S/MIME Version 2 Certificate Handling
RFC 2312
Document | Type |
RFC - Historic
(March 1998; No errata)
Was draft-dusse-smime-cert (individual)
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Authors | Blake Ramsdell , Jeff Weinstein , Paul Hoffman , Steve Dusse | ||
Last updated | 2013-03-02 | ||
Stream | Legacy | ||
Formats | plain text html pdf htmlized bibtex | ||
Stream | Legacy state | (None) | |
Consensus Boilerplate | Unknown | ||
RFC Editor Note | (None) | ||
IESG | IESG state | RFC 2312 (Historic) | |
Telechat date | |||
Responsible AD | (None) | ||
Send notices to | (None) |
Network Working Group S. Dusse Request for Comments: 2312 RSA Data Security Category: Informational P. Hoffman Internet Mail Consortium B. Ramsdell Worldtalk J. Weinstein Netscape March 1998 S/MIME Version 2 Certificate Handling Status of this Memo This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this memo is unlimited. Copyright Notice Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1998). All Rights Reserved. 1. Overview S/MIME (Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions), described in [SMIME-MSG], provides a method to send and receive secure MIME messages. In order to validate the keys of a message sent to it, an S/MIME agent needs to certify that the key is valid. This memo describes the mechanisms S/MIME uses to create and validate keys using certificates. This specification is compatible with PKCS #7 in that it uses the data types defined by PKCS #7. It also inherits all the varieties of architectures for certificate-based key management supported by PKCS #7. Note that the method S/MIME messages make certificate requests is defined in [SMIME-MSG]. In order to handle S/MIME certificates, an agent has to follow specifications in this memo, as well as some of the specifications listed in the following documents: - "PKCS #1: RSA Encryption", [PKCS-1]. - "PKCS #7: Cryptographic Message Syntax", [PKCS-7] - "PKCS #10: Certification Request Syntax", [PKCS-10]. Dusse, et. al. Informational [Page 1] RFC 2312 S/MIME Version 2 Certificate Handling March 1998 Please note: The information in this document is historical material being published for the public record. It is not an IETF standard. The use of the word "standard" in this document indicates a standard for adopters of S/MIME version 2, not an IETF standard. 1.1 Definitions For the purposes of this memo, the following definitions apply. ASN.1: Abstract Syntax Notation One, as defined in CCITT X.208. BER: Basic Encoding Rules for ASN.1, as defined in CCITT X.209. Certificate: A type that binds an entity's distinguished name to a public key with a digital signature. This type is defined in CCITT X.509 [X.509]. This type also contains the distinguished name of the certificate issuer (the signer), an issuer-specific serial number, the issuer's signature algorithm identifier, and a validity period. Certificate Revocation List (CRL): A type that contains information about certificates whose validity an issuer has prematurely revoked. The information consists of an issuer name, the time of issue, the next scheduled time of issue, and a list of certificate serial numbers and their associated revocation times. The CRL is signed by the issuer. The type intended by this specification is the one defined in [KEYM]. DER: Distinguished Encoding Rules for ASN.1, as defined in CCITT X.509. 1.2 Compatibility with Prior Practice of S/MIME Appendix C contains important information about how S/MIME agents following this specification should act in order to have the greatest interoperability with earlier implementations of S/MIME. 1.3 Terminology Throughout this memo, the terms MUST, MUST NOT, SHOULD, and SHOULD NOT are used in capital letters. This conforms to the definitions in [MUSTSHOULD]. [MUSTSHOULD] defines the use of these key words to help make the intent of standards track documents as clear as possible. The same key words are used in this document to help implementors achieve interoperability. Dusse, et. al. Informational [Page 2] RFC 2312 S/MIME Version 2 Certificate Handling March 1998 2. PKCS #7 Options The PKCS #7 message format allows for a wide variety of options in content and algorithm support. This section puts forth a number of support requirements and recommendations in order to achieve a base level of interoperability among all S/MIME implementations. Most of the PKCS #7 format for S/MIME messages is defined in [SMIME-MSG]. 2.1 CertificateRevocationLists Receiving agents MUST support for the Certificate Revocation List (CRL) format defined in [KEYM]. If sending agents include CRLs in outgoing messages, the CRL format defined in [KEYM] MUST be used. All agents MUST validate CRLs and check certificates against CRLs, ifShow full document text