Hi Valery,

I’m quite happy with your “Perhaps 5” text. Let’s go with that. I think this 
might be the last wording issue. :-) 

Thanks,
Brian

> On Oct 22, 2025, at 10:09 PM, Valery Smyslov <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
> Hi Brian,
>  
> please see inline.
>  
> Hi Valery,
>  
> One reply is inline.
> 
> 
>> On Oct 22, 2025, at 11:54 AM, Valery Smyslov <[email protected]> wrote:
>>  
>> Hi Brian, 
>> 
>> please find my comments inline.
>> 
>> 
>>> Hi Madison,
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On Oct 21, 2025, at 2:30 PM, Madison Church <[email protected]
>>> editor.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Hi Brian, Valery, and *Deb,
>>>> 
>>>> *Deb - Please review and approve the added text to Section 1.2 (Group SA
>>> definition). This change may be viewed here: https://www.rfc-
>>> editor.org/authors/rfc9838-lastdiff.html.
>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Brian and Valery - Thank you both for your detailed replies! We have
>>> incorporated the requested updates. See below for a few (final) proposed
>>> changes. Aside from the following, we believe there are no remaining 
>>> inquiries
>>> that are outstanding. Please review the document carefully to ensure
>>> satisfaction as we do not make changes once it has been published as an RFC.
>>> Contact us with any further updates or with your approval of the document in
>>> its current form. We will await approvals from each author prior to asking
>>> IANA to make their updates.
>>> 
>>> Whew! The changes all look fine to me, thanks.
>>> 
>>> I’ve added some replies your questions below, which should be addressed
>>> before approval.
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> We spotted 4 additional instances of "GSA policy" and 2 additional 
>>>> instances
>>> of "GSA attributes" that were not included in the list of updates. Should 
>>> these
>>> instances be updated to "group SA policy" and "group SA attributes" as well?
>>> Or should they remain as is?
>> 
>> Oh, this is my fault, I somehow missed them :-(
>> 
>> 
>>>> Section 4.4.1
>>>> 
>>>> 1) Current:
>>>> Depending on the employed security protocol, GSA policies may further
>>>> be classified as Rekey SA (GSA KEK) policy and Data-Security (GSA TEK) SA
>>> policy.
>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Perhaps:
>>>> Depending on the employed security protocol, group SA policies may
>>>> further be classified as Rekey SA (GSA KEK) policy and Data-Security (GSA
>>> TEK) SA policy.
>>> 
>>> I believe that “GSA policies” is referring to “Group Policies” in Figure 
>>> 14, so I
>>> would suggest the following.
>>> 
>>> Perhaps 2:
>>> Depending on the employed security protocol, Group Policies may further be
>>> classified as Rekey SA (GSA KEK) policy and Data-Security (GSA TEK) SA 
>>> policy.
>> 
>> No, this text clarifies the types of SAs that can be considered as "group 
>> SAs"
>> and for which group SA policy can be provided. Thus, I think that 
>> Madison's proposal is correct.
>> 
>> Along with the two preceding sentences the text is:
>> 
>>   Group policies are comprised of two types: group SA policy and group-
>>   wide (GW) policy.  Group SA policy defines parameters for the
>>   Security Association of the group.  Depending on the employed
>>   security protocol, group SA policies may further be classified as Rekey SA
>>   (GSA KEK) policy and Data-Security (GSA TEK) SA policy.
>> 
>> which gives all the context.
>  
> Ok, that’s fine. But now I think that there’s a typo in this sentence,
> which is what tripped me up. The previous sentence refers to a 
> plurality of security policies, and so should this one. Note the change 
> below from “security protocol” to “security protocols”.
>  
> Perhaps 3:
> Depending on the employed security protocols, Group Policies may further be
> classified as Rekey SA (GSA KEK) policy and Data-Security (GSA TEK) SA policy.
>  
>          I have no problem with this change, but the text above still 
>          talks about "Group Policy" and not about "group SA policy".
