Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                          M. Jones
Request for Comments: 7517                                     Microsoft
Category: Standards Track                                       May 2015
ISSN: 2070-1721


                           JSON Web Key (JWK)

Abstract

   A JSON Web Key (JWK) is a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) data
   structure that represents a cryptographic key.  This specification
   also defines a JWK Set JSON data structure that represents a set of
   JWKs.  Cryptographic algorithms and identifiers for use with this
   specification are described in the separate JSON Web Algorithms (JWA)
   specification and IANA registries established by that specification.

Status of This Memo

   This is an Internet Standards Track document.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
   received public review and has been approved for publication by the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Further information on
   Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 5741.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7517.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2015 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

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   described in the Simplified BSD License.






Jones                        Standards Track                    [Page 1]

RFC 7517                   JSON Web Key (JWK)                   May 2015


Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     1.1.  Notational Conventions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   2.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   3.  Example JWK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   4.  JSON Web Key (JWK) Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     4.1.  "kty" (Key Type) Parameter  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     4.2.  "use" (Public Key Use) Parameter  . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     4.3.  "key_ops" (Key Operations) Parameter  . . . . . . . . . .   7
     4.4.  "alg" (Algorithm) Parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     4.5.  "kid" (Key ID) Parameter  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     4.6.  "x5u" (X.509 URL) Parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     4.7.  "x5c" (X.509 Certificate Chain) Parameter . . . . . . . .   9
     4.8.  "x5t" (X.509 Certificate SHA-1 Thumbprint) Parameter  . .   9
     4.9.  "x5t#S256" (X.509 Certificate SHA-256 Thumbprint)
           Parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
   5.  JWK Set Format  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     5.1.  "keys" Parameter  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
   6.  String Comparison Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
   7.  Encrypted JWK and Encrypted JWK Set Formats . . . . . . . . .  11
   8.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
     8.1.  JSON Web Key Parameters Registry  . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
       8.1.1.  Registration Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
       8.1.2.  Initial Registry Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
     8.2.  JSON Web Key Use Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
       8.2.1.  Registration Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
       8.2.2.  Initial Registry Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
     8.3.  JSON Web Key Operations Registry  . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
       8.3.1.  Registration Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
       8.3.2.  Initial Registry Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
     8.4.  JSON Web Key Set Parameters Registry  . . . . . . . . . .  17
       8.4.1.  Registration Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
       8.4.2.  Initial Registry Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
     8.5.  Media Type Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
       8.5.1.  Registry Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
   9.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
     9.1.  Key Provenance and Trust  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
     9.2.  Preventing Disclosure of Non-public Key Information . . .  20
     9.3.  RSA Private Key Representations and Blinding  . . . . . .  21
     9.4.  Key Entropy and Random Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21
   10. References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21
     10.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21
     10.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
   Appendix A.  Example JSON Web Key Sets  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  25