Root Zone Trust Anchors: DNSSEC Trust Anchor Publication for the Root Zone
How IANA publishes the DNSSEC trust anchors that every validating DNS resolver needs.
Abley, J., Schlyter, J., Bailey, G., and P. Hoffman, "DNSSEC Trust Anchor Publication for the Root Zone", RFC 9718, DOI 10.17487/RFC9718, January 2025, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9718>.
@misc{rfc9718,
series = {Request for Comments},
number = 9718,
howpublished = {RFC 9718},
publisher = {RFC Editor},
doi = {10.17487/RFC9718},
url = {https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9718},
author = {J. Abley and J. Schlyter and G. Bailey and P. Hoffman},
title = {{DNSSEC Trust Anchor Publication for the Root Zone}},
pagetotal = 13,
year = 2025,
month = jan,
} RFC text
Contents
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) J. Abley
Request for Comments: 9718 Cloudflare
Obsoletes: 7958 J. Schlyter
Category: Informational Kirei AB
ISSN: 2070-1721 G. Bailey
Independent
P. Hoffman
ICANN
January 2025
DNSSEC Trust Anchor Publication for the Root Zone
Abstract
The root zone of the global Domain Name System (DNS) is
cryptographically signed using DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC).
In order to obtain secure answers from the root zone of the DNS using
DNSSEC, a client must configure a suitable trust anchor. This
document describes the format and publication mechanisms IANA uses to
distribute the DNSSEC trust anchors.
This document obsoletes RFC 7958.
Status of This Memo
This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
published for informational purposes.
This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF). It represents the consensus of the IETF community. It has
received public review and has been approved for publication by the
Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Not all documents
approved by the IESG are candidates for any level of Internet
Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 7841.
Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9718.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2025 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
(https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
publication of this document. Please review these documents
carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must
include Revised BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the
Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described
in the Revised BSD License.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
1.1. Definitions
2. IANA DNSSEC Root Zone Trust Anchor Format and Semantics
2.1. XML Syntax
2.2. XML Semantics
2.3. XML Example
3. Root Zone Trust Anchor Retrieval
3.1. Retrieving Trust Anchors with HTTPS and HTTP
3.2. Accepting DNSSEC Trust Anchors
3.3. Changes in the Trust Model for Distribution
4. Security Considerations
4.1. Security Considerations for Relying Parties
4.1.1. validUntil
4.1.2. Comparison of Digest and publickeyinfo
4.1.3. Different Outputs from Processing the Trust Anchor File
5. IANA Considerations
6. References
6.1. Normative References
6.2. Informative References
Appendix A. Changes from RFC 7958
Appendix B. Historical Note
Acknowledgements
Authors' Addresses
1. Introduction
The global Domain Name System (DNS) is described in [RFC1034] and
[RFC1035]. DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) are described in
[RFC9364].
In the DNSSEC protocol, Resource Record Sets (RRsets) are signed
cryptographically. This means that a response to a query contains
signatures that allow the integrity and authenticity of the RRset to
be verified. DNSSEC signatures are validated by following a chain of
signatures to a "trust anchor". The reason for trusting a trust
anchor is outside the DNSSEC protocol, but having one or more trust
anchors is required for the DNSSEC protocol to work.
The publication of trust anchors for the root zone of the DNS is an
IANA function performed by ICANN, through its affiliate Public
Technical Identifiers (PTI). A detailed description of corresponding
key management practices can be found in [DPS].
This document describes the formats and distribution methods of
DNSSEC trust anchors that are used by IANA for the root zone of the
DNS. Other organizations might have different formats and mechanisms
for distributing DNSSEC trust anchors for the root zone; however,
most operators and software vendors have chosen to rely on the IANA
trust anchors.
The formats and distribution methods described in this document are a
complement to, not a substitute for, the automated DNSSEC trust
anchor update protocol described in [RFC5011]. That protocol allows
for secure in-band succession of trust anchors when trust has already
been established. This document describes one way to establish an
initial trust anchor that can be used by the mechanism defined in
[RFC5011].
This document obsoletes [RFC7958].
1.1. Definitions
The term "trust anchor" is used in many different contexts in the
security community. Many of the common definitions conflict because
they are specific to a specific system, such as just for DNSSEC or
just for S/MIME messages.
In cryptographic systems with hierarchical structure, a trust anchor
is an authoritative entity for which trust is assumed and not
derived. The format of the entity differs in different systems, but
all common uses of the term "trust anchor" share the basic idea that
the decision to trust this entity is made outside of the system that
relies on it.