>          I believe this is a typo (since you agreed with my previous 
>          message). 
>  
>          We classify Group Policies as "group SA policies" and "group-wide 
> policy" above
>          and then further classify the former as "Rekey SA policy" and 
> "Data-Security SA policy".
>  
> Thus, I think the text should be:
>  
> Perhaps 4.
> Depending on the employed security protocols, group SA policies may further be
> classified as Rekey SA (GSA KEK) policies and Data-Security (GSA TEK) SA 
> policies.
>  
>          (note, that I used plural form everywhere).
>  
>          Or instead:
>  
> Perhaps 5.
> Depending on the employed security protocol, a group SA policy may be
> either a Rekey SA (GSA KEK) policy or a Data-Security (GSA TEK) SA policy.
>  
> (Note that I used singular form everywhere and an "a" article to show that 
> there may be two types of group SA policies).
>  
> Which variant is better in your opinion? Of do you have a better one in mind?
> As for me, I slightly prefer the last variant.
>  
>          Regards,
>          Valery.
>  
> Thanks,
> Brian
> 
> 
>> 
>> 
>>>> 2) Current (2 instances):
>>>> The format of the substructures is defined in Section 4.4.2 (for GSA
>>>> policy) and in Section 4.4.3 (for GW policy). The first octet of the
>>>> substructure unambiguously determines its type; it is zero for GW
>>>> policy and non-zero (actually, it contains a Security Protocol
>>>> Identifier) for GSA policies.
>>>> 
>>>> Perhaps:
>>>> The format of the substructures is defined in Section 4.4.2 (for group
>>>> SA
>>>> policy) and in Section 4.4.3 (for GW policy). The first octet of the
>>>> substructure unambiguously determines its type; it is zero for GW
>>>> policy and non-zero (actually, it contains a Security Protocol
>>>> Identifier) for group SA policies.
>>> 
>>> I believe this is a correct change.
>> 
>> I agree.
>> 
>> 
>>>> Section 4.4.2
>>>> 
>>>> 1) Current:
>>>> Section 4.4.2.2 defines attributes used in GSA policy substructure.
>>>> 
>>>> Perhaps:
>>>> Section 4.4.2.2 defines attributes used in group SA policy substructure.
>>> 
>>> The update seems correct. However, I would not object to also adding “the”
>>> before “group SA", which was missing in the original text  i.e.,
>>> 
>>> Perhaps 2:
>>> … “used in the group SA …"
>> 
>> I agree.
>> 
>> 
>>>> Section 4.4.2.2
>>>> 
>>>> 1) Current:
>>>> Unlike security parameters distributed via transforms, which are
>>>> expected not to change over time (unless the policy changes), the
>>>> parameters distributed via GSA attributes may depend on the time the
>>>> provision takes place, on the existence of others group SAs, or on other
>>> conditions.
>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Perhaps:
>>>> Unlike security parameters distributed via transforms, which are
>>>> expected not to change over time (unless the policy changes), the
>>>> parameters distributed via group SA attributes may depend on the time
>>>> the provision takes place, on the existence of others group SAs, or on 
>>>> other
>>> conditions.
>>> 
>>> This also seems correct. However, I think there’s a slight typo in the last 
>>> line of
>>> the original text (“other” should not be plural).
>>> 
>>> Perhaps 2:
>>> … existence of other group SAs ...
>> 
>> Yes.
>> 
>> 
>>>> 2) Current:
>>>> This document creates a new IKEv2 IANA registry for the types of GSA
>>>> attributes, which has been initially populated as described in Section
>>>> 9.
>>>> 
>>>> Perhaps:
>>>> This document creates a new IKEv2 IANA registry for the types of group
>>>> SA attributes, which has been initially populated as described in
>>>> Section 9.
>>> 
>>> This seems correct to me.
>> 
>> Exactly.
>> 
>> Thank you!
>> 
>> Regards,
>> Valery.
