Certificate Revocation List Serving Through Repository Mapping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Network entities face challenges in maintaining and updating Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs) which can lead to outdated CRLs, causing authentication failures and authentication of digital certificates, thereby impacting compliance with security protocols for authenticating network entities.
Innovation Solution
A system identifies and serves CRLs from a CRL repository to a set of network entities based on a mapping of available CRL identifiers to a corresponding CRL repository, which serves the CRL repository to the network entities, thereby improving compliance with security protocols for authenticating network entities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If network entities maintain and update CRLs themselves, then they can ensure current CRL information, but the operational complexity and resource requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The CRL distribution point automatically serves CRLs to network entities without requiring manual intervention. The system self-manages the distribution process by receiving requests from network entities and automatically providing the appropriate CRL based on the request parameters, eliminating the need for manual CRL maintenance while ensuring currency.
Solution Approach 2:
A CRL distribution point acts as an intermediary between the CRL repository and network entities. This intermediary receives CRL requests from network entities, retrieves the appropriate CRL from the repository, and serves it to the requesting entity, simplifying the operational burden on network entities while ensuring they receive current CRL information.
2Reliability
If network entities periodically check for CRL updates, then they can obtain current CRL information, but authentication delays and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
CRLs are prepared and made available at the distribution point in advance before being requested. The system pre-loads or maintains CRLs ready for immediate retrieval, so when a network entity needs to authenticate another entity, the CRL information is already available and can be retrieved instantly without waiting for periodic updates or generation.
Solution Approach 2:
The manual periodic checking mechanism is replaced with an automated on-demand retrieval system. Network entities simply request CRLs when needed, and the distribution point automatically provides them, eliminating the time loss associated with periodic scheduling and mechanical update processes.
3Productivity
If CRL requests are processed without validation, then processing speed is faster, but authentication security and compliance are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The distribution point implements feedback validation by checking whether the requested CRL identifier matches an available CRL in the repository before processing the request. This validation feedback mechanism ensures that only legitimate CRL requests are fulfilled, maintaining authentication security while allowing rapid processing of valid requests through the mapping lookup.
Data Source
AI summary
Operations may include receiving, from a first network entity, a first request for a first certificate revocation list (CRL) that identifies a first CRL distribution point (CDP) corresponding to the first CRL; mapping the first CDP to a first CRL identifier of a set of available CRL identifiers; locating, in a CRL repository, a first CRL based on the first CRL identifier; and transmitting the first CRL to the first network entity.