The root zone trust anchor formats published by IANA are defined in
Section 2. [RFC4033] defines a trust anchor as a "configured DNSKEY
RR or DS RR hash of a DNSKEY RR". Note that the formats defined here
do not match the definition of "trust anchor" from [RFC4033];
however, a system that wants to convert the trusted material from
IANA into a Delegation Signer (DS) RR can do so.
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
"OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in
BCP 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all
capitals, as shown here.
2. IANA DNSSEC Root Zone Trust Anchor Format and Semantics
IANA publishes trust anchors for the root zone as an XML
[W3C.REC-xml11-20060816] document that contains the hashes of the
DNSKEY records and optionally the keys from the DNSKEY records.
This format and the associated semantics are described in the rest of
this section.
Note that the XML document can have XML comments. For example, IANA
might use these comments to add pointers to important information on
the IANA website. XML comments are only used as human-readable
commentary, not extensions to the grammar.
The XML document contains a set of hashes for the DNSKEY records that
can be used to validate the root zone. The hashes are consistent
with the defined presentation format of a DS resource.
The XML document can also contain the keys and flags from the DNSKEY
records. The keys and flags are consistent with the defined
presentation format of a DNSKEY resource.
Note that the hashes are mandatory in the syntax, but the keys are
optional.
2.1. XML Syntax
Below is the RELAX NG Compact Schema [RELAX-NG] for the documents
used to publish trust anchors:
datatypes xsd = "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-datatypes"
start = element TrustAnchor {
attribute id { xsd:string },
attribute source { xsd:string },
element Zone { xsd:string },
keydigest+
}
keydigest = element KeyDigest {
attribute id { xsd:string },
attribute validFrom { xsd:dateTime },
attribute validUntil { xsd:dateTime }?,
element KeyTag {
xsd:nonNegativeInteger { maxInclusive = "65535" } },
element Algorithm {
xsd:nonNegativeInteger { maxInclusive = "255" } },
element DigestType {
xsd:nonNegativeInteger { maxInclusive = "255" } },
element Digest { xsd:hexBinary },
publickeyinfo?
}
publickeyinfo =
element PublicKey { xsd:base64Binary },
element Flags {
xsd:nonNegativeInteger { maxInclusive = "65535" } }
2.2. XML Semantics
The TrustAnchor element is the container for all of the trust anchors
in the file.
The id attribute in the TrustAnchor element is an opaque string that
identifies the set of trust anchors. Its value has no particular
semantics. Note that the id attribute in the TrustAnchor element is
different than the id attribute in the KeyDigest element described
below.
The source attribute in the TrustAnchor element gives information
about where to obtain the TrustAnchor container. It is likely to be
a URL and is advisory only.
The Zone element in the TrustAnchor element states to which DNS zone
this container applies. The Zone element is in presentation format
as specified in [RFC1035], including the trailing dot. The root zone
is indicated by a single period (.) character without any quotation
marks.
The TrustAnchor element contains one or more KeyDigest elements.
Each KeyDigest element represents the digest of a past, current, or
potential future DNSKEY record of the zone defined in the Zone
element. The values for the elements in the KeyDigest element are
defined in [RFC4034]. The IANA registries for DNSSEC-related values
are described in [RFC9157].
The id attribute in the KeyDigest element is an opaque string that
identifies the hash. Note that the id attribute in the KeyDigest
element is different than the id attribute in the TrustAnchor element
described above.
The validFrom and validUntil attributes in the KeyDigest element
specify the range of times that the KeyDigest element can be used as
a trust anchor.
The KeyTag element in the KeyDigest element contains the key tag for
the DNSKEY record represented in this KeyDigest.
The Algorithm element in the KeyDigest element contains the DNSSEC
signing algorithm identifier for the DNSKEY record represented in
this KeyDigest.
The DigestType element in the KeyDigest element contains the DNSSEC
digest algorithm identifier for the DNSKEY record represented in this
KeyDigest.
The Digest element in the KeyDigest element contains the hexadecimal
representation of the hash for the DNSKEY record represented in this
KeyDigest.
The publickeyinfo named pattern in the KeyDigest element contains two
mandatory elements: the base64 representation of the public key for
the DNSKEY record represented in this KeyDigest and the flags of the
DNSKEY record represented in this KeyDigest. The publickeyinfo named
pattern is optional and is new in this specification. It can be
useful when IANA has a trust anchor that has not yet been published
in the DNS root and for calculating a comparison to the Digest
element.