>> 
>> P.S. I seem to realize how I missed these 6 cases - I simply searched the 
>> draft text 
>> for "GSA policy", "GSA attribute" and forgot that there may be plural form 
>> "policies"
>> and the searched text may be also split by line break. Alas.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> Many thanks!
>>> Brian
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> The files have been posted here (please refresh):
>>>>  https://www.rfc-editor.org/authors/rfc9838.txt
>>>>  https://www.rfc-editor.org/authors/rfc9838.pdf
>>>>  https://www.rfc-editor.org/authors/rfc9838.html
>>>>  https://www.rfc-editor.org/authors/rfc9838.xml
>>>> 
>>>> The relevant diff files have been posted here (please refresh):
>>>>  https://www.rfc-editor.org/authors/rfc9838-diff.html (comprehensive
>>> changes)
>>> 
>>>>  https://www.rfc-editor.org/authors/rfc9838-rfcdiff.html (side by side)
>>>>  https://www.rfc-editor.org/authors/rfc9838-auth48diff.html (all AUTH48
>>> changes)
>>> 
>>>>  https://www.rfc-editor.org/authors/rfc9838-auth48rfcdiff.html (side by
>>> side)
>>> 
>>>>  https://www.rfc-editor.org/authors/rfc9838-lastdiff.html (diff showing 
>>>> latest
>>> updates)
>>> 
>>>>  https://www.rfc-editor.org/authors/rfc9838-lastrfcdiff.html (side by
>>>> side)
>>>> 
>>>> For the AUTH48 status of this document, please see:
>>>>  https://www.rfc-editor.org/auth48/rfc9838
>>>> 
>>>> Thank you!
>>>> Madison Church
>>>> RFC Production Center
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>>> On Oct 21, 2025, at 1:44 AM, Valery Smyslov <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> Hi Brian,
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>>> Hi Valery,
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> These changes look fine to me, if everyone agrees that making this
>>>>>> much change is acceptable. Certainly they clean up inconsistence
>>> regarding “GSA”.
>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> However, it strikes me that the document is now so populated with
>>>>>> the term “group SA”, so it should probably be defined in Section 1.2.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Possibly:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> NEW
>>>>>> Group SA: A Data-Security SA or Rekey SA that is shared as part of Group
>>> policy.
>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> Good idea!
>>>>> 
>>>>> I think it should be inserted between the "Rekey SA" definition and the
>>> "Group Security Association (GSA)" definition.
>>> 
>>>>> And I also think that "Group policy" should be "group policy" to be
>>> consistent with other uses of this words.
>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> Thus (a detailed change request for Madison):
>>>>> 
>>>>> OLD:
>>>>> Rekey SA:
>>>>>    A single multicast SA between the GCKS and all of the GMs.  This
>>>>>    SA is used for multicast transmission of key management messages
>>>>>    from the GCKS to all GMs.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Group Security Association (GSA):
>>>>>    A collection of Data-Security SAs and Rekey SAs necessary for a GM
>>>>>    to receive key updates.  A GSA describes the working policy for a
>>>>>    group.  Refer to the MSEC Group Key Management Architecture
>>>>>    [RFC4046] for additional information.
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> NEW:
>>>>> Rekey SA:
>>>>>    A single multicast SA between the GCKS and all of the GMs.  This
>>>>>    SA is used for multicast transmission of key management messages
>>>>>    from the GCKS to all GMs.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Group SA:
>>>>>    A Data-Security SA or Rekey SA that is shared as part of group policy.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Group Security Association (GSA):
>>>>>    A collection of Data-Security SAs and Rekey SAs necessary for a GM
>>>>>    to receive key updates.  A GSA describes the working policy for a
>>>>>    group.  Refer to the MSEC Group Key Management Architecture
>>>>>    [RFC4046] for additional information.
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> Regards,
>>>>> Valery.
