Certificate state confirmation device and method for confirming state of certificate

Abstract

To provide a certificate state confirmation device which can suppress increase of the management cost of an electronic certificate even if attribute information includes information which is dynamically changed.SOLUTION: An authentication state response server 12 confirms the state of attribute information included in an electronic certificate in a case where an operation server 14 receives a connection request and acquires the electronic certificate from a client apparatus 15 as a transmission source of the connection request, and notifies the operation server 14 of the state confirmation result, which is the result of the confirmation.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a certificate status checking device and a certificate status checking method. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, a plurality of information processing devices cooperate with each other to perform various processes. In such cases, it may be difficult to determine whether or not to cooperate with the other information processing devices because the reliability of the other information processing devices, such as their vulnerability response status, is unknown.

[0003] In response to this, it is conceivable to grasp the trustworthiness of information processing by describing trustworthiness information indicating the trustworthiness of an information processing device as attribute information in an electronic certificate. However, new vulnerability information on vulnerabilities is published every day, and the trustworthiness of vulnerability response status and the like also changes daily. For this reason, when describing trustworthiness in an electronic certificate, it becomes necessary to reissue the electronic certificate every time the situation changes, which causes problems such as cumbersome operations for updating the electronic certificate and an increase in the capacity of the CRL (Certificate Revocation List), which is a certificate revocation list that describes revoked electronic certificates.

[0004] In response to this, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that aims to improve the efficiency of operation and management of electronic certificates by issuing an attribute certificate indicating attribute information of the information processing device to which the electronic certificate is issued separately from the electronic certificate. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2003-233594 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, the technology described in Patent Document 1 has the problem that the management costs for understanding attribute information are high because it is necessary to reissue an attribute certificate every time dynamically changing attribute information, such as credibility information, is updated.

[0007] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a certificate status checking device and a certificate status checking method that are capable of suppressing an increase in the management costs of electronic certificates even when attribute information includes information that is dynamically changed. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] A certificate status checking device according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a certificate status checking device that checks the status of an electronic certificate, and has a control unit that, when a communication device that receives a connection request obtains an electronic certificate from the sender of the connection request, checks the status of attribute information included in the electronic certificate and notifies the communication device of the status check result, which is the result of the check. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress an increase in the management costs of electronic certificates even when attribute information includes information that is dynamically changed. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a certificate issuing process. [Diagram 3] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a communication establishment process. [Figure 4] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a communication establishment process. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an electronic certificate. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a revocation confirmation request. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a revocation check result. [Figure 8] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a business server screen. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of each device constituting the communication system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0012] Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The communication system illustrated in Fig. 1 includes a certificate authority server 11, an authentication status response server 12, a vulnerability response status management server 13, a business server 14, and a client device 15. The certificate authority server 11, the authentication status response server 12, the vulnerability response status management server 13, the business server 14, and the client device 15 can be connected to each other via a communication network 16 so as to be able to communicate with each other.

[0013] The certificate authority server 11, the authentication status response server 12, and the vulnerability response status management server 13 constitute a trust management system for guaranteeing the trustworthiness (trust) of target devices. In this embodiment, the target devices are a business server 14 and a client device 15.

[0014] The certificate authority server 11 is an electronic certificate authority that issues and revokes electronic certificates. For example, the certificate authority server 11 issues electronic certificates in response to a request for issuance of an electronic certificate from a target device, and generates and manages a CRL, which is a certificate revocation list that lists revoked electronic certificates.

[0015] The certificate status response server 12 is a certificate status confirmation device that confirms the status of the electronic certificate issued by the certificate authority server 11 in response to a request from a target device and responds.

[0016] The vulnerability response status management server 13 is a management device that manages the vulnerability response status, which is the response status for vulnerabilities in target devices. The vulnerability response status management server 13 manages vulnerability management information related to vulnerabilities of each target device to be managed (more specifically, for each applicant information described later). The vulnerability management information indicates, for each vulnerability information indicating a vulnerability of the target device, whether or not the vulnerability is being addressed.

[0017] At least two of the certification authority server 11, the authentication status response server 12, and the vulnerability response status management server 13 may be physically implemented in one device. For example, the certification authority server 11 and the authentication status response server 12 may be implemented in one device.

[0018] The business server 14 and the client device 15 are communication devices that authenticate each other using a trust management system (11 to 13) and establish communication with each other if the authentication is successful.

[0019] 2 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a certificate issuance process for issuing a digital certificate by the communication system of this embodiment. Note that the business server 14 and the client device 15 perform the same process in the certificate issuance process, and therefore are collectively referred to as the target device here.

[0020] First, the target device creates a request for issuing an electronic certificate and transmits it to the certificate authority server 11 (step S1001). The request for issuing an electronic certificate includes applicant information for identifying the target device.