2.3. XML Example
The following is an example of what the trust anchor file might look
like. The full public key is only given for a trust anchor that does
not have a validFrom time in the past.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<TrustAnchor id="E9724F53-1851-4F86-85E5-F1392102940B"
source="http://data.iana.org/root-anchors/root-anchors.xml">
<Zone>.</Zone>
<KeyDigest id="Kjqmt7v"
validFrom="2010-07-15T00:00:00+00:00"
validUntil="2019-01-11T00:00:00+00:00"> <!-- This key
is no longer valid, since validUntil is in the past -->
<KeyTag>19036</KeyTag>
<Algorithm>8</Algorithm>
<DigestType>2</DigestType>
<Digest>
49AAC11D7B6F6446702E54A1607371607A1A41855200FD2CE1CDDE32F24E8FB5
</Digest>
</KeyDigest>
<KeyDigest id="Klajeyz" validFrom="2017-02-02T00:00:00+00:00">
<KeyTag>20326</KeyTag>
<Algorithm>8</Algorithm>
<DigestType>2</DigestType>
<Digest>
E06D44B80B8F1D39A95C0B0D7C65D08458E880409BBC683457104237C7F8EC8D
</Digest>
<PublicKey>
AwEAAaz/tAm8yTn4Mfeh5eyI96WSVexTBAvkMgJzkKTOiW1vkIbzxeF3+/4Rg
WOq7HrxRixHlFlExOLAJr5emLvN7SWXgnLh4+B5xQlNVz8Og8kvArMtNROxVQ
uCaSnIDdD5LKyWbRd2n9WGe2R8PzgCmr3EgVLrjyBxWezF0jLHwVN8efS3rCj
/EWgvIWgb9tarpVUDK/b58Da+sqqls3eNbuv7pr+eoZG+SrDK6nWeL3c6H5Ap
xz7LjVc1uTIdsIXxuOLYA4/ilBmSVIzuDWfdRUfhHdY6+cn8HFRm+2hM8AnXG
Xws9555KrUB5qihylGa8subX2Nn6UwNR1AkUTV74bU=
</PublicKey>
<Flags>257</Flags>
</KeyDigest>
<!-- The following is called "KSK-2024" as a shorthand name -->
<KeyDigest id="Kmyv6jo" validFrom="2024-07-18T00:00:00+00:00">
<KeyTag>38696</KeyTag>
<Algorithm>8</Algorithm>
<DigestType>2</DigestType>
<Digest>
683D2D0ACB8C9B712A1948B27F741219298D0A450D612C483AF444A4C0FB2B16
</Digest>
</KeyDigest>
</TrustAnchor>
The DS RRset derived from this example is:
. IN DS 20326 8 2
E06D44B80B8F1D39A95C0B0D7C65D08458E880409BBC683457104237C7F8EC8D
. IN DS 38696 8 2
683D2D0ACB8C9B712A1948B27F741219298D0A450D612C483AF444A4C0FB2B16
Note that this DS record set only has two records. A potential third
record, one that includes the key tag 19036, is already invalid based
on the validUntil attribute's value and is thus not part of the trust
anchor set.
The DNSKEY RRset derived from this example is:
. IN DNSKEY 257 3 8
AwEAAaz/tAm8yTn4Mfeh5eyI96WSVexTBAvkMgJzkKTOiW1vkIbzxeF3
+/4RgWOq7HrxRixHlFlExOLAJr5emLvN7SWXgnLh4+B5xQlNVz8Og8kv
ArMtNROxVQuCaSnIDdD5LKyWbRd2n9WGe2R8PzgCmr3EgVLrjyBxWezF
0jLHwVN8efS3rCj/EWgvIWgb9tarpVUDK/b58Da+sqqls3eNbuv7pr+e
oZG+SrDK6nWeL3c6H5Apxz7LjVc1uTIdsIXxuOLYA4/ilBmSVIzuDWfd
RUfhHdY6+cn8HFRm+2hM8AnXGXws9555KrUB5qihylGa8subX2Nn6UwN
R1AkUTV74bU=
Note that this DNSKEY record set only has one record. A potential
second record, one based on the key tag 19036, is already invalid
based on the validUntil attribute's value and is thus not part of the
trust anchor set. Another potential second record, one based on the
key tag 38696, does not contain the optional publickeyinfo named
pattern; therefore, the DNSKEY record for it cannot be calculated.
3. Root Zone Trust Anchor Retrieval
3.1. Retrieving Trust Anchors with HTTPS and HTTP
Trust anchors are available for retrieval using HTTPS and HTTP.
In this section, all URLs are given using the "https:" scheme. If
HTTPS cannot be used, replace the "https:" scheme with "http:".
The URL for retrieving the set of hashes in the XML document
described in Section 2 is <https://data.iana.org/root-anchors/root-
anchors.xml>.