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>>> Hope that helps,
>>>>>> Brian
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> On Oct 17, 2025, at 12:43 AM, Valery Smyslov <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Hi Deb, Brian, Madison,
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> taking into consideration Deb’s opinion, I think that for the
>>>>>>> purpose of making the abbreviations unambiguous,
>>>>>> the simplest change would be to
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> just replace “GSA” with “group SA” for “GSA policy” (14 instances),
>>>>>>> “GSA transforms” (3 instances) and “GSA
>>>>>> attributes” (10 instances),
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> with no change to “GSA payload” as Brian rightly noticed that this is a
>>> correct term.
>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> I checked the draft and here the concrete instances to change I found:
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> For "GSA Policy":
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 1) Section 4.4.1. (2 instances)
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> CURRENT:
>>>>>>> Group policies are comprised of two types: GSA policy and GW policy.
>>>>>>> GSA policy defines parameters for the Security Association of the
>>>>>>> group.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> NEW:
>>>>>>> Group policies are comprised of two types: group SA policy and group-
>>> wide (GW) policy.
>>> 
>>>>>>> Group  SA policy defines parameters for the Security Association of
>>>>>>> the group.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 2) Section 4.4.2. (4 instances)
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> CURRENT:
>>>>>>> The GSA policy substructure contains parameters for a single SA
>>>>>>> that is used with this group.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> [...]
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>              Figure 15: GSA Policy Substructure Format
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> [...]
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> The GSA policy fields are defined as follows:
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> [...]
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>   Section 4.4.2.1 describes
>>>>>>>   using IKEv2 transforms in GSA policy substructure.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> NEW:
>>>>>>> The group SA policy substructure contains parameters for a single
>>>>>>> SA that is used with this group.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> [...]
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>              Figure 15: Group SA Policy Substructure Format
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> [...]
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> The group SA policy fields are defined as follows:
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> [...]
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>   Section 4.4.2.1 describes
>>>>>>>   using IKEv2 transforms in the group SA policy substructure.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 3) Section 4.4.2.1. (3 instances)
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> CURRENT:
>>>>>>> GSA policy is defined by the means of transforms in the GSA policy
>>>>>>> substructure.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> [...]
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Exactly one instance of each mandatory Transform Type and at most
>>>>>>> one instance of each optional Transform Type MUST be present in the
>>>>>>> GSA policy substructure.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> NEW:
>>>>>>> Group SA policy is defined by the means of transforms in the group
>>>>>>> SA policy substructure.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> [...]
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Exactly one instance of each mandatory Transform Type and at most
>>>>>>> one instance of each optional Transform Type MUST be present in the
>>>>>>> group SA policy substructure.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 4) Section 4.4.2.2. (1 instance), see also 11) below.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> CURRENT:
>>>>>>> GSA attributes are generally used to provide GMs with additional
>>>>>>> parameters for the GSA policy.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> NEW:
>>>>>>> Group SA attributes are generally used to provide GMs with
>>>>>>> additional parameters for the group SA policy.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 5) Section 4.4.2.2.1. (1 instance)
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> CURRENT:
>>>>>>> A single attribute of this type MUST be included into any GSA
>>>>>>> policy substructure if multicast rekey is employed by the GCKS.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> NEW:
>>>>>>> A single attribute of this type MUST be included into any group SA
>>>>>>> policy substructure if multicast rekey is employed by the GCKS.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 5) Section 4.4.2.2.2. (1 instance)
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> CURRENT:
>>>>>>> In this case this attribute will be included into the GSA policy
>>>>>>> when the GM is registered.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> NEW:
>>>>>>> In this case this attribute will be included into the group SA
>>>>>>> policy when the GM is registered.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 6) Section 4.4.2.2.3. (1 instance)
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> CURRENT:
>>>>>>> The length of the attribute data is determined by the SPI Size
>>>>>>> field in the GSA policy substructure the attribute resides in (see
>>>>>>> Section 4.4.2), and the attribute data contains the SPI as it would
>>>>>>> appear on the network.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> NEW:
>>>>>>> The length of the attribute data is determined by the SPI Size
>>>>>>> field in the group SA policy substructure the attribute resides in
>>>>>>> (see Section 4.4.2), and the attribute data contains the SPI as it
>>>>>>> would appear on the network.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 7) Section 4.5.4 (1 instance)
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> CURRENT:
>>>>>>> In addition, if the GCKS plans
>>>>>>> to use the multicast Rekey SA for group rekey, then it MUST specify
>>>>>>> the key wrap algorithm in the GSA policy for the Rekey SA inside
>>>>>>> the GSA payload.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> NEW:
>>>>>>> In addition, if the GCKS plans
>>>>>>> to use the multicast Rekey SA for group rekey, then it MUST specify
>>>>>>> the key wrap algorithm in the group SA policy for the Rekey SA
>>>>>>> inside the GSA payload.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> For "GSA Transforms":
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 8) Section 4.4.2. (2 instances)
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> CURRENT:
>>>>>>> |                                                               |
>>>>>>> ~                       <GSA Transforms>                        ~
>>>>>>> |                                                               |
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> [...]
