Obtaining a signed certificate for a dispersed storage network

A method comprises:

• receiving, from a requesting device, a dispersed storage network (DSN) access request that includes a DSN address and a signed certificate, wherein the signed certificate includes a certificate and a certificate extension, wherein the certificate includes information regarding a requesting device, and wherein the certificate extension includes information regarding an accessible dispersed storage network (DSN) address range for the requesting device;
• determining whether the DSN address is within the accessible DSN address range for the requesting device;
• and
• when the DSN address is within the accessible DSN address range for the requesting device, processing the DSN access request.

A dispersed storage (DS) module comprises:

• a first module, when operable within a computing device, causes the computing device to:
• generate a certificate signing request (CSR) that includes a certificate and a certificate extension, wherein the certificate includes information regarding a requesting device and wherein the certificate extension includes information regarding an accessible dispersed storage network (DSN) address range for the requesting device;
• a second module, when operable within the computing device, causes the computing device to:
• output the CSR to a certificate authority of a DSN;
• a third module, when operable within the computing device, causes the computing device to:
• receive a signed certificate from the certificate authority, wherein the signed certificate includes a certification signature of the certificate authority authenticating the certificate and the certificate extension;
• and
• a fourth module, when operable within the computing device, causes the computing device to:
• store the signed certificate for use when generating a DSN access request, wherein the DSN access request is requesting access to dispersed storage error encoded data in the DSN at an address within the accessible DSN address range.

A dispersed storage (DS) module comprises:

• a first module, when operable within a computing device, causes the computing device to:
• receive, from a requesting device, a dispersed storage network (DSN) access request that includes a DSN address and a signed certificate, wherein the signed certificate includes a certificate and a certificate extension, wherein the certificate includes information regarding a requesting device, and wherein the certificate extension includes information regarding an accessible dispersed storage network (DSN) address range for the requesting device;
• a second module, when operable within the computing device, causes the computing device to:
• determine whether the DSN address is within the accessible DSN address range for the requesting device;
• and
• a third module, when operable within the computing device, causes the computing device to:
• when the DSN address is within the accessible DSN address range for the requesting device, process the DSN access request.