3.2. Accepting DNSSEC Trust Anchors
A validator operator can choose whether or not to accept the trust
anchors described in this document using whatever policy they want.
In order to help validator operators verify the content and origin of
trust anchors they receive, IANA uses digital signatures that chain
to an ICANN-controlled Certificate Authority (CA) over the trust
anchor data.
It is important to note that the ICANN CA is not a DNSSEC trust
anchor. Instead, it is an optional mechanism for verifying the
content and origin of the XML and certificate trust anchors.
The content and origin of the XML document can be verified using a
digital signature on the file. IANA provides a detached
Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS) [RFC5652] signature that chains to
the ICANN CA with the XML document. This can be useful for validator
operators who have received a copy of the ICANN CA's public key in a
trusted out-of-band fashion. The URL for a detached CMS signature
for the XML document is <https://data.iana.org/root-anchors/root-
anchors.p7s>.
Another method IANA uses to help validator operators verify the
content and origin of trust anchors they receive is to use the
Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol for distributing the trust
anchors. Currently, the CA used for "data.iana.org" is well known,
that is, one that is a WebTrust-accredited CA. If a system
retrieving the trust anchors trusts the CA that IANA uses for the
"data.iana.org" web server, HTTPS SHOULD be used instead of HTTP in
order to have assurance of data origin.
3.3. Changes in the Trust Model for Distribution
IANA used to distribute trust anchors as a self-signed Pretty Good
Privacy (PGP) message and as a self-issued certificate signing
request; this was described in [RFC7958]. This document removes
those methods because they rely on a trust model that mixes out-of-
band trust of authentication keys with out-of-band trust of the
DNSSEC root keys. Note, however, that cryptographic assurance for
the contents of the trust anchor now comes from the Web PKI or the
ICANN CA as described in Section 3.2. This cryptographic assurance
is bolstered by informal comparisons made by users of the trust
anchors, such as software vendors comparing the trust anchor files
they are using.
4. Security Considerations
This document describes how DNSSEC trust anchors for the root zone of
the DNS are published. Many DNSSEC clients will only configure IANA-
issued trust anchors for the DNS root to perform validation. As a
consequence, reliable publication of trust anchors is important.
This document aims to specify carefully the means by which such trust
anchors are published, with the goal of making it easier for those
trust anchors to be integrated into user environments. Some of the
methods described (such as accessing over the Web with or without
verifying the signature on the file) have different security
properties; users of the trust anchor file need to consider these
when choosing whether to load the set of trust anchors.
4.1. Security Considerations for Relying Parties
The body of this document does not specify any particular behavior
for relying parties. Specifically, it does not say how a relying
party should treat the trust anchor file as a whole. However, some
of the contents of the trust anchor file require particular attention
for relying parties.
4.1.1. validUntil
Note that the validUntil attribute of the KeyDigest element is
optional. If the relying party is using a trust anchor that has a
KeyDigest element that does not have a validUntil attribute, it can
change to a trust anchor with a KeyDigest element that does have a
validUntil attribute, as long as that trust anchor's validUntil
attribute is in the future and the KeyTag, Algorithm, DigestType, and
Digest elements of the KeyDigest are the same as those in the
previous trust anchor.
Relying parties SHOULD NOT use a KeyDigest outside of the time range
given in the validFrom and validUntil attributes.
4.1.2. Comparison of Digest and publickeyinfo
A KeyDigest element can contain both a Digest and a publickeyinfo
named pattern. If the Digest element would not be a proper DS record
for a DNSKEY record represented by the publickeyinfo named pattern,
relying parties MUST NOT use that KeyDigest as a trust anchor. A
relying party that wants to make such a comparison needs to marshal
the elements of the DNSKEY record that became the DS record using the
algorithm specified in Section 5.1.4 of [RFC4034].
Relying parties need to implement trust anchor matching carefully. A
single trust anchor represented by a KeyDigest element can
potentially change its Digest and KeyTag values between two versions
of the trust anchor file, for example, when the key is revoked or the
flag value changes for some other reason. Relying parties that fail
to take this property into account are at risk of using an incorrect
set of trust anchors.
4.1.3. Different Outputs from Processing the Trust Anchor File
Relying parties that require the optional publickeyinfo named pattern
to create trust anchors will store fewer trust anchors than those
that only require a Digest element. Thus, two systems processing the
same trust anchor file can end up with a different set of trust
anchors.
5. IANA Considerations
Each time IANA produces a new trust anchor, it MUST publish that
trust anchor using the format described in this document.
IANA MAY delay the publication of a new trust anchor for operational
reasons, such as having a newly created key in multiple facilities.