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> GSA Transforms (variable):
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> NEW:
>>>>>>> |                                                               |
>>>>>>> ~                    <Group SA Transforms>                      ~
>>>>>>> |                                                               |
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> [...]
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Group SA Transforms (variable):
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 9) Section 4.4.2.1. (1 instance)
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> CURRENT:
>>>>>>> 4.4.2.1.  GSA Transforms
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> NEW:
>>>>>>> 4.4.2.1.  Group SA Transforms
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> For "GSA Attributes":
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 10) Section 4.4.2. (2 instances)
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> CURRENT:
>>>>>>> |                                                               |
>>>>>>> ~                       <GSA Attributes>                        ~
>>>>>>> |                                                               |
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> [...]
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> GSA Attributes (variable):
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> NEW:
>>>>>>> |                                                               |
>>>>>>> ~                    <Group SA Attributes>                      ~
>>>>>>> |                                                               |
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> [...]
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Group SA Attributes (variable):
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 11) Section 4.4.2.2. (4 instances), see also 4) above
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> CURRENT:
>>>>>>> 4.4.2.2.  GSA Attributes
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> [...]
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> GSA attributes are generally used to provide GMs with additional
>>>>>>> parameters for the GSA policy.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> [...]
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> |Value| GSA Attributes         |Format|Multi-Valued| Used in      |
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> [...]
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Table 5: GSA Attributes
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> NEW:
>>>>>>> 4.4.2.2.  Group SA Attributes
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> [...]
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Group SA attributes are generally used to provide GMs with
>>>>>>> additional parameters for the group SA policy.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> [...]
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> |Value| Group SA Attributes    |Format|Multi-Valued| Used in      |
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> [...]
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Table 5: Group SA Attributes
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 12) Section 5 (2 instances)
>>>>>>> CURRENT:
>>>>>>> | GSA Attributes (Section 4.4.2.2)                              |
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> [...]
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> | GSA Attributes (Section 4.4.2.2)                                 |
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> NEW:
>>>>>>> | Group SA Attributes (Section 4.4.2.2)                            |
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> [...]
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> | Group SA Attributes (Section 4.4.2.2)                            |
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 13) Section 9.1 (2 instances)
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> CURRENT:
>>>>>>> 3.  IANA has created the "Group SA Attributes" registry.  The 
>>>>>>> registration
>>>>>>>    policy for this registry is Expert Review [RFC8126].  The initial
>>>>>>>    values of the registry are as follows:
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>> +===========+======================+======+======+============+
>>> 
>>>>>>>     |Value      |Group SA Attributes   |Format|Multi-|Used in     |
>>>>>>>     |           |                      |      |Valued|Protocol    |
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Is this acceptable? Brian, Deb, your opinion?
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> And this would require to update IANA registries, since the name of one
>>> is changed...
>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>>> Valery.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> I may not be tracking this issue correctly (and please correct me if I 
>>>>>>>> get
>>> this wrong).
