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Network Working Group R. Housley Request for Comments: 4049 Vigil Security Category: Experimental April 2005 

                            BinaryTime:
    An Alternate Format for Representing Date and Time in ASN.1

Status of This Memo 

 This memo defines an Experimental Protocol for the Internet
 community.  It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind.
 Discussion and suggestions for improvement are requested.
 Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice 

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).

Abstract 

 This document specifies a new ASN.1 type for representing time:
 BinaryTime.  This document also specifies an alternate to the
 signing-time attribute for use with the Cryptographic Message Syntax
 (CMS) SignedData and AuthenticatedData content types; the binary-
 signing-time attribute uses BinaryTime.  CMS and the signing-time
 attribute are defined in RFC 3852.

1. Introduction 

 This document specifies a new ASN.1 [ASN1] type for representing
 time:  BinaryTime.  This ASN.1 type can be used to represent date and
 time values.
 This document also specifies an alternative to the signing-time
 attribute used with the Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS) [CMS]
 SignedData and AuthenticatedData content types, allowing the
 BinaryTime type to be used instead of the traditional UTCTime and
 GeneralizedTime types.

1.1. BinaryTime 

 Many operating systems represent date and time as an integer.  This
 document specifies an ASN.1 type for representing date and time in a
 manner that is also an integer.  Although some conversion may be
 necessary due to the selection of a different epoch or a different
 granularity, an integer representation has several advantages over
 the UTCTime and GeneralizedTime types.

Housley Experimental [Page 1] RFC 4049 BinaryTime April 2005 

 First, a BinaryTime value is smaller than either a UTCTime or a
 GeneralizedTime value.
 Second, in some operating systems, the value can be used with little
 or no conversion.  Conversion, when it is needed, requires only
 straightforward computation.  If the endian ordering is different
 from the ASN.1 representation of an INTEGER, then straightforward
 manipulation is needed to obtain an equivalent integer value.  If the
 epoch is different than the one chosen for BinaryTime, addition or
 subtraction is needed to compensate.  If the granularity is something
 other than seconds, then multiplication or division is needed to
 compensate.  Also, padding may be needed to convert the variable-
 length ASN.1 encoding of INTEGER to a fixed-length value used in the
 operating system.
 Third, date comparison is very easy with BinaryTime.  Integer
 comparison is easy, even when multi-precision integers are involved.
 Date comparison with UTCTime or GeneralizedTime can be complex when
 the two values to be compared are provided in different time zones.
 This is a rare instance which both memory and processor cycles can be
 saved.

1.2. Binary Signing Time Attribute 

 The signing-time attribute is defined in [CMS].  The alternative
 binary-signing-time attribute is defined in this document in order to
 obtain the benefits of the BinaryTime type.

1.3. Terminology 

 In this document, the key words MUST, MUST NOT, REQUIRED, SHOULD,
 SHOULD NOT, RECOMMENDED, MAY, and OPTIONAL are to be interpreted as
 described in [STDWORDS].

2. BinaryTime Definition 

 The BinaryTime ASN.1 type is used to represent an absolute time and
 date.  A positive integer value is used to represent time values
 based on coordinated universal time (UTC), which is also called
 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and ZULU clock time.
 The syntax for BinaryTime is:
    BinaryTime ::= INTEGER (0..MAX)

Housley Experimental [Page 2] RFC 4049 BinaryTime April 2005 

 The integer value is the number of seconds, excluding leap seconds,
 after midnight UTC, January 1, 1970.  This time format cannot
 represent time values prior to January 1, 1970.  The latest UTC time
 value that can be represented by a four-octet integer value is
 03:14:07 on January 19, 2038, which is represented by the hexadecimal
 value 7FFFFFFF.  Time values beyond 03:14:07 on January 19, 2038, are
 represented by integer values that are longer than four octets, and a
 five-octet integer value is sufficient to represent dates covering
 the next seventeen millennia.
 This specification uses a variable-length encoding of INTEGER.  This
 permits any time value after midnight UTC, January 1, 1970, to be
 represented.
 When encoding an integer value that consists of more than one octet,
 which includes almost all the time values of interest, the bits of
 the first octet and bit 8 of the second octet MUST NOT all be ones or
 all zeros.  This rule ensures that an integer value is always encoded
 in the smallest possible number of octets.  However, it means that
 implementations cannot assume a fixed length for the integer value.

