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rfc:rfc2527

Network Working Group S. Chokhani Request for Comments: 2527 CygnaCom Solutions, Inc. Category: Informational W. Ford

                                                        VeriSign, Inc.
                                                            March 1999
              Internet X.509 Public Key Infrastructure
      Certificate Policy and Certification Practices Framework

Status of this Memo

 This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
 not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
 memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

 This document presents a framework to assist the writers of
 certificate policies or certification practice statements for
 certification authorities and public key infrastructures.  In
 particular, the framework provides a comprehensive list of topics
 that potentially (at the writer's discretion) need to be covered in a
 certificate policy definition or a certification practice statement.

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND

 A public-key certificate (hereinafter "certificate") binds a public-
 key value to a set of information that identifies the entity (such as
 person, organization, account, or site) associated with use of the
 corresponding private key (this entity is known as the "subject" of
 the certificate).  A certificate is used by a "certificate user" or
 "relying party" that needs to use, and rely upon the accuracy of, the
 public key distributed via that certificate (a certificate user is
 typically an entity that is verifying a digital signature from the
 certificate's subject or an entity sending encrypted data to the
 subject).  The degree to which a certificate user can trust the
 binding embodied in a certificate depends on several factors. These
 factors include the practices followed by the certification authority
 (CA) in authenticating the subject; the CA's operating policy,
 procedures, and security controls; the subject's obligations (for
 example, in protecting the private key); and the stated undertakings

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 1] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

 and legal obligations of the CA (for example, warranties and
 limitations on liability).
 A Version 3 X.509 certificate may contain a field declaring that one
 or more specific certificate policies applies to that certificate
 [ISO1].  According to X.509, a certificate policy is "a named set of
 rules that indicates the applicability of a certificate to a
 particular community and/or class of application with common security
 requirements." A certificate policy may be used by a certificate user
 to help in deciding whether a certificate, and the binding therein,
 is sufficiently trustworthy for a particular application.  The
 certificate policy concept is an outgrowth of the policy statement
 concept developed for Internet Privacy Enhanced Mail [PEM1] and
 expanded upon in [BAU1].
 A more detailed description of the practices followed by a CA in
 issuing and otherwise managing certificates may be contained in a
 certification practice statement (CPS) published by or referenced by
 the CA.  According to the American Bar Association Digital Signature
 Guidelines (hereinafter "ABA Guidelines"), "a CPS is a statement of
 the practices which a certification authority employs in issuing
 certificates." [ABA1]

1.2 PURPOSE

 The purpose of this document is to establish a clear relationship
 between certificate policies and CPSs, and to present a framework to
 assist the writers of certificate policies or CPSs with their tasks.
 In particular, the framework identifies the elements that may need to
 be considered in formulating a certificate policy or a CPS.  The
 purpose is not to define particular certificate policies or CPSs, per
 se.

1.3 SCOPE

 The scope of this document is limited to discussion of the contents
 of a certificate policy (as defined in X.509) or CPS (as defined in
 the ABA Guidelines).  In particular, this document describes the
 types of information that should be considered for inclusion in a
 certificate policy definition or a CPS.  While the framework as
 presented generally assumes use of the X.509 version 3 certificate
 format, it is not intended that the material be restricted to use of
 that certificate format.  Rather, it is intended that this framework
 be adaptable to other certificate formats that may come into use.
 The scope does not extend to defining security policies generally
 (such as organization security policy, system security policy, or
 data labeling policy) beyond the policy elements that are considered

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 2] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

 of particular relevance to certificate policies or CPSs.
 This document does not define a specific certificate policy or CPS.
 It is assumed that the reader is familiar with the general concepts
 of digital signatures, certificates, and public-key infrastructure,
 as used in X.509 and the ABA Guidelines.

2. DEFINITIONS

 This document makes use of the following defined terms:
    Activation data - Data values, other than keys, that are required
    to operate cryptographic modules and that need to be protected
    (e.g., a PIN, a passphrase, or a manually-held key share).
    CA-certificate - A certificate for one CA's public key issued by
    another CA.
    Certificate policy - A named set of rules that indicates the
    applicability of a certificate to a particular community and/or
    class of application with common security requirements.  For
    example, a particular certificate policy might indicate
    applicability of a type of certificate to the authentication of
    electronic data interchange transactions for the trading of goods
    within a given price range.
    Certification path - An ordered sequence of certificates which,
    together with the public key of the initial object in the path,
    can be processed to obtain that of the final object in the path.
    Certification Practice Statement (CPS) - A statement of the
    practices which a certification authority employs in issuing
    certificates.
    Issuing certification authority (issuing CA) - In the context of a
    particular certificate, the issuing CA is the CA that issued the
    certificate (see also Subject certification authority).
    Policy qualifier - Policy-dependent information that accompanies a
    certificate policy identifier in an X.509 certificate.
    Registration authority (RA) - An entity that is responsible for
    identification and authentication of certificate subjects, but
    that does not sign or issue certificates (i.e., an RA is delegated
    certain tasks on behalf of a CA).  [Note: The term Local
    Registration Authority (LRA) is used elsewhere for the same
    concept.]

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 3] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

    Relying party - A recipient of a certificate who acts in reliance
    on that certificate and/or digital signatures verified using that
    certificate.  In this document, the terms "certificate user" and
    "relying party" are used interchangeably.
    Set of provisions - A collection of practice and/or policy
    statements, spanning a range of standard topics, for use in
    expressing a certificate policy definition or CPS employing the
    approach described in this framework.
    Subject certification authority (subject CA) - In the context of a
    particular CA-certificate, the subject CA is the CA whose public
    key is certified in the certificate (see also Issuing
    certification authority).

3. CONCEPTS

 This section explains the concepts of certificate policy and CPS, and
 describes their relationship.  Other related concepts are also
 described.  Some of the material covered in this section and in some
 other sections is specific to certificate policies extensions as
 defined X.509 version 3.  Except for those sections, this framework
 is intended to be adaptable to other certificate formats that may
 come into use.

3.1 CERTIFICATE POLICY

 When a certification authority issues a certificate, it is providing
 a statement to a certificate user (i.e., a relying party) that a
 particular public key is bound to a particular entity (the
 certificate subject).  However, the extent to which the certificate
 user should rely on that statement by the CA needs to be assessed by
 the certificate user.  Different certificates are issued following
 different practices and procedures, and may be suitable for different
 applications and/or purposes.
 The X.509 standard defines a certificate policy as "a named set of
 rules that indicates the applicability of a certificate to a
 particular community and/or class of application with common security
 requirements"[ISO1].  An X.509 Version 3 certificate may contain an
 indication of certificate policy, which may be used by a certificate
 user to decide whether or not to trust a certificate for a particular
 purpose.
 A certificate policy, which needs to be recognized by both the issuer
 and user of a certificate, is represented in a certificate by a
 unique, registered Object Identifier.  The registration process
 follows the procedures specified in ISO/IEC and ITU standards.  The

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 4] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

 party that registers the Object Identifier also publishes a textual
 specification of the certificate policy, for examination by
 certificate users.  Any one certificate will typically declare a
 single certificate policy or, possibly, be issued consistent with a
 small number of different policies.
 Certificate policies also constitute a basis for accreditation of
 CAs.  Each CA is accredited against one or more certificate policies
 which it is recognized as implementing.  When one CA issues a CA-
 certificate for another CA, the issuing CA must assess the set of
 certificate policies for which it trusts the subject CA (such
 assessment may be based upon accreditation with respect to the
 certificate policies involved).  The assessed set of certificate
 policies is then indicated by the issuing CA in the CA-certificate.
 The X.509 certification path processing logic employs these
 certificate policy indications in its well-defined trust model.

