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Revision 07 of draft-ietf-mls-pq-ciphersuites, published November 1, 2026, registers ML-KEM and hybrid ML-KEM plus elliptic curve cipher suites for Messaging Layer Security; the MLS working group has submitted it to the IESG for publication as a Proposed Standard.
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The IETF's Messaging Layer Security working group has advanced its post-quantum cipher suites. Draft-ietf-mls-pq-ciphersuites revision 07, dated November 1, 2026, registers new MLS cipher suites built on the Module-Lattice-Based Key-Encapsulation Mechanism (ML-KEM), on its own or in hybrid combination with traditional elliptic curve KEMs, paired with the appropriate authenticated encryption, hash and signature algorithms. The document's datatracker status is Submitted to IESG for Publication with an intended status of Proposed Standard, with Sean Turner as shepherd and publication requested in October.
MLS (RFC 9420) is the group messaging security layer adopted by large consumer and enterprise messaging platforms, so standardized post-quantum suites here flow into products that many Canadian organizations already run. It is the same pattern seen in TLS, DNSSEC and certificate issuance over the past year: the foundational protocols pick up ML-KEM first, and the applications inherit it.
Protocol standards are quietly becoming quantum-safe underneath the applications. That is good news for messaging and bad news for anyone assuming the network layer will take care of itself: the routers, firewalls, VPN concentrators and OT gateways in a 2010 to 2020 network will not inherit ML-KEM from an RFC. Long lived equipment, long lived secrets. The hardware stays, the keys change, but only once you know where every key lives. Check your exposure in two minutes, or start your Discovery Program and get the inventory done this fall.