When a trust anchor that was previously published is no longer
suitable for use, IANA MUST update the trust anchor file accordingly
by setting a validUntil date for that trust anchor. The validUntil
attribute that is added MAY be a date in the past or in the future,
depending on IANA's operational choices.
More information about IANA's policies and procedures for how the
cryptographic keys for the DNS root zone are managed (also known as
"DNSSEC Practice Statements" or "DPSs") can be found at
<https://www.iana.org/dnssec/procedures>.
[RFC7958] defined id-mod-dns-resource-record, value 70, which was
added to the "SMI Security for PKIX Module Identifier" registry.
This document does not use that identifier.
6. References
6.1. Normative References
[RFC1034] Mockapetris, P., "Domain names - concepts and facilities",
STD 13, RFC 1034, DOI 10.17487/RFC1034, November 1987,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1034>.
[RFC1035] Mockapetris, P., "Domain names - implementation and
specification", STD 13, RFC 1035, DOI 10.17487/RFC1035,
November 1987, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1035>.
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.
[RFC4033] Arends, R., Austein, R., Larson, M., Massey, D., and S.
Rose, "DNS Security Introduction and Requirements",
RFC 4033, DOI 10.17487/RFC4033, March 2005,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4033>.
[RFC4034] Arends, R., Austein, R., Larson, M., Massey, D., and S.
Rose, "Resource Records for the DNS Security Extensions",
RFC 4034, DOI 10.17487/RFC4034, March 2005,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4034>.
[RFC5011] StJohns, M., "Automated Updates of DNS Security (DNSSEC)
Trust Anchors", STD 74, RFC 5011, DOI 10.17487/RFC5011,
September 2007, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5011>.
[RFC5652] Housley, R., "Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS)", STD 70,
RFC 5652, DOI 10.17487/RFC5652, September 2009,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5652>.
[RFC7958] Abley, J., Schlyter, J., Bailey, G., and P. Hoffman,
"DNSSEC Trust Anchor Publication for the Root Zone",
RFC 7958, DOI 10.17487/RFC7958, August 2016,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7958>.
[RFC8174] Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8174>.
[RFC9157] Hoffman, P., "Revised IANA Considerations for DNSSEC",
RFC 9157, DOI 10.17487/RFC9157, December 2021,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9157>.
[RFC9364] Hoffman, P., "DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC)", BCP 237,
RFC 9364, DOI 10.17487/RFC9364, February 2023,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9364>.
[W3C.REC-xml11-20060816]
Bray, T., Paoli, J., Sperberg-McQueen, M., Maler, E.,
Yergeau, F., and J. Cowan, "Extensible Markup Language
(XML) 1.1 (Second Edition)", W3C Recommendation REC-
xml11-20060816, 16 August 2006,
<https://www.w3.org/TR/2006/REC-xml11-20060816>.
6.2. Informative References
[DPS] Root Zone KSK Operator Policy Management Authority,
"DNSSEC Practice Statement for the Root Zone KSK
Operator", <https://www.iana.org/dnssec/procedures>.
[RELAX-NG] Clark, J., "RELAX NG Compact Syntax", OASIS Committee
Specification, November 2002, <https://www.oasis-
open.org/committees/relax-ng/compact-20021121.html>.
Appendix A. Changes from RFC 7958
This document includes the following changes:
* Made a significant technical change per Erratum ID 5932
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/errata/eid5932>. This change is in
the seventh paragraph of Section 2.2.
* Added the optional publickeyinfo named pattern with two mandatory
elements, PublicKey and Flags.
* Removed the certificates and certificate signing mechanisms.
* Removed the detached OpenPGP signature mechanism.
* Updated the reference to the DNSSEC Practice Statement [DPS].
* Stated explicitly that the XML documents might have XML comments
in them.
* Clarified the use of the detached CMS signature.
* Updated the IANA Considerations section to indicate requirements
on IANA.
* Simplified the description of using the validFrom and validUntil
attributes.
* Added new security considerations.
* Made some editorial changes.
Appendix B. Historical Note
The first Key Signing Key (KSK) for use in the root zone of the DNS
was generated at a key ceremony at the ICANN Key Management Facility
(KMF) in Culpeper, Virginia, USA on 2010-06-16. This key entered
production during a second key ceremony held at an ICANN KMF in El
Segundo, California, USA on 2010-07-12. The resulting trust anchor
was first published on 2010-07-15.
The second KSK for use in the root zone of the DNS was generated at
key ceremony #27 at the ICANN KMF in Culpeper, Virginia, USA on
2016-10-27. This key entered production during key ceremony #28 held
at the ICANN KMF in El Segundo, California, USA on 2017-02-02. The
resulting trust anchor was first published on 2018-11-11.