[0021] The certificate authority server 11 receives the request for issuing a digital certificate (step S1002). The certificate authority server 11 performs identity verification of the target device that is the sender of the issuance request, based on the applicant information of the issuance request (step S1003). Here, it is assumed that the identity verification is successful.

[0022] In this case, the certificate authority server 11 sends a management confirmation request to the vulnerability response status management server 13 to request confirmation of whether or not the vulnerability response status of the target device that is the sender of the issuance request is being managed (step S1004). The management confirmation request includes the applicant information.

[0023] The vulnerability response status management server 13 receives the management confirmation request (step S1005). The vulnerability response status management server 13 executes a management confirmation process to check whether the vulnerability response status of the target device that is the sender of the issuance request is being managed by checking the applicant information included in the management confirmation request against the applicant information included in the vulnerability management information (step S1006).

[0024] The vulnerability response status management server 13 transmits the management confirmation result, which is the confirmation result of the management confirmation process, to the certificate authority server 11 (step S1007). When the vulnerability response status of the target device is being managed, the management confirmation result includes a device ID, which is identification information for identifying the target device. The device ID is identification information managed by the vulnerability response status management server 13 and is different from the applicant information. For example, the vulnerability response status management server 13 may associate the device ID with the applicant information in advance in the vulnerability management information, or may generate the device ID after the management confirmation process.

[0025] The certificate authority server 11 receives the management confirmation result (step S1008). The certificate authority server 11 issues an electronic certificate for the target device (step S1009). The electronic certificate includes predefined basic information and extended information other than the basic information. In this embodiment, the extended information includes trust information indicating the trustworthiness of the target device as attribute information of the target device. The trust information includes static information whose state (value) is determined and dynamic information whose state changes. The dynamic information includes vulnerability response information indicating the vulnerability response status of the target device. In this embodiment, if the management confirmation result indicates the success of the management confirmation process (i.e., if the vulnerability response status of the target device is managed), the certificate authority server 11 adds the device ID included in the management confirmation result to the extension area (extension field) of the electronic certificate as vulnerability response information. Note that if the management confirmation result indicates the failure of the management confirmation process, the electronic certificate does not have to be issued.

[0026] Then, the certificate authority server 11 transmits the issued electronic certificate to the target device (step S1010). The target device receives and stores the electronic certificate (step S1011), and ends the process.

[0027] 3 and 4 are sequence diagrams for explaining an example of a communication establishment process for establishing communication between the business server 14 and the client device 15. Here, an example is explained in which the client device 15 establishes communication with the business server 14, but similar processing is also performed on the business server 14 when the business server 14 and the client device 15 establish communication with each other.

[0028] The authentication status response server 12 periodically transmits a CRL acquisition request to the authentication authority server 11 (step S2001). When the authentication authority server 11 receives the CRL acquisition request (step S2002), it transmits the CRL it holds to the authentication status response server 12 in response to the request (step S2003). The authentication status response server 12 receives and stores the CRL (step S2004).

[0029] Furthermore, when establishing communication with the business server 14, the client device 15 transmits a connection request to the business server 14 (step S2005). When the business server 14 receives the connection request (step S2006), it transmits a request to send an electronic certificate to the client device 15 (step S2007). When the client device 15 receives the request (step S2008), it transmits its own electronic certificate stored in step S1011 of FIG. 2 as a client certificate to the business server 14 (step S2009). When the business server 14 receives the client certificate (step S2010), it verifies the client certificate (step S2011). The verification of the client certificate is the same process as the verification of a normal electronic certificate, so a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0030] Next, the business server 14 transmits to the authentication status response server 12 a revocation confirmation request for confirming whether the client certificate has been revoked and a status confirmation request for confirming the vulnerability response status of the client device 15 that transmitted the client certificate (step S2012). In this embodiment, the business server 14 adds the status confirmation request to an extension area (extension field) of the revocation confirmation request and transmits it. The status confirmation request also includes the device ID in the client certificate.

[0031] When the authentication status response server 12 receives the revocation check request including the status check request (step S2013), it executes a revocation status check process to check whether the client certificate has been revoked based on the revocation check request and the CRL stored in step S2004 (step S2014).

[0032] After that, the authentication status response server 12 executes a process of checking the status of the attribute information included in the client certificate (steps S2015 to S2018).

[0033] Here, the authentication status response server 12 checks the status of the vulnerability response information, which is dynamic information, as the status of the attribute information. Specifically, the authentication status response server 12 first transmits a status confirmation request included in the revocation confirmation request to the vulnerability response status management server 13 (step S2015). Upon receiving the status confirmation request (step S2016), the vulnerability response status management server 13 checks the vulnerability management information corresponding to the device ID in the status confirmation request to check the response status of the vulnerability in the client device 15, and transmits the confirmation result as the status confirmation result to the authentication status response server 12 (step S2017). Upon receiving the status confirmation result, the authentication status response server 12 checks the status of the vulnerability response information (step S2018).

