Re: Increment certificate serial numbers randomly
On 30.04.2014 03:57, Nikolay Elenkov wrote: What hasn't been suggested is giving each server, etc. its own sub-CA signed by the root. Then there won't be a need to have the root key at multiple places and not problems with serial. Additionally, clients will only have to install and trust the root, which should make the whole thing easier to deploy. I already mentioned this solution (not me has the many servers): this is a design failure; the certificates MUST all be signed on only one server for this reason; or each server must have its own root/intermediate CA; I want just come back to Jakob Bohm I seem to (vaguely) recall that there was once an option or standard for using a certificate-contents-related hash as the serial number, but I can't seem to find it right now. if he has already found this - I'd use it for a totally different purpose; smime.p7s Description: S/MIME Cryptographic Signature
Re: Increment certificate serial numbers randomly
On 29.04.2014 22:32, Tim Hudson wrote: On 30/04/2014 6:05 AM, Walter H. wrote: On 29.04.2014 21:38, d...@deadhat.com mailto:d...@deadhat.com wrote: This all seems unecessarily complex. Make the serial number a 256 bit or greater true random number. There will be no collisions. the serial number has maximum length ..., 256 bit is quite too big .. In X.509 terms the serial number is an ASN1 integer value so there is no real length limit. the maximum length is defined by the use of them; e.g. FF/TB accept only 128 bit or in other words, they function properly with longer serial numbers; smime.p7s Description: S/MIME Cryptographic Signature
Re: Increment certificate serial numbers randomly
Some standards (like the CA/Browser Forum guidelines) request a certain amount
of entropy (like 20 bits) to be contained within the serial number. Is there
some sort of best-practice for incorporating this small amount of real random
data into a larger unique serial number?
cheers
Mat
On Tuesday 29. April 2014 21:59:10 you wrote:
All of these approaches have already been suggested in this thread. Is it
really necessary that we go through them again?
Rich Salz's suggestion of using a UUID for the serial number makes
collisions sufficiently improbable that the possibility can be ignored, and
it's simpler than any of the other proposals.
Michael Wojcik
Technology Specialist, Micro Focus
From: owner-openssl-us...@openssl.org
[mailto:owner-openssl-us...@openssl.org] On Behalf Of Tim Hudson Sent:
Tuesday, 29 April, 2014 16:32
To: openssl-users@openssl.org
Subject: Re: Increment certificate serial numbers randomly
On 30/04/2014 6:05 AM, Walter H. wrote:
On 29.04.2014 21:38, d...@deadhat.commailto:d...@deadhat.com wrote:
This all seems unecessarily complex. Make the serial number a 256 bit or
greater true random number. There will be no collisions.
the serial number has maximum length ..., 256 bit is quite too big ..
In X.509 terms the serial number is an ASN1 integer value so there is no
real length limit. It is also pretty common to see the output of a HASH
operation used as a serial number in a certificate. However in the context
of everyone separately picking an RNG output value (on separate systems)
there is no guarantee of zero collisions.
If you are installing the same root on multiple machines that don't
coordinate then just auto-edit the serial file (if using the ca program)
and put a unique prefix on the front. Perhaps just grab the machine MAC and
add that in. And then the auto-incrementing handling will sort that out.
The serial number format is simply a hex string value.
e.g. something like this could work (and there are better ways to do this -
it is just to get you started down a path that may solve the original
posters immediate issue)
ifconfig eth0 | grep HWaddr| awk '{print $NF}'| sed -e 's/://g'; echo
00 path-to-ca-serial-file
Tim.
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report this email as spam.
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Re: Increment certificate serial numbers randomly
On 4/28/2014 10:53 AM, Mat Arge wrote: I agree with Walter, that it is not exactly good practise to have a CA key lying around on multiple servers. But anyway, if you need to do it you have to create the random serial number externally by some script and write it into the serial file (as set in the openssl configuration file used) prior to issuing the openssl ca command. As a workaround if you do not want do do this, you could set different serial number ranges on the various servers. Server1 starts at serial 1, Server2 at 0x01 and so on. You'd still have incrementally growing serial numbers (which is actually bad by itself) but from distinct ranges. I seem to (vaguely) recall that there was once an option or standard for using a certificate-contents-related hash as the serial number, but I can't seem to find it right now. As for the use of a widely shared private key, I have seen this sensibly used for test certificates, where the (insecure) test CA is trusted amongst systems configured in test mode, as long as all those systems were from the vendor who originally set up this test root and distributed the private key with their systems. Use of certificates issued by this test root would result in a very specific warning message summarizing the nature of those certificates, while still allowing technical testing of the entire security system, without exposing real (trusted) end entity private keys to insecure test and compile environments. Enjoy Jakob -- Jakob Bohm, CIO, Partner, WiseMo A/S. http://www.wisemo.com Transformervej 29, 2730 Herlev, Denmark. Direct +45 31 13 16 10 This public discussion message is non-binding and may contain errors. WiseMo - Remote Service Management for PCs, Phones and Embedded __ OpenSSL Project http://www.openssl.org User Support Mailing Listopenssl-users@openssl.org Automated List Manager majord...@openssl.org
Re: Increment certificate serial numbers randomly
On 29.04.2014 20:15, Jakob Bohm wrote: I seem to (vaguely) recall that there was once an option or standard for using a certificate-contents-related hash as the serial number, but I can't seem to find it right now. Hi, could you please try to find this; I would be interested in such - a way of serial number that doesn't make back reference in the number of certificates the CA has signed ... Thanks, Walter smime.p7s Description: S/MIME Cryptographic Signature
Re: Increment certificate serial numbers randomly
On 29.04.2014 20:15, Jakob Bohm wrote: I seem to (vaguely) recall that there was once an option or standard for using a certificate-contents-related hash as the serial number, but I can't seem to find it right now. Hi, could you please try to find this; I would be interested in such - a way of serial number that doesn't make back reference in the number of certificates the CA has signed ... Thanks, Walter This all seems unecessarily complex. Make the serial number a 256 bit or greater true random number. There will be no collisions. Making the serial number a function of the cert contents seems like a really bad idea with potential consequences down the road. __ OpenSSL Project http://www.openssl.org User Support Mailing Listopenssl-users@openssl.org Automated List Manager majord...@openssl.org
Re: Increment certificate serial numbers randomly
On 29.04.2014 21:38, d...@deadhat.com wrote: This all seems unecessarily complex. Make the serial number a 256 bit or greater true random number. There will be no collisions. the serial number has maximum length ..., 256 bit is quite too big .. smime.p7s Description: S/MIME Cryptographic Signature
Re: Increment certificate serial numbers randomly
On 30/04/2014 6:05 AM, Walter H. wrote:
On 29.04.2014 21:38, d...@deadhat.com wrote:
This all seems unecessarily complex. Make the serial number a 256 bit or
greater true random number. There will be no collisions.
the serial number has maximum length ..., 256 bit is quite too big ..
In X.509 terms the serial number is an ASN1 integer value so there is no
real length limit.
It is also pretty common to see the output of a HASH operation used as a
serial number in a certificate.
However in the context of everyone separately picking an RNG output
value (on separate systems) there is no *guarantee *of zero collisions.
If you are installing the same root on multiple machines that don't
coordinate then just auto-edit the serial file (if using the ca program)
and put a unique prefix on the front. Perhaps just grab the machine MAC
and add that in. And then the auto-incrementing handling will sort that
out. The serial number format is simply a hex string value.
e.g. something like this could work (and there are better ways to do
this - it is just to get you started down a path that may solve the
original posters immediate issue)
ifconfig eth0 | grep HWaddr| awk '{print $NF}'| sed -e 's/://g'; echo
00 path-to-ca-serial-file
Tim.
RE: Increment certificate serial numbers randomly
All of these approaches have already been suggested in this thread. Is it
really necessary that we go through them again?
Rich Salz's suggestion of using a UUID for the serial number makes collisions
sufficiently improbable that the possibility can be ignored, and it's simpler
than any of the other proposals.