More information about the key ceremonies, including full records of
previous ceremonies and plans for future ceremonies, can be found at
<https://www.iana.org/dnssec/ceremonies>.
Acknowledgements
Many pioneers paved the way for the deployment of DNSSEC in the root
zone of the DNS, and the authors hereby acknowledge their substantial
collective contribution.
RFC 7958 incorporated suggestions made by Alfred Hoenes and Russ
Housley, whose contributions are appreciated.
Authors' Addresses
Joe Abley
Cloudflare
Amsterdam
Netherlands
Email: jabley@cloudflare.com
Jakob Schlyter
Kirei AB
Email: jakob@kirei.se
Guillaume Bailey
Independent
Email: guillaumebailey@outlook.com
Paul Hoffman
ICANN
Email: paul.hoffman@icann.org
ISO Plain Language
On this page
§1Why a Trust Anchor Is Published
The global Domain Name System is described in RFC 1034 and RFC 1035, and DNS Security Extensions are described in RFC 9364. In the DNSSEC protocol, Resource Record Sets are signed cryptographically, so a response to a query contains signatures that allow the integrity and authenticity of the record set to be verified. Those signatures are validated by following a chain of signatures to a trust anchor. The reason for trusting a trust anchor is outside the DNSSEC protocol, but having one or more trust anchors is required for the protocol to work at all.
The publication of trust anchors for the root zone of the DNS is an IANA function performed by ICANN through its affiliate Public Technical Identifiers. The document describes the formats and distribution methods of the DNSSEC trust anchors that IANA uses for the root zone. Other organizations might have different formats and mechanisms for distributing root zone trust anchors, but most operators and software vendors have chosen to rely on the IANA trust anchors.
On terminology, the RFC notes that the term trust anchor is used in many different contexts in the security community, and that many of the common definitions conflict because they are specific to one system, such as just DNSSEC or just S/MIME messages. In cryptographic systems with hierarchical structure, a trust anchor is an authoritative entity for which trust is assumed and not derived. The format of the entity differs between systems, but all common uses share the basic idea that the decision to trust this entity is made outside the system that relies on it. The RFC notes that the formats defined here do not match the definition of trust anchor given in RFC 4033, a configured DNSKEY record or DS record hash of a DNSKEY record, but a system that wants to convert the trusted material from IANA into a Delegation Signer record can do so.
The formats and distribution methods are a complement to, not a substitute for, the automated trust anchor update protocol of RFC 5011. That protocol allows secure in-band succession of trust anchors once trust has already been established, while this document describes one way to establish an initial trust anchor that the mechanism of RFC 5011 can use. This document obsoletes RFC 7958.
DNSSEC works by checking a chain of signatures upwards until it reaches a key that is trusted for its own sake. For the whole Internet that key is the root zone signing key, and IANA is the body that publishes it. The RFC is about how that one key gets from IANA to the resolvers that need it, and how they can tell they got the genuine article.
§2The XML Format and What Each Field Means
IANA publishes trust anchors for the root zone as an XML document that contains the hashes of the DNSKEY records and optionally the keys from those records. The hashes are consistent with the defined presentation format of a Delegation Signer resource, and the keys and flags are consistent with the presentation format of a DNSKEY resource. The hashes are mandatory in the syntax, but the keys are optional. The XML document can carry XML comments, which IANA might use to add pointers to important information on its website; the comments are only human-readable commentary, not extensions to the grammar.
The schema is given as RELAX NG Compact. The TrustAnchor element is the container for all the trust anchors in the file, and it holds an id attribute, which is an opaque string identifying the set of trust anchors with no particular semantics, a source attribute, which gives information about where to obtain the container and is likely to be a URL but is advisory only, a Zone element stating which DNS zone the container applies to in presentation format including the trailing dot, with the root zone indicated by a single period character, and one or more KeyDigest elements.
Each KeyDigest element represents the digest of a past, current or potential future DNSKEY record of the zone named in the Zone element. Its own id attribute is an opaque string identifying the hash, and it is different from the id attribute of the enclosing TrustAnchor element. The validFrom and validUntil attributes specify the range of times in which the element can be used as a trust anchor; validUntil is optional. The KeyTag element holds the key tag for the DNSKEY record represented in the KeyDigest, the Algorithm element holds the DNSSEC signing algorithm identifier for that record, the DigestType element holds the DNSSEC digest algorithm identifier for it, and the Digest element holds the hexadecimal representation of the hash for it.
