Credential manager integration

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11775632-B2
Application number	US-202318161827-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 30, 2023
Priority date	Jun 3, 2018
Publication date	Oct 3, 2023
Grant date	Oct 3, 2023

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed relating to credential managers. In some embodiments, a computing device maintains a credential manager that stores, in a protected manner, a set of credentials for authenticating a user and metadata about the credentials. The computing device stores an instance of the metadata externally to the credential manager. The computing device uses the externally stored metadata to determine whether the set of credentials includes a particular credential associated with a service and, in response to determining that the set of credentials includes the particular credential, displays an indication of the particular credential. In some embodiments, the computing device receives a selection of the displayed indication by the user and, in response to the selection, sends a request for the particular credential to the credential manager.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium having program instructions stored therein that are executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to implement a credential manager that performs operations comprising:
storing, in a protected manner, 1) a set of credentials for authenticating a user and 2) metadata about the set of credentials;
providing, to a program, a separate copy of the metadata, wherein the metadata stored in the protected manner is not accessible to the program, and wherein the separate copy of the metadata is stored externally to the credential manager and is accessible to the program to determine whether the set of credentials includes a credential relevant to an authentication prompt;
receiving, from the program, a request for the relevant credential;
in response to the request, performing an authentication of the user; and
based on the authentication, providing the requested credential to the program for supplying to the authentication prompt.

2. The computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the operations comprise:
receiving a request to store an additional credential for authenticating the user;
storing the additional credential in an encrypted manner; and
invoking an application programming interface (API) of the program to provide metadata about the additional credential.

3. The computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the metadata includes usernames associated with the set of credentials.

4. The computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the metadata includes a service identifier for the relevant credential, wherein the service identifier indicates a service associated with the relevant credential and is usable by the program to determine that the relevant credential is relevant to the authentication prompt.

5. The computer readable medium of claim 4 , wherein the operations comprise:
maintaining a ranking of credentials associated with the service, wherein the provided metadata includes information about the ranking usable by the program to select the relevant credential.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the operations include:
storing the relevant credential in a database such that the relevant credential is retrievable from the database using a key, wherein the metadata includes the key associated with the relevant credential.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the operations comprise:
receiving a request to update a particular credential of the set of stored credentials;
in response to the request, updating the particular credential and metadata about the particular credential; and
invoking an application programming interface (API) of the program to notify the program of the updating.

8. A computing device, comprising:
a processor circuit; and
a memory storing program instructions executable by the processor circuit to implement a credential manager that performs operations including:
storing, in a protected manner, 1) a set of credentials for authenticating a user and 2) metadata about the set of credentials;
providing, to a program, a separate copy of the metadata, wherein the metadata stored in the protected manner is not accessible to the program, and wherein the separate copy of the metadata is stored externally to the credential manager and is accessible to the program to determine whether the set of credentials includes a credential relevant to an authentication prompt;

receiving, from the program, a request for the relevant credential;
in response to the request, performing an authentication of the user; and
based on the authentication, providing the requested credential to the program for supplying to the authentication prompt.

9. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the operations include:
receiving a request to store an additional credential for authenticating the user;
storing the additional credential in the protected manner; and
invoking an application programming interface (API) of the program to provide metadata about the additional credential.

10. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the program is an operating system; and
wherein the protected manner includes encryption.

11. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the operations include:
identifying the relevant credential in the stored set of credentials based on a service identifier included in the request for the relevant credential.

12. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the relevant credential includes one-time password (OTP).

13. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the request for the relevant credential includes a key provided by the credential manager and usable to identify the relevant credential in a database maintained by the credential manager.

14. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the operations include:
maintaining a ranking of credentials associated with a service; and
wherein the providing of the relevant credential is based on the ranking of credentials.

15. A method, comprising:
storing, by a credential manager executing on a computing device, in a protected manner, 1) a set of credentials for authenticating a user and 2) metadata about the set of credentials;
providing, by the credential manager to a program, a separate copy of the metadata, wherein the metadata stored in the protected manner is not accessible to the program, and wherein the separate copy of the metadata is stored externally to the credential manager and is accessible to the program to determine whether the set of credentials includes a credential relevant to an authentication prompt;
receiving, by the credential manager from the program, a request for the relevant credential;
in response to the request, performing an authentication of the user; and
based on the authentication, providing, by the credential manager, the requested credential to the program for supplying to the authentication prompt.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
receiving, by the credential manager, a request to store an additional credential for authenticating the user;
storing, by the credential manager, the additional credential in an encrypted manner; and
providing, by the credential manager, metadata about the additional credential to the program.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
receiving, by the credential manager, a request to update a particular credential of the set of stored credentials;
in response to the request, updating, by the credential manager, the particular credential and metadata about the particular credential; and
invoking, by the credential manager, an application programing interface (API) of the program to notify the program of the updating.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the set of credentials is protected using one or more cryptographic keys derived based on authentication information provided by the user.

19. The method of claim 15 , wherein the metadata includes service identifiers associated with the stored set of credentials and type information identifying types of the stored set of credentials.

20. The method of claim 15 , wherein the program is an operating system; and wherein the credential manager is a third-party credential manager relative to the program.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Abbasian Reza
• Mondello Richard J
• Quesada David P
• Brogle Kyle C
• Coffman Patrick L

Classifications

• G06F21/45 Primary

  Structures or tools for the administration of authentication · CPC title

• G06F21/36

  by graphic or iconic representation · CPC title

• G06F21/604

  Tools and structures for managing or administering access control systems · CPC title

• G06F21/62

  Protecting access to data via a platform, e.g. using keys or access control rules · CPC title

• G06F21/78

  to assure secure storage of data (address-based protection against unauthorised use of memory G06F12/14; record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings G06K19/00) · CPC title