HTTP-authentication-01.txt comments
John Franks (john@math.nwu.edu)
Tue, 14 Apr 1998 11:44:26 -0500 (CDT)
On Mon, 13 Apr 1998, Dave Kristol wrote:
>
> 3.2.3 The Authentication-Info Header
>
> cnonce and qop are used in the calculation of response-digest. The
> client is not required to send either cnonce= or auth=. So I assume
> (correct?) that the null string is used for values for omitted
> attributes in the calculation.
>
> If (to use cnonce as the example) cnonce was omitted, should
> Authentication-Info omit cnonce, or should it send cnonce=""? Same
> question for auth.
>
It might be better to say that Authentication-Info should only be
sent if qop (and hence cnonce) are present.
Another question: Unless I am mistaken, at one point in the long
sequence of digest drafts, the Authentication-Info header could be
supplied by either the server or the client. It would be useful
for the client to be able to supply the digest of POSTed data
or a file which is PUT. Being able to assure the integrity of
client supplied data would be very useful. Did this fall through
the cracks, or am I just missing this functionality somewhere in
the draft?
John Franks
john@math.nwu.edu