Let's Encrypt

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Automating ACMEv2 Certificate Management on BIG-IP
While we often associate and confuse Let's Encrypt with ACMEv2, the former is ultimately a consumer of the latter. The "Automated Certificate Management Environment" (ACME) protocol describes a system for automating the renewal of PKI certificates. The ACME protocol can be used with public services like Let's Encrypt, but also with internal certificate management services. In this article we explore the more generic support of ACME (version 2) on the F5 BIG-IP.
Kevin_Stewart
Mar 23, 2025 Place Technical Articles
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Let's Encrypt
Let's Encrypt has revolutionized the way website owners implement HTTPS by offering free and automated SSL certificates, making secure connections accessible to everyone. This article delves into the technical aspects of Let's Encrypt, explaining how it establishes trust and secures your website. Before diving into Let's Encrypt, it's essential to understand the role of a Certificate Authority (CA). CAs are trusted entities that verify domain ownership and issue SSL certificates. They form the foundation of the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) that enables secure communication on the internet. The Role of a Certificate Authority (CA): The process begins when a web server requests a certificate from the CA, specifying the domain name. The CA sends a challenge to validate the server's control over the domain. Upon successful validation, the CA issues an X.509/SSL/TLS certificate, which the server installs. When a user visits the website, their browser verifies the certificate's authenticity by checking the chain of trust back to a trusted root certificate. If the chain is valid, a secure connection is established. A critical role in this ecosystem is played by Certificate Authorities (CAs). CAs are trusted third-party entities responsible for: Domain Validation: CAs employ various mechanisms to validate the ownership or control of a domain name by the entity requesting the certificate. This validation process helps mitigate phishing attacks and ensures certificates are issued to legitimate entities. Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Management: CAs operate within a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) framework. They maintain a repository of trusted root certificates and issue intermediate certificates signed by a trusted root. Website administrators generate a public/private key pair, and the CA signs a certificate binding the public key to the validated domain identity. This signed certificate, containing the public key and domain information, is then installed on the web server. Trust Chain Establishment: Web browsers and operating systems come pre-loaded with a set of trusted root certificates issued by well-known CAs. When a user visits a website with a valid SSL/TLS certificate, the browser can verify the certificate's authenticity by chaining it back to a trusted root certificate, establishing a secure connection. This sequence below shows the role of a CA in the certificate issuance and validation process: Traditionally, obtaining certificates from CAs involved a manual enrollment process and significant costs. Let's Encrypt disrupted this model by offering free certificates through an automated process using the Automated Certificate Management Environment (ACME) protocol. ACME streamlines communication between web servers and the CA, automating the entire certificate lifecycle, including issuance and renewal. Let's Encrypt certificates have a short 90-day validity period to enhance security, and the automation ensures seamless renewal before expiration. This sequence shows the steps involved in obtaining a Let's Encrypt SSL/TLS certificate for a web server. Here's a breakdown: Requesting a Certificate: The web server software initiates the process by sending a request to Let's Encrypt CA, asking for a certificate. Challenge for Validation: Let's Encrypt CA responds by sending the web server a challenge. This challenge is designed to verify that the software requesting the certificate actually controls the domain name. A common challenge involves placing a specific file on the web server's directory. Responding to the Challenge: The web server software must complete the challenge. In this example, it would place the specific file in the designated directory on the server. Verification by Let's Encrypt: Once the web server software completes the challenge, Let's Encrypt CA verifies the response. Two Possible Outcomes: Success: If the challenge response is valid, Let's Encrypt CA issues a new SSL/TLS certificate for the web server's domain name. The web server software then downloads the certificate from Let's Encrypt CA. The downloaded certificate is installed on the web server. Finally, the web server is configured to enable HTTPS, which encrypts communication between the website and visitors. Failure: If the challenge response is invalid (e.g., the file wasn't placed correctly), Let's Encrypt CA informs the web server of the failure. In this case, the web server software would likely retry the entire process by requesting a new certificate again. Let's Encrypt and Key Pinning Let's Encrypt recently introduced new intermediate certificates to replace older ones that are nearing expiration. These new certificates are designed to be more secure and efficient. One of the goals is to discourage the use of an outdated practice known as key pinning. Key pinning refers to a security practice where software applications are configured to trust only a specific set of cryptographic keys issued by a certificate authority (CA). In the context of Let's Encrypt, this would involve an application trusting only a particular intermediate certificate used by Let's Encrypt to sign website certificates. There are a few reasons why Let's Encrypt discourages key pinning: Manual Updates: Key pinning typically requires manual updates whenever a certificate authority changes its certificates, which can be a cumbersome and error-prone process. Reduced Flexibility: Pinned keys limit your ability to benefit from security improvements or optimizations introduced by the CA's newer certificates. Potential Outages: If a pinned certificate expires or becomes invalid, applications that rely on it may malfunction or fail entirely, potentially leading to outages. Let's Encrypt argues that trusting the built-in trust store of your operating system or web browser is a more secure and flexible approach. These trust stores are automatically updated to reflect changes made by certificate authorities, reducing the risk of errors and outages. However, there are some niche cases where key pinning might still be considered justified. For instance, an organization might pin a key if they have a specific security requirement to strictly limit trusted certificates. Overall, Let's Encrypt's move to new intermediate certificates aims to improve security and efficiency while promoting a more automated and flexible approach to certificate trust management.