[0034] Then, the authentication status response server 12 transmits the status confirmation result received in step S2018 and the revocation confirmation result, which is the confirmation result by the revocation status confirmation process in step S2014, to the business server 14 (step S2019). In this embodiment, the authentication status response server 12 adds the status confirmation result to an extension area (extension field) of the revocation confirmation result and transmits it.

[0035] When the business server 14 receives the revocation check result including the status check result (step S2020), it checks the status check result and the revocation check result, and executes a connection permission judgment process to determine whether or not to permit a connection with the client device 15 (step S2021). In the connection permission judgment process, the business server 14 may automatically determine whether or not to permit a connection with the client device 15 by judging whether or not the status check result and the revocation check result match predetermined conditions. The business server 14 may also display the status check result, and inquire of an administrator who manages the business server 14 as to whether or not to permit a connection with the client device 15, and have the administrator enter the result.

[0036] Then, the business server 14 transmits the authentication result, which is the processing result of the connection permission determination process, to the client device 15 (step S2022). The client device 15 receives and confirms the authentication result (step S2023).

[0037] If the authentication result indicates that the connection permission determination process was successful, the client device 15 establishes communication with the business server 14 (step S2024) and ends the process.

[0038] The certificate issuing process and communication establishment process described above are merely examples and are not limited to these. For example, the authentication status response server 12 may obtain a CRL from the certificate authority server 11 each time it receives a revocation check request, instead of obtaining and storing the CRL in advance.

[0039] 5 is a diagram showing an example of a digital certificate according to this embodiment. The digital certificate 500 shown in FIG.

[0040] The basic field 501 is a basic area for storing basic information predefined as a digital certificate, including, for example, the version of the digital certificate, the serial number, the signature algorithm, the certificate issuer name, the validity period, the owner name, and the public key.

[0041] The extension field 502 is an extension area for storing extension information other than the basic information. In this embodiment, the extension information includes trust information indicating the trustworthiness of the target device as attribute information of the target device. The trust information includes privilege information indicating the authority of a user who uses the target device, authenticity information indicating the degree of legitimacy of the target device as an object, reliability information including a vulnerability response status, and protection information indicating the degree to which the target device is protected.

[0042] In this embodiment, the reliability information includes a device ID when the vulnerability response status is managed by the vulnerability response status management server 13. Furthermore, the authority information, authenticity information, and protection information are static information, and are managed for each target device by the certificate authority server 11. The reliability information is dynamic information, and the device ID is stored in the electronic certificate 500 as information indicating whether the vulnerability response status is managed. The authority information indicates, for example, an administrator (root) or a general user (user), and the authenticity information and protection information indicate numerical values ​​from 1 to 4, etc.

[0043] 6 is a diagram showing an example of a revocation check request including a status check request for checking the vulnerability response status of a target device. A revocation check request 600 shown in FIG.

[0044] The basic field 601 is a basic area for storing basic information predefined as a revocation confirmation request. This basic information includes, for example, the name of the issuer of the electronic certificate to be verified, the public key of the issuer of the electronic certificate to be verified, and the serial number of the electronic certificate to be verified. The issuer name and public key are converted using a predetermined hash function.

[0045] The extension field 602 is an extension area for storing extended information other than basic information, and in this embodiment, includes the device ID of the target device corresponding to the electronic certificate to be verified as a status confirmation request for confirming the vulnerability response status of the target device.

[0046] 7 is a diagram showing an example of a revocation check result including a status check result of checking the vulnerability response status of a target device. Revocation check information 700 shown in FIG.

[0047] The basic field 701 is a basic area for storing basic information that is predefined as revocation confirmation information. This basic information includes, for example, the issuer name of the electronic certificate to be verified, the public key of the issuer of the electronic certificate to be verified, the serial number of the electronic certificate to be verified, and revocation status information indicating whether the electronic certificate to be verified has been revoked. The issuer name and public key are converted using a predetermined hash function.

[0048] The extension field 702 is an extension area for storing extension information other than basic information, and in this embodiment, stores an extension confirmation result which is a confirmation result of the vulnerability response status of the client device 15. The extension confirmation result indicates, for example, unaddressed vulnerability information. If there is no unaddressed vulnerability information, the extension confirmation result indicates a predetermined value (for example, 0).

[0049] Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a business server screen displaying a status check result in step S2021 in Fig. 3. The business server screen 800 shown in Fig. 7 includes an inquiry statement 801 inquiring about whether or not to permit a connection with the client device 15, a device ID 802 of the client device 15, trust information 803 for the user to determine whether or not to permit a connection with the client device 15, and an input field 804 for inputting whether or not to permit a connection with the client device 15. The trust information 803 includes authority information 811, authenticity information 812, reliability information 813, and protection information 814.

