[cabfpub] Ballot for limited exemption to RFC 5280 for CTimplementation

Ben Laurie benl at google.com
Thu Sep 25 02:57:16 MST 2014


On 23 September 2014 00:11, Brian Smith <brian at briansmith.org> wrote:
> On Mon, Sep 22, 2014 at 7:02 AM, Ben Laurie <benl at google.com> wrote:
>> On 19 September 2014 22:41, Brian Smith <brian at briansmith.org> wrote:
>>> I understand. My point is that the specification doesn't say what
>>> transforms on the precert are to be done by the CA, which are to be
>>> done by the log, and which are to be done by the client. It just says
>>> that those transforms must be done in order to verify SCTs.
>>
>> I'm not sure I understand your point - anyone who wants to generate or
>> verify an SCT must do those transforms. I think the spec is quite
>> clear that you start with a precert and from it derive an SCT by
>> transforming it in various ways. Certainly that's the intention - if
>> you think it is unclear perhaps you could suggest a change to the
>> wording (on the trans mailing list, I'd suggest)?
>
> My point is that it the RFC makes it unclear what the contents of a
> precert--the thing signed by the CA and sent to the log--are in the
> case a precertificate signing certificate is used. Consequently, it is
> difficult to write code or a prose explanation for comparing two X.509
> certificates to determine if one is a precert for the other. It is
> useful to be able to describe such a comparison, because that would
> allow any amendment to the BRs to be scoped appropriately, so that the
> amendment doesn't end up effectively allowing CAs to issue
> certificates with duplicate serial numbers in an unrestricted manner
> just by saying "that's not a certificate, it's a precertificate."

It seems to me the important point is not exactly what goes in a
precert vs. a cert, but the fact that a precert is unusable as a cert.
So, I'd suggest the language says that its OK to issue a cert with the
same issuer/serial number as another cert if and only if the
"duplicate" cert contains the CT poison extension. Or perhaps more
precisely, of all the certs with the same serial number/issuer, only
one does _not_have the poison extension.


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