nagi
Mar 29, 2024 Place Technical Articles
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ACMEv2 Certificate Management on BIG-IP","conversation":{"__ref":"Conversation:conversation:328935"},"id":"message:328935","revisionNum":6,"uid":328935,"depth":0,"board":{"__ref":"Tkb:board:TechnicalArticles"},"author":{"__ref":"User:user:130391"},"teaser@stripHtml({\"removeProcessingText\":true,\"truncateLength\":-1})":" While we often associate and confuse Let's Encrypt with ACMEv2, the former is ultimately a consumer of the latter. The \"Automated Certificate Management Environment\" (ACME) protocol describes a system for automating the renewal of PKI certificates. The ACME protocol can be used with public services like Let's Encrypt, but also with internal certificate management services. In this article we explore the more generic support of ACME (version 2) on the F5 BIG-IP. ","introduction":"While we often associate and confuse Let's Encrypt with ACMEv2, the former is ultimately a consumer of the latter. The \"Automated Certificate Management Environment\" (ACME) protocol describes a system for automating the renewal of PKI certificates. The ACME protocol can be used with public services like Let's Encrypt, but also with internal certificate management services. In this article we explore the more generic support of ACME (version 2) on the F5 BIG-IP.","metrics":{"__typename":"MessageMetrics","views":5654},"postTime":"2024-04-17T05:00:00.037-07:00","lastPublishTime":"2024-04-17T05:00:00.037-07:00","body@stripHtml({\"removeProcessingText\":true,\"removeSpoilerMarkup\":true,\"removeTocMarkup\":true,\"truncateLength\":-1})":" Introduction \n Back in March of 2023, Google proposed a significant reduction in the lifespan of Internet certificates, from the average 13 months down to just 90 days. No firm date was set for this proposal, though it should at least give a clue into where the industry is headed. Put plainly, the longer a certificate is valid, the less reliable it becomes. But perhaps the most important takeaway from all of this is, that while shorter-lived certificates are a good thing in principle, the current, common, manual approach to managing these 90-day certificates will become all but untenable. There is practically no scenario where an enterprise would or should employ, nor rely, on any human person, to manage certificates that live for 3 months. This is a recipe for disaster, and all the more reason to embrace certificate automation. \n In this article, I’m specifically going to address this need for the F5 BIG-IP using the most well-known of the certificate automation protocols, ACMEv2. For what it’s worth, certificate automation in principle isn’t that complicated. There are a number of protocols (i.e., ACME, SCEP, CMP, EST), a variety of implementations for each of these, and lots of documentation that makes it seem like rocket science. But in truth, these protocols and processes all do more or less three things: \n \n Make a request to a certificate authority for a new certificate \n Satisfy a challenge to verify ownership of the certificate/domain \n Retrieve and install the new certificate \n \n The “client” in this case is some utility, typically within arms-reach of the TLS server, that will perform the automation functions and push the new certificate(s) to the server. \n I will propose here, an ACMEv2 certificate automation solution that runs ON the BIG-IP, that performs all of the necessary and ancillary functions needed to support an enterprise BIG-IP certificate renewal strategy, and supports most of the ACMEv2 8555 RFC functionality, not just what is required for Let’s Encrypt. The project is called Kojot Acme and is basically two things: \n \n A wrapper for the Dehydrated ACMEv2 client. \n A utility to support all of the additional, ancillary functions, including installation, configuration, authentication, revocation, scheduling, and reporting. \n \n Now, in lieu of repeating everything that is thoroughly documented on the project page, I thought it more fun to come at this from a different angle. In the below, we’ll set up a local ACMEv2 server, install and configure Kojot ACME on the BIG-IP, and start generating certificates. Once you see how it works, it’s a super simple manipulation of a config file to point to a public ACMEv2 server to get real certificates (ex. Let’s Encrypt, ZeroSSL, Buypass, etc.). But also, for those of you in military bunkers miles below the surface, where no sunlight or Internet is accessible to you, you’ll likely have your own ACMEv2 servers installed somewhere in a cave nearby. Kojot Acme will work for that too. Kojot is heavily influenced by Jason Rahm's pivotal ACMEv2 client work. Let’s get started! \n A Quick Review of the ACMEv2 Protocol \n