| --- This message came from the IEEE 802.11 Task Group M Technical Reflector --- 
Hello Nehru,   > 
The timer is already set in the bogus/invalid case - nothing needs to be done. My comment in the email 'set(again)' is a bit lax, but the proposed text, which replaces the corresponding paragraph, is correct per
 my understanding (of course).   Ah, I see. 
Then I think Upon receipt of a Com event, if the Status is nonzero, the frame shall be silently discarded, and the protocol instance shall
 remain in the Confirmed state. Otherwise, If Sync is greater than dot11RSNASAESync, the protocol instance shall send the parent process a Del event and transitions back to Nothing state. If Sync is not greater than dot11RSNASAESync, the protocol instance shall
 verify that the finite cyclic group is the same as the previously received SAE Commit message. If the verification fails, the frame shall be silently discarded. Otherwise, the protocol instance shall increment Sync, increment
Sc, transmit its SAE Commit message and its SAE Confirm message with the new
Sc value, and set the t0 (retransmission) timer. addresses (modulo small editorials, e.g. ", If" -> ", if", "transitions" -> "transition", "same as" -> "same as in") the "if … if … if not … verify … if not … if so … then …" confusion.   There are still the other issues with "the Status", "the frame" and possible missing silent discard at the Del event step, but these can be dealt with in D1.0.   How about 12.4.8.6.3? 
This has similar problems with unclear structuring, I think:   Upon receipt of a Com event, the protocol instance shall check the Status of the Authentication frame. If the Status code is not SUCCESS, the frame shall be silently discarded and a Del event shall be sent to the parent process. Otherwise, the frame shall be processed by first checking whether a password identifier is present. If so and there is no password associated with that identifier,
BadID shall be set and the protocol instance shall construct and transmit an Authentication frame with Status Code set to UNKNOWN_PASSWORD_IDENTIFIER. If there is no password identifier present or if a password is associated with that identifier, the frame shall be processed by next checking the finite cyclic group field to see if the requested group is supported.
If not, 
BadGrp shall be set and the protocol instance shall construct and transmit an Authentication frame with Status code UNSUPPORTED_FINITE_CYCLIC_GROUP indicating rejection with the finite cyclic group field set to the rejected group, and shall send the parent process a Del event. If the group is supported, the protocol instance shall zero the
Sc and Rc counters and it shall generate the PWE and the secret values according to 12.4.5.2 (PWE and secret generation). It shall then process the received SAE Commit message (see 12.4.5.4 (Processing of a peer’s SAE Commit message)). If validation of the received SAE Commit message fails, the protocol instance shall send a Del event to the parent process; otherwise, it shall construct and transmit an SAE Commit message (see 12.4.5.3 (Construction of an SAE Commit message)) followed by an SAE Confirm message (see 12.4.5.5 (Construction of an SAE Confirm message)). 
The Sync counter shall be set to 0 and the t0 (retransmission) timer shall be set. The protocol instance transitions to Confirmed state.   Thanks,   Mark   --
 Mark RISON, Standards Architect, WLAN   English/Esperanto/Français Samsung Cambridge Solution Centre       Tel: +44 1223  434600 Innovation Park, Cambridge CB4 0DS      Fax: +44 1223  434601 ROYAUME UNI                             WWW:
http://www.samsung.com/uk   
From:
 Nehru Bhandaru <nbbrcm@xxxxxxxxx> Sent: Tuesday, 5 October 2021 18:57
 To: STDS-802-11-TGM@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 Subject: Re: [STDS-802-11-TGM] Fwd: [STDS-802-11-TGM] Resolution to CID 116
   --- This message came from the IEEE 802.11 Task Group M Technical Reflector ---
 
