]> DNS Multiple QTYPEs Internet Systems Consortium, Inc.
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INT dnssd DNS resource record This document specifies a method for a DNS client to request additional DNS record types to be delivered alongside the primary record type specified in the Question section of a DNS QUERY (OpCode=0).
Introduction A commonly requested DNS feature is the ability to receive multiple related resource records (RRs) in a single DNS response. For example, it may be desirable to receive the A, AAAA, and HTTPS RRs for a domain name together, rather than having to issue multiple queries. The DNS wire protocol in theory supported having multiple questions in a single packet, but in practice this does not work. updates RFC 1035 to only permit a single question in a QUERY (OpCode=0) request. Sending QTYPE=ANY does not guarantee that all resource record sets (RRsets) will be returned. specifies that responders may return a single RRset of their choosing. This document provides a solution for those cases where only the QTYPE varies by specifying a new option for the Extension Mechanisms for DNS (EDNS) that contains an additional list of QTYPE values that the client wishes to receive in addition to the single QTYPE appearing in the Question section. A different EDNS option is used in response packets as protection against DNS middleboxes that echo EDNS options verbatim. The specification described herein is applicable both for queries from a stub resolver to recursive servers, and from recursive resolvers to authoritative servers. It does not apply to Multicast DNS queries , which are already designed to allow requesting multiple records in a single query, but it is applicable to DNS-Based Service Discovery (DNS-SD) .
Terminology 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 when, and only when, they appear in all capitals, as shown here. This document makes use of DNS terminology defined in .
Specification
Multiple QTYPE EDNS Options Format The overall format of an EDNS option is shown for reference in , per , followed by the option-specific data.
EDNS Option Format 0: OPTION-CODE 2: OPTION-LENGTH 4: : OPTION-DATA :
OPTION-CODE:
MQTYPE-Query (20) in queries and MQTYPE-Response (21) in responses.
OPTION-LENGTH:
Size (in octets) of OPTION-DATA.
OPTION-DATA:
Option specific, as depicted in .
MQTYPE OPTION-DATA Format 0: QT1 2: : ... : QTn
The OPTION-DATA is a list of 2-octet values in network order, most significant bit (MSB) first, and each specifying a DNS RRTYPE that must be for a data RRTYPE as described in . Individual values from the list (with unspecified index "x") are referred to as "QTx" in the following sections.
Client Request Generation DNS clients implementing this specification MUST generate packets that conform to the server request parsing rules described in . The choice of when a client implementation should attempt to coalesce queries for multiple QTYPEs using this method is implementation specific and not discussed further herein. However, careful considerations should be taken into account when coalescing queries on behalf of an application, if such a feature is not explicitly requested by the application. How an application interacts with an underlying name resolution library is internal to the implementation and is thus out of scope.
Server Request Parsing In addition to the error cases discussed in , the server MUST return a FORMERR response if the server receives:
  • An MQTYPE-Query option in any inbound DNS message with an OpCode other than QUERY (0).
  • An MQTYPE-Response option in any inbound DNS message.
  • More than one MQTYPE-Query option in a query.
  • An MQTYPE-Query in a query that contains no primary question (i.e., QDCOUNT=0).
  • An MQTYPE-Query option in a query where the primary question is a non-data RRTYPE (e.g., ANY, AXFR).
  • An MQTYPE-Query option with an empty QT list.
  • An invalid QTx (e.g., one corresponding to a Meta RRTYPE).
  • A duplicate QTx (or one duplicating the primary QTYPE field) in a query.
