RFC 2401 · PROPOSED STANDARD · 1998
MON · 27 JUL 2026
Security Architecture for the Internet Protocol
Overview
RFC 2401, “Security Architecture for the Internet Protocol”, is a Proposed Standard document published in November 1998 by S. Kent, R. Atkinson. It obsoletes RFC 1825. It has since been updated by RFC 3168. It has been obsoleted by RFC 4301 — refer to the newer document for the authoritative version. The canonical text is published by the RFC Editor.
Abstract
This memo specifies the base architecture for IPsec compliant systems. [STANDARDS-TRACK]
What “Proposed Standard” means
An entry-level standards-track specification: stable, peer-reviewed and a solid basis for implementation, though it may still evolve before becoming an Internet Standard.
Read this RFC
The canonical text of RFC 2401 is hosted at rfc-editor.org. Available in TXT,HTML.
Relationships to other RFCs
Other RFCs from 1998
- RFC 2400 Internet Official Protocol Standards
- RFC 2402 IP Authentication Header
- RFC 2403 The Use of HMAC-MD5-96 within ESP and AH
- RFC 2398 Some Testing Tools for TCP Implementors
- RFC 2404 The Use of HMAC-SHA-1-96 within ESP and AH
- RFC 2397 The "data" URL scheme
- RFC 2405 The ESP DES-CBC Cipher Algorithm With Explicit IV
- RFC 2396 Uniform Resource Identifiers : Generic Syntax