RFC 3352 (rfc3352) - Page 2 of 4

Connection-less Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (CLDAP) to Historic Status

RFC 3352                CLDAP to Historic Status              March 2003


   - Insufficient security capabilities:
        + no integrity protection,
        + no confidentiality protection
   - Inadequate internationalization support;
   - Insufficient extensibility; and
   - Lack of multiple independently developed implementations.

   The CLDAP technical specification has normative references to
   multiple obsolete technical specifications including X.501(88),
   X.511(88), RFC 1487 (the predecessor to RFC 1777, the now Historic
   LDAPv2 technical specification).  Unless the technical specification
   were to be updated, CLDAP cannot remain on the standards track
   because of the Normative reference to a Historic RFC.

   The community recognized in the mid-1990s that CLDAP needed to be
   updated.  In response to this, the IETF chartered the LDAP Extensions
   Working Group (LDAPext WG) in 1997 to undertake this update.  The
   LDAPext WG is concluding without producing an update to CLDAP.
   Currently, there is no standardization effort to update CLDAP.

   It should be noted that the community still has interest in
   developing a "connection-less" directory access protocol.  However,
   based on operational experience, has determined that further
   experimentation is necessary to address outstanding technical issues.
   In particular, security considerations associated with
   "connection-less" services need to be addressed.

2. Recommendation

   As there is no viable standardization effort to update CLDAP as
   necessary to keep it on the standards track and the community
   currently considers this an area requiring further experimentation,
   RFC 1798 must be moved to Historic status.

   It is recommended that those interested in connection-less access to
   X.500-based directory services experiment with [LDAPUDP] and other
   alternatives which might become available.

3. Security Considerations

   The security of the Internet will not be impacted by the retirement
   of CLDAP.

4. Acknowledgment

   The author would like to thank the designers of CLDAP for their
   contribution to the Internet community.




Zeilenga                     Informational