Digital Signature Context Digest for SOA Message Integrity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing message exchange systems in distributed systems, particularly those using Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), are vulnerable to rewriting attacks due to weaknesses in the W3C XML Signature specification, which can lead to unauthorized access, information disclosure, and identity theft.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method and system for generating and verifying digital signatures that incorporate a well-formed context, using a one-way hash function to create message and context digests, and applying secret and public keys to secure messages represented in hierarchical tree structures, thereby preventing rewriting attacks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If sub-message signing is used according to W3C XML Signature specification, then processing efficiency and flexibility are improved, but security against rewriting attacks deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the message digest with a context digest that captures the hierarchical path and structural context of the signed element. This combination ensures that signing only a sub-message still provides security by verifying both the content and its positional context within the larger message structure, preventing rewriting attacks while maintaining processing efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a context digest as an intermediary component between the message digest and the digital signature. This context digest acts as a mediator that encapsulates structural information about the signed element's location and relationships within the message hierarchy, thereby enabling secure sub-message signing without vulnerability to rewriting attacks.
2Reliability
If context information is added to the signature, then security against rewriting attacks is improved, but signature complexity and processing overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the signature verification process into distinct components: message digest calculation, context digest calculation, and signature verification. The context digest is further segmented into capturing structural information (hierarchical path, parent elements, siblings) and verifying it against the actual message structure. This segmentation reduces overall complexity by making each component manageable and independently verifiable.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a contextual dimension to the traditional one-dimensional message hashing approach. Instead of only hashing the message content, the solution incorporates the structural dimension (hierarchical path, position, relationships) into the signature. This dimensional expansion provides security without excessive complexity by leveraging the existing XML tree structure rather than creating entirely new verification mechanisms.
Data Source
AI summary
The present description refers in particular to example computer-implemented methods, example computer program products, and example computer systems for automatically generating or verifying a digital signature for a message. The message may be representable in a hierarchical tree structure. An example computer-implemented method may comprise: selecting, from a message MT, a sub-message M to be signed, the sub-message M comprising at least one element; generating a well-formed context CMt for the sub-message M, wherein the well-formed context CMt defines a derivation path to the element in the message MT at a time t, the element being marked [M] in the well-formed context CMt; generating a message digest δM from the sub-message M and a context digest δC from the well-formed context CMt; and generating a signature S by applying a secret key SA of a user A to the message digest δM and to the context digest δC.