3. Binary Signing Time Attribute Definition 

 The binary-signing-time attribute type specifies the time at which
 the signer (purportedly) performed the signing process.  The binary-
 signing-time attribute type is intended for use in the CMS SignedData
 content type; however, the attribute can also be used with the
 AuthenticatedData content type.
 The binary-signing-time attribute MUST be a signed attribute or an
 authenticated attribute; it MUST NOT be an unsigned attribute,
 unauthenticated attribute, or unprotected attribute.
 The following object identifier identifies the binary-signing-time
 attribute:
    id-aa-binarySigningTime OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { iso(1)
        member-body(2) us(840) rsadsi(113549) pkcs(1) pkcs9(9)
        smime(16) aa(2) 46 }
 The binary-signing-time attribute values have ASN.1 type
 BinarySigningTime:
    BinarySigningTime ::= BinaryTime

Housley Experimental [Page 3] RFC 4049 BinaryTime April 2005 

 In [CMS], the SignedAttributes syntax and the AuthAttributes syntax
 are each defined as a SET OF Attributes.  However, the binary-
 signing-time attribute MUST have a single attribute value, even
 though the syntax is defined as a SET OF AttributeValue.  There MUST
 NOT be zero or multiple instances of AttributeValue present.
 The SignedAttributes contained in the signerInfo structure within
 SignedData MUST NOT include multiple instances of the binary-
 signing-time attribute.  Similarly, the AuthAttributes in an
 AuthenticatedData MUST NOT include multiple instances of the binary-
 signing-time attribute.
 No requirement is imposed concerning the correctness of the signing
 time itself, and acceptance of a purported signing time is a matter
 of a recipient's discretion.  It is expected, however, that some
 signers, such as time-stamp servers, will be trusted implicitly.

4. References 

 This section provides normative and informative references.

4.1. Normative References 

 [ASN1]     CCITT.  Recommendation X.208: Specification of Abstract
            Syntax Notation One (ASN.1).  1988.
 [CMS]      Housley, R., "Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS)", RFC
            3852, July 2004.
 [STDWORDS] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
            Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

4.2. Informative References 

 [TSP]      Adams, C., Cain, P., Pinkas, D., and R. Zuccherato,
            "Internet X.509 Public Key Infrastructure Time-Stamp
            Protocol (TSP)", RFC 3161, August 2001.

5. Security Considerations 

 Use of the binary-signing-time attribute does not necessarily provide
 confidence in the time when the signature value was produced.
 Therefore, acceptance of a purported signing time is a matter of a
 recipient's discretion.  RFC 3161 [TSP] specifies a protocol for
 obtaining time stamps from a trusted entity.

Housley Experimental [Page 4] RFC 4049 BinaryTime April 2005 

 The original signing-time attribute defined in [CMS] has the same
 semantics as the binary-signing-time attribute specified in this
 document.  Therefore, only one of these attributes SHOULD be present
 in the signedAttrs of a SignerInfo object or in the authAttrs of an
 AuthenticatedData object.  However, if both of these attributes are
 present, they MUST provide the same date and time.

Housley Experimental [Page 5] RFC 4049 BinaryTime April 2005

Appendix A: ASN.1 Module 

 The ASN.1 module contained in this appendix defines the structures
 that are needed to implement this specification.  It is expected to
 be used in conjunction with the ASN.1 modules in [CMS].
 BinarySigningTimeModule
   { iso(1) member-body(2) us(840) rsadsi(113549) pkcs(1)
     pkcs-9(9) smime(16) modules(0) 27 }
 DEFINITIONS IMPLICIT TAGS ::=
 BEGIN
  1. - BinaryTime Definition
 BinaryTime ::= INTEGER (0..MAX)
  1. - Signing Binary Time Attribute
 id-aa-binarySigningTime OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { iso(1)
     member-body(2) us(840) rsadsi(113549) pkcs(1) pkcs9(9)
     smime(16) aa(2) 46 }
 BinarySigningTime ::= BinaryTime
 END

Author's Address 

 Russell Housley
 Vigil Security, LLC
 918 Spring Knoll Drive
 Herndon, VA 20170
 USA
 EMail: housley@vigilsec.com

Housley Experimental [Page 6] RFC 4049 BinaryTime April 2005

Full Copyright Statement 

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).
 This document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions
 contained in BCP 78, and except as set forth therein, the authors
 retain all their rights.
 This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
 "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS
 OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET
 ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM 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.

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Acknowledgement 

 Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
 Internet Society.

Housley Experimental [Page 7]

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