Before we go stumbling through this experience, it is perhaps best to step back and take another look at the ACMEv2 protocol as a whole so that we know what’s happening. I’ll start with a ridiculously simple flow diagram, as described in the introduction. \n \n The client asks for a new certificate, the server asks the client to prove ownership, and then the server issues a new certificate. That’s basic ACME protocol flow. Now let’s overlay the above with the TLS server, the thing that actually needs the cert. \n \n Let’s unpack this. \n \n Some process needs to know when to renew the certificate(s). This isn’t expressly required of the ACME client, but it’s not uncommon for the ACME client to poll the TLS server’s certificate status. \n When the ACME client decides that it needs to renew a certificate, it contacts the ACME server. \n In turn, two things need to happen:\n \n The ACME server needs to challenge the requestor to prove that that requestor owns this domain. Without getting too deep into the weeds, ACMEv2 defines multiple challenge types: http-01, dns-01, and tls-01. The latter two are useful, but the http-01 type is predominant, so we’ll focus on this one. In this case, the ACME server sends the client a unique token. \n As a function of the http-01 challenge, the ACME server will use public DNS to resolve the IP of the TLS server stated in the original new certificate request, then make an HTTP request to that IP at a specifically defined URL. The ACME server will expect the HTTP server to respond with the token that was provided in step 3a. So then, the ACME client will use a “hook” function to push that token to the HTTP server so that it can be ready for the ACME server request. If we were talking about an Apache or NGINX web server, the hook would imply placing the token in a folder on the TLS server and potentially configuring the web server to listen on the ACME challenge URL. \n \n \n If the ACME challenge was successful, the ACME server will let the ACME client know that it’s working on generating a new certificate, and eventually, where to download the new certificate. \n And finally, once the ACME client has the new certificate, it’ll use another hook function to update that certificate on the TLS server. Again, if talking about an Apache or NGINX web server, this might also mean restarting the web server domain to pick up the new information. \n \n The above is of course by no means exhaustive. You can dig much deeper in the ACME Protocol Flow section on the project page or go directly to RFC 8555. In any case, this should give you a pretty good idea of how ACMEv2 works, so let’s move on to building stuff! \n ACMEv2 Server Setup \n The only requirements you need to satisfy for this local ACMEv2 server installations are: \n \n Docker and Docker Compose \n Network connectivity to the BIG-IP \n \n The latter requirement implies that a) the ACME client running on the BIG-IP can reach the ACME server, and b) that the ACME server can reach the BIG-IP virtual server hosting the challenge response (token). We’ll use internal static Host information to simulate public DNS. To get started, log into the terminal of the Docker/Docker Compose server you’re going to use, and either: \n \n Git clone the project and then change directory to the acme-servers folder. \n Navigate to the acme-servers folder in the project page and copy one of the YAML files to a file. \n \n You’ll have two ACMEv2 server options. Pebble is an open-source derivative managed by Let’s Encrypt, so will have similar functionality. Smallstep CA is an ACMEv2 server managed by Smallstep. Whichever one you choose, edit the corresponding YAML file. The ONLY thing you need to change inside this file is the set of “echo” statements near the bottom. These are setting up /etc/hosts entries in the ACME server container and should point your hostnames to the corresponding BIG-IP virtual server IPs. Recall in earlier review, this will be step 3b, where the ACME server resolves the IP of the TLS server and makes an ACME challenge request. That IP needs to be hosted by a BIG-IP virtual server. In lieu of pasting all of that YAML here, you can follow either of these links to show the example YAML: \n \n Pebble - Docker Compose YAML \n Smallstep CA - Docker Compose YAML \n \n In both cases you'll see a section near the bottom that looks like this: \n ## Insert local hosts DNS entries (if needed for internal testing)\necho \"172.16.1.151 foo.f5labs.com\" >> /etc/hosts\necho \"172.16.1.152 bar.f5labs.com\" >> /etc/hosts\necho \"172.16.1.153 www.f5labs.com\" >> /etc/hosts \n Update the echo statements to match the IP address of the BIG-IP port 80 VIP that's handling the ACME challenge, and the corresponding certificate subject name that this