Network Device Self-Service Certificate Provisioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for provisioning and managing client-device certificates for secure services in networks are complex and time-consuming due to reliance on external certificate authorities, leading to inefficiencies in establishing trust relationships and revoking certificates, which can result in insecure access to secure services.
Innovation Solution
A network device is enabled to provision and manage client-device certificates independently, generating signing certificates based on a root certificate to establish trust and validate the authenticity of client devices, allowing secure access to services without relying on external authorities, and maintaining a local certificate revocation list for efficient validation and revocation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If external certificate authorities are used for provisioning and managing certificates, then security and trust establishment are improved, but system complexity and time consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The network device performs certificate provisioning and management operations independently without requiring external certificate authorities. The device generates its own signing certificates, signs client-device certificates, and maintains local revocation lists, enabling self-service certificate management that reduces external dependencies while maintaining security
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the certificate authority functionality from external systems and embeds it within the network device itself. By taking out the dependency on external CAs and implementing local certificate generation, signing, and revocation capabilities, the system eliminates the complexity of external interactions while preserving trust establishment
2Reliability
If external certificate authorities are used for certificate provisioning, then certificate validation is improved, but provisioning time and process complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The network device performs preliminary actions by generating signing certificates and establishing certificate signing capabilities locally before any client-device certificate provisioning is needed. This preliminary setup enables immediate certificate signing and validation operations without time-consuming external CA interactions
Solution Approach 2:
The device independently signs client-device certificates using its locally stored signing certificates and validates them against local revocation lists, eliminating the time delay of external CA communication while maintaining validation reliability
3Reliability
If complete certificate revocation lists are stored externally, then certificate revocation validation is improved, but memory usage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by maintaining certificate revocation lists locally within the network device rather than storing complete external lists. The device stores only the specific revocation information relevant to its operations, optimizing memory usage while preserving revocation validation capability
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts only the necessary revocation list data from external sources and stores it locally in the network device. By taking out only the essential revocation information needed for validation rather than complete external lists, memory consumption is reduced while maintaining validation reliability
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for provisioning and managing of certificates in a network are described. In one implementation, a signing certificate is generated by a network device based on a root certificate of the network device. Based on the signing certificate of the network device, a client-device certificate is signed for a client device. The signed client-device certificate is provided to the client device for allowing the client device to access a secure service provided by the network device.