ietf-smime
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RE: Certs-only Mechanism for X.400 Transport

2001-02-22 10:03:16
Chris,

RFC 2633 hints that CRLs can be sent in a similar format to a cert only
message. It then states that for a cert only message the smime type is
"certs-only".

I interpret the text in 3.6 of RFC 2633 as telling me that a CRL only
message could be sent in a similar way as the cert only message but would
have a "crl-only" smime type.

I can't comment on how CRLs are commonly sent.

If you don't believe that you will use the same mechanism to transport CRLs
as certs I would suggest removing the text "This format can also be used to
convey CRLs".

Bill.

-----Original Message-----
From: Bonatti, Chris [mailto:BonattiC(_at_)ieca(_dot_)com]
Sent: 21 February 2001 17:26
To: William Ottaway
Cc: ietf-smime(_at_)imc(_dot_)org
Subject: Re: Certs-only Mechanism for X.400 Transport


Bill,

    I would not object to this myself, but it differs from the
treatment in
RFC 2633.  Also, I don't think CRLs are commonly sent using this
mechanism, so
I wonder about whether it's a scenario worth optimizing for.

Chris


____________________

William Ottaway wrote:

Chris,

Rather than state "This format can also be used to convey CRLs
" how about
specifying an OID for CRLs and describing how a CRL is transported, this
could be in a separate section or you could describe CRL and certificate
transport in the same section, as the only difference will be the OID.

Bill.

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-ietf-smime(_at_)mail(_dot_)imc(_dot_)org
[mailto:owner-ietf-smime(_at_)mail(_dot_)imc(_dot_)org]On Behalf Of 
Bonatti, Chris
Sent: 20 February 2001 15:22
To: ietf-smime(_at_)imc(_dot_)org
Subject: Certs-only Mechanism for X.400 Transport


    Some discussion after the December meeting, suggested that we
revise the specification for transporting S/MIME objects in X.400
(draft-ietf-smime-x400trans) to enable certs-only messages to be
readily identified.  This responds to the assumption that the
PKCS #10 certificate request may be adapted to and used in the
X.400 environment.  I admittedly didn't go down this road in my
thinking, but it seems plausible enough.

    After elaborating all the options (and doing some significant
consultation with X.400 wonks) I recommend that we use the
Encoded Information Types (EITs) facility of X.400 to distinguish
the certs-only messages.  This mechanism is non-invasive to the
security function, well-suited to the job at hand, and well
supported in the X.400 community.  The main impact to x400trans
spec is that we define a new OID value to represent the new
"certs-only" EIT.  To that end, I propose that the following new
section (see below) be inserted in the spec.

    Discussion on this point is, of course, welcome.

Chris


____________________

2.5 Certificates-only Message

The certificates-only message is used to transport certificates,
such as in response to a registration request.  This format can
also be used to convey CRLs.  The certificates-only message
consists of a single instance of CMS content of type
Signed-data.  The encapContentInfo eContent field MUST be absent
and signerInfos field MUST be empty.

The resulting certificates-only CMS content is conveyed in
accordance with section 2.2.  The following OID value is defined
to identify certificates-only messages in the X.400 transport
environment.

    id-eit-certsOnly  OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::=
        { iso(1) member-body(2) us(840) rsadsi(113549) pkcs(1)
        pkcs-9(9) smime(16) eits(***) certsOnly(1) }

Sending agents SHOULD include this OID in the
original-encoded-information-types (EITs) field of the X.400
message envelope.  Receiving agents SHOULD recognize the this OID
value in the EITs field, and process the certificates-only
appropriately according to local procedures.