UIM Password Provisioning for Secure HTTP Digest Verification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current HTTP digest access authentication in mobile terminals risks security breaches as the HTTP password may be compromised due to its exposure in unsecured environments, particularly when the payload is large and cannot be efficiently handled by secure storage or processing in the User Identity Module (UIM).
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a Password Provisioning Module (PPM), Response Generation Module (RGM), and Response Verification Module (RVM) within the UIM to securely generate and verify HTTP responses without exposing the password, using a password generating module to compute the HTTP response and a verification module to authenticate server digest responses, ensuring integrity protection without sending the password to non-secure environments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If the HTTP password is sent to or stored at the ME (Mobile Equipment), then the HTTP client can generate the HTTP response with high processing power, but the security is compromised because the ME may not contain secure storage and/or provide secure processing capability
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into two distinct components: the UIM (User Identity Module) which provides secure storage and processing for the HTTP password, and the ME (Mobile Equipment) which provides high processing power for generating HTTP responses. The UIM and ME are separated such that the UIM stores the password securely while the ME performs the computational work, resolving the contradiction between security and processing power.
Solution Approach 2:
The UIM acts as an intermediary between the secure password storage and the HTTP response generation process. Instead of directly exposing the password to the ME, the UIM receives requests from the ME, computes the HTTP response using its secure environment, and returns only the response to the ME. This intermediary approach allows the ME to generate responses without ever having direct access to the password.
2Reliability
If the HTTP response is generated in the secure UIM, then the security is maintained, but the payload cannot be efficiently obtained for computation as it may be large in size and sending it from the ME to the UIM is not desirable
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of extracting the entire payload from the ME to the UIM for computation, the system extracts only the essential elements needed for HTTP response generation (such as the username, nonce, and method) and keeps them in the UIM. The payload integrity is verified through a different mechanism (hash comparison) that does not require transferring the full payload to the secure element, thus maintaining security while improving efficiency.
3Ease of operation
If the HTTP password is exposed to non-secure environments for verification, then the verification process can be performed, but the password is at risk of being compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The UIM serves as an intermediary that performs verification operations without exposing the password to non-secure environments. When verification is needed, the UIM receives the necessary parameters, performs the verification computation internally in its secure environment, and returns only the verification result to the ME. This allows verification capability while maintaining password security.
Data Source
AI summary
A mobile terminal for securely communicating with a network includes a user identity module (UIM) and a user equipment module. The user equipment module includes a client application. The UIM is in operable communication with the user equipment and includes a password provisioning module (PPM), a password generating module, a response verification module (RVM) and a response generation module (RGM). The PPM is configured to store a password. The password generating module is in operable communication with the PPM and configured to generate the password. The RGM and RVM are in operable communication with both the client application and the PPM. The RGM is configured to generate an authentication response from the password in response to a request from the client application. The RVM is configured to verify a request for a server digest response and generate a verification result in response to a request from the client application.