Michael Wojcik
Technology Specialist, Micro Focus
From: owner-openssl-us...@openssl.org [mailto:owner-openssl-us...@openssl.org]
On Behalf Of Tim Hudson
Sent: Tuesday, 29 April, 2014 16:32
To: openssl-users@openssl.org
Subject: Re: Increment certificate serial numbers randomly
On 30/04/2014 6:05 AM, Walter H. wrote:
On 29.04.2014 21:38, d...@deadhat.commailto:d...@deadhat.com wrote:
This all seems unecessarily complex. Make the serial number a 256 bit or
greater true random number. There will be no collisions.
the serial number has maximum length ..., 256 bit is quite too big ..
In X.509 terms the serial number is an ASN1 integer value so there is no real
length limit.
It is also pretty common to see the output of a HASH operation used as a serial
number in a certificate.
However in the context of everyone separately picking an RNG output value (on
separate systems) there is no guarantee of zero collisions.
If you are installing the same root on multiple machines that don't
coordinate then just auto-edit the serial file (if using the ca program) and
put a unique prefix on the front. Perhaps just grab the machine MAC and add
that in. And then the auto-incrementing handling will sort that out. The serial
number format is simply a hex string value.
e.g. something like this could work (and there are better ways to do this - it
is just to get you started down a path that may solve the original posters
immediate issue)
ifconfig eth0 | grep HWaddr| awk '{print $NF}'| sed -e 's/://g'; echo 00
path-to-ca-serial-file
Tim.
Click herehttps://www.mailcontrol.com/sr/MZbqvYs5QwJvpeaetUwhCQ== to report
this email as spam.
This message has been scanned for malware by Websense. www.websense.com
Re: Increment certificate serial numbers randomly
On Wed, Apr 30, 2014 at 6:59 AM, Michael Wojcik michael.woj...@microfocus.com wrote: All of these approaches have already been suggested in this thread. Is it really necessary that we go through them again? What hasn't been suggested is giving each server, etc. its own sub-CA signed by the root. Then there won't be a need to have the root key at multiple places and not problems with serial. Additionally, clients will only have to install and trust the root, which should make the whole thing easier to deploy. __ OpenSSL Project http://www.openssl.org User Support Mailing Listopenssl-users@openssl.org Automated List Manager majord...@openssl.org
Re: Increment certificate serial numbers randomly
I agree with Walter, that it is not exactly good practise to have a CA key lying around on multiple servers. But anyway, if you need to do it you have to create the random serial number externally by some script and write it into the serial file (as set in the openssl configuration file used) prior to issuing the openssl ca command. As a workaround if you do not want do do this, you could set different serial number ranges on the various servers. Server1 starts at serial 1, Server2 at 0x01 and so on. You'd still have incrementally growing serial numbers (which is actually bad by itself) but from distinct ranges. cheers Mat On Sunday 27. April 2014 15:47:45 you wrote: On 26.04.2014 05:52, csa321 wrote: We've generated our own CA for self-signing certificates. The issue is that we package up the openssl install for installation on multiple servers. Therefore, the root CA we create is part of the package as well. the private key of the root CA should only exist on _ONE_ server; and as a backup on a external media; The problem is that since the CA cert will have the same serial number across all servers, copying doesn't change serial number any certificates issued from that CA, on different servers, end up having the same serial number. of course; This causes browser issues for obvious reasons. this is a design failure; the certificates MUST all be signed on only one server for this reason; or each server must have its own root/intermediate CA; Is there any way to control the incrementing of the serial number from the root CA so that it is completely random, No. signature.asc Description: This is a digitally signed message part.