3.2 CERTIFICATE POLICY EXAMPLES

 For example purposes, suppose that IATA undertakes to define some
 certificate policies for use throughout the airline industry, in a
 public-key infrastructure operated by IATA in combination with
 public-key infrastructures operated by individual airlines.  Two
 certificate policies are defined - the IATA General-Purpose policy,
 and the IATA Commercial-Grade policy.
 The IATA General-Purpose policy is intended for use by industry
 personnel for protecting routine information (e.g., casual electronic
 mail) and for authenticating connections from World Wide Web browsers
 to servers for general information retrieval purposes.  The key pairs
 may be generated, stored, and managed using low-cost, software-based
 systems, such as commercial browsers.  Under this policy, a
 certificate may be automatically issued to anybody listed as an
 employee in the corporate directory of IATA or any member airline who
 submits a signed certificate request form to a network administrator
 in his or her organization.
 The IATA Commercial-Grade policy is used to protect financial
 transactions or binding contractual exchanges between airlines.
 Under this policy, IATA requires that certified key pairs be
 generated and stored in approved cryptographic hardware tokens.
 Certificates and tokens are provided to airline employees with
 disbursement authority. These authorized individuals are required to
 present themselves to the corporate security office, show a valid
 identification badge, and sign an undertaking to protect the token
 and use it only for authorized purposes, before a token and a
 certificate are issued.

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 5] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

3.3 X.509 CERTIFICATE FIELDS

 The following extension fields in an X.509 certificate are used to
 support certificate policies:
  • Certificate Policies extension;
  • Policy Mappings extension; and
  • Policy Constraints extension.

3.3.1 Certificate Policies Extension

 The Certificate Policies extension has two variants - one with the
 field flagged non-critical and one with the field flagged critical.
 The purpose of the field is different in the two cases.
 A non-critical Certificate Policies field lists certificate policies
 that the certification authority declares are applicable.  However,
 use of the certificate is not restricted to the purposes indicated by
 the applicable policies.  Using the example of the IATA General-
 Purpose and Commercial-Grade policies defined in Section 3.2, the
 certificates issued to regular airline employees will contain the
 object identifier for certificate policy for the General-Purpose
 policy.  The certificates issued to the employees with disbursement
 authority will contain the object identifiers for both the General-
 Purpose policy and the Commercial-Grade policy.  The Certificate
 Policies field may also optionally convey qualifier values for each
 identified policy; use of qualifiers is discussed in Section 3.4.
 The non-critical Certificate Policies field is designed to be used by
 applications as follows.  Each application is pre-configured to know
 what policy it requires.  Using the example in Section 3.2,
 electronic mail applications and Web servers will be configured to
 require the General-Purpose policy.  However, an airline's financial
 applications will be configured to require the Commercial-Grade
 policy for validating financial transactions over a certain dollar
 value.
 When processing a certification path, a certificate policy that is
 acceptable to the certificate-using application must be present in
 every certificate in the path, i.e., in CA-certificates as well as
 end entity certificates.
 If the Certificate Policies field is flagged critical, it serves the
 same purpose as described above but also has an additional role.  It
 indicates that the use of the certificate is restricted to one of the
 identified policies, i.e., the certification authority is declaring
 that the certificate must only be used in accordance with the
 provisions of one of the listed certificate policies. This field is

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 6] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

 intended to protect the certification authority against damage claims
 by a relying party who has used the certificate for an inappropriate
 purpose or in an inappropriate manner, as stipulated in the
 applicable certificate policy definition.
 For example, the Internal Revenue Service might issue certificates to
 taxpayers for the purpose of protecting tax filings.  The Internal
 Revenue Service understands and can accommodate the risks of
 accidentally issuing a bad certificate, e.g., to a wrongly-
 authenticated person.  However, suppose someone used an Internal
 Revenue Service tax-filing certificate as the basis for encrypting
 multi-million-dollar-value proprietary secrets which subsequently
 fell into the wrong hands because of an error in issuing the Internal
 Revenue Service certificate.  The Internal Revenue Service may want
 to protect itself against claims for damages in such circumstances.
 The critical-flagged Certificate Policies extension is intended to
 mitigate the risk to the certificate issuer in such situations.

3.3.2 Policy Mappings Extension

 The Policy Mappings extension may only be used in CA-certificates.
 This field allows a certification authority to indicate that certain
 policies in its own domain can be considered equivalent to certain
 other policies in the subject certification authority's domain.
 For example, suppose the ACE Corporation establishes an agreement
 with the ABC Corporation to cross-certify each others' public-key
 infrastructures for the purposes of mutually protecting electronic
 data interchange (EDI). Further, suppose that both companies have
 pre-existing financial transaction protection policies called ace-e-
 commerce and abc-e-commerce, respectively.  One can see that simply
 generating cross certificates between the two domains will not
 provide the necessary interoperability, as the two companies'
 applications are configured with and employee certificates are
 populated with their respective certificate policies.  One possible
 solution is to reconfigure all of the financial applications to
 require either policy and to reissue all the certificates with both
 policies.  Another solution, which may be easier to administer, uses
 the Policy Mapping field.  If this field is included in a cross-
 certificate for the ABC Corporation certification authority issued by
 the ACE Corporation certification authority, it can provide a
 statement that the ABC's financial transaction protection policy
 (i.e., abc-e-commerce) can be considered equivalent to that of the
 ACE Corporation (i.e., ace-e-commerce).

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 7] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

3.3.3 Policy Constraints Extension

 The Policy Constraints extension supports two optional features.  The
 first is the ability for a certification authority to require that
 explicit certificate policy indications be present in all subsequent
 certificates in a certification path.  Certificates at the start of a
 certification path may be considered by a certificate user to be part
 of a trusted domain, i.e., certification authorities are trusted for
 all purposes so no particular certificate policy is needed in the
 Certificate Policies extension.  Such certificates need not contain
 explicit indications of certificate policy.  However, when a
 certification authority in the trusted domain certifies outside the
 domain, it can activate the requirement for explicit certificate
 policy in subsequent certificates in the certification path.
 The other optional feature in the Policy Constraints field is the
 ability for a certification authority to disable policy mapping by
 subsequent certification authorities in a certification path.  It may
 be prudent to disable policy mapping when certifying outside the
 domain.  This can assist in controlling risks due to transitive
 trust, e.g., a domain A trusts domain B, domain B trusts domain C,
 but domain A does not want to be forced to trust domain C.

3.4 POLICY QUALIFIERS

 The Certificate Policies extension field has a provision for
 conveying, along with each certificate policy identifier, additional
 policy-dependent information in a qualifier field.  The X.509
 standard does not mandate the purpose for which this field is to be
 used, nor does it prescribe the syntax for this field.  Policy
 qualifier types can be registered by any organization.
 The following policy qualifier types are defined in PKIX Part I
 [PKI1]:
    (a) The CPS Pointer qualifier contains a pointer to a
        Certification Practice Statement (CPS) published by the CA.
        The pointer is in the form of a uniform resource identifier
        (URI).
    (b) The User Notice qualifier contains a text string that is to be
        displayed to a certificate user (including subscribers and
        relying parties) prior to the use of the certificate.  The
        text string may be an IA5String or a BMPString - a subset of
        the ISO 100646-1 multiple octet coded character set.  A CA may
        invoke a procedure that requires that the certficate user
        acknowledge that the applicable terms and conditions have been
        disclosed or accepted.

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 8] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

 Policy qualifiers can be used to support the definition of generic,
 or parameterized, certificate policy definitions.  Provided the base
 certificate policy definition so provides, policy qualifier types can
 be defined to convey, on a per-certificate basis, additional specific
 policy details that fill in the generic definition.

3.5 CERTIFICATION PRACTICE STATEMENT

 The term certification practice statement (CPS) is defined by the ABA
 Guidelines as: "A statement of the practices which a certification
 authority employs in issuing certificates." [ABA1] In the 1995 draft
 of the ABA guidelines, the ABA expands this definition with the
 following comments:
    A certification practice statement may take the form of a
    declaration by the certification authority of the details of its
    trustworthy system and the practices it employs in its operations
    and in support of issuance of a certificate, or it may be a
    statute or regulation applicable to the certification authority
    and covering similar subject matter. It may also be part of the
    contract between the certification authority and the subscriber. A
    certification practice statement may also be comprised of multiple
    documents, a combination of public law, private contract, and/or
    declaration.
    Certain forms for legally implementing certification practice
    statements lend themselves to particular relationships. For
    example, when the legal relationship between a certification
    authority and subscriber is consensual, a contract would
    ordinarily be the means of giving effect to a certification
    practice statement.  The certification authority's duties to a
    relying person are generally based on the certification
    authority's representations, which may include a certification
    practice statement.
    Whether a certification practice statement is binding on a relying
    person depends on whether the relying person has knowledge or
    notice of the certification practice statement.  A relying person
    has knowledge or at least notice of the contents of the
    certificate used by the relying person to verify a digital
    signature, including documents incorporated into the certificate
    by reference.  It is therefore advisable to incorporate a
    certification practice statement into a certificate by reference.
    As much as possible, a certification practice statement should
    indicate any of the widely recognized standards to which the
    certification authority's practices conform.  Reference to widely
    recognized standards may indicate concisely the suitability of the

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 9] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

    certification authority's practices for another person's purposes,
    as well as the potential technological compatibility of the
    certificates issued by the certification authority with
    repositories and other systems.

3.6 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CERTIFICATE POLICY AND CERTIFICATION PRACTICE

  STATEMENT
 The concepts of certificate policy and CPS come from different
 sources and were developed for different reasons.  However, their
 interrelationship is important.
 A certification practice statement is a detailed statement by a
 certification authority as to its practices, that potentially needs
 to be understood and consulted by subscribers and certificate users
 (relying parties).  Although the level of detail may vary among CPSs,
 they will generally be more detailed than certificate policy
 definitions.  Indeed, CPSs may be quite comprehensive, robust
 documents providing a description of the precise service offerings,
 detailed procedures of the life-cycle management of certificates, and
 more - a level of detail which weds the CPS to a particular
 (proprietary) implementation of a service offering.
 Although such detail may be indispensable to adequately disclose, and
 to make a full assessment of trustworthiness in the absence of
 accreditation or other recognized quality metrics, a detailed CPS
 does not form a suitable basis for interoperability between CAs
 operated by different organizations.  Rather, certificate policies
 best serve as the vehicle on which to base common interoperability
 standards and common assurance criteria on an industry-wide (or
 possibly more global) basis.  A CA with a single CPS may support
 multiple certificate policies (used for different application
 purposes and/or by different certificate user communities).  Also,
 multiple different CAs, with non-identical certification practice
 statements, may support the same certificate policy.
 For example, the Federal Government might define a government-wide
 certificate policy for handling confidential human resources
 information.  The certificate policy definition will be a broad
 statement of the general characteristics of that certificate policy,
 and an indication of the types of applications for which it is
 suitable for use.  Different departments or agencies that operate
 certification authorities with different certification practice
 statements might support this certificate policy.  At the same time,
 such certification authorities may support other certificate
 policies.

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 10] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

 The main difference between certificate policy and CPS can therefore
 be summarized as follows:
    (a) Most organizations that operate public or inter-
        organizational certification authorities will document their
        own practices in CPSs or similar statements.  The CPS is one
        of the organization's means of protecting itself and
        positioning its business relationships with subscribers and
        other entities.
    (b) There is strong incentive, on the other hand, for a
        certificate policy to apply more broadly than to just a single
        organization.  If a particular certificate policy is widely
        recognized and imitated, it has great potential as the basis
        of automated certificate acceptance in many systems, including
        unmanned systems and systems that are manned by people not
        independently empowered to determine the acceptability of
        different presented certificates.
 In addition to populating the certificate policies field with the
 certificate policy identifier, a certification authority may include,
 in certificates it issues, a reference to its certification practice
 statement.  A standard way to do this, using a certificate policy
 qualifier, is described in Section 3.4.

3.7 SET OF PROVISIONS

 A set of provisions is a collection of practice and/or policy
 statements, spanning a range of standard topics, for use in
 expressing a certificate policy definition or CPS employing the
 approach described in this framework.
 A certificate policy can be expressed as a single set of provisions.
 A CPS can be expressed as a single set of provisions with each
 component addressing the requirements of one or more certificate
 policies, or, alternatively, as an organized collection of sets of
 provisions.  For example, a CPS could be expressed as a combination
 of the following:
    (a) a list of certificate policies supported by the CPS;
    (b) for each certificate policy in (a), a set of provisions which
        contains statements that refine that certificate policy by
        filling in details not stipulated in that policy or expressly
        left to the discretion of the CPS by that certificate policy;
        such statements serve to state how this particular CPS
        implements the requirements of the particular certificate

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 11] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

        policy;
    (c) a set of provisions that contains statements regarding the
        certification practices on the CA, regardless of certificate
        policy.
 The statements provided in (b) and (c) may augment or refine the
 stipulations of the applicable certificate policy definition, but
 must not conflict with any of the stipulations of such certificate
 policy definition.
 This framework outlines the contents of a set of provisions, in terms
 of eight primary components, as follows:
  • Introduction;
  • General Provisions;
  • Identification and Authentication;
  • Operational Requirements;
  • Physical, Procedural, and Personnel Security Controls;
  • Technical Security Controls;
  • Certificate and CRL Profile; and
  • Specification Administration.
 Components can be further divided into subcomponents, and a
 subcomponent may comprise multiple elements.  Section 4 provides a
 more detailed description of the contents of the above components,
 and their subcomponents.

4. CONTENTS OF A SET OF PROVISIONS

 This section expands upon the contents of a set of provisions, as
 introduced in Section 3.7.  The topics identified in this section
 are, consequently, candidate topics for inclusion in a certificate
 policy definition or CPS.
 While many topics are identified, it is not necessary for a
 certificate policy or a CPS to include a concrete statement for every
 such topic.  Rather, a particular certificate policy or CPS may state
 "no stipulation" for a component, subcomponent, or element on which
 the particular certificate policy or CPS imposes no requirements.  In
 this sense, the list of topics can be considered a checklist of

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 12] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

 topics for consideration by the certificate policy or CPS writer.  It
 is recommended that each and every component and subcomponent be
 included in a certificate policy or CPS, even if there is "no
 stipulation"; this will indicate to the reader that a conscious
 decision was made to include or exclude that topic.  This protects
 against inadvertent omission of a topic, while facilitating
 comparison of different certificate policies or CPSs, e.g., when
 making policy mapping decisions.
 In a certificate policy definition, it is possible to leave certain
 components, subcomponents, and/or elements unspecified, and to
 stipulate that the required information will be indicated in a policy
 qualifier.  Such certificate policy definitions can be considered
 parameterized definitions.  The set of provisions should reference or
 define the required policy qualifier types and should specify any
 applicable default values.

4.1 INTRODUCTION

 This component identifies and introduces the set of provisions, and
 indicates the types of entities and applications for which the
 specification is targeted.
 This component has the following subcomponents:
  • Overview;
  • Identification;
  • Community and Applicability; and
  • Contact Details.

4.1.1 Overview

 This subcomponent provides a general introduction to the
 specification.

4.1.2 Identification

 This subcomponent provides any applicable names or other identifiers,
 including ASN.1 object identifiers, for the set of provisions.

4.1.3 Community and Applicability

 This subcomponent describes the types of entities that issue
 certificates or that are certified as subject CAs (2, 3), the types
 of entities that perform RA functions (4), and the types of entities

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 13] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

 that are certified as subject end entities or subscribers. (5, 6)
 This subcomponent also contains:
  • A list of applications for which the issued certificates are

suitable. (Examples of application in this case are: electronic

      mail, retail transactions, contracts, travel order, etc.)
  • A list of applications for which use of the issued certificates

is restricted. (This list implicitly prohibits all other uses

      for the certificates.)
  • A list of applications for which use of the issued certificates

is prohibited.

4.1.4 Contact Details

 This subcomponent includes the name and mailing address of the
 authority that is responsible for the registration, maintenance, and
 interpretation of this certificate policy or CPS.  It also includes
 the name, electronic mail address, telephone number, and fax number
 of a contact person.

4.2 GENERAL PROVISIONS

 This component specifies any applicable presumptions on a range of
 legal and general practices topics.
 This component contains the following subcomponents:
  • Obligations;
  • Liability;
  • Financial Responsibility;
  • Interpretation and Enforcement;
  • Fees;
  • Publication and Repositories;
  • Compliance Audit;
  • Confidentiality; and
  • Intellectual Property Rights.

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 14] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

 Each subcomponent may need to separately state provisions applying to
 the entity types: CA, repository, RA, subscriber, and relying party.
 (Specific provisions regarding subscribers and relying parties are
 only applicable in the Liability and Obligations subcomponents.)

4.2.1 Obligations

 This subcomponent contains, for each entity type, any applicable
 provisions regarding the entity's obligations to other entities.
 Such provisions may include:
  • CA and/or RA obligations:
    • Notification of issuance of a certificate to the

subscriber who is the subject of the certificate being

          issued;
       *  Notification of issuance of a certificate to others
          than the subject of the certificate;
       *  Notification of revocation or suspension of a
          certificate to the subscriber whose certificate is being
          revoked or suspended; and
       *  Notification of revocation or suspension of a
          certificate to others than the subject whose certificate
          is being revoked or suspended.
  • Subscriber obligations:
  • Accuracy of representations in certificate application;
  • Protection of the entity's private key;
  • Restrictions on private key and certificate use; and
  • Notification upon private key compromise.
  • Relying party obligations:
  • Purposes for which certificate is used;
  • Digital signature verification responsibilities;
  • Revocation and suspension checking responsibilities;

and

  • Acknowledgment of applicable liability caps and

warranties.

  • Repository obligations
  • Timely publication of certificates and revocation

information

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4.2.2 Liability

 This subcomponent contains, for each entity type, any applicable
 provisions regarding apportionment of liability, such as:
  • Warranties and limitations on warranties;
  • Kinds of damages covered (e.g., indirect, special,

consequential, incidental, punitive, liquidated damages,

      negligence and fraud) and disclaimers;
  • Loss limitations (caps) per certificate or per transaction; and
  • Other exclusions (e.g., Acts of God, other party

responsibilities).

4.2.3 Financial Responsibility

 This subcomponent contains, for CAs, repository, and RAs, any
 applicable provisions regarding financial responsibilities, such as:
  • Indemnification of CA and/or RA by relying parties;
  • Fiduciary relationships (or lack thereof) between the various

entities; and

  • Administrative processes (e.g., accounting, audit).

4.2.4 Interpretation and Enforcement

 This subcomponent contains any applicable provisions regarding
 interpretation and enforcement of the certificate policy or CPS,
 addressing such topics as:
  • Governing law;
  • Severability of provisions, survival, merger, and notice; and
  • Dispute resolution procedures.

4.2.5 Fees

 This subcomponent contains any applicable provisions regarding fees
 charged by CAs, repositories, or RAs, such as:
  • Certificate issuance or renewal fees;
  • Certificate access fee;

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 16] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

  • Revocation or status information access fee;
  • Fees for other services such as policy information; and
  • Refund policy.

4.2.6 Publication and Repositories

 This subcomponent contains any applicable provisions regarding:
  • A CA's obligations to publish information regarding its

practices, its certificates, and the current status of such

      certificates;
  • Frequency of publication;
  • Access control on published information objects including

certificate policy definitions, CPS, certificates, certificate

      status, and CRLs; and
  • Requirements pertaining to the use of repositories operated by

CAs or by other independent parties.

4.2.7 Compliance Audit

 This subcomponent addresses the following:
  • Frequency of compliance audit for each entity;
  • Identity/qualifictions of the auditor;
  • Auditor's relationship to the entity being audited; (30)
  • List of topics covered under the compliance audit; (31)
  • Actions taken as a result of a deficiency found during

compliance audit; (32)

  • Compliance audit results: who they are shared with (e.g.,

subject CA, RA, and/or end entities), who provides them (e.g.,

      entity being audited or auditor), how they are communicated.

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 17] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

4.2.8 Confidentiality Policy

 This subcomponent addresses the following:
  • Types of information that must be kept confidential by CA or RA;
  • Types of information that are not considered confidential;
  • Who is entitled to be informed of reasons for revocation and

suspension of certificates;

  • Policy on release of information to law enforcement officials;
  • Information that can be revealed as part of civil discovery;
  • Conditions upon which CA or RA may disclose upon owner's

request; and

  • Any other circumstances under which confidential information may

be disclosed.

4.2.9 Intellectual Property Rights

 This subcomponent addresses ownership rights of certificates,
 practice/policy specifications, names, and keys.

4.3 IDENTIFICATION AND AUTHENTICATION

 This component describes the procedures used to authenticate a
 certificate applicant to a CA or RA prior to certificate issuance.
 It also describes how parties requesting rekey or revocation are
 authenticated.  This component also addresses naming practices,
 including name ownership recognition and name dispute resolution.
 This component has the following subcomponents:
  • Initial Registration;
  • Routine Rekey;
  • Rekey After Revocation; and
  • Revocation Request.

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 18] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

4.3.1 Initial Registration

 This subcomponent includes the following elements regarding
 identification and authentication procedures during entity
 registration or certificate issuance:
  • Types of names assigned to the subject (7);
  • Whether names have to be meaningful or not (8);
  • Rules for interpreting various name forms;
  • Whether names have to be unique;
  • How name claim disputes are resolved;
  • Recognition, authentication, and role of trademarks;
  • If and how the subject must prove possession of the companion

private key for the public key being registered (9);

  • Authentication requirements for organizational identity of

subject (CA, RA, or end entity) (10);

  • Authentication requirements for a person acting on behalf of a

subject (CA, RA, or end entity) (11), including:

  • Number of pieces of identification required;
  • How a CA or RA validates the pieces of identification

provided;

  • If the individual must present personally to the

authenticating CA or RA;

  • How an individual as an organizational person is

authenticated (12).

4.3.2 Routine Rekey

 This subcomponent describes the identification and authentication
 procedures for routine rekey for each subject type (CA, RA, and end
 entity). (13)

4.3.3 Rekey After Revocation – No Key Compromise

 This subcomponent describes the identification and authentication
 procedures for rekey for each subject type (CA, RA, and end entity)
 after the subject certificate has been revoked.  (14)

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 19] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

4.3.4 Revocation Request

 This subcomponent describes the identification and authentication
 procedures for a revocation request by each subject type (CA, RA, and
 end entity). (16)

4.4 OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

 This component is used to specify requirements imposed upon issuing
 CA, subject CAs, RAs, or end entities with respect to various
 operational activities.
 This component consists of the following subcomponents:
  • Certificate Application;
  • Certificate Issuance;
  • Certificate Acceptance;
  • Certificate Suspension and Revocation;
  • Security Audit Procedures;
  • Records Archival;
  • Key Changeover;
  • Compromise and Disaster Recovery; and
  • CA Termination.
 Within each subcomponent, separate consideration may need to be given
 to issuing CA, repository, subject CAs, RAs, and end entities.

4.4.1 Certificate Application

 This subcomponent is used to state requirements regarding subject
 enrollment and request for certificate issuance.

4.4.2 Certificate Issuance

 This subcomponent is used to state requirements regarding issuance of
 a certificate and notification to the applicant of such issuance.

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 20] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

4.4.3 Certificate Acceptance

 This subcomponent is used to state requirements regarding acceptance
 of an issued certificate and for consequent publication of
 certificates.

4.4.4 Certificate Suspension and Revocation

 This subcomponent addresses the following:
  • Circumstances under which a certificate may be revoked;
  • Who can request the revocation of the entity certificate;
  • Procedures used for certificate revocation request;
  • Revocation request grace period available to the subject;
  • Circumstances under which a certificate may be suspended;
  • Who can request the suspension of a certificate;
  • Procedures to request certificate suspension;
  • How long the suspension may last;
  • If a CRL mechanism is used, the issuance frequency;
  • Requirements on relying parties to check CRLs;
  • On-line revocation/status checking availability;
  • Requirements on relying parties to perform on-line

revocation/status checks;

  • Other forms of revocation advertisements available; and
  • Requirements on relying parties to check other forms of

revocation advertisements.

  • Any variations on the above stipulations when the suspension or

revocation is the result of private key compromise (as opposed

      to other reasons for suspension or revocation).

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 21] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

4.4.5 Security Audit Procedures

 This subcomponent is used to describe event logging and audit
 systems, implemented for the purpose of maintaining a secure
 environment.  Elements include the following:
  • Types of events recorded; (28)
  • Frequency with which audit logs are processed or audited;
  • Period for which audit logs are kept;
  • Protection of audit logs:
  1. Who can view audit logs;
  2. Protection against modification of audit log; and
  3. Protection against deletion of audit log.
  • Audit log back up procedures;
  • Whether the audit log accumulation system is internal or

external to the entity;

  • Whether the subject who caused an audit event to occur is

notified of the audit action; and

  • Vulnerability assessments.

4.4.6 Records Archival

 This subcomponent is used to describe general records archival (or
 records retention) policies, including the following:
  • Types of events recorded; (29)
  • Retention period for archive;
  • Protection of archive:
  1. Who can view the archive;
  2. Protection against modification of archive; and
  3. Protection against deletion of archive.
  • Archive backup procedures;
  • Requirements for time-stamping of records;
  • Whether the archive collection system is internal or external;

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 22] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

      and
  • Procedures to obtain and verify archive information.

4.4.7 Key Changeover

 This subcomponent describes the procedures to provide a new public
 key to a CA's users.

4.4.8 Compromise and Disaster Recovery

 This subcomponent describes requirements relating to notification and
 recovery procedures in the event of compromise or disaster.  Each of
 the following circumstances may need to be addressed separately:
  • The recovery procedures used if computing resources, software,

and/or data are corrupted or suspected to be corrupted. These

      procedures describe how a secure environment is reestablished,
      which certificates are revoked, whether the entity key is
      revoked, how the new entity public key is provided to the users,
      and how the subjects are recertified.
  • The recovery procedures used if the entity public key is

revoked. These procedures describe how a secure environment is

      reestablished, how the new entity public key is provided to the
      users, and how the subjects are recertified.
  • The recovery procedures used if the entity key is compromised.

These procedures describe how a secure environment is

      reestablished, how the new entity public key is provided to the
      users, and how the subjects are recertified.
  • The CA's procedures for securing its facility during the period

of time following a natural or other disaster and before a

      secure environment is reestablished either at the original site
      or a remote hot-site.  For example, procedures to protect
      against theft of sensitive materials from an earthquake-damaged
      site.

4.4.9 CA Termination

 This subcomponent describes requirements relating to procedures for
 termination and for termination notification of a CA or RA, including
 the identity of the custodian of CA and RA archival records.

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 23] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

4.5 PHYSICAL, PROCEDURAL, AND PERSONNEL SECURITY CONTROLS

 This component describes non-technical security controls (that is,
 physical, procedural, and personnel controls) used by the issuing CA
 to perform securely the functions of key generation, subject
 authentication, certificate issuance, certificate revocation, audit,
 and archival.
 This component can also be used to define non-technical security
 controls on repository, subject CAs, RAs, and end entities.  The non
 technical security controls for the subject CAs, RAs, and end
 entities could be the same, similar, or very different.
 These non-technical security controls are critical to trusting the
 certificates since lack of security may compromise CA operations
 resulting, for example, in the creation of certificates or CRLs with
 erroneous information or the compromise of the CA private key.
 This component consists of three subcomponents:
  • Physical Security Controls;
  • Procedural Controls; and
  • Personnel Security Controls.
 Within each subcomponent, separate consideration will, in general,
 need to be given to each entity type, that is, issuing CA,
 repository, subject CAs, RAs, and end entities.

4.5.1 Physical Security Controls

 In this subcomponent, the physical controls on the facility housing
 the entity systems are described.(21) Topics addressed may include:
  • Site location and construction;
  • Physical access;
  • Power and air conditioning;
  • Water exposures;
  • Fire prevention and protection;
  • Media storage;
  • Waste disposal; and

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 24] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

  • Off-site backup.

4.5.2 Procedural Controls

 In this subcomponent, requirements for recognizing trusted roles are
 described, together with the responsibilities for each role.(22)
 For each task identified for each role, it should also be stated how
 many individuals are required to perform the task (n out m rule).
 Identification and authentication requirements for each role may also
 be defined.

4.5.3 Personnel Security Controls

 This subcomponent addresses the following:
  • Background checks and clearance procedures required for the

personnel filling the trusted roles; (23)

  • Background checks and clearance procedures requirements for

other personnel, including janitorial staff; (24)

  • Training requirements and training procedures for each role;
  • Any retraining period and retraining procedures for each role;
  • Frequency and sequence for job rotation among various roles;
  • Sanctions against personnel for unauthorized actions,

unauthorized use of authority, and unauthorized use of entity

      systems; (25)
  • Controls on contracting personnel, including:
  1. Bonding requirements on contract personnel;
  2. Contractual requirements including indemnification for

damages due to the actions of the contractor personnel;

  1. Audit and monitoring of contractor personnel; and
  2. Other controls on contracting personnel.
  • Documentation to be supplied to personnel.

4.6 TECHNICAL SECURITY CONTROLS

 This component is used to define the security measures taken by the
 issuing CA to protect its cryptographic keys and activation data
 (e.g., PINs, passwords, or manually-held key shares).  This component
 may also be used to impose constraints on repositories, subject CAs

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 25] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

 and end entities to protect their cryptographic keys and critical
 security parameters.  Secure key management is critical to ensure
 that all secret and private keys and activation data are protected
 and used only by authorized personnel.
 This component also describes other technical security controls used
 by the issuing CA to perform securely the functions of key
 generation, user authentication, certificate registration,
 certificate revocation, audit, and archival.  Technical controls
 include life-cycle security controls (including software development
 environment security, trusted software development methodology) and
 operational security controls.
 This component can also be used to define other technical security
 controls on repositories, subject CAs, RAs, and end entities.
 This component has the following subcomponents:
  • Key Pair Generation and Installation;
  • Private Key Protection;
  • Other Aspects of Key Pair Management;
  • Activation Data;
  • Computer Security Controls;
  • Life-Cycle Security Controls;
  • Network Security Controls; and
  • Cryptographic Module Engineering Controls.

4.6.1 Key Pair Generation and Installation

 Key pair generation and installation need to be considered for the
 issuing CA, repositories, subject CAs, RAs, and subject end entities.
 For each of these types of entities, the following questions
 potentially need to be answered:
    1. Who generates the entity public, private key pair?
    2. How is the private key provided securely to the entity?
    3. How is the entity's public key provided securely to the
       certificate issuer?

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 26] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

    4. If the entity is a CA (issuing or subject) how is the entity's
       public key provided securely to the users?
    5. What are the key sizes?
    6. Who generates the public key parameters?
    7. Is the quality of the parameters checked during key generation?
    8. Is the key generation performed in hardware or software?
    9. For what purposes may the key be used, or for what purposes
       should usage of the key be restricted (for X.509 certificates,
       these purposes should map to the key usage flags in the Version
       3, X.509 certificates)?

4.6.2 Private Key Protection

 Requirements for private key protection need to be considered for the
 issuing CA, repositories, subject CAs, RAs, and subject end entities.
 For each of these types of entity, the following questions
 potentially need to be answered:
    1. What standards, if any, are required for the module used to
       generate the keys?  For example, are the keys certified by the
       infrastructure required to be generated using modules complaint
       with the US FIPS 140-1?  If so, what is the required FIPS 140-1
       level of the module?
    2. Is the private key under n out of m multi-person control?(18)
       If yes, provide n and m (two person control is a special case
       of n out of m, where n = m = 2)?
    3. Is the private key escrowed?  (19) If so, who is the escrow
       agent, what form is the key escrowed in (examples include
       plaintext, encrypted, split key), and what are the security
       controls on the escrow system?
    4. Is the private key backed up?  If so, who is the backup agent,
       what form is the key backed up in (examples include plaintext,
       encrypted, split key), and what are the security controls on
       the backup system?
    5. Is the private key archived?  If so, who is the archival agent,
       what form is the key archived in (examples include plaintext,
       encrypted, split key), and what are the security controls on
       the archival system?

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 27] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

    6. Who enters the private key in the cryptographic module?  In
       what form (i.e., plaintext, encrypted, or split key)?  How is
       the private key stored in the module (i.e., plaintext,
       encrypted, or split key)?
    7. Who can activate (use) the private key?  What actions must be
       performed to activate the private key (e.g., login, power on,
       supply PIN, insert token/key, automatic, etc.)?  Once the key
       is activated, is the key active for an indefinite period,
       active for one time, or active for a defined time period?
    8. Who can deactivate the private key and how? Example of how
       might include, logout, power off, remove token/key, automatic,
       or time expiration.
    9. Who can destroy the private key and how?  Examples of how might
       include token surrender, token destruction, or key overwrite.

4.6.3 Other Aspects of Key Pair Management

 Other aspects of key management need to be considered for the issuing
 CA, repositories, subject CAs, RAs, and subject end entities.  For
 each of these types of entity, the following questions potentially
 need to be answered:
    1. Is the public key archived?  If so, who is the archival agent
       and what are the security controls on the archival system?  The
       archival system should provide integrity controls other than
       digital signatures since: the archival period may be greater
       than the cryptanalysis period for the key and the archive
       requires tamper protection, which is not provided by digital
       signatures.
    2. What are the usage periods, or active lifetimes, for the public
       and the private key respectively?

4.6.4 Activation Data

 Activation data refers to data values other than keys that are
 required to operate cryptographic modules and that need to be
 protected.  (20) Protection of activation data potentially needs to
 be considered for the issuing CA, subject CAs, RAs, and end entities.
 Such consideration potentially needs to address the entire life-cycle
 of the activation data from generation through archival and
 destruction.  For each of the entity types (issuing CA, repository,
 subject CA, RA, and end entity) all of the questions listed in 4.6.1
 through 4.6.3 potentially need to be answered with respect to
 activation data rather than with respect to keys.

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 28] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

4.6.5 Computer Security Controls

 This subcomponent is used to describe computer security controls such
 as: use of the trusted computing base concept, discretionary access
 control, labels, mandatory access controls, object reuse, audit,
 identification and authentication, trusted path, security testing,
 and penetration testing.  Product assurance may also be addressed.
 A computer security rating for computer systems may be required.  The
 rating could be based, for example, on the Trusted System Evaluation
 Criteria (TCSEC), Canadian Trusted Products Evaluation Criteria,
 European Information Technology Security Evaluation Criteria (ITSEC),
 or the Common Criteria.  This subcomponent can also address
 requirements for product evaluation analysis, testing, profiling,
 product certification, and/or product accreditation related activity
 undertaken.

4.6.6 Life Cycle Security Controls

 This subcomponent addresses system development controls and security
 management controls.
 System development controls include development environment security,
 development personnel security, configuration management security
 during product maintenance, software engineering practices, software
 development methodology, modularity, layering, use of failsafe design
 and implementation techniques (e.g., defensive programming) and
 development facility security.
 Security management controls include execution of tools and
 procedures to ensure that the operational systems and networks adhere
 to configured security.  These tools and procedures include checking
 the integrity of the security software, firmware, and hardware to
 ensure their correct operation.
 This subcomponent can also address life-cycle security ratings based,
 for example, on the Trusted Software Development Methodology (TSDM)
 level IV and V, independent life-cycle security controls audit, and
 the Software Engineering Institute's Capability Maturity Model (SEI-
 CMM).

4.6.7 Network Security Controls

 This subcomponent addresses network security related controls,
 including firewalls.

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 29] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

4.6.8 Cryptographic Module Engineering Controls (26)

 This subcomponent addresses the following aspects of a cryptographic
 module: identification of the cryptographic module boundary,
 input/output, roles and services, finite state machine, physical
 security, software security, operating system security, algorithm
 compliance, electromagnetic compatibility, and self tests.
 Requirements may be expressed through reference to a standard such as
 U.S. FIPS 140-1. (27)

4.7 CERTIFICATE AND CRL PROFILES

 This component is used to specify the certificate format and, if CRLs
 are used, the CRL format.  Assuming use of the X.509 certificate and
 CRL formats, this includes information on profiles, versions, and
 extensions used.
 This component has two subcomponents:
  • Certificate Profile; and
  • CRL Profile.

4.7.1 Certificate Profile

 This subcomponent addresses such topics as the following (potentially
 by reference to a separate profile definition, such as the PKIX Part
 I profile):
  • Version number(s) supported;
  • Certificate extensions populated and their criticality;
  • Cryptographic algorithm object identifiers;
  • Name forms used for the CA, RA, and end entity names;
  • Name constraints used and the name forms used in the name

constraints;

  • Applicable certificate policy Object Identifier(s);
  • Usage of the policy constraints extension;
  • Policy qualifiers syntax and semantics; and
  • Processing semantics for the critical certificate policy

extension.

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 30] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

4.7.2 CRL Profile

 This subcomponent addresses such topics as the following (potentially
 by reference to a separate profile definition, such as the PKIX Part
 I profile):
  • Version numbers supported for CRLs; and
  • CRL and CRL entry extensions populated and their criticality.

4.8 SPECIFICATION ADMINISTRATION

 This component is used to specify how this particular certificate
 policy definition or CPS will be maintained.
 It contains the following subcomponents:
  • Specification Change Procedures;
  • Publication and Notification Procedures; and
  • CPS Approval Procedures.

4.8.1 Specification Change Procedures

 It will occasionally be necessary to change certificate policies and
 Certification Practice Statements.  Some of these changes will not
 materially reduce the assurance that a certificate policy or its
 implementation provides, and will be judged by the policy
 administrator as not changing the acceptability of certificates
 asserting the policy for the purposes for which they have been used.
 Such changes to certificate policies and Certification Practice
 Statements need not require a change in the certificate policy Object
 Identifier or the CPS pointer (URL).  Other changes to a
 specification will change the acceptability of certificates for
 specific purposes, and these changes will require changes to the
 certificate policy Object Identifier or CPS pointer (URL).
 This subcomponent contains the following information:
  • A list of specification components, subcomponents, and/or

elements thereof that can be changed without notification and

      without changes to the certificate policy Object Identifier or
      CPS pointer (URL).
  • A list of specification components, subcomponents, and/or

elements thereof that may change following a notification period

      without changing the certificate policy Object Identifier or CPS

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 31] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

      pointer (URL).  The procedures to be used to notify interested
      parties (relying parties, certification authorities, etc.) of
      the certificate policy or CPS changes are described.  The
      description of notification procedures includes the notification
      mechanism, notification period for comments, mechanism to
      receive, review and incorporate the comments, mechanism for
      final changes to the policy, and the period before final changes
      become effective.
  • A list of specification components, subcomponents, and/or

elements, changes to which require a change in certificate

      policy Object Identifier or CPS pointer (URL)..

4.8.2 Publication and Notification Procedures

 This subcomponent contains the following elements:
  • A list of components, subcomponents, and elements thereof that

exist but that are not made publicly available; (33)

  • Descriptions of mechanisms used to distribute the certificate

policy definition or CPS, including access controls on such

      distribution.

4.8.3 CPS Approval Procedures

 In a certificate policy definition, this subcomponent describes how
 the compliance of a specific CPS with the certificate policy can be
 determined.

5. OUTLINE OF A SET OF PROVISIONS

 This section contains a possible outline for a set of provisions,
 intended to serve as a checklist or (with some further development) a
 standard template for use by certificate policy or CPS writers.  Such
 a common outline will facilitate:
    (a) Comparison of two certificate policies during cross-
        certification (for the purpose of equivalency mapping).
    (b) Comparison of a CPS with a certificate policy definition to
        ensure that the CPS faithfully implements the policy.
    (c) Comparison of two CPSs.

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 32] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

 1.   INTRODUCTION
 1.1  Overview
 1.2  Identification
 1.3  Community and Applicability
    1.3.1  Certification authorities
    1.3.2  Registration authorities
    1.3.3  End entities
    1.3.4  Applicability
 1.4  Contact Details
    1.4.1  Specification administration organization
    1.4.2  Contact person
    1.4.3  Person determining CPS suitability for the policy
 2.  GENERAL PROVISIONS
 2.1  Obligations
    2.1.1  CA obligations
    2.1.2  RA obligations
    2.1.3  Subscriber obligations
    2.1.4  Relying party obligations
    2.1.5  Repository obligations
 2.2  Liability
    2.2.1  CA liability
    2.2.2  RA liability
 2.3  Financial responsibility
    2.3.1  Indemnification by relying parties
    2.3.2  Fiduciary relationships
    2.3.3  Administrative processes
 2.4  Interpretation and Enforcement
    2.4.1  Governing law
    2.4.2  Severability, survival, merger, notice
    2.4.3  Dispute resolution procedures
 2.5  Fees
    2.5.1  Certificate issuance or renewal fees
    2.5.2  Certificate access fees

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 33] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

    2.5.3  Revocation or status information access fees
    2.5.4  Fees for other services such as policy information
    2.5.5  Refund policy
 2.6  Publication and Repository
    2.6.1  Publication of CA information
    2.6.2  Frequency of publication
    2.6.3  Access controls
    2.6.4  Repositories
 2.7  Compliance audit
    2.7.1  Frequency of entity compliance audit
    2.7.2  Identity/qualifications of auditor
    2.7.3  Auditor's relationship to audited party
    2.7.4  Topics covered by audit
    2.7.5  Actions taken as a result of deficiency
    2.7.6  Communication of results
 2.8  Confidentiality
    2.8.1  Types of information to be kept confidential
    2.8.2  Types of information not considered confidential
    2.8.3  Disclosure of certificate revocation/suspension information
    2.8.4  Release to law enforcement officials
    2.8.5  Release as part of civil discovery
    2.8.6  Disclosure upon owner's request
    2.8.7  Other information release circumstances
 2.9  Intellectual Property Rights
 3.   IDENTIFICATION AND AUTHENTICATION (34)
 3.1  Initial Registration
    3.1.1  Types of names
    3.1.2  Need for names to be meaningful
    3.1.3  Rules for interpreting various name forms
    3.1.4  Uniqueness of names
    3.1.5  Name claim dispute resolution procedure
    3.1.6  Recognition, authentication and role of trademarks
    3.1.7  Method to prove possession of private key
    3.1.8  Authentication of organization identity
    3.1.9  Authentication of individual identity
 3.2  Routine Rekey
 3.3  Rekey after Revocation

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 34] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

 3.4  Revocation Request
 4.  OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS (34)
 4.1  Certificate Application
 4.2  Certificate Issuance
 4.3  Certificate Acceptance
 4.4  Certificate Suspension and Revocation
    4.4.1  Circumstances for revocation
    4.4.2  Who can request revocation
    4.4.3  Procedure for revocation request
    4.4.4  Revocation request grace period
    4.4.5  Circumstances for suspension
    4.4.6  Who can request suspension
    4.4.7  Procedure for suspension request
    4.4.8  Limits on suspension period
    4.4.9  CRL issuance frequency (if applicable)
    4.4.10  CRL checking requirements
    4.4.11  On-line revocation/status checking availability
    4.4.12  On-line revocation checking requirements
    4.4.13  Other forms of revocation advertisements available
    4.4.14  Checking  requirements  for  other  forms  of  revocation
            advertisements
    4.4.15  Special requirements re key compromise
 4.5  Security Audit Procedures
    4.5.1  Types of event recorded
    4.5.2  Frequency of processing log
    4.5.3  Retention period for audit log
    4.5.4  Protection of audit log
    4.5.5  Audit log backup procedures
    4.5.6  Audit collection system (internal vs external)
    4.5.7  Notification to event-causing subject
    4.5.8  Vulnerability assessments
 4.6  Records Archival
    4.6.1  Types of event recorded
    4.6.2  Retention period for archive
    4.6.3  Protection of archive
    4.6.4  Archive backup procedures
    4.6.5  Requirements for time-stamping of records
    4.6.6  Archive collection system (internal or external)
    4.6.7  Procedures to obtain and verify archive information

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 35] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

 4.7  Key changeover
 4.8  Compromise and Disaster Recovery
    4.8.1 Computing resources, software, and/or data are corrupted
    4.8.2 Entity public key is revoked
    4.8.3 Entity key is compromised
    4.8.4 Secure facility after a natural or other type of disaster
 4.9  CA Termination
 5.  PHYSICAL, PROCEDURAL, AND PERSONNEL SECURITY CONTROLS (34)
 5.1  Physical Controls
    5.1.1  Site location and construction
    5.1.2  Physical access
    5.1.3  Power and air conditioning
    5.1.4  Water exposures
    5.1.5  Fire prevention and protection
    5.1.6  Media storage
    5.1.7  Waste disposal
    5.1.8  Off-site backup
 5.2  Procedural Controls
    5.2.1  Trusted roles
    5.2.2  Number of persons required per task
    5.2.3  Identification and authentication for each role
 5.3  Personnel Controls
    5.3.1  Background, qualifications, experience, and  clearance
           requirements
    5.3.2  Background check procedures
    5.3.3  Training requirements
    5.3.4  Retraining frequency and requirements
    5.3.5  Job rotation frequency and sequence
    5.3.6  Sanctions for unauthorized actions
    5.3.7  Contracting personnel requirements
    5.3.8  Documentation supplied to personnel
 6.  TECHNICAL SECURITY CONTROLS (34)
 6.1  Key Pair Generation and Installation
    6.1.1  Key pair generation
    6.1.2  Private key delivery to entity
    6.1.3  Public key delivery to certificate issuer
    6.1.4  CA public key delivery to users
    6.1.5  Key sizes
    6.1.6  Public key parameters generation
    6.1.7  Parameter quality checking

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 36] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

    6.1.8  Hardware/software key generation
    6.1.9  Key usage purposes (as per X.509 v3 key usage field)
 6.2  Private Key Protection
    6.2.1  Standards for cryptographic module
    6.2.2  Private key (n out of m) multi-person control
    6.2.3  Private key escrow
    6.2.4  Private key backup
    6.2.5  Private key archival
    6.2.6  Private key entry into cryptographic module
    6.2.7  Method of activating private key
    6.2.8  Method of deactivating private key
    6.2.9  Method of destroying private key
 6.3  Other Aspects of Key Pair Management
    6.3.1  Public key archival
    6.3.2  Usage periods for the public and private keys
 6.4  Activation Data
    6.4.1  Activation data generation and installation
    6.4.2  Activation data protection
    6.4.3  Other aspects of activation data
 6.5  Computer Security Controls
    6.5.1  Specific computer security technical requirements
    6.5.2  Computer security rating
 6.6  Life Cycle Technical Controls
    6.6.1  System development controls
    6.6.2  Security management controls
    6.6.3  Life cycle security ratings
 6.7  Network Security Controls
 6.8  Cryptographic Module Engineering Controls
 7.  CERTIFICATE AND CRL PROFILES
 7.1  Certificate Profile
    7.1.1  Version number(s)
    7.1.2  Certificate extensions
    7.1.3  Algorithm object identifiers
    7.1.4  Name forms
    7.1.5  Name constraints
    7.1.6  Certificate policy Object Identifier
    7.1.7  Usage of Policy Constraints extension
    7.1.8  Policy qualifiers syntax and semantics

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 37] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

    7.1.9  Processing  semantics  for  the critical certificate policy
           extension
 7.2  CRL Profile
    7.2.1  Version number(s)
    7.2.2  CRL and CRL entry extensions
 8.  SPECIFICATION ADMINISTRATION
 8.1  Specification change procedures
 8.2  Publication and notification policies
 8.3  CPS approval procedures

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 38] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

6. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

 The development of this document was supported by the Government of
 Canada's Policy Management Authority (PMA) Committee, the National
 Security Agency, the National Institute of Standards and Technology
 (NIST), and the American Bar Association Information Security
 Committee Accreditation Technical Working Group. Special thanks are
 due to Dave Fillingham, Jim Brandt, and Edmond Van Hees for their
 inspiration, support, and valuable inputs.
 The following individuals also deserve credit for their review and
 input:
    Teresa Acevedo, A&N Associates;
    Michael Baum; VeriSign;
    Sharon Boeyen, Entrust;
    Bob Burger, McCarter & English;
    Bill Burr, NIST;
    Patrick Cain, BBN;
    Michael Harrop, Government of Canada Treasury Board;
    Rick Hornbeck, Digital Commerce Services;
    Francois Marinier, Domus Software;
    John Morris, CygnaCom Solutions;
    Tim Moses, Entrust;
    Noel Nazario, NIST;
    John Nicolletos, A&N Associates;
    Jean Petty, CygnaCom Solutions;
    Denis Pinkas, Bull;
    J.-F. Sauriol, Domus Software;
    Robert Shirey, BBN;
    Mark Silvern, VeriSign;
    David Simonetti, Booz, Allen and Hamilton; and
    Darryl Stal, Entrust.
 Johnny Hsiung, and Chris Miller assisted in the preparation of the
 manuscript.

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 39] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

7. REFERENCES

 [ABA1] American Bar Association, Digital Signature Guidelines: Legal
        Infrastructure for Certification Authorities and Electronic
        Commerce, 1995.
 [BAU1] Michael. S. Baum, Federal Certification Authority Liability
        and Policy, NIST-GCR- 94-654, June 1994.
 [ISO1] ISO/IEC 9594-8/ITU-T Recommendation X.509, "Information
        Technology - Open Systems Interconnection: The Directory:
        Authentication Framework," 1997 edition. (Pending publication
        of 1997 edition, use 1993 edition with the following amendment
        applied: Final Text of Draft Amendment DAM 1 to ISO/IEC 9594-8
        on Certificate Extensions, June 1996.)
 [PEM1] Kent, S., "Privacy Enhancement for Internet Electronic Mail,
        Part II: Certificate-Based Key Management", RFC 1422, February
        1993.
 [PKI1] Housley, R., Ford, W., Polk, W. and D. Solo, "Internet X.509
        Public Key Infrastructure, Certificate and CRL Profile", RFC
        2459, January 1999.

8. AUTHORS' ADDRESSES

 Santosh Chokhani
 CygnaCom Solutions, Inc.
 Suite 100 West
 7927 Jones Branch Drive
 McLean, VA 22102
 Phone: (703) 848-0883
 Fax: (703) 848-0960
 EMail: chokhani@cygnacom.com
 Warwick Ford
 VeriSign, Inc.
 301 Edgewater Place, Suite 210
 Wakefield, MA 01880
 Phone: (781) 245-6996 x225
 Fax: (781) 245-6006
 EMail: wford@verisign.com

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 40] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

NOTES

 1 The ABA Digital Signature Guidelines can be purchased from the ABA.
   See http://www.abanet.com for ordering details.
 2 Examples of types of entity for subject CAs are a subordinate
   organization (e.g., branch or division), a federal government
   agency, or a state or provincial government department.
 3 This statement can have significant implications.  For example,
   suppose a bank claims that it issues CA certificates to its
   branches only.  Now, the user of a CA certificate issued by the
   bank can assume that the subject CA in the certificate is a branch
   of the bank
 4 Examples of the types of subject RA entities are branch and
   division of an organization.
 5 Examples of types of subject end entities are bank customers,
   telephone company subscribers, and employees of a government
   department
 6 This statement can have significant implications.  For example,
   suppose Government CA claims that it issues certificates to
   Government employees only.  Now, the user of a certificate issued
   by the Government CA can assume that the subject of the certificate
   is a Government employee.
 7 Examples include X.500 distinguished name, Internet e-mail address,
   and URL.
 8 The term "meaningful" means that the name form has commonly
   understood semantics to determine identity of the person and/or
   organization.  Directory names and RFC 822 names may be more or
   less meaningful.
 9 Examples of proof include the issuing CA generating the key, or
   requiring the subject to send an electronically signed request or
   to sign a challenge.
 10 Examples of organization identity authentication are: articles of
    incorporation, duly signed corporate resolutions, company seal,
    and notarized documents.
 11 Examples of individual identity authentication are: biometrics
    (thumb print, ten finger print, face, palm, and retina scan),
    driver's license, passport, credit card, company badge, and
    government badge.

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 41] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

 12 Examples include duly signed authorization papers or corporate ID
    badge.
 13 The identification policy for routine rekey should be the same as
    the one for initial registration since the same subject needs
    rekeying.  The rekey authentication may be accomplished using the
    techniques for initial I&A or using digitally signed requests.
 14 This identification and authentication policy could be the same as
    that for initial registration.
 15 This policy could be the same as the one for initial registration.
 16 The identification policy for Revocation request could be the same
    as that for initial registration since the same subject
    certificate needs to be revoked.  The authentication policy could
    accept a Revocation request digitally signed by subject.  The
    authentication information used during initial registration could
    be acceptable for Revocation request. Other less stringent
    authentication policy could be defined.
 17 The identification policy for key compromise notification could be
    the same as the one for initial registration since the same
    subject certificate needs to be revoked.  The authentication
    policy could accept a Revocation request digitally signed by
    subject.  The authentication information used during initial
    registration could be acceptable for key compromise notification.
    Other less stringent authentication policy could be defined.
 18 The n out of m rule allows a key to be split in m parts.  The m
    parts may be given to m different individuals.  Any n parts out of
    the m parts may be used to fully reconstitute the key, but having
    any n- 1 parts provides one with no information about the key.
 19 A key may be escrowed, backed up or archived.  Each of these
    functions have different purpose.  Thus, a key may go through any
    subset of these functions depending on the requirements.  The
    purpose of escrow is to allow a third party (such as an
    organization or government) to legally obtain the key without the
    cooperation of the subject.  The purpose of back up is to allow
    the subject to reconstitute the key in case of the destruction of
    the key.  The purpose of archive is to provide for reuse of the
    key in future, e.g., use the private key to decrypt a document.
 20 An example of activation data is a PIN or passphrase.
 21 Examples of physical access controls are: monitored facility ,
    guarded facility, locked facility, access controlled using tokens,

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 42] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

    access controlled using biometrics, and access controlled through
    an access list.
 22 Examples of the roles include system administrator, system
    security officer, and system auditor.  The duties of the system
    administrator are to configure, generate, boot, and operate the
    system.  The duties of the system security officer are to assign
    accounts and privileges.  The duties of the system auditor are to
    set up system audit profile, perform audit file management, and
    audit review.
 23 The background checks may include clearance level (e.g., none,
    sensitive, confidential, secret, top secret, etc.) and the
    clearance granting authority name.  In lieu of or in addition to a
    defined clearance, the background checks may include types of
    background information (e.g., name, place of birth, date of birth,
    home address, previous residences, previous employment, and any
    other information that may help determine trustworthiness).  The
    description should also include which information was verified and
    how.
 24 For example, the certificate policy may impose personnel security
    requirements on the network system administrator responsible for a
    CA's network access.
 25 Regardless of whether authorized persons are employees, practices
    should be implemented to ensure that each authorized person is
    held accountable for his/her actions.
 26 A cryptographic module is hardware, software, or firmware or any
    combination of them.
 27 The compliance description should be specific and detailed.  For
    example, for each FIPS 140-1 requirement, describe the level and
    whether the level has been certified by an accredited laboratory.
 28 Example of audit events are: request to create a certificate,
    request to revoke a certificate, key compromise notification,
    creation of a certificate, revocation of a certificate, issuance
    of a certificate, issuance of a CRL, issuance of key compromise
    CRL, establishment of trusted roles on the CA, actions of truste
    personnel, changes to CA keys, etc.
 29 Example of archive events are: request to create a certificate,
    request to revoke a certificate, key compromise notification,
    creation of a certificate, revocation of a certificate, issuance
    of a certificate, issuance of a CRL, issuance of key compromise
    CRL, and changes to CA keys.

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 43] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

 30 A parent CA is an example of audit relationship.
 31 Example of compliance audit topics: sample check on the various
    I&A policies, comprehensive checks on key management policies,
    comprehensive checks on system security controls, comprehensive
    checks on operations policy, and comprehensive checks on
    certificate profiles.
 32 The examples include, temporary suspension of operations until
    deficiencies are corrected, revocation of entity certificate,
    change in personnel, invocation of liability policy, more frequent
    compliance audit, etc.
 33 An organization may choose not to make public some of its security
    controls, clearance procedures, or some others elements due to
    their sensitivity.
 34 All or some of the following items may be different for the
    various types of entities, i.e., CA, RA, and end entities.

LIST OF ACRONYMS

 ABA - American Bar Association
 CA - Certification Authority
 CPS - Certification Practice Statement
 CRL - Certificate Revocation List
 DAM - Draft Amendment
 FIPS - Federal Information Processing Standard
 I&A - Identification and Authentication
 IEC - International Electrotechnical Commission
 IETF - Internet Engineering Task Force
 IP - Internet Protocol
 ISO - International Organization for Standardization
 ITU - International Telecommunications Union
 NIST - National Institute of Standards and Technology
 OID - Object Identifier
 PIN - Personal Identification Number
 PKI - Public Key Infrastructure
 PKIX - Public Key Infrastructure (X.509) (IETF Working Group)
 RA - Registration Authority
 RFC - Request For Comment
 URL - Uniform Resource Locator
 US - United States

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 44] RFC 2527 PKIX March 1999

Full Copyright Statement

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999).  All Rights Reserved.
 This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
 others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
 or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
 and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
 kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
 included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
 document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
 the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
 Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
 developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
 copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
 followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
 English.
 The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
 revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.
 This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
 "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
 TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
 BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
 HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
 MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Chokhani & Ford Informational [Page 45]

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