Server Response Generation A conforming server that receives an MQTYPE-Query option in a valid query MUST return an MQTYPE-Response option in its response, even if that response is truncated (TC=1). This is necessary to indicate that the server does support this extension. Refer to for invalid queries. The server MUST first start constructing a response for the primary (QNAME, QCLASS, QTYPE) tuple specified in the Question section per the existing DNS sections. The RCODE and all other flags (such as AA or AD) MUST be determined at this time. If this initial response results in truncation (TC=1), then the additional queries specified in the MQTYPE-Query option MUST NOT be processed. After the initial response is prepared, the server MUST attempt to combine the responses for individual (QNAME, QCLASS, QTx) combinations into the response for the first query. If a recursive server does not yet have those responses available, it MAY first make appropriate outbound queries to populate its caches. For each individual combination, the server MUST evaluate the resulting RCODE and other flags and check that they all match the values generated from the primary query. If any mismatch is detected, the mismatching additional response MUST NOT be included in the final combined response, and its QTx value MUST NOT be included in the MQTYPE-Response option's list. This might happen, for example, if the primary query resulted in a NOERROR response, but a QTx query resulted in a SERVFAIL. This could also happen if the primary response has AA=0, but a QTx response has AA=1, which might happen if the NS and DS records were both requested at the parent side of a zone cut. The server MUST attempt to combine the remaining individual RRs into the same sections in which they would have appeared in a standalone query (i.e., as if each combination had been "the question" per Section of RFC 1035 ). The server MUST detect duplicate RRs and keep only a single copy of each RR in its respective section. Duplicates can occur, for example, in the Answer section if a CNAME chain is involved, or in the Authority section if multiple QTYPEs don't exist, etc. Note that RRs can be legitimately duplicated in different sections such as for the (SOA, TYPE12345) combination at a zone apex where TYPE12345 is not present. The handling of an MQTYPE-Query option MUST NOT itself trigger a truncated response. If response size (or other) limits do not allow all of the data obtained by querying for an additional QTx to be included in the final response in their entirety (i.e., as complete RRsets), then the server MUST NOT include the respective QTx in the MQTYPE-Response option's list and MAY stop processing further QTx combinations. If all RRs for a single QTx combination fit into the message, then the server MUST include the respective QTx in the MQTYPE-Response option's list to indicate that the given query type was completely processed. Note that it is possible for the resulting MQTYPE-Response option to contain an empty list, but as described above, the option must still be returned.
Client Response Processing If the response to a query containing an MQTYPE-Query option does not contain an MQTYPE-Response option, or if it erroneously contains an MQTYPE-Query option, the client MUST treat the response as if this option is unsupported by the server and MUST process the primary response as if the MQTYPE-Query option had not been used. In the above case, or if the server generates a FORMERR response, the client MUST issue additional standalone queries (that is, without using the MQTYPE-Query option) for all QTYPEs for which an answer is still required. If the MQTYPE-Response option is present more than once or if a QTx value is duplicated (or duplicates the primary QTYPE field), the client MUST treat the answer as invalid (equivalent to FORMERR). The Question section and the list of types present in the MQTYPE-Response option indicates the list of (QNAME, QCLASS, QTYPEs) combinations that are completely answered and contained within the received response. The answers to all query combinations share the same RCODE and all other flags. All RRs required by existing DNS specifications are expected to be present in the respective sections of the DNS message, including proofs of nonexistence where required. The client MUST NOT rely on any particular order of RRs in the message sections. For the purposes of , any authoritative answers received MUST be ranked the same as the answer for the primary question. Clients MUST take into account that individual RRs might originate from different DNS zones and that proofs of nonexistence might have been produced by different signers. Absence of QTx values that were requested by the client but are not present in the MQTYPE-Response option indicates that:
  • (for responses from recursive servers) the server does not have any records for that QTx value in cache, and/or
  • the individual responses could not be combined into one message because of RCODE or other flag mismatches, and/or
  • the server was unwilling to process the request (for example, because a limit was exceeded), and/or
  • the response size limit would be exceeded.
The client MUST subsequently initiate separate standalone queries for all QTx values for which an answer is still required.
Security Considerations The method documented here does not change any of the security properties of the DNS protocol itself. However, it should be noted that this method does increase the potential amplification factor when the DNS protocol is used as a vector for a denial-of-service attack. A further risk is being able to maliciously cause recursive servers to perform large amounts of additional work. Implementors SHOULD therefore allow operators to configure limits on the number of QTx values specified and/or the resulting response size. The recommended values of those limits will depend on the environment in which this specification is used. In public DNS, it is expected that a limit of four QTx values would be appropriate, but when used with DNS-SD or within private networks, higher limits would be acceptable.