RE: Increment certificate serial numbers randomly
From: owner-openssl-us...@openssl.org [mailto:owner-openssl- us...@openssl.org] On Behalf Of Mat Arge Sent: Monday, 28 April, 2014 04:54 I agree with Walter, that it is not exactly good practise to have a CA key lying around on multiple servers. But anyway, if you need to do it you have to create the random serial number externally by some script and write it into the serial file (as set in the openssl configuration file used) prior to issuing the openssl ca command. Or use something like Victor's script, rather than using the serial file. As a workaround if you do not want do do this, you could set different serial number ranges on the various servers. Server1 starts at serial 1, Server2 at 0x01 and so on. Depending on how large you want your serial numbers to get[1], and how many certificates you expect each node to sign, you could do something like using part or all of the MAC address of the host's first (non-loopback) NIC to define the range. That would avoid manually assigning ranges. You'd still have incrementally growing serial numbers (which is actually bad by itself) but from distinct ranges. As Larry pointed out, there's no reason why you couldn't assign serial numbers pseudorandomly from within the range. You could keep simply keep a file of all the serials that host has assigned and keep generating numbers until you get a new one, or pick a value (pseudo)randomly from the ones that are still available using a shuffling or counting algorithm, or even just use a generator on the range.[2] But in any event, there doesn't seem to be any reason why this couldn't be implemented with a little scripting, and it'd be better than simply picking serial numbers pseudorandomly across all the nodes and hoping the result was collision-free. As for whether it's a good idea - again that depends ENTIRELY on your threat model. So many people seem to believe that their threat model applies universally. [1] openssl x509 -serial_num uses s2i_ASN1_INTEGER to read the serial number specified on the command line, so it supports large values. I assume openssl ca does the same when reading the serial-number file, though I haven't actually checked. [2] Of course, if you used a generator, an attacker who observed a few adjacent serial-number values could determine what parameters you used, and you'd be back to, in effect, incrementing serials. Whether that's a risk depends on your threat model. -- Michael Wojcik Technology Specialist, Micro Focus This message has been scanned for malware by Websense. www.websense.com
RE: Increment certificate serial numbers randomly
If you are comfortable with the key existing (online?) in multiple places, make the serial number be a UUID treated as a BIGNUM. -- Principal Security Engineer Akamai Technologies, Cambridge, MA IM: rs...@jabber.me; Twitter: RichSalz
RE: Increment certificate serial numbers randomly
From: owner-openssl-us...@openssl.org [mailto:owner-openssl- us...@openssl.org] On Behalf Of Salz, Rich Sent: Monday, 28 April, 2014 09:37 If you are comfortable with the key existing (online?) in multiple places, make the serial number be a UUID treated as a BIGNUM. Yes, that's a much simpler solution. It should be trivial to script that - just generate the UUID and write it to the serial-number file as 0x followed by hex digits before invoking openssl ca. On Windows you can script generating the UUID with cscript, Powershell, or wmic - there are various examples online. On Linux, UNIX, and iOS, use uuidgen (you may have to grab the source and build it). uuidgen is also available for Windows, e.g. as part of Cygwin. -- Michael Wojcik Technology Specialist, Micro Focus This message has been scanned for malware by Websense. www.websense.com
Increment certificate serial numbers randomly
Hello, We've generated our own CA for self-signing certificates. The issue is that we package up the openssl install for installation on multiple servers. Therefore, the root CA we create is part of the package as well. The problem is that since the CA cert will have the same serial number across all servers, any certificates issued from that CA, on different servers, end up having the same serial number. This causes browser issues for obvious reasons. Is there any way to control the incrementing of the serial number from the root CA so that it is completely random, instead of incrementing by 1, which it now defaults to? That way we can have the same root CA installed on multiple machines and not run the chance of generating identical serial numbers for certificates. Thanks in advance -- View this message in context: http://openssl.6102.n7.nabble.com/Increment-certificate-serial-numbers-randomly-tp49712.html Sent from the OpenSSL - User mailing list archive at Nabble.com. __ OpenSSL Project http://www.openssl.org User Support Mailing Listopenssl-users@openssl.org Automated List Manager majord...@openssl.org
Re: Increment certificate serial numbers randomly
On 26.04.2014 05:52, csa321 wrote: We've generated our own CA for self-signing certificates. The issue is that we package up the openssl install for installation on multiple servers. Therefore, the root CA we create is part of the package as well. the private key of the root CA should only exist on _ONE_ server; and as a backup on a external media; The problem is that since the CA cert will have the same serial number across all servers, copying doesn't change serial number any certificates issued from that CA, on different servers, end up having the same serial number. of course; This causes browser issues for obvious reasons. this is a design failure; the certificates MUST all be signed on only one server for this reason; or each server must have its own root/intermediate CA; Is there any way to control the incrementing of the serial number from the root CA so that it is completely random, No. smime.p7s Description: S/MIME Cryptographic Signature
