As XMPP technologies have been deployed more widely, the open XMPP network has become a more significant target for attacks. This specification defines ways for XMPP server deployments to share information with each other and therefore handle such attacks in a more real-time fashion. In particular, it defines a format for sharing incident reports among XMPP server deployments. (For some related considerations, see RFC 2350 [1], RFC 3067 [2], and RFC 5070 [3].)
An incident report consists of an XMPP <message/> stanza containing an <incident/> child element that includes an 'id' attribute whose value is a UUID as described in RFC 4122 [4]. An example is shown below. A server deployment SHOULD send incident reports only to peer servers that it trusts, for example peers that are in its "server roster".
<message from='jabber.org' to='im.flosoft.biz'>
<incident xmlns='urn:xmpp:incident:0'
id='BA51A035-7710-4558-9BBF-34838A4C5B24'>
<description>
<discuss>
<admin>stpeter@jabber.org</admin>
<muc>operators@conference.jabber.org</muc>
</discuss>
<info>
<category>muc</category>
<type>presence</type>
<type>long-messages</type>
</info>
<locs>
<loc>jdev@conference.jabber.org</loc>
<loc>jabber@conference.jabber.org</loc>
</locs>
<rels>
<rel>133BCE2E-E669-4ECE-B0F8-766B9E65630D</rel>
</rels>
<severity>2</severity>
<source>
<ips>
<ip>192.0.2.1</ip>
</ips>
<jids>
<jid>abuser@abuse.lit</jid>
<jid>loser@abuse.lit</jid>
</jids>
</source>
<text xml:lang='en'>lots of MUC spammers from abuse.lit!</text>
<time>
<begin>2009-04-13T19:05:20Z</begin>
<end>2009-04-13T19:27:22Z</end>
<report>2009-04-13T19:31:07Z</report>
</time>
</description>
</incident>
</message>
The defined children of the <description/> element are as follows:
| Element Name | Description |
|---|---|
| <discuss/> | This element contains the JID of the server admin who generated the incident report (<admin/>), as well as a Multi-User Chat (XEP-0045) [5] room where the incident can be discussed (<muc/>). |
| <info/> | Structured information about the incident. The defined values of the <category/> and <type/> elements shall be provided via a registry. It is envisioned that the <category/> values shall be "muc" for Multi-User Chat (XEP-0045) [5] incidents, "pubsub" for Publish-Subscribe (XEP-0060) [6] incidents, "reg" for account registration (In-Band Registration (XEP-0077) [7]) incidents, and "stanzas" for general XMPP traffic incidents. |
| <locs/> | The place or places on the XMPP network where the incident has occurred (such as a multi-user chat room, a publish-subscribe service, or a general XMPP server), each contained in a separate <loc/> element. |
| <rels/> | The IDs of one or more incidents to which this incident might be related, each contained in a separate <rel/> element. |
| <severity/> | The seriousness of the problem, from 5 (least serious) to 1 (most serious). |
| <source/> | The IP address(es) and JabberID(s) where the incident originated. |
| <text/> | A natural-language description of the event. This element SHOULD possess an 'xml:lang' attribute. Multiple <text/> elements MAY be included, each with a different 'xml:lang' value. |
| <time/> | The time when the incident began and ended (include an empty <end/> element if the incident is still happening) and, optionally, was reported. The dates MUST conform to the DateTime profile specified in XMPP Date and Time Profiles (XEP-0082) [8] |
If the reporting entity determines a solution to the problem, it MAY send out a revised incident report containing a <solution/> element.
<message from='jabber.org' to='im.flosoft.biz'>
<incident xmlns='urn:xmpp:incident:0'
id='BA51A035-7710-4558-9BBF-34838A4C5B24'>
<description>
...
</description>
<solution>
<text xml:lang='en'>banned the offenders</text>
</solution>
</incident>
</message>
Further definition of the <solution/> element will be provided in a future version of this specification.
If an entity that receives an incident report has a suggested solution to the problem, it MAY send an incident message containing a <suggestion/> element.
<message from='im.flosoft.biz' to='jabber.org'>
<incident xmlns='urn:xmpp:incident:0'
id='BA51A035-7710-4558-9BBF-34838A4C5B24'>
<suggestion>
<text xml:lang='en'>here is how we solved the problem...</text>
</suggestion>
</incident>
</message>
Further definition of the <suggestion/> element will be provided in a future version of this specification.
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This document in other formats: XML PDF
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The Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) is defined in the XMPP Core (RFC 6120) and XMPP IM (RFC 6121) specifications contributed by the XMPP Standards Foundation to the Internet Standards Process, which is managed by the Internet Engineering Task Force in accordance with RFC 2026. Any protocol defined in this document has been developed outside the Internet Standards Process and is to be understood as an extension to XMPP rather than as an evolution, development, or modification of XMPP itself.
There exists a special venue for discussion related to the technology described in this document: the <operators@xmpp.org> mailing list.
The primary venue for discussion of XMPP Extension Protocols is the <standards@xmpp.org> discussion list.
Discussion on other xmpp.org discussion lists might also be appropriate; see <https://xmpp.org/community/> for a complete list.
Errata can be sent to <editor@xmpp.org>.
The following requirements keywords as used in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119: "MUST", "SHALL", "REQUIRED"; "MUST NOT", "SHALL NOT"; "SHOULD", "RECOMMENDED"; "SHOULD NOT", "NOT RECOMMENDED"; "MAY", "OPTIONAL".
1. RFC 2350: Expectations for Computer Security Incident Response <http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2350>.
2. RFC 3067: TERENA's Incident Object Description and Exchange Format Requirements <http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3067>.
3. RFC 5070: The Incident Object Description Exchange Format <http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5070>.
4. RFC 4122: A Universally Unique IDentifier (UUID) URN Namespace <http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4122>.
5. XEP-0045: Multi-User Chat <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0045.html>.
6. XEP-0060: Publish-Subscribe <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0060.html>.
7. XEP-0077: In-Band Registration <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0077.html>.
8. XEP-0082: XMPP Date and Time Profiles <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0082.html>.
Note: Older versions of this specification might be available at https://xmpp.org/extensions/attic/
Per Council feedback, moved server rosters to a separate specification.
Refactored XML format; added elements for sub-categories, locations, related incidents, solutions, and suggestions.
First draft.
@report{hefczyc2009xepxxxx,
title = {Incident Reporting},
author = {Hefczyc, Artur and Jensen, Florian and Rémond, Mickaël and Saint-Andre, Peter and Wild, Matthew},
type = {XEP},
number = {xxxx},
version = {0.0.3},
institution = {XMPP Standards Foundation},
url = {https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-xxxx.html},
date = {2009-04-13/2009-04-30},
}END