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In cryptography and computer security, a root certificate is a public key certificate that identifies a root certificate authority (CA). [1] Root certificates are self-signed (and it is possible for a certificate to have multiple trust paths, say if the certificate was issued by a root that was cross-signed) and form the basis of an X.509 ...
The roles of root certificate, intermediate certificate and end-entity certificate as in the chain of trust. In computer security, a chain of trust is established by validating each component of hardware and software from the end entity up to the root certificate. It is intended to ensure that only trusted software and hardware can be used ...
A root CA certificate may be the base to issue multiple intermediate CA certificates with varying validation requirements. In addition to commercial CAs, some non-profits issue publicly-trusted digital certificates without charge, for example Let's Encrypt.
The digital certificate chain of trust starts with a self-signed certificate, called a root certificate, trust anchor, or trust root. A certificate authority self-signs a root certificate to be able to sign other certificates. An intermediate certificate has a similar purpose to the root certificate – its only use is to sign other certificates.
One of the largest providers of HTTPS certificates, Let’s Encrypt, saw its root certificate expire this week — meaning you might need to upgrade your devices to prevent them from breaking.
X.509 certificates bind an identity to a public key using a digital signature. In the X.509 system, there are two types of certificates. The first is a CA certificate. The second is an end-entity certificate. A CA certificate can issue other certificates. The top level, self-signed CA certificate is sometimes called the Root CA certificate.
In cryptographic systems with hierarchical structure, a trust anchor is an authoritative entity for which trust is assumed and not derived. [1]In the X.509 architecture, a root certificate would be the trust anchor from which the whole chain of trust is derived.
Therefore, each CA (root or intermediate) is only responsible for tracking the revocation of certificates it alone has issued. Consider the scenario where a root CA issues certificates to three intermediate CAs: A, B, and C: The root CA has issued a total of three certificates. The newly created intermediate CAs then issue their own certificates: