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RE: On cross-certificates and pathLenConstraint




At 10:23 PM +1200 9/17/04, Peter Gutmann wrote:
Stephen Kent <kent@xxxxxxx> writes:

As I noted earlier in my messages, I think it would be appropriate to include
these extensions in path validation. In fact, I raised this issue over a year
ago in discussions with Sharon and Sanrtosh. But, X.509 does not allow this at
this time.

If there's consensus that this is a good idea, why not just change it? PKIX is bigger than X.509 (does anyone still work from X.509 rather than going straight to the PKIX sources)? I know that PKIX was originally started to profile X.509 for Internet use, but it's been running (or at least shuffling) as a full parallel standards group for years since then. PKIX is the dog, X.509 is its vestigial tail, why not wag it?

(I'm not trying to pick a fight with the X.509 folks, it's just a pain having
 two (more if you include ETSI and other groups) parallel standards bodies all
 busy cutting&pasting each other's work as they play Chinese Whispers with the
 spec, with sundry propagation delays, inconsistencies, and errors introduced
 along the way).

Peter,


We have discussed the issue with Sharon, a while ago, and she is working to get the change into X.509. We can then update 3280 and maintain sync. PKIX has rarely diverged from X.509 in a way that caused compatibility problems, although it has happened on a coupe of occasions. It was always painful and confusing to the larger community, so we try to avoid this problem.

Steve