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art httpbis Internet-Draft TCP proxying using HTTP CONNECT has long been part of the core HTTP specification. However, this proxying functionality has several important deficiencies in modern HTTP environments. This specification defines an alternative HTTP proxy service configuration for TCP connections. This configuration is described by a URI Template, similar to the CONNECT-UDP and CONNECT-IP protocols.

Introduction

History HTTP has used the CONNECT method for proxying TCP connections since HTTP/1.1. When using CONNECT, the request target specifies a host and port number, and the proxy forwards TCP payloads between the client and this destination (). To date, this is the only mechanism defined for proxying TCP over HTTP. In this specification, this is referred to as a "classic HTTP CONNECT proxy". HTTP/3 uses a UDP transport, so it cannot be forwarded using the pre-existing CONNECT mechanism. To enable forward proxying of HTTP/3, the MASQUE effort has defined proxy mechanisms that are capable of proxying UDP datagrams , and more generally IP datagrams . The destination host and port number (if applicable) are encoded into the HTTP resource path, and end-to-end datagrams are wrapped into HTTP Datagrams on the client-proxy path.

Problems Classic HTTP CONNECT proxies are identified by an origin. The proxy does not have a path of its own. This prevents any origin from hosting multiple distinct proxy services. Ordinarily, HTTP allows multiple origin hostnames to share a single server IP address and port number (i.e., virtual-hosting), by specifying the applicable hostname in the "Host" or ":authority" header field. However, classic HTTP CONNECT proxies use these fields to indicate the CONNECT request's destination (), leaving no way to determine the proxy's origin from the request. As a result, classic HTTP CONNECT proxies cannot be deployed using virtual-hosting, nor can they apply the usual defenses against server port misdirection attacks (see ). Classic HTTP CONNECT proxies can be used to reach a target host that is specified as a domain name or an IP address. However, because only a single target host can be specified, proxy-driven Happy Eyeballs and cross-IP fallback can only be used when the host is a domain name. For IP-targeted requests to succeed, the client must know which address families are supported by the proxy via some out-of-band mechanism, or open multiple independent CONNECT requests and abandon any that prove unnecessary.

Overview This specification describes an alternative mechanism for proxying TCP in HTTP. Like and , the proxy service is identified by a URI Template. Proxy interactions reuse standard HTTP components and semantics, avoiding changes to the core HTTP protocol.

Conventions and Definitions 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.

Specification A template-driven TCP transport proxy for HTTP is identified by a URI Template containing variables named "target_host" and "tcp_port". The client substitutes the destination host and port number into these variables to produce the request URI. The "target_host" variable MUST be a domain name, an IP address literal, or a list of IP addresses. The "tcp_port" variable MUST be a single integer. If "target_host" is a list (as in ), the server SHOULD perform the same connection procedure as if these addresses had been returned in response to A and AAAA queries for a domain name.

In HTTP/1.1 In HTTP/1.1, the client uses the proxy by issuing a request as follows:

• The method SHALL be "GET".
• The request SHALL include a single Host header field containing the origin of the proxy.
• The request SHALL include a Connection header field with the value "Upgrade". (Note that this requirement is case-insensitive as per .)
• The request SHALL include an "Upgrade" header field with the value "connect-tcp".
• The request's target SHALL correspond to the URI derived from expansion of the proxy's URI Template.

If the request is well-formed and permissible, the proxy MUST attempt the TCP connection before returning its response header. If the TCP connection is successful, the response SHALL be as follows:

• The HTTP status code SHALL be 101 (Switching Protocols).
• The response SHALL include a Connection header field with the value "Upgrade".
• The response SHALL include a single Upgrade header field with the value "connect-tcp".

If the request is malformed or impermissible, the proxy MUST return a 4XX error code. If a TCP connection was not established, the proxy MUST NOT switch protocols to "connect-tcp". From this point on, the connection SHALL conform to all the usual requirements for classic CONNECT proxies in HTTP/1.1 (). Additionally, if the proxy observes a connection error from the client (e.g., a TCP RST, TCP timeout, or TLS error), it SHOULD send a TCP RST to the target. If the proxy observes a connection error from the target, it SHOULD send a TLS "internal_error" alert to the client, or set the TCP RST bit if TLS is not in use.

Templated TCP proxy example in HTTP/1.1

In HTTP/2 and HTTP/3 In HTTP/2 and HTTP/3, the client uses the proxy by issuing an "extended CONNECT" request as follows:

• The :method pseudo-header field SHALL be "CONNECT".
• The :protocol pseudo-header field SHALL be "connect-tcp".
• The :authority pseudo-header field SHALL contain the authority of the proxy.
• The :path and :scheme pseudo-header fields SHALL contain the path and scheme of the request URI derived from the proxy's URI Template.

From this point on, the request and response SHALL conform to all the usual requirements for classic CONNECT proxies in this HTTP version (see and ).

