Skip to content

Commit ec16947

Browse files
authored
Added "Limitations" section to each mitigation
1 parent f900ba7 commit ec16947

1 file changed

Lines changed: 4 additions & 4 deletions

File tree

draft-ietf-oauth-cross-device-security.md

Lines changed: 4 additions & 4 deletions
Original file line numberDiff line numberDiff line change
@@ -487,14 +487,14 @@ The unauthenticated channel between the initiating and authenticating device all
487487

488488
Dependig on the risk profile and the threat model in which as system is operating, it mey be neccesary to user mor than one mechanism to establish proximity to raise the bar for any potential attackers.
489489

490-
Note: There are scenarios that require that an authorization takes place in a different location than the one in which the transaction is authorized. For example, there may be a primary and secondary credit card holder and both can initiate transactions, but only the primary holder can authorize it. There is no guarantee that the primary and secondary holders are in the same location at the time of the authorization. In such cases, proximity may be an indicator of risk and the system may deploy additional controls (e.g., transaction value limits, transaction velocity limits) or use the proximity information as input to a risk management system.
490+
Note: There are scenarios that require that an authorization takes place in a different location than the one in which the transaction is authorized. For example, there may be a primary and secondary credit card holder and both can initiate transactions, but only the primary holder can authorize it. There is no guarantee that the primary and secondary holders are in the same location at the time of the authorization. In such cases, proximity may be an indicator of risk and the system may deploy additional controls (e.g., transaction value limits, transaction velocity limits) or use the proximity information as input to a risk management system.
491491

492492
**Limitations:** Proximity mechanisms raises the bar for an attack. However, depending on how the proximity check is performed, an attacker may be able to circumvent the protection: The attacker can use a VPN to simulate a shared network or spoof a GNSS position. For example, the attacker can try to request the location of the end-user's authorization device through browser APIs and then simulate the same location on his initiating device using standard debugging features available on many platforms.
493493

494494
### Short Lived/Timebound User Codes
495495
The impact of an attack can be reduced by making user codes short lived. If an attacker obtains a short-lived code, the duration during which the unauthenticated channel can be exploited is reduced, potentially increasing the cost of a successful attack.
496496

497-
**Limitations:** There is a practical limit to how short a user code can be valid due to network latency and user experience limitations (time taken to enter a code, or incorrectly entering a code).
497+
**Limitations:** There is a practical limit to how short a user code can be valid due to network latency and user experience limitations (time taken to enter a code, or incorrectly entering a code).
498498

499499
### One-Time or Limited Use Codes
500500
By enforcing one-time use or limited use of user or QR codes, the authorization server can limit the impact of attacks where the same user code or QR code is sent to multiple victims. One-time use may be achieved by including a nonce or date-stamp in the user code or QR code which is validated by the authorization server when the user scans the QR code against a list of previously issued codes.
@@ -558,9 +558,9 @@ The service may provide out-of-band reinforcement to the user on the context and
558558
**Limitations:** Improvements to user experience on their own is unlikely to be sufficient and should be used in conjuntion with other controls described in this document.
559559

560560
### Authenticated flow
561-
By requiring a user to authenticate on the initiating device with a phishing resistant authentication method before initiating a cross-device flow, the server can prevent an attacker from initiating a cross-device flow and obtaining QR codes or user codes. This prevents the attacker from obtaining a QR code or user code that they can use to mislead an unsuspecting user. This requires that the initiating device has sufficient input capabilities to support a phishing resistant authentication mechanism.
561+
By requiring a user to authenticate on the initiating device with a phishing resistant authentication method before initiating a cross-device flow, the server can prevent an attacker from initiating a cross-device flow and obtaining QR codes or user codes. This prevents the attacker from obtaining a QR code or user code that they can use to mislead an unsuspecting user. This requires that the initiating device has sufficient input capabilities to support a phishing resistant authentication mechanism, which may in itself negate the need for a cross-device
562562

563-
**Limitations:** Note that this does not prevent the attacks described in [Example B5: Illicit Network Join](#Example B5: Illicit Network Join (Hybrid Pattern)) and [Example B7: Illicit Session Transfer](#Example B7: Illicit session transfer (Hybrid Pattern)) and it is recommended that additional mitigations described in this document is used if the cross-device flows are used in scenarios such as [Example A5: Add a device to a network](#Example A5: Add a device to a network (Hybrid)) and [Example A7: Transfer a session](#Example A7: Transfer a session (Hybrid)).
563+
**Limitations:** Starting with and authenticated does not prevent the attacks described in [Example B5: Illicit Network Join](#Example B5: Illicit Network Join (Hybrid Pattern)) and [Example B7: Illicit Session Transfer](#Example B7: Illicit session transfer (Hybrid Pattern)) and it is recommended that additional mitigations described in this document is used if the cross-device flows are used in scenarios such as [Example A5: Add a device to a network](#Example A5: Add a device to a network (Hybrid)) and [Example A7: Transfer a session](#Example A7: Transfer a session (Hybrid)).
564564

565565
### Practical Mitigation Summary
566566
The practical mitigations described in this section can prevent the attacks from being initiated, disrupt attacks once they start or reduce the impact or remediate an attack if it succeeds. When combining one or more of these mitigations the overall security profile of a cross-device flow improves significantly. The following table provides a summary view of these mitigations:

0 commit comments

Comments
 (0)