Ludovic Rousseau wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> On 18/10/05, Peter Tomlinson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
>> From the viewpoint of someone involved in advising on technical content
>>of the methods to be used to deliver secure services using smart cards
>>(i.e. I'm not a software developer), I am very concerned that such a
>>function is even being suggested.
> 
> 
> What would be the security risk(s) to know how many PIN tries are left
> or the total number of tries?

The VERIFY command according to ISO 7816-4 can also return the number of
tries left for a PIN:

I quote:

"P2='00' is reserved to indicate that no particular qualifier is used,
in those cards where the VERIFY command references the secret data
unambiguously.
The reference data number may be for example a password number or a
short EF identifier
When the body is empty, the command may be used either to retrieve the
number 'X' of further allowed retries (SW1-SW2='63CX') or to check
whether the verification is not required (SW1-SW2='9000')."

So at least also in this specification the same security risk is given,
if there is any.

The MuscleCardApplet does the same thing in a similar way. So if this
function is not implemented the the same functionality can be reached
with the following:

Try to verify a PIN with an invalid PIN. This returns the maximum tries
+ 1 or the tries left for a PIN.

I believe there is a use for this function in the PKCS#11 specification.

> 
>>More generally, I have been looking in
>>vain for any security model work in the MCardApplet area, as changes
>>should only be made with the agreement of a security group.
> 

Are there any specifications for a protocol which can be used for the
verification of this smart card protocol? Does GSM or EMV define one? I
have not found one.

Karsten

> 
> This list _is_ the security group :-)
> 
> I agree that a security model would be great. Please provide a draft.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> --
>  Dr. Ludovic Rousseau
>  For private mail use [EMAIL PROTECTED] and not "big brother" Google
> 
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