The optional publickeyinfo pattern inside a KeyDigest contains two mandatory elements: the base64 representation of the public key for the DNSKEY record and the flags of that record. It is new in this specification, and it can be useful when IANA has a trust anchor that has not yet been published in the DNS root, and for calculating a comparison to the Digest element.
The file is XML. One element holds the whole set and names the zone it is for, which for the root is a single dot. Inside it, each key digest says which key it refers to, when that key may be used, and what its hash is. The key itself and its flags may also be included, and that is new in this version of the document.
- idAn opaque string that identifies the hash. It is not the same thing as the id of the enclosing TrustAnchor element.
- validFrom and validUntilThe range of times in which the KeyDigest can be used as a trust anchor. The validUntil attribute is optional.
- KeyTagThe key tag for the DNSKEY record the KeyDigest represents.
- AlgorithmThe DNSSEC signing algorithm identifier for that DNSKEY record.
- DigestTypeThe DNSSEC digest algorithm identifier for that DNSKEY record.
- DigestThe hexadecimal representation of the hash for that DNSKEY record.
- publickeyinfoOptional and new in this specification. The base64 public key and the flags of the DNSKEY record.
§2.3An Example Trust Anchor File
The RFC gives an example of what the trust anchor file might look like, noting that the full public key is only given for a trust anchor that does not have a validFrom time in the past. The example holds three KeyDigest elements: one whose validUntil time is in the past, with key tag 19036; one with key tag 20326 and validFrom 2017-02-02, which includes the public key and the flags 257; and one called KSK-2024 as a shorthand name, with key tag 38696 and validFrom 2024-07-18, which carries only the digest.
From that example the RFC derives the Delegation Signer record set, which has two records, for key tags 20326 and 38696, both with algorithm 8 and digest type 2. A potential third record, one that includes key tag 19036, is already invalid because of the validUntil value and is therefore not part of the trust anchor set.
The derived DNSKEY record set has only one record, because a potential second record based on key tag 19036 is already invalid, and a potential second record based on key tag 38696 does not contain the optional publickeyinfo pattern and so its DNSKEY record cannot be calculated.
The worked example shows why the extra fields matter. One of the three keys has expired and is excluded, so the file yields two usable delegation signer records. A third key is present in the file but has no key material in it, so a program that wanted the DNSKEY record rather than the hash could not produce one for it.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<TrustAnchor id="E9724F53-1851-4F86-85E5-F1392102940B"
source="http://data.iana.org/root-anchors/root-anchors.xml">
<Zone>.</Zone>
<KeyDigest id="Kjqmt7v"
validFrom="2010-07-15T00:00:00+00:00"
validUntil="2019-01-11T00:00:00+00:00">
<KeyTag>19036</KeyTag>
<Algorithm>8</Algorithm>
<DigestType>2</DigestType>
<Digest>
49AAC11D7B6F6446702E54A1607371607A1A41855200FD2CE1CDDE32F24E8FB5
</Digest>
</KeyDigest>
<KeyDigest id="Klajeyz" validFrom="2017-02-02T00:00:00+00:00">
<KeyTag>20326</KeyTag>
<Algorithm>8</Algorithm>
<DigestType>2</DigestType>
<Digest>
E06D44B80B8F1D39A95C0B0D7C65D08458E880409BBC683457104237C7F8EC8D
</Digest>
<PublicKey>
AwEAAaz/tAm8yTn4Mfeh5eyI96WSVexTBAvkMgJzkKTOiW1vkIbzxeF3+/4Rg
WOq7HrxRixHlFlExOLAJr5emLvN7SWXgnLh4+B5xQlNVz8Og8kvArMtNROxVQ
uCaSnIDdD5LKyWbRd2n9WGe2R8PzgCmr3EgVLrjyBxWezF0jLHwVN8efS3rCj
/EWgvIWgb9tarpVUDK/b58Da+sqqls3eNbuv7pr+eoZG+SrDK6nWeL3c6H5Ap
xz7LjVc1uTIdsIXxuOLYA4/ilBmSVIzuDWfdRUfhHdY6+cn8HFRm+2hM8AnXG
Xws9555KrUB5qihylGa8subX2Nn6UwNR1AkUTV74bU=
</PublicKey>
<Flags>257</Flags>
</KeyDigest>
<!-- The following is called "KSK-2024" as a shorthand name -->
<KeyDigest id="Kmyv6jo" validFrom="2024-07-18T00:00:00+00:00">
<KeyTag>38696</KeyTag>
<Algorithm>8</Algorithm>
<DigestType>2</DigestType>
<Digest>
683D2D0ACB8C9B712A1948B27F741219298D0A450D612C483AF444A4C0FB2B16
</Digest>
</KeyDigest>
</TrustAnchor>§3How the File Is Retrieved and Checked
Trust anchors are available for retrieval using HTTPS and HTTP. The URL for retrieving the set of hashes in the XML document is the root-anchors.xml file on data.iana.org. If HTTPS cannot be used, the scheme is replaced with http.
