comments appreciated... thanks, JeffH ----- <NOTE: Registration of MIME media type application/samlmetadata+xml sstc-saml-2.0-application-samlmetadata-registration-00 Jeff Hodges <Jeff.Hodges@Sun.com> 23-Aug-2004 This document is intended to be included in sstc-saml-metadata-2.0-cd-02 (ie the next time [SAMLv2Meta] is rev'd), as an appendix. Please see http://www.w3.org/2002/06/registering-mediatype.html for an overview of the intricities involved when a non-IETF organization registers a MIME media type in the "standards tree" (aka "IETF tree"). The below registration material is intended to satisfy the requirements stated in draft-freed-media-type-reg-01.txt (which superseded draft-freed-mime-p4-04.txt). This "NOTE" is intended to be removed upon copying this document's content into [SAMLv2Meta]. Acknowledgments: Thanks to Ned Freed and Larry Masinter for their comments on a draft of a related registration. The security considerations section leverages that of http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/application/vnd.paos+xml, by John Kemp.

To: ietf-types@iana.org Subject: Registration of MIME media type application/samlmetadata+xml Introduction This document defines a MIME media type -- application/samlmetadata+xml -- for use with the XML serialization of Security Assertion Markup Language metadata. SAML is a work product of the OASIS Security Services Technical Committee [SSTC]. The SAML specifications define XML-based constructs with which one may make, and convey, security assertions. Using SAML, one can assert that an authentication event pertaining to some subject has occurred and convey said assertion to a relying party, for example. SAML profiles require agreements between system entities regarding identifiers, binding support, endpoints, certificates, keys, and so forth. Such information is treated as metadata by SAML v2.0. [SAMLv2Meta] specifies this metadata, as well as specifying metadata publication and resolution mechanisms. If the publishing protocol permits MIME-based identification of content types, then use of the application/samlmetadata+xml MIME media type is required. MIME media type name: application MIME subtype name: samlmetadata+xml Required parameters: none Optional parameters: charset Same as charset parameter of application/xml [RFC3023]. Encoding considerations: Same as for application/xml [RFC3023]. Security considerations: Per their specification, samlmetadata+xml typed objects do not contain executable content. However, these objects are XML-based [XML], and thus they have all of the general security considerations presented in section 10 of [RFC3023]. SAML metadata [SAMLv2Meta] contains information whose integrity and authenticity is important – identity provider and service provider public keys and endpoint addresses, for example. To counter potential issues, the publisher may sign samlmetadata+xml typed objects. Any such signature should be verified by the recipient of the data - both as a valid signature, and as being the signature of the publisher. Additionally, various of the publication protocols, e.g. HTTP-over-TLS/SSL, offer means for ensuring the authenticity of the publishing party and for protecting the metadata in transit. [SAMLv2Meta] also defines prescriptive metadata caching directives, as well as guidance on handling HTTPS redirects, trust processing, server authentication, and related items. For a more detailed discussion of SAML v2.0 metadata and its security considerations, please see [SAMLv2Meta]. For a discussion of overall SAML v2.0 security considerations and specific security-related design features, please refer to the SAML v2.0 specifications listed in the below bibliography. The specifications containing security-specific information are explicitly listed. Interoperability considerations: SAML v2.0 metadata explicitly supports identifying the protocols and versions supported by the identified entities. For example, an identity provider entity can be denoted as supporting SAML v2.0, SAML v1.1 [SAMLv1.1], Liberty ID-FF 1.2 [LAPFF], or even other protocols if they are unambiguously identifiable via URI [RFC2396]. This protocol support information is conveyed via the protocolSupportEnumeration attribute of metadata objects of the RoleDescriptorType. Published specification: [SAMLv2Meta] explicitly specifies use of the application/samlmetadata+xml MIME media type. Applications which use this media type: Potentially any application implementing SAML v2.0, as well as those applications implementing specifications based on SAML, e.g. those available from the Liberty Alliance [LAP]. Additional information: Magic number(s): In general, the same as for application/xml [RFC3023]. In particular, the XML root element of the returned object will be one of <md:EntityDescriptor>, <md:AffiliationDescriptor>, or <md:EntitiesDescriptor>. where "md" maps to the SAML v2.0 metadata namespace: urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:metadata File extension(s): none Macintosh File Type Code(s): none Person & email address to contact for further information: This registration is made on behalf of the OASIS Security Services Technical Committee (SSTC) Please refer to the SSTC website for current information on committee chairperson(s) and their contact addresses: http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/security/. Committee members should submit comments and potential errata to the securityservices@lists.oasis-open.org list. Others should submit them by filling out the web form located at http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/comments/form.php?wg_abbrev=s Additionally, the SAML developer community email distribution list, saml-dev@lists.oasis-open.org, may be employed to discuss usage of the application/samlmetadata+xml MIME media type. The "saml-dev" mailing list is publicly archived here: http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/saml-dev/. To post to the "saml-dev" mailing list, one must subscribe to it. To subscribe, send a message with the single word "subscribe" in the message body, to: saml-dev-request@lists.oasis-open.org. Intended usage: COMMON Author/Change controller: The SAML specification sets are a work product of the OASIS Security Services Technical Committee (SSTC). OASIS and the SSTC have change control over the SAML specification sets. Bibliography [LAP] "Liberty Alliance Project". See http://www.projectliberty.org/ [LAPFF] "Liberty Alliance Project: Federation Framework". See http://www.projectliberty.org/resources/ specifications.php#box1 [OASIS] "Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Systems". See http://www.oasis-open.org/ [RFC2396] T. Berners-Lee, R. Fielding, L. Masinter, Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI): Generic Syntax. IETF RFC 2396, August 1998. Available at http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2396.txt [RFC3023] M. Murata, S. St.Laurent, D. Kohn, "XML Media Types", IETF Request for Comments 3023, January 2001. Available as http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3023.txt [SAMLv1.1] OASIS Security Services Technical Committee, "Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) Version 1.1 Specification Set". OASIS Standard 200308, August 2003. Available as http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php /3400/oasis-sstc-saml-1.1-pdf-xsd.zip [SAMLv2.0] OASIS Security Services Technical Committee, "Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) Version 2.0 Specification Set". WORK IN PROGRESS. Available at http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/security/ [SAMLv2Bind] S. Cantor et al., "Bindings for the OASIS Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) V2.0". OASIS SSTC, August 2004. Document ID sstc-saml-bindings-2.0-cd-01, WORK IN PROGRESS. See http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/security/ [SAMLv2Core] S. Cantor et al., "Assertions and Protocols for the OASIS Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) V2.0". OASIS SSTC, August 2004. Document ID sstc-saml-core-2.0-cd-01, WORK IN PROGRESS. See http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/security/ [SAMLv2Meta] S. Cantor et al., Metadata for the OASIS Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) V2.0. OASIS SSTC, August 2004. Document ID sstc-saml-metadata-2.0-cd-01. See http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/security/ [SAMLv2Prof] S. Cantor et al., "Profiles for the OASIS Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) V2.0". OASIS SSTC, August 2004. Document ID sstc-saml-profiles-2.0-cd-01, WORK IN PROGRESS. See http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/security/ [SAMLv2Sec] F. Hirsch et al., "Security and Privacy Considerations for the OASIS Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) V2.0". OASIS SSTC, August 2004, WORK IN PROGRESS. Document ID sstc-saml-sec-consider-2.0-cd-01. See http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/security/ [SSTC] "OASIS Security Services Technical Committee". See http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/security/ [XML] Bray, T., Paoli, J., Sperberg-McQueen, C.M. and E. Maler, "Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 (Second Edition)", World Wide Web Consortium Recommendation REC-xml, October 2000, Available as http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml --- end