Method and system for in-field recovery of security when a certificate authority has been compromised
AssigneeARRIS Group, Inc.
InventorAli Negahdar
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A certificate credential is generated based on a user device's private key securely stored, or accessible, by a certificate authority. When the certificate authority has been compromised, the credential, which typically includes information encrypted with the device's private key and the corresponding unencrypted information, is sent to the device. The device receives the information in encrypted and unencrypted form and decrypts the encrypted information. If the result of the decryption matches the unencrypted information, the device trusts the signer of the credential.
Claims16
A method for remotely replacing a certificate associated with a device, comprising:
- identifying an update to security information used by the device;
- generating a configuration file for a device responsive to the update;
- including certificate credential information within the configuration file, wherein the certificate credential information is encrypted or signed using a private key associated with the device;
- and
- sending the configuration file over a communications network to the device in response to a TFTP request received from the device during a registration process for the device to join the communications network;
- adding a reissued code verification certificate and manufacturer certificate renewal credential information to the configuration file, the reissued code verification certificate being operable to be used to verify the authenticity of a reissued root certificate based on root certificate renewal credential information and causes the device to download a new software image from a server based upon the authenticity of the reissued root certificate.
A method for remotely replacing a device certificate, comprising:
- writing certificate credential information into a configuration file, wherein the certificate credential information is based on a private key of the device;
- and
- sending the configuration file to the device in response to a request;
- verifying the configuration file based on the credential information;
- overwriting an existing device certificate from a device memory;
- wherein the credential information includes manufacturer certificate renewal credential information;
- adding a reissued code verification certificate to the configuration file, the reissued code verification certificate being operable to be used to verify the authenticity of a reissued root certificate based on root certificate renewal credential information and causes the device to download a new software image from a server based upon the authenticity of the reissued root certificate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.