I support publication.

2026-06-24 17:00 GMT+02:00 Joseph Salowey via Datatracker 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>:
This message initiates a new Working Group Last Call for 
draft-ietf-tls-mlkem[1], which defines standalone ML-KEM key establishment for 
TLS 1.3. The main question before the working group is: "Should the working 
group publish a document specifying stand alone ML-KEM?". If there is rough 
consensus then we will push to refine and publish the document; otherwise, we 
will stop discussing the draft and not progress it. Please respond to this call 
indicating whether you support publishing a document specifying a stand alone 
ML-KEM. Please refrain from further discussion on this topic as most arguments 
have been discussed multiple times.

Why are we holding this consensus call now?

Significant developments have occurred both within this document and in the 
broader TLS ecosystem to address the concerns raised in the last WGLC. 
Therefore, the third consensus call is warranted. We ask the working group to 
consider document publication in light of these recent changes:

- Promotion of Hybrids in draft-ietf-tls-ecdhe-mlkem: Following a separate 
consensus call, the WG agreed to promote the X25519MLKEM768 hybrid group to 
Recommended: Y in the IANA registry. Consequently, the IANA registry will 
reflect a clear community preference for a hybrid because Recommended: Y 
clearly indicates this while the standalone ML-KEM groups defined in this draft 
remain Recommended: N. The updated security considerations in [1] reference the 
IANA registry to emphasize this preference.

- Key Share Reuse Prohibited in draft-ietf-tls-rfc8446bis: The WG recently 
reached consensus to explicitly prohibit key share reuse across connections in 
TLS 1.3. The new text changes the guidance from SHOULD NOT to a strict MUST 
NOT. This resolves the concerns regarding static key reuse and its associated 
privacy and forward-secrecy risks for ML-KEM.

- Nadim updated the ProVerif model of TLS 1.3 to evaluate KEM and hybrid KEM 
groups in TLS 1.3. This supports other results which show that KEMs are secure 
when used in TLS 1.3 and that hybrid groups are secure even if one of the 
components is compromised.

- Liaisons: We received liaison statements from multiple SDOs including  
O-RAN[2], IEEE 802.11[4] and from 3GPP[3]  expressing support for the 
publication of draft-ietf-tls-mlkem as an RFC as they rely on the IETF to 
provide a stable normative reference.

Please note that a third-party IPR disclosure exists [5] against this document 
regarding patents related to the underlying ML-KEM algorithm. This IPR 
declaration has not changed since the last WGLC. As a reminder, per BCP 79, the 
IETF takes no stance on the validity of patent claims, and the working group 
may decide to proceed with a technology despite IPR disclosures if it decides 
that such use is warranted.

Conduct Reminder: Given the heated nature of previous discussions on this 
topic, participants are strongly reminded to adhere to the IETF Code of Conduct 
(BCP 54) and the TLS WG's Mail List Procedures. Keep feedback professional, 
technical, and focused on the document's text.

This working group last call will end on 2026-07-08.

Joe and Sean

[1] https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-tls-mlkem/
[2] https://datatracker.ietf.org/liaison/2198/
[3] https://datatracker.ietf.org/liaison/2151/
[4] https://datatracker.ietf.org/liaison/2148/
[5] 
https://datatracker.ietf.org/ipr/search/?submit=draft&id=draft-ietf-tls-mlkem

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