GREASE

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cryptographynetworking

A mechanism that sends random dummy values to keep TLS implementations tolerant of unknown extensions.

Generate Random Extensions And Sustain Extensibility (RFC 8701) deliberately injects reserved, meaningless values into TLS handshakes so that servers and middleboxes learn to ignore what they do not recognize, preventing future extensions from breaking. It also shows up as a distinctive marker in TLS fingerprints.

Also known as: GREASE, Generate Random Extensions And Sustain Extensibility

Sources

  • RFC 8701 (2020)

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