Uwe Gradenegger - Page 3 - Uwe Gradenegger

Installation of a new certification authority certificate fails with error code "ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER".

Assume the following scenario:

A new Certification Authority certificate is requested for a subordinate Certification Authority and issued by the superordinate Certification Authority.
The Subject Distinguished Name (Subject DN) is identical to that of the previous certification authority certificate.
However, the installation of the certificate authority certificate fails with the following error message:

An error was detected while configuring Active Directory Certificate Services.
The Active Directory Certificate Services Setup Wizard will need to be rerun to complete the configuration.
The new certificate subject name does not exactly match the active CA name.
Renew with a new key to allow minor subject name changes: The parameter is incorrect. 0x80070057 (WIN32: 87 ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER).

Character encoding in the Subject Distinguished Name of certificate requests and issued certificates

Usually, the encoding of characters and strings in certificates is not a topic of great interest to the users of a PKI. However, there are cases where the default settings of the certification authority do not provide the desired results.

List of certificate use cases for which compatibility with elliptic curve (ECC)-based keys is known

As computing power becomes increasingly available, the need to use stronger cryptographic keys also increases. Often there is a need (for example, because the keys have to be protected by a trusted platform module) to use elliptic curves (ECC) based keys to be used. For their use, it is essential that compatibility with the intended use cases is ensured.

Below is a list of use cases for which I am aware of compatibility.

Configuring the Network Device Enrollment Service (NDES) to work with a domain account.

The Network Device Enrollment Service (NDES), because it implements the web-based Simple Certificate Enrollment Protocol (SCEP), is mapped as a web application in Microsoft Internet Information Service (IIS). Here, the service runs in an application pool called "SCEP". In many cases it is sufficient to use the integrated application pool identity for it.

However, there are cases where you want to use a domain account. An example of this is the Certificate Connector for Microsoft Intune, which requires this.

The Certificate Connector for Microsoft Intune throws the error message "ArgumentException: String cannot be of zero length" during configuration.

Assume the following scenario:

An NDES server has been set up for use with Microsoft Intune.
The configuration of the Intune Certificate Connector cannot be completed because the following error message is thrown:

Fehler bei der Microsoft Intune Certificate Connector Konfiguration. Es wurden keine Änderungen an Feature- oder Proxyeinstellungen vorgenommen.
Unerwarteter Fehler: System.ArgumentException: Die Zeichenfolge kann keine Länge von 0 (null) haben.
Parametername: name
  bei System.Security.Principal.NTAccount.ctor(String name)

Logon error with Windows Hello for Business: "Contact the system administrator and tell them that the KDC certificate could not be verified."

Assume the following scenario:

The company is using Windows Hello for Business.
Users receive the following error message when logging in to the client:

Sign-in failed. Contact your system administrator and tell them that the KDC certificate could not be validated. Additional information may be available in the system event log.

A policy module to tame them all: Introducing the TameMyCerts Policy Module for the Microsoft Certification Authority.

As a Certification Authority operator, you are (among other things) responsible for the identification of the enrollees and the confirmation of the requested identities. The fact that this task is carried out conscientiously and without error is the central pillar of the trust placed in the certification authority. Well-known companies are already failed in this task, even had to file for insolvency as a result of misrepresentations and / or were taken over by the big players in the market sensitive punished.

In many cases, we as (Microsoft) PKI operators in companies (regardless of the associated quality) are able to delegate our task of uniquely identifying an applicant to the Active Directory. In many cases, however, we unfortunately also have to instruct our certification authority(ies) to simply issue everything that is requested.

The partition of the Hardware Security Module (HSM) runs full

Assume the following scenario:

A Certification Authority uses a Hardware Security Module (HSM).
The partition of the hardware security module fills up with more and more keys over the lifetime of the certificate authority.
At SafeNet hardware security modules, this can even cause the partition to fill up. As a result, the events 86 and 88 logged by the Certification Authority.

Basics: Authentication procedures for the Internet Information Services (IIS)

The Active Directory Certificate Services offer a number of web-based add-on interfaces (Network Device Registration Service (NDES), Certificate Enrollment Policy Web Service (CEP), Certificate Enrollment Web Service (CES), Certification Authority Web Enrollment (CAWE).

The Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) are thus almost indispensable for a Microsoft PKI. Each of the web-based interfaces (and also in-house developments) bring their own unique challenges in terms of authentication procedures and their implementation.

The following article should bring a little clarity to the topic.

Enabling Basic Authentication for the Network Device Enrollment Service (NDES)

If the Network Device Enrollment Service (NDES) is reinstalled (Preferably without Enterprise Administrator permissions), only the Windows-integrated authentication for the administration web page is activated at first. With this (via NT LAN Manager, NTLM) protocol, authentication via user name and password is also possible. However, not all client applications support this.

Likewise, a company might be willing to, Disable NTLM where possible and enforce Kerberos for login. Enforcing Kerberos removes the ability to log in to the Network Device Registration Service administration page via username and password (since this is done with NTLM credentials). However, Basic Authentication can be retrofitted to provide an option here again.

One way out of this dilemma can be Basic Authentication, the setup of which will be explained below.

Disabling NTLM and enforcing Kerberos at the Network Device Enrollment Service (NDES) administration web page.

Many companies pursue the strategy of (largely) disabling the NT LAN Manager (NTLM) authentication protocol in their networks.

This is also possible for the administration web page of the network device registration service (NDES). How exactly this is implemented and how this may change the application behavior is explained below.

Changes to Certificate Issuance and Certificate-Based Logon to Active Directory with the May 10, 2022 Patch for Windows Server (KB5014754)

With the May 10, 2022 patch, Microsoft is attempting to patch a vulnerability in the Active Directory in which the certificate-based enrollment (commonly known as PKINIT or also Smartcard Logon) to close.

The update changes both the behavior of the Certification Authority as well as the behavior of Active Directory when processing certificate-based logins.

Selecting the identity for the IIS Network Device Enrollment Service (NDES) application pool.

If one installs a Network Device Enrollment Service (NDES), one is faced with the question under which identity the IIS application pool should be operated. In the following, the individual options are examined in more detail in order to facilitate a selection.

About the "Build this from Active Directory information" option for certificate templates

When configuring a certificate template, one must decide on the intended certificate content, i.e., among other things, which identities are confirmed by the certificates and how they are mapped.

In the "Subject Name" tab of the certificate template configuration dialog, you can configure how the identity confirmed by the certificate is mapped.

Verification of the domain controller certificates throws the error code ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED

Assume the following scenario:

With certutil a verification of the domain controller certificates is performed.
The operation fails with the following error message:

0: DC01

*** Testing DC[0]: DC01
Enterprise Root store: Access is denied. 0x80070005 (WIN32: 5 ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED)
KDC certificates: Access is denied. 0x80070005 (WIN32: 5 ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED)

CertUtil: -DCInfo command FAILED: 0x80070005 (WIN32: 5 ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED)
CertUtil: Access is denied.