[cabfpub] Ballot 173 - Removal of requirement to cease use of private key due to incorrect certificate info

[Josh Aas]

Ballot 173 - Removal of requirement to cease use of private key due to
incorrect certificate info

The following motion has been proposed by Josh Aas of ISRG / Let's
Encrypt. Ben Wilson of Digicert and Chris Bailey of Entrust endorse.

Background:

BR Section 9.6.3 point 5 says:

"Reporting and Revocation: An obligation and warranty to promptly
cease using a Certificate and its associated Private Key, and promptly
request the CA to revoke the Certificate, in the event that: (a) any
information in the Certificate is, or becomes, incorrect or
inaccurate, or (b) there is any actual or suspected misuse or
compromise of the Subscriber’s Private Key associated with the Public
Key included in the Certificate;"

There is a problem here, which is that this requires a subscriber to
stop using a private key just because information in a certificate is
inaccurate or incorrect. People should stop using a cert with
inaccurate or incorrect information, but they shouldn't be required to
stop using a key pair unless there is known or suspected compromise.

This is particularly problematic for HPKP.

--Motion Begins--

Effective upon the date of passage, the following modifications are
made to the Baseline Requirements:

Change the following text in Section 9.6.3:
=======================
Reporting and Revocation: An obligation and warranty to promptly cease
using a Certificate and its associated Private Key, and promptly
request the CA to revoke the Certificate, in the event that: (a) any
information in the Certificate is, or becomes, incorrect or
inaccurate, or (b) there is any actual or suspected misuse or
compromise of the Subscriber’s Private Key associated with the Public
Key included in the Certificate;
=======================

To:
=======================
Reporting and Revocation: An obligation and warranty to: (a) promptly
request revocation of the Certificate, and cease using it and its
associated Private Key, if there is any actual or suspected misuse or
compromise of the Subscriber’s Private Key associated with the Public
Key included in the Certificate; and (b) promptly request revocation
of the Certificate, and cease using it, if any information in the
Certificate is or becomes incorrect or inaccurate.
=======================

--Motion Ends--

The review period for this ballot shall commence at 2200 UTC on 14
July 2016, and will close at 2200 UTC on 21 July 2016. Unless the
motion is withdrawn during the review period, the voting period will
start immediately thereafter and will close at 2200 UTC on 28 July
2016. Votes must be cast by posting an on-list reply to this thread.

A vote in favor of the motion must indicate a clear 'yes' in the
response. A vote against must indicate a clear 'no' in the response. A
vote to abstain must indicate a clear 'abstain' in the response.
Unclear responses will not be counted. The latest vote received from
any representative of a voting member before the close of the voting
period will be counted. Voting members are listed here:
https://cabforum.org/members/

In order for the motion to be adopted, two thirds or more of the votes
cast by members in the CA category and greater than 50% of the votes
cast by members in the browser category must be in favor. Quorum is
currently ten (10) members– at least ten members must participate in
the ballot, either by voting in favor, voting against, or abstaining.

-- 
Josh Aas
Executive Director
Internet Security Research Group
Let's Encrypt: A Free, Automated, and Open CA