Templated TCP proxy example in HTTP/2

Use of 100 (Continue) This protocol is compatible with the use of an "Expect: 100-continue" request header () in any HTTP version. The "100 Continue" response confirms receipt of a request at the proxy without waiting for the proxy-destination TCP handshake to succeed or fail. This may be particularly helpful when the destination host is not responding, as TCP handshakes can hang for several minutes before failing.

Applicability

Servers For server operators, template-driven TCP proxies are particularly valuable in situations where virtual-hosting is needed, or where multiple proxies must share an origin. For example, the proxy might benefit from sharing an HTTP gateway that provides DDoS defense, performs request sanitization, or enforces user authorization. The URI template can also be structured to generate high-entropy Capability URLs , so that only authorized users can discover the proxy service.

Clients Clients that support both classic HTTP CONNECT proxies and template-driven TCP proxies MAY accept both types via a single configuration string. If the configuration string can be parsed as a URI Template containing the required variables, it is a template-driven TCP proxy. Otherwise, it is presumed to represent a classic HTTP CONNECT proxy.

Multi-purpose proxies The names of the variables in the URI Template uniquely identify the capabilities of the proxy. Undefined variables are permitted in URI Templates, so a single template can be used for multiple purposes. Multipurpose templates can be useful when a single client may benefit from access to multiple complementary services (e.g., TCP and UDP), or when the proxy is used by a variety of clients with different needs.

Example multipurpose template for a combined TCP, UDP, and IP proxy and DoH server

Security Considerations TODO

Operational Considerations Templated TCP proxies can make use of standard HTTP gateways and path-routing to ease implementation and allow use of shared infrastructure. However, current gateways might need modifications to support TCP proxy services. To be compatible, a gateway must:

• support Extended CONNECT.
• convert HTTP/1.1 Upgrade requests into Extended CONNECT.
• allow the Extended CONNECT method to pass through to the origin.
• forward Proxy-* request headers to the origin.

IANA Considerations IF APPROVED, IANA is requested to add the following entry to the HTTP Upgrade Token Registry:

• Value: "connect-tcp"
• Description: Proxying of TCP payloads
• Reference: (This document)

References Normative References The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a stateless application-level protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypertext information systems. This document describes the overall architecture of HTTP, establishes common terminology, and defines aspects of the protocol that are shared by all versions. In this definition are core protocol elements, extensibility mechanisms, and the "http" and "https" Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) schemes. This document updates RFC 3864 and obsoletes RFCs 2818, 7231, 7232, 7233, 7235, 7538, 7615, 7694, and portions of 7230. In many standards track documents several words are used to signify the requirements in the specification. These words are often capitalized. This document defines these words as they should be interpreted in IETF documents. This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements. RFC 2119 specifies common key words that may be used in protocol specifications. This document aims to reduce the ambiguity by clarifying that only UPPERCASE usage of the key words have the defined special meanings. A URI Template is a compact sequence of characters for describing a range of Uniform Resource Identifiers through variable expansion. This specification defines the URI Template syntax and the process for expanding a URI Template into a URI reference, along with guidelines for the use of URI Templates on the Internet. [STANDARDS-TRACK] This specification describes an optimized expression of the semantics of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), referred to as HTTP version 2 (HTTP/2). HTTP/2 enables a more efficient use of network resources and a reduced latency by introducing field compression and allowing multiple concurrent exchanges on the same connection. This document obsoletes RFCs 7540 and 8740. The QUIC transport protocol has several features that are desirable in a transport for HTTP, such as stream multiplexing, per-stream flow control, and low-latency connection establishment. This document describes a mapping of HTTP semantics over QUIC. This document also identifies HTTP/2 features that are subsumed by QUIC and describes how HTTP/2 extensions can be ported to HTTP/3. Informative References This document describes how to proxy UDP in HTTP, similar to how the HTTP CONNECT method allows proxying TCP in HTTP. More specifically, this document defines a protocol that allows an HTTP client to create a tunnel for UDP communications through an HTTP server that acts as a proxy. Apple Inc. Google LLC Google LLC Ericsson Ericsson This document describes how to proxy IP packets in HTTP. This protocol is similar to UDP proxying in HTTP, but allows transmitting arbitrary IP packets. More specifically, this document defines a protocol that allows an HTTP client to create an IP tunnel through an HTTP server that acts as a proxy. This document updates RFC 9298. This document describes HTTP Datagrams, a convention for conveying multiplexed, potentially unreliable datagrams inside an HTTP connection. In HTTP/3, HTTP Datagrams can be sent unreliably using the QUIC DATAGRAM extension. When the QUIC DATAGRAM frame is unavailable or undesirable, HTTP Datagrams can be sent using the Capsule Protocol, which is a more general convention for conveying data in HTTP connections. HTTP Datagrams and the Capsule Protocol are intended for use by HTTP extensions, not applications. The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a stateless application-level protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypertext information systems. This document specifies the HTTP/1.1 message syntax, message parsing, connection management, and related security concerns. This document obsoletes portions of RFC 7230.

Acknowledgments Thanks to Amos Jeffries for close review.