The Profile for Algorithms and Key Sizes for Use in the Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI)
RFC 6485

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Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                         G. Huston
Request for Comments: 6485                                         APNIC
Category: Standards Track                                  February 2012
ISSN: 2070-1721

              The Profile for Algorithms and Key Sizes for
          Use in the Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI)

Abstract

   This document specifies the algorithms, algorithms' parameters,
   asymmetric key formats, asymmetric key size, and signature format for
   the Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI) subscribers that
   generate digital signatures on certificates, Certificate Revocation
   Lists, and signed objects as well as for the relying parties (RPs)
   that verify these digital signatures.

Status of This Memo

   This is an Internet Standards Track document.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
   received public review and has been approved for publication by the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Further information on
   Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 5741.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6485.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2012 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Huston                       Standards Track                    [Page 1]
RFC 6485                 RPKI Algorithm Profile            February 2012

1.  Introduction

   This document specifies:

   *  the digital signature algorithm and parameters;
   *  the hash algorithm and parameters;
   *  the public and private key formats; and,
   *  the signature format

   used by Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI) subscribers when
   they apply digital signatures to certificates, Certificate Revocation
   Lists (CRLs), and signed objects (e.g., Route Origin Authorizations
   (ROAs) and manifests).  Relying parties (RPs) also use the algorithms
   defined in this document to verify RPKI subscribers' digital
   signatures [RFC6480].

   This document is referenced by other RPKI profiles and
   specifications, including the RPKI Certificate Policy (CP) [RFC6484],
   the RPKI Certificate Profile [RFC6487], the SIDR Architecture
   [RFC6480], and the Signed Object Template for the RPKI [RFC6488].
   Familiarity with these documents is assumed.

1.1.  Terminology

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].

2.  Algorithms

   Two cryptographic algorithms are used in the RPKI:

      *  The signature algorithm used in certificates, CRLs, and signed
         objects is RSA Public-Key Cryptography Standards (PKCS) #1
         Version 1.5 (sometimes referred to as "RSASSA-PKCS1-v1_5") from
         Section 5 of [RFC4055].

      *  The hashing algorithm used in certificates, CRLs, and signed
         objects is SHA-256 [SHS].  The hashing algorithm is not
         identified by itself when used in certificates and CRLs, as
         they are combined with the digital signature algorithm (see
         below).

         When used in the Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS) SignedData,
         the hash algorithm (in this case, the hash algorithm is
         sometimes called a message digest algorithm) is identified by
         itself.  For CMS SignedData, the object identifier and
         parameters for SHA-256 (as defined in [RFC5754]) MUST be used

Huston                       Standards Track                    [Page 2]
RFC 6485                 RPKI Algorithm Profile            February 2012

         when populating the digestAlgorithms and digestAlgorithm
         fields.

         NOTE: The exception to the above hashing algorithm is the use
         of SHA-1 [SHS] when Certification Authorities (CAs) generate
         authority and subject key identifiers [RFC6487].

   When used to generate and verify digital signatures the hash and
   digital signature algorithms are referred together, i.e., "RSA PKCS#1
   v1.5 with SHA-256" or more simply "RSA with SHA-256".  The Object
   Identifier (OID) sha256withRSAEncryption from [RFC4055] MUST be used.