VIP is going to manage. In a real world scenario, you might have multiple HTTPS applications hosted on the BIG-IP, each with a unique IP address. You'll need a port 80 HTTP VIP for each of those unique applications. Again, the ACME server will do a DNS lookup for the site based on the certificate name, and then make its challenge to that IP address, on HTTP port 80. Everything else in the YAML file is configured to generate certificates from a private CA. Save the YAML file and launch the container with Docker Compose: \n docker-compose -f docker-compose-smallstep-ca.yaml up -d \n or \n docker-compose -f docker-compose-pebble-ca.yaml up -d \n From any machine in network range of this server, you can test to see if the ACME server is running: \n [Pebble] curl -vk https://<server-ip>:14000/dir\n[SmallStep] curl -vk https://<server-ip>:9000/acme/acme/directory \n If it’s working, you’ll get JSON response with a list of ACMEv2 protocol message types and associated URLs. Example: \n {\n \"newNonce\": \"https://172.16.1.112:9000/acme/acme/new-nonce\",\n \"newAccount\": \"https://172.16.1.112:9000/acme/acme/new-account\",\n \"newOrder\": \"https://172.16.1.112:9000/acme/acme/new-order\",\n \"revokeCert\": \"https://172.16.1.112:9000/acme/acme/revoke-cert\",\n \"keyChange\": \"https://172.16.1.112:9000/acme/acme/key-change\"\n} \n That’s it, we’re done here. Let’s move on to the BIG-IP. \n Kojot Acme Installation \n I don’t want to scare you, but this process is only going to take THREE quick steps: \n \n Install Kojot Acme – SSH to the BIG-IP console and run the following command: \n \n curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/f5devcentral/kojot-acme/main/install.sh | bash \n This is going to install a few BIG-IP objects and create a working folder at /shared/acme. I realize at this phase some secret squirrel types might not be able to access this script from the BIG-IP. One option would be to download the project to ZIP file, expand on the BIG-IP, then run the install.sh script locally. \n \n Modify the global configuration data group – The installation creates a data group named dg_acme_config. The purpose of this data group is to store “global” configuration information. Basically, it’s a list of all of the managed certificate domain names and corresponding ACME server information. Let’s say you own a domain foo.com, you want to manage a certificate for www.foo.com, and you’re using the local Pebble ACME server to provide renewable certificates. Add the following information to the data group: \n \n www.foo.com := --ca https://<pebble-server-ip>:14000/dir \n For the sake of this demonstration, you can rely on the defaults, but you can add additional parameters here, like a specific “client” configuration file (--config), and preferred certificate algorithm (-a rsa, -a prime256v1, -a secp384r1). The default client configuration file is at /shared/acme/config, and also explained in detail in the project README page under Configuration Details. \n \n Create an HTTP virtual server – As previously stated, in a real world scenario you’d have a “TLS server” represented by a BIG-IP HTTPS virtual server. But for the ACMEv2 challenge to work, you only really need an HTTP VIP for now. The IP of this VIP needs to match the IP added in the YAML file, and the hostname in the global configuration data group needs to match the corresponding hostname in the YAML file. Once that’s created, you might want to test that you can ping the HTTP virtual server from the ACME server. For example: \n \n docker exec -it pebble /bin/sh\nping www.foo.com \n If you can ping the BIG-IP port 80 VIP from the ACME server, you're good to go. At this point you can trigger an ACMEv2 certificate fetch from the BIG-IP SSH console: \n cd /shared/acme\n./f5acmehandler.sh --verbose \n The --verbose flag will let you see all of the communications between the BIG-IP and the ACME server. And when that’s done, you should have a new certificate installed on the BIG-IP. If this were a production environment where the certificate already exists and is associated with a client SSL profile, the utility uses a transaction to make sure the certificate, and potentially a new private key, are successfully applied. Finally, when you’re convinced that the ACME client is working as needed, you can modify the global configuration data group to point to production ACME servers. Additional information on scheduling, authentication, revocation, and reporting are all documented in the project page. \n Both of the provided ACME servers adhere to RFC 8555 functionality, so what works for these will also work for the Internet-based ACMEv2 providers. \n ","body@stripHtml({\"removeProcessingText\":true,\"removeSpoilerMarkup\":true,\"removeTocMarkup\":true,\"truncateLength\":-1})@stringLength":"12604","kudosSumWeight":12,"repliesCount":14,"readOnly":false,"images":{"__typename":"AssociatedImageConnection","edges":[{"__typename":"AssociatedImageEdge","cursor":"MjUuMnwyLjF8b3wyNXxfTlZffDE","node":{"__ref":"AssociatedImage:{\"url\":\"https://community.f5.com/t5/s/zihoc95639/images/bS0zMjg5MzUtUERYSFA4?revision=6\"}"}},{"__typename":"AssociatedImageEdge","cursor":"MjUuMnwyLjF8b3wyNXxfTlZffDI","node":{"__ref":"AssociatedImage:{\"url\":\"https://community.f5.com/t5/s/zihoc95639/images/bS0zMjg5MzUtelppdHFP?revision=6\"}"}}],"totalCount":2,"pageInfo":{"__typename":"PageInfo","hasNextPage":false,"endCursor":null,"hasPreviousPage":false,"startCursor":null}},"videos":{"__typename":"VideoConnection","edges":[],"totalCount":0,"pageInfo":{"__typename":"PageInfo","hasNextPage":false,"endCursor":null,"hasPreviousPage":false,"startCursor":null}}},"Conversation:conversation:328574":{"__typename":"Conversation","id":"conversation:328574","topic":{"__typename":"TkbTopicMessage","uid":328574},"lastPostingActivityTime":"2024-03-29T10:00:00.898-07:00","solved":false},"User:user:420376":{"__typename":"User","uid":420376,"login":"nagi","registrationData":{"__typename":"RegistrationData","status":null},"deleted":false,"avatar":{"__typename":"UserAvatar","url":"https://community.f5.com/t5/s/zihoc95639/images/dS00MjAzNzYtRmxwSlUw?image-coordinates=0%2C101%2C1080%2C1181"},"id":"user:420376"},"AssociatedImage:{\"url\":\"https://community.f5.com/t5/s/zihoc95639/images/bS0zMjg1NzQtQ0hJZFJm?revision=4\"}":{"__typename":"AssociatedImage","url":"https://community.f5.com/t5/s/zihoc95639/images/bS0zMjg1NzQtQ0hJZFJm?revision=4","title":"Screenshot 2024-03-19 at 10.33.56 AM.png","associationType":"BODY","width":1768,"height":1928,"altText":""},"AssociatedImage:{\"url\":\"https://community.f5.com/t5/s/zihoc95639/images/bS0zMjg1NzQtM2VvazhR?revision=4\"}":{"__typename":"AssociatedImage","url":"https://community.f5.com/t5/s/zihoc95639/images/bS0zMjg1NzQtM2VvazhR?revision=4","title":"Screenshot 2024-03-19 at 10.36.10 AM.png","associationType":"BODY","width":1818,"height":2318,"altText":""},"TkbTopicMessage:message:328574":{"__typename":"TkbTopicMessage","subject":"Let's Encrypt","conversation":{"__ref":"Conversation:conversation:328574"},"id":"message:328574","revisionNum":4,"uid":328574,"depth":0,"board":{"__ref":"Tkb:board:TechnicalArticles"},"author":{"__ref":"User:user:420376"},"teaser@stripHtml({\"removeProcessingText\":true,\"truncateLength\":-1})":"","introduction":"","metrics":{"__typename":"MessageMetrics","views":1629},"postTime":"2024-03-29T10:00:00.898-07:00","lastPublishTime":"2024-03-29T10:00:00.898-07:00","body@stripHtml({\"removeProcessingText\":true,\"removeSpoilerMarkup\":true,\"removeTocMarkup\":true,\"truncateLength\":-1})":" Let's Encrypt has revolutionized the way website owners implement HTTPS by offering free and automated SSL certificates, making secure connections accessible to everyone. This article delves into the technical aspects of Let's Encrypt, explaining how it establishes trust and secures your website. Before diving into Let's Encrypt, it's essential to understand the role of a Certificate Authority (CA). CAs are trusted entities that verify domain ownership and issue SSL certificates. They form the foundation of the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) that enables secure communication on the internet. \n \n The Role of a Certificate Authority (CA): \n The process begins when a web server requests a certificate from the CA, specifying the domain name. The CA sends a challenge to validate the server's control over the domain. Upon successful validation, the CA issues an X.509/SSL/TLS certificate, which the server installs. When a user visits the website, their browser verifies the certificate's authenticity by checking the chain of trust back to a trusted root certificate. If the chain is valid, a secure connection is established. A critical role in this ecosystem is played by Certificate Authorities (CAs). CAs are trusted third-party entities responsible for: \n \n \n Domain Validation: CAs employ various mechanisms to validate the ownership or control of a domain name by the entity requesting the certificate. This validation process helps mitigate phishing attacks and ensures certificates are issued to legitimate entities. \n \n \n Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Management: CAs operate within a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) framework. They maintain a repository of trusted root certificates and issue intermediate certificates signed by a trusted root. Website administrators generate a public/private key pair, and the CA signs a certificate binding the public key to the validated domain identity. This signed