[TLS] Re: WG Last Call: draft-ietf-tls-mlkem-05 (Ends 2026-02-27)

David Adrian <davadria@umich.edu> Thu, 12 February 2026 20:15 UTC

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From: David Adrian <davadria@umich.edu>
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2026 15:15:22 -0500
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To: John Mattsson <john.mattsson=40ericsson.com@dmarc.ietf.org>
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Subject: [TLS] Re: WG Last Call: draft-ietf-tls-mlkem-05 (Ends 2026-02-27)
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I support the publication of this draft, and note that Chrome has
implemented ML-KEM 1024, currently requiring explicit configuration, and
that ML-KEM 1024 can be used to connect to certain Google properties.

I find the remaining word smithing to be at best, a waste of time, and at
worst, potentially inaccurate.

I recommend the document be published as-is.

On Thu, Feb 12, 2026 at 3:10 PM John Mattsson <john.mattsson=
40ericsson.com@dmarc.ietf.org> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I support publication iff all text related to “key reuse” is removed. In
> its current form, I do not believe -07 should be published.
>
> Major Comments:
>
> - FIPS 203 states that:
>
> “the licensed patents be freely available to be practiced by any
> implementer of the ML-KEM algorithm as published by NIST.”
>
> “requirements for the secure use of KEMs in applications, see SP 800-227.”
>
> A reused key is, by definition, a static key. SP 800-227 imposes
> additional requirements for static keys compared to ephemeral keys. The
> draft does not explain how an implementer can satisfy these requirements.
> This creates potential non-conformance with NIST specifications.
>
> -  The draft does not describe the significant security and privacy
> problems associated with key reuse. IND-CCA is a theoretical property of
> the algorithm. However, the security and privacy problems are related to
> the reuse of keys in the TLS 1.3 protocol in deployments.
>
> Minor Comments:
>
> - The discussion of randomness reuse in ciphertexts and references to SP
> 800-227 do not belong in a “key reuse” section. Ciphertexts are not keys,
> and SP 800-227 contains broader guidelines and requirements beyond static
> keys.
>
> - “The client's shares are listed in descending order of client
> preference; the server selects one algorithm and sends its corresponding
> share.”
>
> The server may also select no share and respond with a handshake_failure
> or a HelloRetryRequest (HRR). Since this is already specified in RFC 8446,
> it would be better to remove this text and simply reference RFC 8446.
>
> - Section 5.1 appears to ​mix different concepts: hybrids, PQ/T hybrids,
> and lattice-based PQ/T hybrids. I assume the person asking for this section
> wanted a comparison with [ECDHE-MLKEM]. I suggest doing that. In the
> future, PQ/T hybrids will likely become less common, but it is unclear
> whether other hybrids (e.g., ML-KEM + HQC-KEM) will gain adoption.
>
> Cheers,
> John
>
> *From: *Joseph Salowey <joe@salowey.net>
> *Date: *Thursday, 12 February 2026 at 20:06
> *To: *
> <tls@ietf.org>
> *Subject: *[TLS] WG Last Call: draft-ietf-tls-mlkem-05 (Ends 2026-02-27)
>
> This message starts the second Working Group Last Call for the pure ML-KEM
> document (draft-ietf-tls-mlkem-07).
>
>
> The file can be retrieved from:
>
> https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-tls-mlkem/
>
> The diff with the previous WGLC draft (-05) is here:
>
>
>
> https://author-tools.ietf.org/iddiff?url1=draft-ietf-tls-mlkem-05&url2=draft-ietf-tls-mlkem-07&difftype=--html
> <https://author-tools.ietf.org/iddiff?url1=draft-ietf-tls-mlkem-05&url2=draft-ietf-tls-mlkem-06&difftype=--html>
>
>
> The main focus of this WGLC is to review new text providing more context
> around the use of pure ML-KEM.  For those who indicated they wanted this
> text, please let us know if the new text satisfies you and if you support
> publication. This working group last call will end on February 27, 2026.
>
>
> Thank You.
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