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Date: 30 Nov 1983 0310 PST From: Eric P. Scott <EPS at JPL-VAX> Reply-To: EPS at JPL-VAX To: TCP-IP at SRI-NIC Re: Not an RFC inspired by a somewhat infamous computer game Network Hacking Group E. P. Scott Request for Kludges: XXX JPL November, 1983 Updates: RFC 821 SMTP POLYMORPH COMMAND Preface The purpose of this document is to present a partial workaround for an anticipated future problem in the ARPA Internet. It is hoped that it will prove unnecessary to adopt such an overtly ridiculous strategy as a practical means of preserving connectivity. The views expressed are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, or the California Institute of Technology. Treat them as satirical in nature. Introduction Current plans call for the activation of "access control filters" in the six IP gateways that bridge MILNET and ARPANET on February 1, 1984 [1]. In most cases communications will be restricted to mail only. Sites such as ours which are in the wrong Community Of Interest vis a vis the sites they need to communicate with because the politics run counter to legitimate research needs will be unable to participate as functional nodes after this date. A trivial solution is of course to abandon the plan to segregate the two networks [2]. Assuming that this does not happen and the controls go into effect on schedule, it will be necessary to defeat the "protection" offered in order to "stay in business" (unless the Powers That Be can be convinced to put us back on the other side of the fence before then). Even so, other sites share a similar plight. Description I propose to implement an extension to the SMTP protocol [3] that would allow services such as Telnet [4] to be accessed via port 25. The extension consists of the new command POLY which accepts as its parameter a keyword identifying the service desired. Successful execution of POLY returns a 250 reply and replaces the SMTP server. It is assumed that POLY would be given as the first command in a session in order to avoid considering the implications of arbitrary placement. A typical scenario might look like: @TELNET TELNET>INTERNET (HOST) JPL-VLSI (ON PORT) 25 Trying... Open 220 JPL-VLSI.DDN SMTP Service POLY TELNET 250 Toto, I don't think we're in SMTP anymore! JPL VLSI Design Center VAX... Scott [Page 1] SMTP Polymorph Command RFK XXX Syntax POLY <SP> <string> <CRLF> Replies S: 250 E: 500, 501, 502, 503, 504, 421 Concluding Comments "Polymorph" commands are nothing new; SMTP's TURN can be considered one; perhaps a better example is the Telnet SUPDUP Option [5]. FTP presents a special problem since data is not transmitted over the telnet connection. This won't help (most) TAC users. References [1] DDN Program Management Office, "Further Details on the MILNET/ ARPANET Split," in DDN Newsletter no. 28, Network Information Center, SRI International, July 1983. [2] Muuss, M., "On the Undesirability of `Mail Bridges' as a Security Measure," in TCP-IP Digest, vol. 2, no. 18, BRL, October 1983. [3] Postel, J., "Simple Mail Transfer Protocol," RFC 821, USC/ Information Sciences Institute, August 1982. [4] Postel, J. and J. Reynolds, "Telnet Protocol Specification," RFC 854, USC/Information Sciences Institute, May 1983. [5] Crispin, M., "Telnet SUPDUP Option," RFC 736, NIC 42213, Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, October 1977. Scott [Page 2]