Mathematical Mesh: Web Application Binding

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Table of Contents

1. Definitions

2. Introduction

The Mathematical Mesh is a personal PKI that permits a user to connect multiple devices to a 'personal profile' through which application information is shared between the connected devices. All Mesh communications are secured through a combination of end-to-end security to protect confidentiality and integrity and transport security to provide protection against traffic analysis.¶

A full description of the Mathematical Mesh architecture is to be found in [draft-hallambaker-mesh-architecture-01]¶

This document describes a proposed design for a demonstration of using the Mesh to provide a cloud based password manager for connected Web browsers. The approach may be readily extended to support management of Web bookmarks.¶

3. Password Management

Alice decides to use the Mesh to manage her Web usernames and passwords.¶

She creates two accounts:¶

• • example.com: username 'alice', password 'secret'¶
  • cnn.com: username 'alice1', password 'secret'¶

The JSON encoding of the password data is as follows:¶

{
  "PasswordProfilePrivate": {
    "Entries": [{
        "Sites": ["example.com"],
        "Username": "alice",
        "Password": "secret"},
      {
        "Sites": ["cnn.com"],
        "Username": "alice1",
        "Password": "secret"}]}}

The JSON encoded password data is then encrypted and stored in an application profile as follows:¶

{
  "PasswordProfile": {
    "Identifier": "MCVSI-2OAGD-AN7GS-OTHBS-QHELX-AJCDO-A",
    "EncryptedData": {
      "protected": "
ewogICJhbGciOiAiQUUxMjgifQ",
      "iv": "
LIRu00HQBv5nwEjxJfQVoQ",
      "ciphertext": "
Fz39PhXGD38YAwzR_kL3VpundLNTamIkVWGcpuJF6397MGb57wXkrZoxYXLUsKRS",
      "recipients": [{
          "Header": {
            "kid": "MCXAL-463WQ-QKFAO-TTT3V-MEVW6-AJ2EE"},
          "encrypted_key": "
bvmF3YPt8ZnKDSPuUqzb9WC7aR0AC3XvozUq6fln5jXXoWzpeFBbHItBrN5PZ2MM
vxO-UQ3t0a5eLsQ8tAw8K3c1IDXbsFgTjnZ3GNUbFzD0SfU1L6twmhDHkxdN9gGC
a79GBFwc6ZD_4vNz9uANqSQptkvCTTDnCHnEooMoj2_gQE5tR5Oc7BSPm47RxBeR
I-CuyY7QhdyhrJNqgZm8X67Njy4fakMnCkwT-d3QnGY5tFWtrw42_9d7V3mXorLZ
IOE3KBJxteXiR-KUV6itlYfQVx6D-8oYaL1Ha_u7epIU24ivo9ilQZ8Av0ybg5pl
O619p9YPdRcrEfgUsRDMuA"},
        {
          "Header": {
            "kid": "MAWTR-QKK46-5DY3M-2UD2W-BR2MX-CAE2E"},
          "encrypted_key": "
GuRfv5is-QA66JIk-iFxNeOOeOdST6qYUm480JjKCtB0hJ2g6ArnvPuFCNykNNJ5
ui8YPlbI5hD1lpGocVR3EVZu6TI65ENN-5uecZ0mdcRrfQZBxvuzu3osAZWOgvoB
79Pk79skRfS6sZJ7Ph7NQwLXVOupmNkk0TrZbYWQgUc0SYufPcCZ1bgQT1gixuOB
xl-oqFB74Sv_rkpRMIl2SNGFohMIDHazHJUd0m0DUARqYL_-rdxKZC9PCodRYYhl
fNXJi3vgzu5fllxiSa21vma2PmVz9ERhepZebYkYJl2BrbF6bcen2wOGyGvx_1FP
qkKq6RJ2LSTikmt03JoG5g"}]}}}

As we saw earlier, Alice really needs to start using stronger passwords. Fortunately, having access to a password manager means that Alice doesn't need to remember different passwords for every site she uses any more.¶

In addition to offering to use the Mesh to remember passwords, a Web browser can offer to automatically generate a password for a site. This can be a much stronger password than the user would normally want to choose if they had to remember it.¶

Alice chooses to use password generation. Her password manager profile is updated to reflect this new choice.¶

{
  "PasswordProfilePrivate": {
    "AutoGenerate": true,
    "Entries": [{
        "Sites": ["example.com"],
        "Username": "alice",
        "Password": "secret"},
      {
        "Sites": ["cnn.com"],
        "Username": "alice1",
        "Password": "secret"}]}}

Alice is happy to use the password manager for her general Web sites but not for the password she uses to log in to her bank account. When asked if the password should be stored in the Mesh, Alice declines and asks not to be asked in the future.¶

{
  "PasswordProfilePrivate": {
    "AutoGenerate": true,
    "Entries": [{
        "Sites": ["example.com"],
        "Username": "alice",
        "Password": "secret"},
      {
        "Sites": ["cnn.com"],
        "Username": "alice1",
        "Password": "secret"}],
    "NeverAsk": ["bank.com"]}}

4. Application Schema

5. Demonstration

A demonstration of using the Mesh to manage Web browser passwords is described.¶

The end goal in developing the Mesh application protocols is to encourage application providers to provide native support for the Mesh rendering extensions obsolete. Such implementation is likely to be best encouraged through provision of a reference library in C.¶

I propose implementation of a demonstration as follows:¶

Platform Windows¶

Browser: Chrome¶

Approach:¶

Integration to browser features to be supported by platform independent extension module¶

Mesh integration to be provided by a platform specific executable written in C.¶

For initial testing / canned demo purposes, the Mesh integration module will be a 'stub' that access a data file at a defined location on disk that contains the PasswordProfilePrivate data structure. The task of synchronizing data with the Mesh will be performed using the Mesh profile management client.¶

Further development:¶

Implementation of the production extension by modifying the platform specific executable.¶

Support for macOS by implementing a Mac specific platform executable¶

Support for Linux by implementing a Mac specific platform executable¶

This approach allows the platform specific extensions to be tailored to the cryptographic key management capabilities offered by each platform. For example, the use of a TPM to protect private keys on Windows or the Keyring mechanism on macOS.¶

Author's Address