Centralized Certificate Pinning for Cloud Key Rotation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The management of pinned certificates for client applications becomes unwieldy as the number of applications increases, leading to scalability issues and risks of connectivity loss due to certificate expiration and key rotation, especially in client-cloud communication over TLS protocols.
Innovation Solution
A proxy device centrally manages certificate pinning by storing proxy site certificates and cloud site certificates, authenticating client applications, and facilitating direct communication between client devices and cloud sites using tokens, thereby reducing the need for individual certificate management by each application.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If each client application individually manages its own pinned certificates, then security authentication is maintained, but management complexity increases and scalability deteriorates as the number of applications grows
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the certificate management functions of multiple client applications into a single centralized proxy service. Instead of each application managing its own certificates, they all route through the proxy which maintains a unified certificate store, thereby reducing management complexity while preserving security authentication through the pinning mechanism
Solution Approach 2:
The proxy service performs multiple functions: it acts as a certificate repository, authentication intermediary, and connection facilitator for all client applications. This universal service handles certificate pinning for multiple applications simultaneously, eliminating the need for each application to have dedicated certificate management infrastructure
2Reliability
If individual applications manage their own pinned certificates, then direct authentication with cloud sites is maintained, but time and resources are lost due to manual renewal tracking and certificate expiration management
Solution Approach 1:
The proxy service automatically manages certificate renewals and rotations without requiring manual intervention from application developers or users. The system monitors certificate expiration dates and handles renewals autonomously, freeing up time and resources while maintaining continuous authentication capability
Solution Approach 2:
The proxy service proactively monitors certificate expiration dates and initiates renewal processes before certificates expire. This preliminary action prevents authentication disruptions and eliminates the need for reactive manual intervention, saving time and ensuring continuous security
3Object-affected harmful factors
If multiple client applications use certificate pinning, then security against MITM attacks is improved, but the risk of connectivity loss increases due to certificate expiration and cloud key rotation
Solution Approach 1:
The proxy service acts as an intermediary between client applications and cloud sites, managing the certificate pinning process. It maintains the pinned certificates and handles the authentication logic, allowing the system to protect against MITM attacks while managing the complexity of certificate updates and cloud key rotation centrally, thereby improving connectivity reliability
Data Source
AI summary
A method is provided for storing a proxy site certificate and up-to-date cloud site certificates for cloud site(s), receiving a request from a client application executing on a client device to access one or more of the cloud site(s), the client device being a computing device, authenticating with the client application using the proxy site certificate and based on the proxy site certificate being pinned to the client application, requesting a secure connection with the cloud site(s) on behalf of the client application, receiving, in response to the request, a site certificate for each of the cloud site(s), authorizing with the cloud site(s) on behalf of the client application using the received site certificate for each of the cloud site(s) and the certificate data stored for each of the respective cloud site(s), and facilitating direct communication between the client application and the cloud site(s) that were successfully authorized.