RFC 2404 (rfc2404) - Page 1 of 7
The Use of HMAC-SHA-1-96 within ESP and AH
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
Network Working Group C. Madson
Request for Comments: 2404 Cisco Systems Inc.
Category: Standards Track R. Glenn
NIST
November 1998
The Use of HMAC-SHA-1-96 within ESP and AH
Status of this Memo
This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1998). All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
This memo describes the use of the HMAC algorithm [RFC-2104] in
conjunction with the SHA-1 algorithm [FIPS-180-1] as an
authentication mechanism within the revised IPSEC Encapsulating
Security Payload [ESP] and the revised IPSEC Authentication Header
[AH]. HMAC with SHA-1 provides data origin authentication and
integrity protection.
Further information on the other components necessary for ESP and AH
implementations is provided by [Thayer97a].
1. Introduction
This memo specifies the use of SHA-1 [FIPS-180-1] combined with HMAC
[RFC-2104] as a keyed authentication mechanism within the context of
the Encapsulating Security Payload and the Authentication Header.
The goal of HMAC-SHA-1-96 is to ensure that the packet is authentic
and cannot be modified in transit.
HMAC is a secret key authentication algorithm. Data integrity and
data origin authentication as provided by HMAC are dependent upon the
scope of the distribution of the secret key. If only the source and
destination know the HMAC key, this provides both data origin
Madson & Glenn Standards Track