The timer is already set in the bogus/invalid case - nothing needs to be done. My comment in the email 'set(again)' is a bit lax, but the proposed text, which replaces the corresponding paragraph,
 is correct per my understanding (of course). 
I agree it would be a good idea to bring a submission, during a conf. call or something - I was merely trying to provide my input to some of your proposed changes and comments related to the
 issue in the email thread. 
p.s. FWIW the changes I proposed are no more complex than some of the other changes being discussed...   
Hello Nehru,   OK, I thought we wanted to make minimal changes.  I think it would be a good idea to show a version with change tracking, so we can see the substantive changes.  In any case, I think it's not the case that the retransmission timer needs to be set (again) in all cases which do not transition to the 'Nothing' state because if a bogus/invalid Com event is received we don't transition to Nothing but nor do we set (again) the timer.   Thanks,   Mark   --
 Mark RISON, Standards Architect, WLAN   English/Esperanto/Français Samsung Cambridge Solution Centre       Tel: +44 1223  434600 Innovation Park, Cambridge CB4 0DS      Fax: +44 1223  434601 ROYAUME UNI                             WWW:
http://www.samsung.com/uk   
  
If you notice, the original text canceled the timer upon reception of the Com event. My proposed text does not do that; it just resets the timer upon successful processing/response
 of the 
Com(mit) event. So, the timer is operational and any retries will happen if a bogus/invalid Com event is received per original schedule...   
  
  
Hello Nehru,   If the retransmission timer needs to be set (again) in all cases which do not transition to the 'Nothing' state then it seems to me that your latest text is not doing this in the highlighted cases:   Upon receipt of a Com event, if the Status is nonzero, the frame shall be silently discarded, and the protocol instance shall
remain in the Confirmed state. Otherwise, If Sync is greater than dot11RSNASAESync, the protocol instance shall send the parent process a Del event and transitions back to Nothing state. If Sync is not greater than dot11RSNASAESync,
 the protocol instance shall verify that the finite cyclic group is the same as the previously received SAE Commit message. If the verification fails, the frame shall be
silently discarded. Otherwise, the protocol instance shall increment Sync, increment Sc, transmit its SAE Commit message and its SAE Confirm message with the new Sc value, and set the t0 (retransmission) timer.   I really think all this needs to be structured more clearly.   Thanks,   Mark   --
 Mark RISON, Standards Architect, WLAN   English/Esperanto/Français Samsung Cambridge Solution Centre       Tel: +44 1223  434600 Innovation Park, Cambridge CB4 0DS      Fax: +44 1223  434601 ROYAUME UNI                             WWW:
http://www.samsung.com/uk   
  --- This message came from the IEEE 802.11 Task Group M Technical Reflector ---
 
The list server rejected my message because of a proprietary..disclaimer at the end - not sure if that was inserted by me/my mail server;
 I will delete it and try again in case it is an artifact of replying to someone else's message with a disclaimer.   
  
I think the retransmission timer needs to be set (again) in all cases which do not transition to the 'Nothing' state. As I noted separately,
 that is another issue with this text - but not sure if it is related to the comment in question. Here is another take (which does not cancel the timer in the first place for the error conditions, assuming the timer has no meaning in the Nothing state and is
 automatically canceled as part of state transition) 
Upon receipt of a Com event, if the Status is nonzero, the frame shall be silently discarded, and the protocol instance shall
 remain in the Confirmed state. Otherwise, If Sync is greater than dot11RSNASAESync, the protocol instance shall send the parent process a Del event and transitions back to Nothing state. If Sync is not greater than dot11RSNASAESync, the protocol instance shall
 verify that the finite cyclic group is the same as the previously received SAE Commit message. If the verification fails, the frame shall be silently discarded. Otherwise, the protocol instance shall increment Sync, increment Sc, transmit its SAE Commit message
 and its SAE Confirm message with the new Sc value, and set the t0 (retransmission) timer. 
Hello Nehru,   I think this is still ambiguous (in addition to the other issues I identified in my previous post): what is the scope of the final sentence?  Is the intent   {Upon receipt of a Com event, the t0 (retransmission) timer shall be canceled. If the Status is nonzero, the frame shall be silently discarded, the t0 (retransmission)
 timer set, and the protocol instance shall remain in the Confirmed state. If Sync is greater than dot11RSNASAESync, the protocol instance shall send the parent process a Del event and transitions back to Nothing state. If Sync is not greater than dot11RSNASAESync,
 the protocol instance shall verify that the finite cyclic group is the same as the previously received SAE Commit message. If the verification fails, the frame shall be silently discarded. Otherwise, the protocol instance shall increment Sync, increment Sc,
 and transmit its SAE Commit message and its SAE Confirm message with the new Sc value.} AND {It then shall set the t0 (retransmission) timer.}   or is it   Upon receipt of a Com event, the t0 (retransmission) timer shall be canceled. If the Status is nonzero, the frame shall be silently discarded, the t0 (retransmission)
 timer set, and the protocol instance shall remain in the Confirmed state. If Sync is greater than dot11RSNASAESync, the protocol instance shall send the parent process a Del event and transitions back to Nothing state. If Sync is not greater than dot11RSNASAESync,
 the protocol instance shall verify that the finite cyclic group is the same as the previously received SAE Commit message. If the verification fails, the frame shall be silently discarded. Otherwise, {{ the protocol instance shall increment Sync, increment
 Sc, and transmit its SAE Commit message and its SAE Confirm message with the new Sc value.} AND {It then shall set the t0 (retransmission) timer.}}   ?   [In my indentation-based presentation I assumed the latter was the intent, but maybe it was the former?]   Thanks,   Mark   --
 Mark RISON, Standards Architect, WLAN   English/Esperanto/Français Samsung Cambridge Solution Centre      
Tel: +44 1223  434600 Innovation Park, Cambridge CB4 0DS      Fax: +44 1223  434601 ROYAUME UNI                             WWW:
http://www.samsung.com/uk   
  --- This message came from the IEEE 802.11 Task Group M Technical Reflector ---
 