certificate, containing the public key and domain information, is then installed on the web server. \n \n \n Trust Chain Establishment: Web browsers and operating systems come pre-loaded with a set of trusted root certificates issued by well-known CAs. When a user visits a website with a valid SSL/TLS certificate, the browser can verify the certificate's authenticity by chaining it back to a trusted root certificate, establishing a secure connection. \n \n \n This sequence below shows the role of a CA in the certificate issuance and validation process: \n \n Traditionally, obtaining certificates from CAs involved a manual enrollment process and significant costs. Let's Encrypt disrupted this model by offering free certificates through an automated process using the Automated Certificate Management Environment (ACME) protocol. ACME streamlines communication between web servers and the CA, automating the entire certificate lifecycle, including issuance and renewal. Let's Encrypt certificates have a short 90-day validity period to enhance security, and the automation ensures seamless renewal before expiration. This sequence shows the steps involved in obtaining a Let's Encrypt SSL/TLS certificate for a web server. \n \n Here's a breakdown: \n \n \n Requesting a Certificate: The web server software initiates the process by sending a request to Let's Encrypt CA, asking for a certificate. \n \n \n Challenge for Validation: Let's Encrypt CA responds by sending the web server a challenge. This challenge is designed to verify that the software requesting the certificate actually controls the domain name. A common challenge involves placing a specific file on the web server's directory. \n \n \n Responding to the Challenge: The web server software must complete the challenge. In this example, it would place the specific file in the designated directory on the server. \n \n \n Verification by Let's Encrypt: Once the web server software completes the challenge, Let's Encrypt CA verifies the response. \n \n \n Two Possible Outcomes: \n \n \n Success: If the challenge response is valid, Let's Encrypt CA issues a new SSL/TLS certificate for the web server's domain name. \n \n \n The web server software then downloads the certificate from Let's Encrypt CA. \n \n \n The downloaded certificate is installed on the web server. \n \n \n Finally, the web server is configured to enable HTTPS, which encrypts communication between the website and visitors. \n \n \n \n \n Failure: If the challenge response is invalid (e.g., the file wasn't placed correctly), Let's Encrypt CA informs the web server of the failure. \n \n \n In this case, the web server software would likely retry the entire process by requesting a new certificate again. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Let's Encrypt and Key Pinning \n Let's Encrypt recently introduced new intermediate certificates to replace older ones that are nearing expiration. These new certificates are designed to be more secure and efficient. One of the goals is to discourage the use of an outdated practice known as key pinning. Key pinning refers to a security practice where software applications are configured to trust only a specific set of cryptographic keys issued by a certificate authority (CA). In the context of Let's Encrypt, this would involve an application trusting only a particular intermediate certificate used by Let's Encrypt to sign website certificates. There are a few reasons why Let's Encrypt discourages key pinning: \n \n \n Manual Updates: Key pinning typically requires manual updates whenever a certificate authority changes its certificates, which can be a cumbersome and error-prone process. \n \n \n Reduced Flexibility: Pinned keys limit your ability to benefit from security improvements or optimizations introduced by the CA's newer certificates. \n \n \n Potential Outages: If a pinned certificate expires or becomes invalid, applications that rely on it may malfunction or fail entirely, potentially leading to outages. \n \n \n Let's Encrypt argues that trusting the built-in trust store of your operating system or web browser is a more secure and flexible approach. These trust stores are automatically updated to reflect changes made by certificate authorities, reducing the risk of errors and outages. However, there are some niche cases where key pinning might still be considered justified. For instance, an organization might pin a key if they have a specific security requirement to strictly limit trusted certificates. Overall, Let's Encrypt's move to new intermediate certificates aims to improve security and efficiency while promoting a more automated and flexible approach to certificate trust management. 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