[cabf_validation] [EXTERNAL] Draft Ballot SCXX: Improve OU validation requirements

Mon Nov 16 08:11:55 MST 2020

I have been thinking about a more simplistic and strict approach that doesn't follow all the current allowed methods listed in section 3.2 of the BR like we have proposed currently.

The version below only provides one method that must be followed and always requires a prefix/suffix to be added. I don't think it will satisfy all use cases, but it should be sufficient for the large majority and might be a good compromise:

If the Subject Identity Information is to include an organizational unit, then it MUST be preceded or followed by a whitespace and an equivalent of the word “unit”, “service", "system", "center", "office", “faculty”, "administration", "operations” in singular or plural form; or the equivalent in a language other than English. It SHALL NOT include a name, DBA, tradename, trademark, address, location, or other text that refers to a specific natural person or Legal Entity unless the CA has verified this information in relation to the Application accordance with Section 3.2.

The CA MUST verify the existence and affiliation of the organizational unit with the Applicant using an Organizational Chart provided by an authoritative source within the Applicant's organization, such as the Applicant's main business offices, corporate offices, human resource offices, information technology offices, or other department that the CA deems appropriate.

The value SHALL not be abbreviated unless this would exceed the maximum length of the `subject:organizationalUnitName` field, in which case it SHALL only use locally accepted abbreviation.

Feedback and improvements are welcome!

Paul

________________________________
From: Paul van Brouwershaven <Paul.vanBrouwershaven at entrust.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 4, 2020 12:20
To: validation at cabforum.org <validation at cabforum.org>; Paul van Brouwershaven <Paul.vanBrouwershaven at entrust.com>; Dimitris Zacharopoulos (HARICA) <dzacharo at harica.gr>
Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL][cabf_validation] Draft Ballot SCXX: Improve OU validation requirements

We got a lot of positive feedback using private channels, with the large majority of CA's indicating that they want to retain the OU field and willing to support this proposal.

Dimitris, you suggested in the virtual meeting 51 to create some “bad actor” scenarios, I have translated this into the attached risk register.

In the register I have suggested to remove item 6 from the proposal as I don't think the risk can be mitigated.

I would like to invite this group to think about these and other risks, and if/how they are or can be mitigated.
________________________________
From: Validation <validation-bounces at cabforum.org> on behalf of Paul van Brouwershaven via Validation <validation at cabforum.org>
Sent: Monday, October 19, 2020 10:39
To: validation at cabforum.org <validation at cabforum.org>
Subject: [EXTERNAL][cabf_validation] Draft Ballot SCXX: Improve OU validation requirements

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As discussed on the last CA/Browser Forum call last week, we would like to retain the OU field. Our enterprise customers have indicated (using a survey) to rely on this field for identifying certificate owners in large organizations and governments.

With this (draft) ballot we try to align the `subject:organizationalUnitName` with the purpose as described by the ITU-T X.520 section 6.4.2 Organizational Unit Name.

A few explanations, this ballot:

  1.  introduces a requirement to verify the existence and affiliation of the unit with the Applicant
  2.  prevents misinterpretations by requiring self-reported values to be preceded or followed by a whitespace and the well-known words “department”, “division”, “unit” or ...
  3.  supports automation by linking to a directory system of the applicant and by allowing well-known pre-approved values such as “information technology”, “marketing” or “sales”.
  4.  supports manual validation using authoritative sources, an organization charts or public directory (e.g. https://www.gov.ie/en/help/departments/)
  5.  allows values or series as defined by a government, standard, or regulatory body
  6.  allows certificate tracking using numerals which can be preceded or followed by two alphabetical characters for easier identification.

Entrust provided a draft ballot redline [1] to improve the OU validation requirements. This is created as a Draft Pull Request to allow others to point out issues, and the current fixed commit version is [2], since [1] will be updated if/as feedback is received.

I'm curious for feedback on these proposed changes and looking for potential endorsers for providing a ballot to the CA/Browser Forum's Server Certificate Working Group as a whole.

[1] https://github.com/cabforum/documents/pull/225
[2] https://github.com/cabforum/documents/pull/225/commits/33ac251f0105f4ebb55ac22ce0c198796da685c3

Thanks,

Paul van Brouwershaven
Entrust

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