Protocol Properties

The Protocol Analysis module extracts detailed cryptographic protocol configurations from services.

Supported Protocol Types

Protocol	Description	Detection Source
TLS	Transport Layer Security	Apache, Nginx, Postfix configs
SSH	Secure Shell	sshd_config, ssh_config
IPsec	IP Security	strongSwan, OpenConnect configs
DTLS	Datagram TLS	VPN configurations
QUIC	Quick UDP Internet Connections	Modern web servers
WireGuard	WireGuard VPN	WireGuard configs
OpenVPN	OpenVPN protocol	OpenVPN configs

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TLS Version Detection

Protocols track which TLS versions are enabled:

{
  "type": "cryptographic-asset",
  "name": "TLS",
  "bom-ref": "protocol:tls",
  "properties": [
    { "name": "cbom:proto:type", "value": "TLS" },
    { "name": "cbom:proto:version_min", "value": "1.2" },
    { "name": "cbom:proto:version_max", "value": "1.3" },
    { "name": "cbom:proto:security_profile", "value": "MODERN" }
  ]
}

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Protocol Classification

TLS and SSH protocols receive special handling because their security depends on the key exchange algorithm, not just the protocol version or cipher suite.

TLS Protocol Classification

The classifier evaluates TLS protocols based on version and key exchange configuration:

Protocol	Status	Rationale
TLS with PQC-hybrid KEX (Kyber, ML-KEM, X25519Kyber)	SAFE	PQC-hybrid key exchange
TLS 1.3 (without PQC hybrid)	TRANSITIONAL	TLS 1.2/1.3: quantum-safe symmetric (AES-GCM), vulnerable KEX (ECDHE)
TLS 1.2 (without PQC hybrid)	TRANSITIONAL	Same as TLS 1.3 - KEX is the vulnerability
TLS 1.1	DEPRECATED	TLS 1.0/1.1 and SSLv3: deprecated protocols with known vulnerabilities
TLS 1.0	DEPRECATED	Same - classical attacks (BEAST, etc.) + quantum-vulnerable
SSLv3	DEPRECATED	Completely broken classically (POODLE)

TLS Cipher Suite Classification

Individual cipher suites are classified based on their components:

Cipher Suite Pattern	Status	Rationale
TLS 1.3 suites (TLS_AES_*, TLS_CHACHA20_*)	TRANSITIONAL	TLS 1.3 with classical KEX (X25519/ECDHE) - TRANSITIONAL for service
Contains ECDHE or DHE	TRANSITIONAL	Good forward secrecy but classical KEX
RSA key transport (no ECDHE/DHE)	TRANSITIONAL	RSA key transport (no forward secrecy) - still TRANSITIONAL for now
Contains RC4, DES, NULL, EXPORT, MD5, 3DES	DEPRECATED	Classically broken ciphers
Default (other patterns)	TRANSITIONAL	Default assumption

SSH Protocol Classification

SSH protocols are classified based on their key exchange algorithms:

Configuration	Status	Rationale
SSH with sntrup761x25519	SAFE	PQC-hybrid KEX (NTRU-Prime + X25519)
SSH with ntruprime or Kyber	SAFE	Uses quantum-resistant key exchange
SSH with curve25519/ECDH	TRANSITIONAL	quantum-safe symmetric, vulnerable KEX

Design Decision: Why RSA Key Transport is TRANSITIONAL

The code classifies RSA key transport cipher suites as TRANSITIONAL (not UNSAFE), even though they lack forward secrecy.

This CBOM Generator treats RSA key transport equivalently to ECDHE for PQC classification because:

1. Both are quantum-vulnerable: Shor's algorithm can break both RSA and ECDHE
2. Separate concerns: Forward secrecy is a separate property from PQC readiness
3. TRANSITIONAL = plan migration: Both require migration to PQC, which is the primary concern

Note: Organizations with strict "harvest-now-decrypt-later" concerns may want to prioritize disabling RSA key transport before ECDHE suites.

---

SSH Protocol Properties

SSH configurations are analyzed at three levels:

Server Configuration (/etc/ssh/sshd_config): - KexAlgorithms (key exchange) - Ciphers, MACs - HostKeyAlgorithms - Usage: server (inbound connections)

System Client Configuration (/etc/ssh/ssh_config): - KexAlgorithms, Ciphers, MACs - Usage: client (system-wide outbound)

User Client Configuration (~/.ssh/config): - Requires --include-personal-data flag - Per-user KEX preferences - Usage: client-user-<username>

---

PQC KEX Algorithm Detection

The scanner detects Post-Quantum safe KEX algorithms:

Algorithm	Type	PQC Status
sntrup761x25519-sha512@openssh.com	Hybrid (NTRU Prime + X25519)	PQC SAFE
curve25519-sha256	ECDH	Vulnerable
ecdh-sha2-nistp256	ECDH	Vulnerable
diffie-hellman-group16-sha512	DH	Vulnerable

---

Cipher Suite Decomposition

Cipher suites are broken down into component algorithms:

TLS 1.3 Cipher Suites (fixed format):

Cipher Suite	Encryption	Hash
TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384	AES-256-GCM	SHA384
TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256	AES-128-GCM	SHA256
TLS_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256	ChaCha20-Poly1305	SHA256

TLS 1.2 Cipher Suites (decomposed):

Example: ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384

Component	Algorithm
Key Exchange	ECDHE
Authentication	RSA
Encryption	AES-256-GCM
MAC	SHA384

---

Protocol CycloneDX Output

{
  "type": "cryptographic-asset",
  "name": "TLS 1.3",
  "bom-ref": "protocol:tls-1.3",
  "cryptoProperties": {
    "assetType": "protocol",
    "protocolProperties": {
      "type": "tls",
      "version": "1.3"
    }
  },
  "properties": [
    { "name": "cbom:proto:type", "value": "TLS" },
    { "name": "cbom:proto:version", "value": "1.3" },
    { "name": "cbom:proto:security_profile", "value": "MODERN" },
    { "name": "cbom:pqc:status", "value": "UNSAFE" }
  ]
}

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Common Queries

Finding Deprecated TLS Versions

cat cbom.json | jq -r '.components[] |
    select(.cryptoProperties?.protocolProperties?.type == "tls") |
    select(.cryptoProperties?.protocolProperties?.version | test("1.0|1.1")) |
    "\(.name) - DEPRECATED"'

SSH KEX Algorithm Inventory

cat cbom.json | jq -r '.components[] |
    select(.bom-ref | startswith("algo:")) |
    select(.properties[]? | select(.name == "cbom:algo:context" and .value | test("kex"))) |
    .name'

Services Using TLS 1.3

cat cbom.json | jq -r '.dependencies[] |
    select(.dependsOn[]? | contains("protocol:tls-1.3")) |
    .ref'