Some strikethrough and underlines do not seem to have made it through the email transport. Will try again - the below is the replacement
 I proposed   Upon receipt of a Com event, the t0 (retransmission) timer shall be canceled. If the Status is nonzero, the frame shall be silently discarded, the t0 (retransmission)
 timer set, and the protocol instance shall remain in the Confirmed state. If Sync is greater than dot11RSNASAESync, the protocol instance shall send the parent process a Del event and transitions back to Nothing state. If Sync is not greater than dot11RSNASAESync,
 the protocol instance shall verify that the finite cyclic group is the same as the previously received SAE Commit message. If the verification fails, the frame shall be silently discarded. Otherwise, the protocol instance shall increment Sync, increment Sc,
 and transmit its SAE Commit message and its SAE Confirm message with the new Sc value. It then shall set the t0 (retransmission) timer. - N 
p.s. The flow of the previous text was fine and what was needed was a clarification of the phrases 'if not', 'if so' etc- which the above text does... 
  
--- This message came from the IEEE 802.11 Task Group M Technical Reflector ---
 
    Mark,     Given your hyper-sensitivity over "professional" conduct I think you should refrain from calling other people's writing style "ambiguous rambling 'stream of consciousness'". And when you criticize other people's writing you should at least suggest changes that are correct.
     I am opposed to this CID growing, which is what you seem to be doing here. Let's address the CID and the text it is on and not use this to rewrite a section (or other sections like 12.4.8.6.3).     Dan.   
-- "the object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." – Marcus Aurelius   
--- This message came from the IEEE 802.11 Task Group M Technical Reflector ---
 
I think some strikethroughs got lost (I have this trouble when I cut 
and paste Word change-tracking). 
  
Anyway, instead of trying to flog this dead horse, why don't we use 
formatting to be clear on the sequencing?  Something like this 
(I've taken one possible interpretation of the current text, but 
others are possible): 
  
- Upon receipt of a Com event, the t0 (retransmission) timer shall be canceled. 
- If the Status
[field? of what?] is nonzero, the frame [what frame?] shall be silently discarded, the t0 (retransmission) timer
[shall be] set, and the protocol instance shall remain in the Confirmed state.
[this should be made into an entirely active phrase "the protocol instance shall…"] 
- Otherwise: 
- If Sync is greater than dot11RSNASAESync, the protocol instance shall send the parent process a Del event and transitions
[no s] back to Nothing state. [and the frame shall be silently discarded?] 
- Otherwise: 
- If the finite cyclic group is not the same as [in] the previously received SAE Commit message, the frame shall be silently discarded. 
- Otherwise, the protocol instance shall increment Sync, increment Sc, transmit its SAE Commit message and its SAE Confirm message with the new Sc value,
 and set the t0 (retransmission) timer. 
  
Note that I think the ambiguous rambling "stream of consciousness" style 
is also used in other locations (e.g. 12.4.8.6.3). 
  
