Basics of managing certificates and credentials basics-of-managing-certificates-and-credentials

CAUTION
AEM 6.4 has reached the end of extended support and this documentation is no longer updated. For further details, see our technical support periods. Find the supported versions here.

A credential contains your private key information needed for signing or identifying documents. A certificate is public key information that you configure for trust. AEM forms uses certificates and credentials for several purposes:

Generating a pair key

AEM forms uses its Trust Store to store and manage certificates, credentials, and certificate revocation lists (CRLs). Additionally, you can use an independent Hardware Security Module (HSM) device to store private keys.

AEM forms does not provide any option to generate a key pair. However, you can generate it using tools, such as Java keytool, and import it in AEM forms Trust Store. For more information on Java keytool, see the following:

https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/security/toolsign/step3.html

https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19798-01/821-1841/gjrgy/index.html

https://helpcenter.gsx.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015960428-How-to-Generate-a-Self-Signed-Certificate-and-Private-Key-using-OpenSSL

The following signature types are supported and can be imported in AEM forms:

  • XML signature
  • XMLTimeStampToken
  • RFC 3161 TimeStampToken
  • PKCS#7
  • PKCS#1
  • DSA Signatures

Handling lost or compromised key

If you suspect that your key is lost or has been compromised, take the following actions:

  1. Inform the certifying authority, so that they add the compromised key on the certificate revocation list to revoke the key.
  2. Obtain a new key and its certificates from the certifying authority.
  3. Sign the documents that were signed using the compromised key again using the new key.
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