IANA Considerations IANA has assigned the following values in the "DNS EDNS0 Option Codes (OPT)" registry within the "Domain Name System (DNS) Parameters" registry group: MQTYPE EDNS Option Numbers
Value Name Status Reference
20 MQTYPE-Query Optional RFC 10029
21 MQTYPE-Response Optional RFC 10029
References Normative References Informative References
Examples The examples below are shown as what might be reported by the Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) Dig utility. For the purposes of brevity, irrelevant content is omitted.
Stub Query for A with MQTYPE-Query for AAAA and HTTPS In this example, a stub resolver has requested the A record for www.example.com, along with an MQTYPE-Query option requesting AAAA and HTTPS records. The stub resolver has also set the DO bit, indicating DNSSEC support. The presence of the HTTPS QTYPE in the MQTYPE-Response option of the response coupled with its absence from the Answer section indicates that the recursive server currently holds no data for this QTYPE. The corresponding type fields in the NSEC3 record further provide a cryptographic proof of nonexistence for the HTTPS QTYPE, and the SOA record also indicates a "negative answer".
A, AAAA, and HTTPS >HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 11111 ;; flags: qr rd ra ad ;; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 4, AUTHORITY: 4, ADDITIONAL: 1 ;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION: ; EDNS: version: 0, flags: do; udp: 1232 ; MQTYPE-Response: AAAA HTTPS ;; QUESTION SECTION: ;www.example.com. IN A ;; ANSWER SECTION: www.example.com. 2849 IN A 192.0.2.1 www.example.com. 2849 IN RRSIG A [...] www.example.com. 3552 IN AAAA 3fff::1234 www.example.com. 3552 IN RRSIG AAAA [...] ;; AUTHORITY SECTION: example.com. 2830 IN SOA ns.example.com. [...] example.com. 2830 IN RRSIG SOA 13 2 [...] [...].example.com. 2830 IN NSEC3 [...] A TXT AAAA RRSIG [...].example.com. 2830 IN RRSIG NSEC3 [...]]]>
Stub Query for DS with MQTYPE-Query for DNSKEY In this similar example, the primary QTYPE is for DS, and the MQTYPE-Query field only contains DNSKEY. Both the DS and DNSKEY records are returned, along with their corresponding RRSIG records.
Stub DS and DNSKEY >HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 33333 ;; flags: qr rd ra ad ;; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 5, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1 ;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION: ; EDNS: version: 0, flags: do; udp: 1232 ; MQTYPE-Response: DNSKEY ;; QUESTION SECTION: ;example.com. IN DS ;; ANSWER SECTION: example.com. 625 IN DNSKEY 256 3 13 [...] example.com. 625 IN DNSKEY 257 3 13 [...] example.com. 625 IN RRSIG DNSKEY [...] example.com. [...] example.com. 86185 IN DS 370 13 2 [...] example.com. 86185 IN RRSIG DS [...] com. [...]]]>
Recursive Query for DS with MQTYPE-Query for NS In this instance, a recursive resolver is sending a DS record query to the parent zone's authoritative server and simultaneously requesting the NS records for the zone. Since the DS record response is marked as authoritative (AA = 1), but the NS record data on the parent side of a zone cut is not authoritative (AA = 0), the server is unable to merge the responses, and the NS QTYPE is omitted from the MQTYPE-Response field.
Recursive DS and NS >HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 33333 ;; flags: qr aa ;; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 5, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1 ;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION: ; EDNS: version: 0, flags: do; udp: 1232 ; MQTYPE-Response: [empty] ;; QUESTION SECTION: ;example.com. IN DS ;; ANSWER SECTION: example.com. 86185 IN DS 370 13 2 [...] example.com. 86185 IN RRSIG DS [...] com. [...]]]>
Acknowledgements The author wishes to thank the following for their feedback and reviews during the initial development of this document: , , , and . In addition, the author wishes to thank the following for subsequent reviews during discussion in the DNSSD Working Group: , , , , , and .