A new Request for Comments is now available in online RFC libraries.
RFC 9788
Title: Header Protection for Cryptographically
Protected Email
Author: D. K. Gillmor,
B. Hoeneisen,
A. Melnikov
Status: Standards Track
Stream: IETF
Date: August 2025
Mailbox: [email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected]
Pages: 218
Updates: RFC 8551
I-D Tag: draft-ietf-lamps-header-protection-25.txt
URL: https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9788
DOI: 10.17487/RFC9788
S/MIME version 3.1 introduced a mechanism to provide end-to-end
cryptographic protection of email message headers. However, few
implementations generate messages using this mechanism, and several
legacy implementations have revealed rendering or security issues
when handling such a message.
This document updates the S/MIME specification (RFC 8551) to offer a
different mechanism that provides the same cryptographic protections
but with fewer downsides when handled by legacy clients. Furthermore,
it offers more explicit usability, privacy, and security guidance for
clients when generating or handling email messages with cryptographic
protection of message headers.
The Header Protection scheme defined here is also applicable to
messages with PGP/MIME (Pretty Good Privacy with MIME) cryptographic
protections.
This document is a product of the Limited Additional Mechanisms for PKIX and
SMIME Working Group of the IETF.
This is now a Proposed Standard.
STANDARDS TRACK: 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 Official
Internet Protocol Standards (https://www.rfc-editor.org/standards) for the
standardization state and status of this protocol. Distribution of this
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