Proxy Key Sharing Without Persistent Secret Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cryptographic key management systems face challenges in maintaining security and managing cryptographic keys across multiple client devices, leading to vulnerabilities such as unauthorized access and management burdens, especially when using proxy servers that store sensitive key information.
Innovation Solution
Implement a system where a proxy server does not persistently store secret key information, instead sending it to a cryptographic device for operations, and employs a split secret model with client devices storing key information on a per-request basis and using encrypted forms, along with secure enclaves for authentication checks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If cryptographic keys are stored on client devices, then ease of operation is improved, but security deteriorates due to vulnerability to hacker access
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts cryptographic keys from client devices and stores them in a remote cryptographic device. The keys are never present on client devices, eliminating the security vulnerability while maintaining operational ease through remote access via proxy server
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a proxy server as an intermediary between client devices and the cryptographic device. The proxy server manages key operations without exposing keys to client devices or hackers, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and security
2Reliability
If cryptographic keys are stored remotely in a secure cryptographic device, then security is improved, but device complexity increases due to configuration requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the cryptographic device and proxy server serve multiple client devices simultaneously. A single cryptographic device can service many clients, and the proxy server manages all configurations centrally, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining high security
3Ease of operation
If a central proxy server manages access to cryptographic devices, then ease of operation is improved for client devices, but security deteriorates due to proxy server access to secret key information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements different security levels for different components: the proxy server has operational access to manage key operations, but the cryptographic device maintains exclusive control over the actual keys. This local differentiation of access rights allows ease of operation at the proxy level while preserving security at the cryptographic device level
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the most sensitive secret key information from the proxy server's control domain and keeps it exclusively within the cryptographic device. The proxy server operates with limited information (key names, identifiers) rather than full access to secret keys, resolving the security concern while maintaining operational convenience
Data Source
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AI summary
Techniques for sharing secret key information in a system that includes a remote server that proxies cryptographic keys. In one technique, a proxy server receives, from a client device, a request for a cryptographic operation. The proxy server also receives, from the client device, secret key information that is associated with the request. Prior to the request, the proxy server did not have access to the secret key information. While storing the secret key information in memory of the proxy server, the proxy server sends the secret key information to a cryptographic device that stores one or more cryptographic key. The proxy server does not store the secret key information in any persistent storage. The cryptographic device performs the cryptographic operation based on the secret key information.