>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> I would make acronyms (like GSA) consistent within this
>>>>>>>> specification.  I would not worry, or consider what
>>>>>> other specifications use an acronym for some other expansion
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> (heck, I see GSA and think 'General Services Administration' - a US Fed
>>> organization).
>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Deb
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> On Thu, Oct 16, 2025 at 5:28 PM Brian Weis
>>> <mailto:[email protected]> wrote:
>>> 
>>>>>>> HI Madison, Valery, Deb,
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> On Oct 9, 2025, at 7:29 AM, Madison Church
>>> <mailto:[email protected]> wrote:
>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Hi Valery,
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Thank you for your reply! Please see inline.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> On Oct 7, 2025, at 3:56 AM, Valery Smyslov <mailto:[email protected]>
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Hi Madison,
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> thank you for this update, please see inline.
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> Hi Valery and Brian,
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> Thank you for your replies! We have posted updated files below.
>>>>>>>>>> We believe that there is now only one
>>>>>> outstanding
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> item to address (see inline).
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> I noticed that the following requesting change wasn't done:
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 54) Section 4.4.1
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> CURRENT:
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Group policies are comprised of two types: GSA policy and GW
>>> policy.
>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Perhaps it is not consistent, but I think that we should re-expand
>>> GW here (and perhaps GSA too).
>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> GW is defined in the very beginning and is not used up to
>>>>>>>>>>>>> this point, thus I think it would be helpful for readers to remind
>>> what it is.
>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> NEW:
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Group policies are comprised of two types: group SA (GSA) policy
>>> and group-wide (GW) policy.
>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> While I admit that the proposed text re-expanded the terms
>>>>>>>>>>>> that have already been expanded, the rationale for it is that
>>>>>>>>>>>> this expansion was ~30 pages before, and terms were not used
>>> since that, so re-expansion may help readers to refresh their memory. I 
>>> don't
>>> insist, but I think this is helpful.
>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> Brian, Deb, your opinion?
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> I see no issue with re-expanding the terms, but if Madison thinks it
>>> isn’t needed then let’s leave it be.
>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> 1) Thank you for pointing this out! This was actually meant to
>>>>>>>>>> be included in the followup questions sent on
>>>>>> 10/2,
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> but must have gotten lost due to the number of changes in the
>>> original thread. Apologies for missing this!
>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> While making updates to this document, we noticed that there
>>>>>>>>>> seems to be two different expansions for GSA (Group Security
>>>>>>>>>> Association and group SA). Is this intentional, or may we make
>>>>>>>>>> this consistent by replacing instances of "group SA" with the
>>>>>>>>>> abbreviation "GSA"? If yes, may we also make the following
>>>>>>>>>> adjustment to
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> "NEW" text as shown below?
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> This is a very good point and indeed a point for some confusion.
>>>>>>>>> It is not intentional, the reason is the lack of
>>>>>> words
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> in authors' vocabulary (mostly me to blame) :-)
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> We have the following meanings:
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> - GSA (Group Security Association) - a collection of individual
>>>>>>>>> Security Associations (both Data-Security SAs
>>>>>> and Rekey SAs)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> as defined in Section 1.2 (we also have GSA (Group Security
>>>>>>>>> Association) payload - this is just a name of a
>>>>>> payload).
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> - as for "group SA", - in the document this is used to refer to
>>>>>>>>> an individual Security Association within GSA (an
>>>>>> SA that belongs to a group).
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Perhaps this is a bad choice of words, but that is that. 
>>>>>>>>> Unfortunately,
>>> the abbreviation is the same - GSA...
>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> I believe Brian is more experienced in the roots of these terms and 
>>>>>>>>> can
>>> comment on this.
>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> As mentioned in Section 1,"GSA (Group Security Association)"
>>>>>>> matches the definition in RFC 3740 (The
>>>>>> Multicast Group Security Architecture), so this is indeed the most 
>>>>>> correct
>>> use of the GSA acronym.
