Verifying authenticity of an attribute value signature

A client computer system comprising:

• a memory to store a message including an attribute value of an attribute from a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) repository entry and a digital certificate for the LDAP attribute, the LDAP attribute being one of a plurality of attributes of the LDAP repository entry;
• and
• a processing device, coupled to the memory via a bus, to submit a query pertaining to the LDAP attribute, the query indicating a request for the digital certificate to be generated for the LDAP attribute, to receive, in response to the query, the message with the attribute value and the digital certificate, the digital certificate comprising a digital signature generated in response to the user query to permit authentication of the attribute value of the LDAP attribute, and to verify that the received digital signature authenticates the attribute value of the LDAP attribute, wherein the processing device is to verify that the received digital signature authenticates the attribute value by:
• hashing the attribute value to produce an attribute hash;
• hashing an identifier of the attribute value and the attribute hash to produce a new signature;
• and
• determining that the received digital signature verifies the attribute value if the new signatures matches the received digital signature.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to perform a method comprising:

• submitting, by a client computing device, a user query pertaining to an attribute from a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) repository entry, the query indicating a request for an attribute certificate to be generated for the attribute, the attribute being one of a plurality of attributes of the LDAP repository entry;
• in response to the user query, receiving, by the client computing device, a message including an attribute value of the attribute of the LDAP repository entry and the attribute certificate comprising a digital signature generated in response to the user query to permit authentication of the attribute value of the attribute of the LDAP repository entry;
• and
• verifying, by the client computing device, that the received digital signature generated in response to the user query authenticates the attribute value of the attribute of the LDAP repository entry, wherein verifying the digital signature comprises:
• hashing the attribute value to produce an attribute hash;
• hashing an identifier of the attribute value and the attribute hash to produce a new signature;
• and
• determining that the received digital signature verifies the attribute value if the new signatures matches the received digital signature.