Name: Configuring Certificate Authority With Openssl
Author: micsapp

Overview

A Certificate Authority (CA) is the trust anchor in a PKI hierarchy, responsible for issuing, signing, and revoking digital certificates. This skill covers building a two-tier CA hierarchy (Root CA + Intermediate CA) using OpenSSL and the Python cryptography library, including CRL distribution, OCSP responder configuration, and certificate policy management.

When to Use

When deploying or configuring configuring certificate authority with openssl capabilities in your environment
When establishing security controls aligned to compliance requirements
When building or improving security architecture for this domain
When conducting security assessments that require this implementation

Prerequisites

Familiarity with cryptography concepts and tools
Access to a test or lab environment for safe execution
Python 3.8+ with required dependencies installed
Appropriate authorization for any testing activities

Objectives

Overview

When to Use

When deploying or configuring configuring certificate authority with openssl capabilities in your environment
When establishing security controls aligned to compliance requirements
When building or improving security architecture for this domain
When conducting security assessments that require this implementation

Prerequisites

Familiarity with cryptography concepts and tools
Access to a test or lab environment for safe execution
Python 3.8+ with required dependencies installed
Appropriate authorization for any testing activities

Extension	Purpose	Critical
basicConstraints	CA:TRUE/FALSE, pathLenConstraint	Yes
keyUsage	keyCertSign, cRLSign, digitalSignature	Yes
extendedKeyUsage	serverAuth, clientAuth, codeSigning	No
subjectKeyIdentifier	Hash of public key	No
authorityKeyIdentifier	Issuer's key identifier	No
crlDistributionPoints	URL to CRL	No
authorityInfoAccess	OCSP responder URL	No

Configuring Certificate Authority With Openssl

Overview

When to Use

Prerequisites

Objectives

Configuring Certificate Authority With Openssl

Overview

When to Use

Prerequisites

Objectives

Key Concepts

CA Hierarchy

Certificate Extensions

Security Considerations

Validation Criteria

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