Rescue Key Pair for Digital Certificate Re-provisioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional systems face challenges in efficiently re-provisioning security certificates, particularly when they expire, leading to disruptions in secure communication channels, especially for infrequent users or first responder organizations, where the process is cumbersome and may compromise sensitive data if not handled promptly.
Innovation Solution
A method for re-provisioning a user equipment (UE) with a new digital security certificate involves storing a rescue-secret private key at the controller and a matching public key at the UE, allowing the UE to send a certificate provisioning request signed with its private key after the certificate expires, enabling the controller to verify and issue a new certificate using a rescue-secret key pair, thus maintaining secure communication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional certificate re-provisioning procedures are used, then security certificate validity is maintained, but the process becomes lengthy and time-consuming for infrequent users
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by establishing a rescue communication channel and storing rescue certificates before the original certificate expires. The controller stores the UE's public key and the UE stores the controller's rescue certificate in advance, so when expiration occurs, the re-provisioning process can immediately use these pre-established credentials rather than requiring full authentication procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a rescue certificate and rescue communication channel as an intermediary mechanism. When the original certificate expires, this intermediary rescue channel enables the UE to communicate with the controller without requiring the expired certificate, thus bypassing the time-consuming re-provisioning bottleneck while maintaining security through the intermediary's verification capabilities.
2Reliability
If frequent connections are made to automatically re-provision certificates before expiration, then certificate validity is maintained, but this is not feasible for infrequent users or first responder organizations
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-service by enabling the UE to autonomously initiate certificate re-provisioning when expiration is detected. The UE uses its stored private key to sign a rescue message, which the controller verifies using the pre-stored public key. This automatic self-service mechanism eliminates the need for manual intervention or frequent scheduled connections, making the system equally convenient for both frequent and infrequent users.
Solution Approach 2:
The preliminary establishment of the rescue certificate and public key storage enables the system to automatically handle certificate renewal without requiring operational intervention. The pre-configured rescue channel allows the UE to independently trigger and complete the re-provisioning process whenever needed, providing operational convenience regardless of usage frequency.
3Speed
If a rescue communication channel is established with pre-stored keys, then rapid certificate re-provisioning is enabled, but additional security mechanisms are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the critical authentication elements (controller's rescue certificate and UE's public key) and stores them separately in the rescue channel before expiration. This extraction allows the main certificate validation path to remain simple while the rescued authentication credentials handle the re-provisioning, separating concerns and reducing overall system complexity despite the additional security layer.
Solution Approach 2:
By preliminarily storing the public key and rescue certificate in secure locations before expiration, the system prepares the security mechanisms in advance. This preliminary setup ensures that when re-provisioning is needed, the verification process can immediately use these pre-positioned credentials without requiring complex real-time key distribution or authentication negotiations, thus achieving both speed and manageable complexity.
4Reliability
If the original private key is used to sign the rescue message, then authentication is maintained, but the expired certificate creates security risks
Solution Approach 1:
The controller acts as an intermediary that verifies the rescue message signature using the pre-stored public key corresponding to the expired certificate's private key. This intermediary verification process maintains authentication integrity by confirming the message originated from the legitimate UE, while simultaneously isolating the system from security risks by not requiring the expired certificate itself to be present or valid during verification.
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts and stores the public key from the original certificate pair before expiration, separating the verification capability from the expired certificate. This extraction allows the private key to sign messages for authentication while the public key enables verification without requiring the certificate's validity, thus maintaining authentication integrity while eliminating the harmful effect of certificate expiration on the verification process.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for re-provisioning a user equipment (UE, 140) after a first digital security certificate for the UE (140) has expired includes communicating content data to a controller (130) over a first secure communication channel after verification of a validity of a first digital security certificate. Once it is realized the first digital security certificate has expired, the UE (140) sends a certificate provisioning request message over an unsecure channel to the controller (130) as a request to the controller (130) to provision a second digital security certificate. The UE (140) signs the certificate provisioning request message with the private key for the now expired first digital security certificate. A second digital security certificate is signed by the rescue-secret private key at the controller (130) and sent to the UE (140), which verifies its authenticity with the corresponding rescue-secret public key.