RFC 2704 (rfc2704) - Page 1 of 37

The KeyNote Trust-Management System Version 2

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Network Working Group                                           M. Blaze
Request for Comments: 2704                                 J. Feigenbaum
Category: Informational                                     J. Ioannidis
                                                    AT&T Labs - Research
                                                            A. Keromytis
                                                      U. of Pennsylvania
                                                          September 1999


             The KeyNote Trust-Management System Version 2

Status of this Memo

   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
   not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
   memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This memo describes version 2 of the KeyNote trust-management system.
   It specifies the syntax and semantics of KeyNote `assertions',
   describes `action attribute' processing, and outlines the application
   architecture into which a KeyNote implementation can be fit.  The
   KeyNote architecture and language are useful as building blocks for
   the trust management aspects of a variety of Internet protocols and
   services.

1.  Introduction

   Trust management, introduced in the PolicyMaker system [BFL96], is a
   unified approach to specifying and interpreting security policies,
   credentials, and relationships; it allows direct authorization of
   security-critical actions.  A trust-management system provides
   standard, general-purpose mechanisms for specifying application
   security policies and credentials.  Trust-management credentials
   describe a specific delegation of trust and subsume the role of
   public key certificates; unlike traditional certificates, which bind
   keys to names, credentials can bind keys directly to the
   authorization to perform specific tasks.








Blaze, et al.                Informational
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