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Date:      Thu, 18 May 2000 11:54:31 -0400 (EDT)
From:      Garrett Wollman <wollman@khavrinen.lcs.mit.edu>
To:        Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com>
Cc:        security@FreeBSD.org
Subject:   CAs (was: Re: HEADS UP: New host key for freefall!)
Message-ID:  <200005181554.LAA05366@khavrinen.lcs.mit.edu>
In-Reply-To: <3923A26C.2E61D1E1@softweyr.com>
References:  <Pine.NEB.3.96L.1000517091336.20229A-100000@fledge.watson.org> <Pine.BSF.4.21.0005170922460.48263-100000@freefall.freebsd.org> <200005171951.PAA15001@khavrinen.lcs.mit.edu> <3923A26C.2E61D1E1@softweyr.com>

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<<On Thu, 18 May 2000 01:57:32 -0600, Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com> said:

> Right.  Our needs are relatively simple:

>  o Generate and keep safe a CA key.

Sure.

>  o Sign a certificate request for each committer.

I don't see that this is necessary or useful.

>  o Generate and keep safe a certificate for each "hat".

Generate and keep safe a *key* for each role account.  The certificate
itself is by design public knowledge.

>  o Be able to transfer certificates from one person to another when a
>    new head fills a "hat".

Again, s/certificate/key/g.

> There is a lot more than email to be considered here.  New SSH keys
> for freefall could be much more easily posted on a secure web page
> than emailed to the whole world.

But doing so wouldn't prove anything.  In a case like this, the new
key needs to be vouched for by a specific person: the person who
installed the new key (in this case, the root@FreeBSD.org role
account).  In such a circumstance, X.509 has little advantage and lots
of unnecessary complexity and cost over something like PGP.

-GAWollman

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