[0050] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of each device (11 to 15) that configures the communication system.

[0051] As shown in FIG. 8, each device has a processor 21, a main memory 22, a recording device 23, an input device 24, a display device 25, and a communication device 26, and is realized by a computer system in which these are connected via a bus 27.

[0052] The recording device 23 is a device for recording data in a writable and readable manner, and records the program that defines the operation of the processor 21 and various information generated and used by the program. For example, the recording device 23 of the certification authority server 11 and the authentication status response server 12 stores CRLs, and the recording device 23 of the vulnerability response status management server 13 stores vulnerability management information.

[0053] The processor 21 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and is a control unit that reads out a program recorded in the recording device 23 into the main memory 22 and executes processing according to the program using the main memory 22. The processor 21 realizes the processing of the authentication status response server 12 among the various processing described in Figs. 2 to 4. The input device 24 is a device into which various information is input by an operator of the authentication status response server 12, and the information is used in the processing of the processor 21. The display device 25 is a device that displays various information. The communication device 26 communicates with other devices (such as the vulnerability response status management server 13, the certification authority server 11, the business server 14, and the client device 15) and transmits and receives various information.

[0054] At least a part of the processing by the processor 21 may be realized by a hardware circuit (for example, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) or a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)).

[0055] As described above, according to this embodiment, when the business server 14 that has received a connection request obtains an electronic certificate from the client device 15 that has sent the connection request, the processor 21 of the authentication status response server 12 checks the status of the attribute information included in the electronic certificate and notifies the business server 14 of the status check result that is the result of this check. As the status of the attribute information is checked at the time of connection, it is not necessary to issue an electronic certificate or attribute certificate every time the attribute information is updated, and therefore it is possible to suppress an increase in the management costs of electronic certificates even when the attribute information includes information that is dynamically changed.

[0056] In this embodiment, the dynamic attribute information is vulnerability response information that indicates the response status to a vulnerability of the client device 15 that is the source of the connection request. In this case, even if the vulnerability response information is written in the electronic certificate, it is possible to suppress an increase in management costs.

[0057] In this embodiment, the status check result, which is the result of checking the vulnerability response information, indicates vulnerability information that has not been addressed, making it possible to accurately grasp the vulnerability of the target device.

[0058] In this embodiment, the processor 21 of the authentication status response server 12 further checks whether the electronic certificate has been revoked and notifies the revocation check result, which is the check result, together with the status check result. In this case, it is possible to check the status of the dynamic attribute information when checking whether the electronic certificate has been revoked, making it possible to suppress an increase in management costs.

[0059] In this embodiment, the processor 21 of the authentication status response server 12 checks the status of the attribute information by inquiring of the vulnerability response status management server 13 that manages the status of the attribute information. Therefore, the authentication status response server 12 that checks the revocation of electronic certificates does not need to have information for managing the status of the attribute information.

[0060] The above-described embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrative examples of the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure to only these embodiments. A person skilled in the art can implement the present disclosure in various other forms without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. [Explanation of symbols]

[0061] 11: Certificate authority server 12: Authentication status response server 13: Vulnerability response status management server 14: Business server 15: Client device 16: Communication network 21: Processor 22: Main memory 23: Recording device 24: Input device 25: Display device 26: Communication device

Claims

1. A certificate status confirmation device for confirming the status of an electronic certificate, comprising: A certificate status verification device having a control unit that, when a communication device that receives a connection request obtains an electronic certificate from the sender of the connection request, verifies the status of attribute information contained in the electronic certificate and notifies the communication device of the status verification result, which is the result of the verification.

2. the attribute information includes static information in which the state is determined and dynamic information in which the state changes; The electronic certificate indicates a state of the static information in advance, The certificate status checking device according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit checks a status of the dynamic information.

3. The certificate status verification device according to claim 2 , wherein the dynamic information is vulnerability response information indicating, as the status, a response status against the vulnerability of the transmission source.

4. 4. The certificate status checking device according to claim 3, wherein the checking result includes vulnerability information indicating a vulnerability that is not addressed, among the vulnerability information indicating each of the vulnerabilities of the transmission source.

5. 2. The certificate status verification device according to claim 1, wherein, when the communication device acquires an electronic certificate, the control unit further verifies whether the electronic certificate has been revoked, and notifies a revocation verification result, which is the result of the verification, together with the status verification result.

6. The certificate status checking device according to claim 5 , wherein the control unit checks the state of the attribute information by inquiring about the state of the attribute information to a management device that manages the state of the attribute information.

7. A method for verifying the status of an electronic certificate by a certificate status verification device, comprising: When the communication device that has received the connection request obtains an electronic certificate from the source of the connection request, the communication device checks the state of attribute information included in the electronic certificate; and notifying the communication device of a status confirmation result, which is a result of the confirmation.

Images