Cleartext SMTP requirement dominates IETF last-call traffic

Last-call debate over whether SMTP implementations must accept unencrypted mail dominated the day's protocol traffic. Working groups also weighed an RSVP-TE and Segment Routing draft, moderator procedures, and an NTPv5 revision that caps root delay.

Last call stalls on mandatory acceptance of unencrypted SMTP

A heated last-call thread on draft-ietf-emailcore-as turned on whether the applicability statement must require SMTP implementations to accept unencrypted mail. The discussion, tied to Roman's DISCUSS and the document's status, drew 160 messages from 27 participants. Anyone shipping or specifying email has a stake in whether cleartext acceptance remains mandatory.

MPLS group weighs RSVP-TE reuse of SR adjacency SIDs

The MPLS working group called for adoption of draft-beeram-mpls-rsvp-sr-01, with the call ending 2026-11-17. Forty-nine messages from 23 participants debated reuse of SR Adj-SIDs with RSVP-TE and coexistence between the two. Operators running both control planes should watch whether the draft is adopted.

Moderator team seeks input on RFC 9945 procedures

The IETF Moderator Team asked for community input on draft procedures that implement the moderation rules in RFC 9945. The governance thread drew 78 messages from 21 participants. The text will shape how list disputes are handled once the procedures settle.

Revised at: URI proposed for ATProto

A proposal on the ATP list offered a revised at: URI syntax for ATProto, intended to keep URIs valid and to support public and private spaces. The thread drew 20 messages from 10 participants. Linking and identity schemes built on the protocol depend on that syntax.

CDDL code generation still lacks settled practice

A developer asked the CBOR list for code-generation best practices from CDDL, four years after earlier work. The working group chair noted ongoing work on modules and annotations. Tooling authors waiting on a stable generation model are the audience for that exchange.

NTPv5 draft 10 caps root delay near 16 seconds

The NTP working group published draft-ietf-ntp-ntpv5-10. Discussion covered a root-delay format change that caps maximum RTT at about 16 seconds, noted as breaking deep-space use cases. Timekeeping paths longer than that bound should check the revision before relying on it.

Early-attestation vulnerability claims meet a refusal to engage

A posting to the usable formal methods list alleged multiple critical-severity findings, including CVSS 9.1, in early attestation (EAT) from a ProVerif analysis. After a reply the author treated as AI-generated, the author refused further engagement. The exchange is personal, and the vulnerability claims were not resolved on the list.

CFRG asked to review early-attestation binding analysis

Paper authors asked CFRG for a cryptographic review of a formal analysis that claims weaknesses in SEAT early-attestation bindings. Draft authors disputed the accuracy of the model and accused some replies of being AI-generated. The heated thread leaves the claimed binding failures unconfirmed.