Application Attestation for Secure Device Key Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
In devices with third-party components, there is no mechanism to ensure that only trusted applications can access the device-specific certificate and secret key, leading to potential man-in-the-middle attacks and security breaches, as existing certificate-based authentication methods do not adequately verify the identity of external applications.
Innovation Solution
A trustworthy module on the device collects information about applications and devices, generates an information certificate, and signs it with a secret key to create a connection request message that can be verified by communication participants, ensuring only trusted components control access to the device-specific certificate and key.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a device certificate is used for authentication, then the identity of the device can be verified, but the security is compromised because any application can access the certificate without verification
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the authentication process into two independent parts: device authentication (using the device certificate) and application authentication (using the application certificate with attestation). This segmentation ensures that the device certificate cannot be accessed by any application without proper verification, resolving the contradiction between device identity verification and preventing unauthorized access.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary attestation mechanism that verifies application credentials before allowing access to the device certificate. The attestation process acts as a mediator between the application and the device certificate, ensuring that only authorized applications can use the certificate for authentication.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If certificates are used for communication partner identification, then security against man-in-the-middle attacks is improved, but the complexity of the authentication system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-installing root certificates of trusted CAs in the device's trust store during manufacturing. This preliminary setup simplifies the runtime authentication process, as the device only needs to verify certificates against the pre-established trust store rather than performing complex verification procedures during communication.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If application certificates with attestation are implemented, then access control to secret keys is improved, but the complexity of key management increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service by having the secure element automatically generate and manage application certificates and attestation data without requiring manual intervention. The secure element autonomously creates the cryptographic key pairs, signs the attestation statements, and manages the certificate storage, thereby reducing key management complexity while maintaining strong access control.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for identifying an application (12) that is executed in an apparatus (10), to a further communication user, the method comprising: obtaining (200) a connection request for a secure connection between the application (12) and the further communication user (30); forming (202) an information element (60) which comprises at least information about the application (12); signing (204) the information element using a first secret key (52) which is part of a cryptographic asymmetrical key pair certified by an information certificate (50) issued by an external trusted agency; incorporating the signed information element (60) into a connection request message (70); signing the connection request message with a secret device-specific key which is part of a cryptographic asymmetrical key pair certified by a device-specific certificate of the apparatus; and sending the connection request message to the further communication user. The invention also relates to a method for authenticating an application to be used to establish a secure connection.