Device provisioning and authentication

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11246032-B1
Application number	US-202017083679-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Oct 29, 2020
Priority date	Oct 29, 2020
Publication date	Feb 8, 2022
Grant date	Feb 8, 2022

Abstract

Among other things, techniques are described for provisioning and authentication of devices in vehicles. In one aspect, a device in a vehicle establishes a communication session with a network server that manages provisioning of devices corresponding to an enterprise associated with the vehicle. The device receives instructions from the network server to generate cryptographic keys, and in response, generates a public and private key pair. The device sends, to the network server, a certificate signing request that includes the public key and an identifier of the device. In response, the device receives a digital security certificate for the device, and a security certificate of a signing certificate authority. The device authenticates the security certificate of the certificate authority using a known enterprise root certificate, and upon successful authentication, stores the device security certificate and the security certificate of the signing certificate authority.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method performed by a device in a vehicle, the method comprising:
determining, using at least one processor, whether one or more valid security credentials are available in a storage communicatively coupled to the device upon powering up the device;
in response to determining that one or more valid security credentials are not available, establishing, using a transceiver and the at least one processor, a communication session with a network server that is configured to manage provisioning of devices corresponding to an enterprise associated with the vehicle,
wherein establishing the communication session includes authenticating, using the at least one processor, the network server by using an enterprise security certificate of the enterprise that is available to the device;
upon establishing the communication session with the network server, receiving, from the network server using the at least one processor, instructions to generate cryptographic keys;
in response to receiving the instructions, generating, using the at least one processor, a key pair comprising a public key and a corresponding private key;
storing, using the at least one processor, the private key in the storage communicatively coupled to the device;
sending, to the network server using the at least one processor, a certificate signing request that includes the public key and an identifier of the device;
receiving, from the network server using the at least one processor, at least one of a device security certificate corresponding to the public key, or a security certificate of a signing certificate authority that signed the device security certificate, wherein the signing certificate authority is associated with the enterprise;
authenticating, using the at least one processor, the security certificate of the signing certificate authority using the enterprise security certificate available to the device; and
upon successfully authenticating the security certificate of the signing certificate authority, storing, using the at least one processor, at least one of the device security certificate or the security certificate of the signing certificate authority in the storage communicatively coupled to the device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein provisioning a particular device in the vehicle comprises providing the particular device with at least one cryptographic key or security certificate, wherein the particular device is configured to perform authenticated communication with at least one other entity associated with the enterprise using the at least one cryptographic key or security certificate.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, using the network server, the certificate signing request from the device;
determining, using the network server, whether the certificate signing request is a valid request;
in response to determining that the certificate signing request is a valid request, sending, using the network server, the certificate signing request to the signing certificate authority;
receiving, using the network server from the signing certificate authority, at least one of the device security certificate, or the security certificate of the signing certificate authority;
storing, using the network server, the device security certificate in storage coupled to the network server; and
sending, using the network server to the device, at least one of the device security certificate, or the security certificate of the signing certificate authority.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining whether the certificate signing request is a valid request comprises:
obtaining the identifier of the device from the certificate signing request;
determining, using the identifier, whether the device is registered with the enterprise as an active device;
upon determining that the device is registered with the enterprise as an active device, determining whether an existing device security certificate is available to the network server; and
upon determining that an existing device security certificate is not available to the network server, determining that the certificate signing request is a valid request.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
determining that the certificate signing request is not a valid request upon determining that the device is not registered with the enterprise as an active device; and
in response to determining that the device is not registered with the enterprise as an active device:
generating an audit log entry, and
terminating the communication session with the device.

6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
determining that the certificate signing request is not a valid request upon determining that an existing device security certificate is available to the network server; and
in response to determining that an existing device security certificate is available to the network server:
revoking the existing device security certificate,
generating an audit log entry, and
terminating the communication session with the device.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, from a management service corresponding to the enterprise, a connection request;
authenticating the management service using the enterprise security certificate of the enterprise;
upon successfully authenticating the management service, establishing the connection with the management service;
receiving, from the management service, instructions to deprovision the device; and
in response to receiving the instructions to deprovision the device:
deleting, from the storage communicatively coupled to the device, at least one of the device security certificate or the security certificate of the signing certificate authority, and
rebooting the device.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
receiving, using the signing certificate authority from the management service, instructions to deprovision the device, the instructions including the identifier of the device; and
in response to receiving the instructions to deprovision the device, revoking, by the signing certificate authority, the device security certificate.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
receiving, using the network server from the management service, instructions to deprovision the device, the instructions including the identifier of the device and revocation information for the device security certificate;
in response to receiving the instructions to deprovision the device, determining, by the network server using the identifier of the device obtained from the instructions, the device security certificate from storage coupled to the network server; and
deleting, using the network server, the device security certificate from the storage coupled to the network server.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, using the network server from a management service corresponding to the enterprise, instructions to decommission the device, the instructions including the identifier of the device and revocation information for the device security certificate;
in response to receiving the instructions to decommission the device, determining, by the network server using the identifier of the device obtained from the instructions, the device security certificate from storage coupled to the network server;
deleting, using the network server, the device security certificate from the storage coupled to the network server; and
recording, using the network server, the identifier of the device as corresponding to a decommissioned device.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, from a management service correspondin

Assignees

• Motional Ad Llc

Inventors

• Maass Michael
• Robinson Karl

Classifications

• H04L67/141 Primary

  Setup of application sessions (admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70) · CPC title

• H04L63/0823

  using certificates (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263) · CPC title

• H04L63/0442

  wherein the sending and receiving network entities apply asymmetric encryption, i.e. different keys for encryption and decryption (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for public-key encryption H04L9/30) · CPC title

• H04L9/3263

  involving certificates, e.g. public key certificate [PKC] or attribute certificate [AC]; Public key infrastructure [PKI] arrangements (network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using certificates in a packet data network H04L63/0823) · CPC title

• H04L9/3247

  involving digital signatures · CPC title