Extension of the X.509 Authentication Framework for Access Authorizaton in Distributed Computing Enviroments

Abstract

The authentication framework recommended by ITU-T X.509 standard serves as a basis for entity authentication in distributed computing environments. This study extends this standard so that it also serves as a basis for access authorization. Such an extension is achiened by carrying the user's role-based authorization attributes with X.509 public-key certificates. The relevance of certificate management when the user's role assignment changes is also addressed.