libp2p / libp2p/specs

identify: specify how to handle invalid public keys

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Description

If a remote peer provides a public key in an identify message that doesn't match their peer ID, it's not specified how it should be handled.

Potentially the connection could be closed since this shouldn't happen unless the remote peer is misconfigured/malicious (discussion at https://github.com/libp2p/rust-libp2p/issues/5713 / https://github.com/libp2p/rust-libp2p/pull/5707#discussion_r1866001556)

We could add something to the spec (https://github.com/libp2p/specs/tree/master/identify#publickey) like:

If a remote peer provides a public key which doesn't match their peer ID, the receiving node SHOULD close the connection.

So existing implementations which don't do this would still match the v1.0.0 spec.

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Read the identify specification's publickey section and the linked discussion in issues/5713 and PR 5707. Add the agreed guidance for a public key that does not match the peer ID, then verify that the wording fits the v1.0.0 specification.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
documentation, networking, security
Issue type
Documentation
Difficulty
1/5
Estimated time
Under an hour
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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