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Phase 1 Implementation Plan

This document is a DRAFT plan to implement the Phase 1 Recommendations of the Metadata Distribution WG.

Executive Summary

  1. InCommon Operations will deploy two new metadata aggregates at the following permanent HTTP locations:
    • http://md.incommon.org/InCommon/InCommon-metadata.xml (production)
    • http://md.incommon.org/InCommon/InCommon-metadata-fallback.xml (fallback)
  2. Both metadata aggregates will be signed using a new self-signed signing certificate set to expire on December 18, 2037.
    • Although the signing certificate is new, the signing key is not.
  3. Both metadata aggregates will be signed with the same key but will use different digest algorithms.
    • The new production metadata aggregate will be signed using a SHA-2 digest algorithm.
    • The new fallback metadata aggregate will be signed using a SHA-1 digest algorithm (which is what we use now).
  4. All deployments should migrate to one of these new metadata aggregates ASAP but no later than March 29, 2014.
    • The current metadata aggregate will be replaced with a redirect to the fallback metadata aggregate on March 29, 2014.
    • If your metadata process can verify an XML signature that uses a SHA-2 digest algorithm, migrate to the production metadata aggregate.
    • If your metadata process can not verify an XML signature that uses a SHA-2 digest algorithm, migrate to the fallback metadata aggregate.
  5. All deployments shall migrate to the production metadata aggregate by June 30, 2014.
    • On June 30, the fallback metadata aggregate will be synced with the production metadata aggregate (i.e., both aggregates will be signed using a SHA-2 digest algorithm).

Current Policy

It is strongly recommended that InCommon SPs and IdPs refresh and verify metadata at least daily. The security implications of metadata refresh are discussed on the Metadata Consumption wiki page:

Regular metadata refresh protects users against spoofing and phishing, and is a necessary precaution in the event of key compromise. Failure to refresh metadata exposes you, your users, and other Federation participants to unnecessary risk.

If you verify the digital signature on InCommon metadata (as recommended), the following implementation plan may affect your metadata refresh process. Even if you don't verify the signature (which is not recommended), note that the HTTP location of InCommon metadata is changing.

Drivers

  1. The InCommon metadata signing certificate expires on May 2, 2014.
  2. The InCommon metadata signing certificate is signed by a legacy CA whose certificate expires on March 29, 2014.
  3. The XML signature on InCommon metadata uses a deprecated (and soon-to-be disallowed) SHA-1 digest algorithm.
    • NIST deprecated the use of SHA-1 in conjunction with digital signatures on January 1, 2011.
    • NIST disallows the use of SHA-1 in conjunction with digital signatures after January 1, 2014.
    • See: NIST SP 800-57 Part 1, Revision 3 (July 2012), Tables 3 and 4
  4. Multiple, heterogeneous services run on vhost wayf.incommonfederation.org, namely, Metadata Services and the Discovery Service. To provide better quality of service, these services need to be segregated on their own vhosts (md.incommon.org and ds.incommon.org, resp.). Note: The InCommon Federated Error Handling Service is already running on ds.incommon.org.

Actions

  1. Replace the current signing certificate with a long-lived, self-signed certificate based on the current key pair. Set the new certificate to expire on December 18, 2037.
  2. Deploy a new metadata aggregate that uses the new self-signed certificate and a SHA2-based signing algorithm (specifically, SHA-256).

  3. Recommend that all deployments migrate to the new metadata aggregate ASAP but no later than [date TBD]. In particular, any deployment that (incorrectly) relies on the legacy CA must either stop doing so or migrate to the new metadata aggregate by March 29, 2014.

  4. Replace the current metadata aggregate with a redirect to the new metadata aggregate on [date TBD].

  5. Create a discussion list for administrators that have questions or problems regarding this transition.
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