All the generated certificates and private keys are stored in the directory
crypto_data/
. The expected content after running our setup.sh
script is:
File | Purpose |
---|---|
aaguid.txt |
Text file containaing the AAGUID value |
opensk_ca.csr |
Certificate sign request for the Root CA |
opensk_ca.key |
ECC secp256r1 private key used for the Root CA |
opensk_ca.pem |
PEM encoded certificate of the Root CA |
opensk_ca.srl |
File generated by OpenSSL |
opensk_cert.csr |
Certificate sign request for the attestation certificate |
opensk_cert.pem |
PEM encoded certificate used for the authenticator |
opensk.key |
ECC secp256r1 private key used for the autenticator |
If you want to use your own attestation certificate and private key,
replace the opensk_cert.pem
and opensk.key
files. The script at
tools/configure.py
customizes an OpenSK device with the correct certificate
and private key.
Our build script build.rs
is responsible for converting the aaguid.txt
file
into raw data that is then used by the Rust file src/ctap/key_material.rs
.
Please make sure to safely store all private key material before calling
reset.sh
, or the files will be lost.
The certificate on OpenSK is used for attestation. That means, whenever you register OpenSK on a website, you attest the legitimacy of your hardware. For self-generated certificates, this claim is rather trivial. Still, it is required by some websites and to use U2F.
Usually, the attestation private key is shared between a batch of at least 100,000 security keys of the same model. If you build your own OpenSK, your private key is unique to you. This makes you identifiable across registrations: Two websites could collaborate to track if registrations were attested with the same key material. If you use OpenSK beyond experimentation, please consider carefully if you want to take this privacy risk.
If you build your own security key, depending on the hardware you use, there are a few things you can personalize:
- If you have multiple buttons, choose the buttons responsible for user
presence in
main.rs
. - Decide whether you want to use batch attestation. There is a boolean flag in
ctap/mod.rs
. It is mandatory for U2F, and you can create your own self-signed certificate. The flag is used for FIDO2 and has some privacy implications. Please check WebAuthn for more information. - Decide whether you want to use signature counters. Currently, only global
signature counters are implemented, as they are the default option for U2F.
The flag in
ctap/mod.rs
only turns them off for FIDO2. The most privacy preserving solution is individual or no signature counters. Again, please check WebAuthn for documentation. - Depending on your available flash storage, choose an appropriate maximum
number of supported resident keys and number of pages in
ctap/storage.rs
. - Change the default level for the credProtect extension in
ctap/mod.rs
. When changing the default, resident credentials become undiscoverable without user verification. This helps privacy, but can make usage less comfortable for credentials that need less protection. - Increase the default minimum length for PINs in
ctap/storage.rs
. The current minimum is 4. Values from 4 to 63 are allowed. Requiring longer PINs can help establish trust between users and relying parties. It makes user verification harder to break, but less convenient. NIST recommends at least 6-digit PINs in section 5.1.9.1 of their Digital Identity Guidelines. You can add relying parties to the list of readers of the minimum PIN length.