Thanks, 
  
Mark 
  
--
 
Mark RISON, Standards Architect, WLAN   English/Esperanto/Français 
Samsung Cambridge Solution Centre       Tel: +44 1223  434600 
Innovation Park, Cambridge CB4 0DS      Fax: +44 1223  434601 
ROYAUME UNI                             WWW:
http://www.samsung.com/uk 
  
  
--- This message came from the IEEE 802.11 Task Group M Technical Reflector ---
 
Thanks, Nehru.  But, your suggested text seems to have gotten munged (I assume), and there are stray “Otherwise”s, or at least some problem parsing the sentences near the words “Otherwise”. 
  
Mark 
  
  
  
--- This message came from the IEEE 802.11 Task Group M Technical Reflector ---
 
There is also another issue with the text, not related to the comment though. When a Com event is received, the retransmission timer is canceled. So, a fake commit message could
 have the effect of canceling the timer and discarding the frame. Not sure that should be the right behavior from a security standpoint. 
  
There is some text in the same paragraph before the text under discussion - I took another stab and simplifying and clarifying the intended semantics without reordering the phrases
 (and hopefully not introducing any issues) 
Upon receipt of a Com event, the t0 (retransmission) timer shall be canceled. If the Status is nonzero, the frame shall be silently discarded, the t0
 (retransmission) timer set, and the protocol instance shall remain in the Confirmed state. If Sync is greater than dot11RSNASAESync, the protocol instance shall send the parent process a Del event and transitions back to Nothing state. If Sync is not greater
 than dot11RSNASAESync Otherwise, the protocol instance shall verify that the finite cyclic group is the same as the previously received SAE Commit message. If not the verification fails, the frame shall be silently discarded. If soOtherwise, the protocol instance
 shall increment Sync, increment Sc, and transmit its SAE Commit message and its SAE Confirm message with the new Sc value. It then shall set the t0 (retransmission) timer. 
  
  
Hi all, 
For CID 116, we debated whether we could accept the comment and could not come to an agreement on a proposed resolution. (see the comment and discussed resolutions below)  
I would like to initiate a discussion on the reflector to see if we can come to a resolution. 
REVme SEC adhoc comments 
 
| 
2554.00 | 12.4.8.6.5 |  | V | SAE: "<verify X>. If not, <do Y>. If so, <do Z>" construction can be ambiguous since it is not always clear what "if
 so" is referring to (something in "verify X" vs. "do Y"). | Replace"If Sync is not greater than dot11RSNASAESync, the protocol instance shall verify that the finite cyclic group is the same as the previously received SAE Commit message. If not, the frame shall be silently discarded. If so, the protocol instance shall increment
 Sync, increment Sc, and transmit its SAE Commit message and its SAE Confirm message with the new Sc value."
 with
 "If Sync is not greater than dot11RSNASAESync, the protocol instance shall verify that the finite cyclic group is the same as the previously received SAE Commit message. If not, the frame shall be silently discarded. Otherwise, the protocol instance shall increment
 Sync, increment Sc, and transmit its SAE Commit message and its SAE Confirm message with the new Sc value."
 |  
The proposed resolution that was discussed on the call (along with an alternative that was mentioned in the chat): 
Replace"If Sync is not greater than dot11RSNASAESync, the protocol instance shall verify that the finite cyclic group is the same as the previously received SAE Commit message. If not, the frame shall be silently discarded. If so, the protocol instance shall increment
 Sync, increment Sc, and transmit its SAE Commit message and its SAE Confirm message with the new Sc value."
 
 with
 
 "If Sync is not greater than dot11RSNASAESync, the protocol instance shall verify that the finite cyclic group is the same as in the previously received SAE Commit message. If it is not, the frame shall be silently discarded. Otherwise, the protocol instance
 shall increment Sync, increment Sc, and transmit its SAE Commit message and its SAE Confirm message with the new Sc value."
 
 Alternative:
 ust a suggestion: "If Sync is not greater than dot11RSNASAESync, the protocol instance shall verify that the finite cyclic group is the same as in the previously received SAE Commit message, and if it is not, the frame shall be silently discarded. If Sync is
 greater than dot11RSNASAESync, the protocol instance shall increment Sync, increment Sc, and transmit its SAE Commit message and its SAE Confirm message with the new Sc value."
 
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