Propose an RFC for version negotiation in Cerberus

0003-Version_Detection.md

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+* Name: Version_Detection
+* Date: 2021-09-20
+* Pull Request: [#23](https://github.com/opencomputeproject/Security/pull/23)
+
+# Objective
+
+Cerberus does not currently expose a particularly precise interface for
+discovering the version of a remote device being challenged or otherwise
+interacted with. However, Cerberus does make reference to these versions as part
+of the `CHALLENGE` message.
+
+Cerberus also has significant "optional" components, though there is no way to
+discover whether a remote device supports them. In theory this would be provided
+to a PA-RoT via a manifest, but it some cases it may be useful to query this
+information dynamically.
+
+This RFC describes:
+- A formal versioning scheme for the overall protocol, as well as its optional
+  subcomponents.
+- A protocol command for querying this version information.
+- A way for vendors to allow for unambiguous querying of their vendor
+  extensions.
+- A story for deprecation of commands.
+
+# Proposal
+
+Although Cerberus has some minor prior art around version numbers, we will be
+starting over from a clean slate.
+
+## Protocol Version Numbers
+
+A Cerberus version is a sixteen-bit opaque value, mapped to a commit hash of
+this repository. Protocol version N is described by the repository at that
+commit.
+
+Versions are recorded as Git tags with the name `protocol-v{#}`, where
+`{#}` is replaced with the version number. There will also be a file,
+`PROTOCOL_VERSIONS.md`, which contains a list of all versions, their dates,
+and a changelog, in the following format:
+```
+# `protocol-v{#}`
+Date: YYYY-MM-DD
+<changelog>
+```
+
+To create a new version:
+1. Create a commit that adds the new version to `PROTOCOL_VERSIONS.md`.
+2. The pull request created from that commit acts as an opportunity to discuss
+   the new version and changelog.
+3. Once approved, the author must ensure the date on the new version matches.
+4. A maintainer will merge the PR, and then create a lightweight tag with the
+   correct name pointing to the merged commit. This can be done via
+   `git tag protocol-v{#} && git push origin --tags`. This must be a push to
+   the upstream repository.
+
+This proposal does not stipulate guidelines under which creating a new version
+is recommended; maintainers should create new versions as they deem necessary.
+
+After this RFC is merged and implemented, a new version, version 0, must be
+created immediately.
+
+## Subcomponents
+
+A subcomponent is a set of optional Cerberus commands that need to be provided
+together, such as the PFM-related commands. Each subcomponent has a byte
+associated with it.
+
+The subcomponents, their identifying bytes, and the list of commands in each
+should be listed in a table, just past the list of all commands. All optional
+commands must be part of a subcomponent, and a command may be part of multiple
+components.
+
+## The `Protocol Version` Command
+
+We define a new command, `Protocol Version`, using command byte `0x05`, and
+marked as *required*. Its purpose is to negotiate a shared version for the
+devices to communicate over.
+
+A request has the following structure:
+
+```c
+struct ProtocolVersionRequest {
+  uint8_t reserved;  // Must be zero.
+
+  uint16_t min_version;
+  uint16_t max_version;
+
+  uint8_t bad_versions_len;
+  uint16_t bad_versions[bad_versions_len];
+
+  uint8_t extns_len;
+  struct {
+    uint8_t len;
+    uint8_t name[len];
+  } extns[extns_len];
+}
+```
+
+The requester provides the minimum and maximum versions (inclusive) it
+understands, as well as a list of versions it refuses to use (for security
+or other reasons). It also provides a list of vendor-defined extensions it
+knows how to speak.
+
+Vendor-defined extensions are defined by strings, to
+avoid running into the usual "private use area" problems in code-point
+allocation. Vendors should choose strings that incorporate their name into them
+to avoid chances of collision. Period-separated names are ideal:
+- `widgetsinc.unsealing-with-chacha20`
+- `acmeco.fancy-pcie-update-scheme`
+
+The response looks like this:
+
+```c
+struct ProtocolVersionResponse {
+  uint16_t version;
+
+  uint8_t extns_len;
+  uint16_t extn_versions[extns_len];
+};
+```
+
+This provides the responder-chosen version, and the versions of the requested
+vendor-defined extensions. A version of `0xffff` is used as a sentinel to
+indicate that the extension was unrecognized.
+
+All messages that follow must use the chosen version number. This number not
+only specifies which messages are supported, but also which format to use for
+parsing commands, since that may vary across versions. The `Protocol Version`
+command, however, is unversioned. A reserved byte is included at the top of
+the command in case we ever need to change it.
+
+A new error code, "Unnegotiated Version" (code `0x05`), should be returned by
+devices if no version has been negotiated yet with the requesting device.
+Requesters which had previously negotiated a version, but which recieve this
+message, should re-negotiate a version.
+
+## Updates to `CHALLENGE`
+
+Because only a single protocol version is negotiated, we can replace the version
+range in the `CHALLENGE` with the single negotiated version. This doesn't change
+the layout of the `CHALLENGE` in a meaningful way, since we are replacing two
+eight-bit fields with one sixteen-bit field.
+
+## Evolution and Deprecation Process
+
+This versioning scheme gives us a way to freely evolve the protocol without
+fear of subtle incompatibility: because one version is chosen, there is no
+ambiguity about different layouts of commands.
+
+We also get deprecation for free: if we remove a message, devices can, given
+sufficiently wide range of advertised versions, select a version both are
+can work with. We can even re-use command bytes across versions, if that ever
+becomes a problem.
+
+There is no particular reason to mark messages as deprecated in the spec itself,
+although it may be worthwhile to do so to indicate that they will eventually be
+removed. Whether to leave messages deprecated for a version or two, or to remove
+them immediately, is up to the maintainers.
+
+This introduces the risk that two devices may refuse to interoperate due to
+incompatible versions. It is up to implementers to chose a sufficiently large
+range of versions to interoperate with other vendors' devices.
+
+# Specification Changelist
+
+The following changes are required:
+- The creation of `PROTOCOL_VERSIONS.md` as described above.
+- Prose in a section immediately before the `RoT Commands` section that
+  describes the Cerberus Protocol versioning scheme, including protocol
+  subcomponents and vendor-defined extensions.
+- A table immediately after the table of all commands, which defines the
+  protocol subcomponents.
+- Add the new error code to the error codes table.
+- A new message definition, after `Device Information`, for the new `Protocol
+  Version` command. This shall include prose of the negotiation process.
+- The min/max version fields in the `CHALLENGE` should be replaced with the
+  single negotiated version.
+
+# Implementation Guidance
+
+Implementers which support a range of Cerberus versions will need to maintain a
+"currently negotiated version" for each bus they can service requests from.
+This should not be a significant cost, given they already need to maintain
+similar information for sessions.
+
+Because requesters must know how to re-establish a negotiated version, an
+implementer can choose to record only a single version at a time.
+
+# Alternatives Considered
+
+An alternative is to have requester-chosen, rather than responder-chosen,
+versions. This doesn't have any specific benefits for us, but it does have the
+downside that we need to deal with different versions having different layouts
+for commands, meaning that the requester still needs to inform the responder
+about which protocol version it wishes to use.
+
+This could be worked around by being careful about how commands are evolved, but
+it's likely to be rare enough that command formats change that the complexity
+would be worth it.
+
+# Future Work
+
+This RFC does not describe norms and practices around when to mint versions nor
+when to make the actual decision of deprecation; these are left up to the
+maintainers or a potential future RFC.