RFC 3352 (rfc3352) - Page 2 of 4
Connection-less Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (CLDAP) to Historic Status
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 3352 CLDAP to Historic Status March 2003 - Insufficient security capabilities: + no integrity protection, + no confidentiality protection - Inadequate internationalization support; - Insufficient extensibility; and - Lack of multiple independently developed implementations. The CLDAP technical specification has normative references to multiple obsolete technical specifications including X.501(88), X.511(88), RFC 1487 (the predecessor to RFC 1777, the now Historic LDAPv2 technical specification). Unless the technical specification were to be updated, CLDAP cannot remain on the standards track because of the Normative reference to a Historic RFC. The community recognized in the mid-1990s that CLDAP needed to be updated. In response to this, the IETF chartered the LDAP Extensions Working Group (LDAPext WG) in 1997 to undertake this update. The LDAPext WG is concluding without producing an update to CLDAP. Currently, there is no standardization effort to update CLDAP. It should be noted that the community still has interest in developing a "connection-less" directory access protocol. However, based on operational experience, has determined that further experimentation is necessary to address outstanding technical issues. In particular, security considerations associated with "connection-less" services need to be addressed. 2. Recommendation As there is no viable standardization effort to update CLDAP as necessary to keep it on the standards track and the community currently considers this an area requiring further experimentation, RFC 1798 must be moved to Historic status. It is recommended that those interested in connection-less access to X.500-based directory services experiment with [LDAPUDP] and other alternatives which might become available. 3. Security Considerations The security of the Internet will not be impacted by the retirement of CLDAP. 4. Acknowledgment The author would like to thank the designers of CLDAP for their contribution to the Internet community. Zeilenga Informational
