[cabf_validation] [EXTERNAL]Re: Ballot Proposal: Validation Method in certificatePolicies

Wayne Thayer wthayer at mozilla.com
Wed Aug 15 09:33:50 MST 2018


To make the BIT STRING encoding work in a single extension, we should
discuss how best to collapse domain and IP address validation methods into
a single "namespace". It might be best to add explicit and unique numbering
to all the domain + IP address methods as part of the ballot to remove the
IP address "any other method". I'd like to avoid the need for a separate
mapping table (e.g. bit position 17 signifies method 3.2.2.5.3).

On Wed, Aug 15, 2018 at 9:22 AM Tim Hollebeek via Validation <
validation at cabforum.org> wrote:

> Yeah, lots of people are going to make the same mistake I did if Method 6
> is represented by bit 5 (not 6!  I like my bit numbers to be zero based, so
> you can just do the power thing).  Off by one errors are so much fun …
>
>
>
> But again, I don’t think it’s a huge problem.  Only technical people are
> staring at this stuff, and they’ll quickly learn which values correspond to
> which methods.
>
>
>
> -Tim
>
>
>
> *From:* Ryan Sleevi <sleevi at google.com>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 15, 2018 11:32 AM
> *To:* Tim Hollebeek <tim.hollebeek at digicert.com>
> *Cc:* Doug Beattie <doug.beattie at globalsign.com>; Daymion T. Reynolds <
> dreynolds at godaddy.com>; CA/Browser Forum Validation WG List <
> validation at cabforum.org>
> *Subject:* Re: [cabf_validation] [EXTERNAL]Re: Ballot Proposal:
> Validation Method in certificatePolicies
>
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 15, 2018 at 9:24 AM Tim Hollebeek <tim.hollebeek at digicert.com>
> wrote:
>
> Given that the number of 1 bits is likely low, I don’t think BIT STRING is
> that hard to read.  It just means that you’re going to have to memorize
> that Method 6 is “64” instead of 6.  It’s slightly tougher, but if you’re
> the sort of person who is capable of staring at raw ASN.1, I think you can
> cope.
>
>
>
> I'm not sure I understand your point about knowing that "Method 6 is 64".
>
>
>
> Method 6 is Bit 6.
>
> Method 7 is Bit 7.
>
> Method 139 is Bit 139.
>
>
>
> A certificate viewer that does not dive into constructed extensions would
> display the extension as its full hex (e.g. with the outer Tag and Length
> octets).
>
> A certificate viewer that does dive into constructed extensions would
> display the inner value, typically in either base2 or base16 notation. In
> Base2 notation, it's 'easy' to count which bits are set. In Base16
> notation, you can easily convert to Base2.
>
> A certificate viewer that explicitly knows about this extension can:
>
>   - Used named values for methods it recognizes - e.g. as a lookup table,
> same as OIDs)
>
>   - Alternatively, note the integer position itself for which bit was set
> - e.g. bit 1 = method 1, bit 2 = method 2 etc. - and display that as such
>
>
>
> But regardless, you shouldn't expect to see "Method 6 is 64". You'd expect
> 32, at best, but more realistically, 0x20. :)
>
>
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>
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