>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Then RFC 4046 (Multicast Security (MSEC) Group Key Management
>>>>>>> Architecture) introduced the confusing
>>>>>> “group SA (GSA)” acronym, which somehow snuck into this document. I
>>>>>> note that GDOI (RFC 6407), the predecessor to G-IKEv2, does not use that
>>> term for “group SA”.
>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Thus, we have:
>>>>>>>>> - GSA - Group Security Association
>>>>>>>>> - GSA policy - group Security Association policy.
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> This is indeed confusing.
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Perhaps we can replace "GSA policy" with "group SA policy" for
>>>>>>>>> clarity (14 instances)? Brian, Deb, your
>>>>>> opinion?
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> But there are still "GSA transforms" (meaning group SA
>>>>>>>>> transforms) and "GSA Attributes" (group SA
>>>>>> attributes)...
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Any ideas?
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> There’s also the “GSA Payload”, but because it lists policy for a
>>>>>>> collection of SAs, which matches the intent of
>>>>>> the original definition.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Thank you for the helpful explanation! We will wait for Brian’s
>>>>>>>> response/comments before making any updates
>>>>>> to the expansion of GSA.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Thank you!
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Madison Church
>>>>>>>> RFC Production Center
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> Perhaps:
>>>>>>>>>> Group policies are comprised of two types: Group Security
>>>>>>>>>> Association (GSA) policy and group-wide (GW)
>>>>>> policy.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Based on the distinction described above I think that the correct
>>> expanding here should be:
>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> NEW:
>>>>>>>>> Group policies are comprised of two types: group SA (GSA) policy and
>>> group-wide (GW) policy.
>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Rationale - the GSA policy here describes a single SA within a GSA.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> This would be the simplest change, and I do not believe that
>>>>>>> implementors would be confused by the duplicate
>>>>>> use of “GSA".  If we
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> were earlier on in the document process I might have suggested a
>>>>>>> term to more cleanly delineate this policy
>>>>>> element, but not now.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> I think in all three cases Valery mentioned (GSA policy, GSA
>>>>>>> transforms, GSA Attributes) the term “GSA” does
>>>>>> not modify
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> the word following, but is an equal part of the name of the object
>>>>>>> being referenced, if that makes sense. As
>>>>>> such, I don’t see
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> any problem leaving them as is, and simply add Valery’s NEW text above.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>>> Brian
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>>>>> Valery.
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> Please review the document carefully to ensure satisfaction as
>>>>>>>>>> we do not make changes once it has been published as an RFC.
>>>>>>>>>> Contact us with any further updates or with your approval of the
>>>>>>>>>> document in its
>>>>>> current
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> form. We will await approvals from each author prior to moving
>>> forward in the publication process.
>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> Updated files have been posted below (please refresh):
>>>>>>>>>> https://www.rfc-editor.org/authors/rfc9838.txt
>>>>>>>>>> https://www.rfc-editor.org/authors/rfc9838.pdf
>>>>>>>>>> https://www.rfc-editor.org/authors/rfc9838.html
>>>>>>>>>> https://www.rfc-editor.org/authors/rfc9838.xml
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> Updated diff files:
>>>>>>>>>> https://www.rfc-editor.org/authors/rfc9838-diff.html
>>>>>>>>>> https://www.rfc-editor.org/authors/rfc9838-rfcdiff.html (side by
>>>>>>>>>> side) https://www.rfc-editor.org/authors/rfc9838-auth48diff.html
>>>>>>>>>> https://www.rfc-editor.org/authors/rfc9838-auth48rfcdiff.html
>>>>>>>>>> (side by side)
>>>>>>>>>> https://www.rfc-editor.org/authors/rfc9838-lastdiff.html (most
>>>>>>>>>> recent updates only)
>>>>>>>>>> https://www.rfc-editor.org/authors/rfc9838-lastrfcdiff.html
>>>>>>>>>> (side by side)
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> For the AUTH48 status page, please see: https://www.rfc-
>>> editor.org/auth48/rfc9838.
>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> Thank you!
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> Madison Church
>>>>>>>>>> RFC Production Center

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