax
          attributes      AttributeList }

      AttributeList ::= SEQUENCE OF attr AttributeDescription
                    </artwork>
                    <postamble>
Each derefSpec.derefAttr MUST be unique within controlValue.
                    </postamble>
                </figure>
            </section>

            <section anchor="control_response" title="Control Response">
                <figure>
                    <preamble>
The specification of the Dereference Control response is:
                    </preamble>
                    <artwork>
      controlValue ::= SEQUENCE OF derefRes DerefRes

      DerefRes ::= SEQUENCE {
          derefAttr       AttributeDescription,
          derefVal        LDAPDN,
          attrVals        [0] PartialAttributeList OPTIONAL }

      PartialAttributeList ::= SEQUENCE OF
                     partialAttribute PartialAttribute
                    </artwork>
                </figure>
                <figure>
                    <preamble>
PartialAttribute is defined in <xref target="RFC4511" />;
the definition is reported here for clarity:
                    </preamble>
                    <artwork>
      PartialAttribute ::= SEQUENCE {
          type       AttributeDescription,
          vals       SET OF value AttributeValue }
                    </artwork>
                    <postamble>
If partialAttribute.vals is empty, the corresponding partialAttribute
is omitted.
If all partialAttribute.vals in attrVals are empty, that derefRes.attrVals
is omitted.
                    </postamble>
                </figure>
            </section>
        </section>

	<section title="Examples">
            <figure>
                <preamble>
Given these entries:
                </preamble>
                <artwork>
    dn: cn=Howard Chu,ou=people,dc=OpenLDAP,dc=org
    objectClass: inetOrgPerson
    cn: Howard Chu
    sn: Chu
    uid: hyc

    dn: Pierangelo Masarati,ou=people,dc=OpenLDAP,dc=org
    objectClass: inetOrgPerson
    cn: Pierangelo Masarati
    sn: Masarati
    uid: ando

    dn: cn=Test Group,ou=groups,dc=OpenLDAP,dc=org
    objectClass: groupOfNames
    cn: test Group
    member: cn=Howard Chu,ou=people,dc=OpenLDAP,dc=org
    member: cn=Pierangelo,Masarati,ou=people,dc=OpenLDAP,dc=org
                 </artwork>
            </figure>
            <figure>
                <preamble>
A search could be performed with a Dereference request control value
specified as
                </preamble>
                <artwork>
    { member, uid }
                </artwork>
            </figure>
            <figure>
                <preamble>
and the "cn=Test Group" entry would be returned with the response control
value
                </preamble>
                <artwork>
    { { member, cn=Howard Chu,ou=people,dc=OpenLDAP,dc=org,
        { { uid, [hyc] } } },
      { member, cn=Pierangelo Masarati,ou=people,dc=OpenLDAP,dc=org,
        { { uid, [ando] } } } }
                </artwork>
            </figure>
	</section>

        <section title="Implementation Notes">
        <t>
This LDAP extension is currently implemented in OpenLDAP software.
        </t>
        </section>

        <section title="Security Considerations">
        <t>
The control result MUST NOT disclose information the client's identity
could not have accessed by performing the related search operations.
The presence of a derefRes.derefVal in the response control, with
no derefRes.attrVals, does not imply neither the existence of nor any
access privilege to the corresponding entry.
It is merely a consequence of the read access the client's identity has
on the corresponding value of the derefRes.derefAttr that would be returned
as part of the attributes of a SearchResultEntry <xref target="RFC4511" />.
        </t>
        <t>
Security considerations described in documents listed in
<xref target="RFC4510" /> apply.
        </t>
        </section>

        <section title="IANA Considerations">
            <section title="Object Identifier Registration">
                <figure>
                    <preamble>
It is requested that IANA register upon Standards Action an LDAP
Object Identifier for use in this technical specification.
                    </preamble>
                    <artwork>
      Subject: Request for LDAP OID Registration
      Person &amp; email address to contact for further information:
          Pierangelo Masarati &lt;ando@OpenLDAP.org&gt;
      Specification: (I-D)
      Author/Change Controller: IESG
      Comments:
          Identifies the LDAP Dereference Control request
          and response
                    </artwork>
                </figure>
            </section>
        </section>

        <section title="Acknowledgments">
        <t>
TBD
        </t>
        </section>
    </middle>

    <back>
        <references title='Normative References'>
        &rfc2119;
        &rfc4510;
        &rfc4511;
        &rfc4512;
        &rfc4517;
    </references>

    </back>

</rfc>