[Servercert-wg] - Sunsetting use of WHOIS to identify Domain Contacts

Mon Sep 16 17:12:37 UTC 2024

Thanks for putting this together Ryan. As some might be aware Amazon began a process earlier this year to remove use of this method. (https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/security/aws-certificate-manager-will-discontinue-whois-lookup-for-email-validated-certificates/)

We got feedback from customers that for some this is a non-trivial dependency to remove. It’s not uncommon for companies to have built automation on top of email validation. Based on the information we got I recommend a date of April 30, 2025.

From: Servercert-wg <servercert-wg-bounces at cabforum.org> On Behalf Of Ben Wilson via Servercert-wg
Sent: Monday, September 16, 2024 9:16 AM
To: Pedro FUENTES <pfuentes at wisekey.com>; CA/B Forum Server Certificate WG Public Discussion List <servercert-wg at cabforum.org>
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] [Servercert-wg] [EXTERNAL]- Sunsetting use of WHOIS to identify Domain Contacts

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Mozilla will endorse, too, if needed.
Thanks,
Ben

On Mon, Sep 16, 2024 at 9:06 AM Pedro FUENTES via Servercert-wg <servercert-wg at cabforum.org<mailto:servercert-wg at cabforum.org>> wrote:
OISTE would endorse this initiative

On 16 Sep 2024, at 16:32, Ryan Dickson via Servercert-wg <Servercert-wg at cabforum.org<mailto:Servercert-wg at cabforum.org>> wrote:

All,

In light of recent events where research from WatchTowr Labs demonstrated how threat actors could exploit WHOIS to obtain fraudulently issued TLS certificates [1] and follow-on discussions in MDSP [2][3], we drafted an introductory proposal [4] to sunset the use of WHOIS for identifying Domain Contacts.

The proposal sets a prohibition against relying on WHOIS to identify Domain Contacts beginning 11/1/2024.

While publicly-trusted CA Owners are required to disclose and maintain in-use DCV methods to the CCADB [5], the collected data lacks specificity, hindering our ability to assess the extent of reliance on WHOIS and the potential impact of transitioning away from it.

Feedback on the proposal (preferably using comments or suggestions on the Pull Request via GitHub) along with volunteers for endorsers would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Ryan

P.S., I apologize if this effort is redundant to discussions already taking place in the Forum, I was traveling last week and am catching up on email.

[1] https://labs.watchtowr.com/we-spent-20-to-achieve-rce-and-accidentally-became-the-admins-of-mobi/<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__labs.watchtowr.com_we-2Dspent-2D20-2Dto-2Dachieve-2Drce-2Dand-2Daccidentally-2Dbecame-2Dthe-2Dadmins-2Dof-2Dmobi_&d=DwMFaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=-bX5hBm1IdRDykQ-dBR8tsFRCM4v1VXUyG7RZa2WqPY&m=1CJcldkOKNaH6Tu9kiTliBmTMzTdtFrQ0USL5juRHSkA78re2Z_FuT3Hr1z1Cd6m&s=qZzpnP-57sE4nQ6LxHM50ULVrjSKSIk2Fccl0d8PESE&e=>
[2] https://groups.google.com/a/mozilla.org/g/dev-security-policy/c/FuOi_uhQB6U<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__groups.google.com_a_mozilla.org_g_dev-2Dsecurity-2Dpolicy_c_FuOi-5FuhQB6U&d=DwMFaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=-bX5hBm1IdRDykQ-dBR8tsFRCM4v1VXUyG7RZa2WqPY&m=1CJcldkOKNaH6Tu9kiTliBmTMzTdtFrQ0USL5juRHSkA78re2Z_FuT3Hr1z1Cd6m&s=31lolz5JP-8ykEL9HDAxaX6AcVj3rFj7LwOwRxwFkZg&e=>
[3] https://groups.google.com/a/mozilla.org/g/dev-security-policy/c/mAl9XjieSkA<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__groups.google.com_a_mozilla.org_g_dev-2Dsecurity-2Dpolicy_c_mAl9XjieSkA&d=DwMFaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=-bX5hBm1IdRDykQ-dBR8tsFRCM4v1VXUyG7RZa2WqPY&m=1CJcldkOKNaH6Tu9kiTliBmTMzTdtFrQ0USL5juRHSkA78re2Z_FuT3Hr1z1Cd6m&s=37YIE6Jw_R8c8obIjNP3qo3yo9YW36r4WMZH76HyUGM&e=>
[4] https://github.com/cabforum/servercert/pull/548<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__github.com_cabforum_servercert_pull_548&d=DwMFaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=-bX5hBm1IdRDykQ-dBR8tsFRCM4v1VXUyG7RZa2WqPY&m=1CJcldkOKNaH6Tu9kiTliBmTMzTdtFrQ0USL5juRHSkA78re2Z_FuT3Hr1z1Cd6m&s=vBGh-YJqmgDPKGnq5cAcEuu__uSmeZaCK_EGoFkB-Kc&e=>
[5] https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IXL8Yk12gPQs8GXiosXCPLPgATJilaiVy-f9SbsMA28/edit?gid=268412787#gid=268412787<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__docs.google.com_spreadsheets_d_1IXL8Yk12gPQs8GXiosXCPLPgATJilaiVy-2Df9SbsMA28_edit-3Fgid-3D268412787-23gid-3D268412787&d=DwMFaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=-bX5hBm1IdRDykQ-dBR8tsFRCM4v1VXUyG7RZa2WqPY&m=1CJcldkOKNaH6Tu9kiTliBmTMzTdtFrQ0USL5juRHSkA78re2Z_FuT3Hr1z1Cd6m&s=nHPN4vmJhl30c7Nh_y7NmG73eUtxjUstZR6YNcUH0o4&e=>

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