RFC 4108 · PROPOSED STANDARD · 2005

Using Cryptographic Message Syntax to Protect Firmware Packages

Overview

RFC 4108, “Using Cryptographic Message Syntax to Protect Firmware Packages”, is a Proposed Standard document published in August 2005 by R. Housley. The canonical text is published by the RFC Editor.

Abstract

This document describes the use of the Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS) to protect firmware packages, which provide object code for one or more hardware module components. CMS is specified in RFC 3852. A digital signature is used to protect the firmware package from undetected modification and to provide data origin authentication. Encryption is optionally used to protect the firmware package from disclosure, and compression is optionally used to reduce the size of the protected firmware package. A firmware package loading receipt can optionally be generated to acknowledge the successful loading of a firmware package. Similarly, a firmware package load error report can optionally be generated to convey the failure to load a firmware package. [STANDARDS-TRACK]

Abstract as published in the RFC, via rfc-editor.org.

What “Proposed Standard” means

An entry-level standards-track specification: stable, peer-reviewed and a solid basis for implementation, though it may still evolve before becoming an Internet Standard.

Read this RFC

The canonical text of RFC 4108 is hosted at rfc-editor.org. Available in TXT,HTML.

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