A validator operator can choose whether or not to accept the trust anchors described in the document, using whatever policy they want. To help operators verify the content and origin of the trust anchors they receive, IANA uses digital signatures that chain to an ICANN-controlled certificate authority over the trust anchor data. It is important to note that the ICANN certificate authority is not a DNSSEC trust anchor; it is an optional mechanism for verifying the content and origin of the XML and certificate trust anchors.
Two mechanisms are described. The content and origin of the XML document can be verified using a digital signature on the file: IANA provides a detached Cryptographic Message Syntax signature that chains to the ICANN certificate authority with the XML document, which can be useful for validator operators who have received a copy of that authority's public key in a trusted out-of-band fashion, and the URL for that detached signature is the root-anchors.p7s file on data.iana.org. The other method is the use of the Transport Layer Security protocol for distributing the trust anchors: the certificate authority used for data.iana.org is currently well known, in that it is a WebTrust-accredited authority, so if a system retrieving the trust anchors trusts that authority, HTTPS should be used instead of HTTP in order to have assurance of data origin.
The trust model has changed. IANA used to distribute trust anchors as a self-signed Pretty Good Privacy message and as a self-issued certificate signing request, as described in RFC 7958. This document removes those methods because they rely on a trust model that mixes out-of-band trust of authentication keys with out-of-band trust of the DNSSEC root keys. Cryptographic assurance for the contents of the trust anchor now comes from the web PKI or the ICANN certificate authority, and that assurance is bolstered by informal comparisons made by users of the trust anchors, such as software vendors comparing the trust anchor files they are using.
There are two files to fetch, the anchors themselves and a detached signature over them. A program that already trusts the certificate authority behind data.iana.org can simply use HTTPS. A program that wants an independent check can fetch the signature and check it against a copy of the ICANN authority's public key it obtained by some other route. The older method of a self-signed PGP message is dropped, because it needed two separate acts of trust and only proved one.
| Method | What it gives | What it asks of the operator |
|---|---|---|
| HTTPS | The XML document over an encrypted connection | Trust in the certificate authority used for data.iana.org |
| Detached CMS signature | A signature over the XML document that chains to the ICANN certificate authority | A copy of the ICANN public key obtained out of band |
| Self-signed PGP message and self-issued request | Removed by this document | Out-of-band trust of both authentication keys and DNSSEC root keys |
§4Security Considerations for Relying Parties
The document describes how DNSSEC trust anchors for the root zone are published, and notes that many DNSSEC clients will only configure IANA-issued trust anchors for the DNS root to perform validation, so reliable publication of trust anchors is important. Some of the methods described have different security properties, and users of the trust anchor file need to consider these when choosing whether to load the set of trust anchors.
The body of the document does not specify any particular behaviour for relying parties, and in particular does not say how a relying party should treat the trust anchor file as a whole, but some of its contents require particular attention.
On validUntil, the attribute is optional. If the relying party is using a trust anchor whose KeyDigest has no validUntil attribute, it can change to a trust anchor whose KeyDigest does have one, as long as that validUntil is in the future and the KeyTag, Algorithm, DigestType and Digest elements are the same as before. Relying parties should not use a KeyDigest outside of the time range given in the validFrom and validUntil attributes.
On comparing the digest and the public key information, if the Digest element would not be a proper delegation signer record for the DNSKEY record represented by the publickeyinfo pattern, relying parties must not use that KeyDigest as a trust anchor, and a party that wants to make such a comparison needs to marshal the elements of the DNSKEY record that became the delegation signer record using the algorithm specified in RFC 4034.
Two warnings follow. Relying parties need to implement trust anchor matching carefully, because a single trust anchor represented by a KeyDigest element can change its Digest and KeyTag values between two versions of the file, for example when the key is revoked or the flag value changes; parties that fail to take this into account are at risk of using an incorrect set of trust anchors. And because relying parties that require the optional publickeyinfo pattern to create trust anchors will store fewer trust anchors than those that only require a Digest element, two systems processing the same trust anchor file can end up with a different set of trust anchors.
The file can hold keys that are not usable yet, keys that have expired and keys that are in between. A program that ignores the validity dates, or that assumes a key keeps the same identifier between releases of the file, can end up trusting the wrong set of keys. The RFC also notes that two programs reading the same file may end up with different sets, simply because one of them insists on having the key material and the other does not.