Certificate Revocation Handling in Declarative Security Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing information handling systems face challenges in managing certificate-based security for declarative operations, particularly in handling revocations of certificates that are long-lived and distributed across multiple nodes, which can lead to security issues and unintended behavior.
Innovation Solution
The system implements a certificate-based security model that verifies certificates only when a declarative request is initially made and re-checks the certificate upon trigger events, such as system reboots or state changes, using Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs) and priority revocation levels to manage revocations and maintain security policies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If certificates are verified only when declarative requests are initially made, then system performance is improved and service disruptions are reduced, but security is worsened due to potential use of revoked certificates
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements periodic re-validation of certificates at scheduled intervals during declarative operations, rather than continuous verification. This periodic checking mechanism balances security requirements with system performance by validating certificates at appropriate moments without constant overhead.
Solution Approach 2:
The system establishes feedback mechanisms through trigger events (such as system reboots, state changes, or scheduled intervals) that initiate certificate re-validation. This feedback loop ensures revoked certificates are detected while maintaining system efficiency by only re-validating when necessary conditions are met.
2Reliability
If certificates are continuously validated, then security is improved, but system performance is worsened due to service disruptions
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of continuous validation, the system performs certificate verification at periodic intervals triggered by specific events such as system reboots, state changes, or scheduled times. This approach maintains security by regularly checking certificate validity while avoiding the performance overhead of continuous verification.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs certificate validation in advance before critical operations occur, and caches the validation results for use during subsequent operations. This preliminary action ensures security is maintained while preventing service disruptions during the actual declarative operations.
3Device complexity
If certificate revocations are handled without priority levels, then system complexity is reduced, but security is worsened due to inability to differentiate critical revocations
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different handling strategies to different types of certificate revocations based on their priority levels. Critical revocations trigger immediate actions and notifications, while non-critical revocations are handled with standard procedures. This localized differentiation enhances security for important cases without uniformly increasing system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system combines multiple certificate validation approaches with priority-based classification, creating a composite security mechanism. Different validation strategies and response actions are applied based on the priority level of the certificate and the nature of the revocation, allowing nuanced security handling without excessive complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
An endpoint node of a multiple node environment includes a storage and a processor. The storage stores a public key for an owner of the endpoint node. The processor receives a declarative request. The declarative request includes a signed certificate and a job to be performed in the endpoint node. In response to reception of the declarative request, the processor determines that the signed certificate is valid, and begins execution of the job associated with the declarative request. In response to a trigger event, the processor re-checks the signed certificate, and determines whether the signed certificate has been revoked. In response to the signed certificate being revoked, the processor performs an action indicated in a policy in the storage.