[pkix] [Technical Errata Reported] RFC3280 (9097)

rfc-editor@rfc-editor.org Mon, 10 August 2026 16:42 UTC

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Subject: [pkix] [Technical Errata Reported] RFC3280 (9097)
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The following errata report has been submitted for RFC3280,
"Internet X.509 Public Key Infrastructure Certificate and Certificate Revocation List (CRL) Profile"

--------------------------------------
You may review the report below and at:
https://errata.rfc-editor.org/eid9097/

--------------------------------------
Type: Technical
Reported by: Peng Yuan <1174804262@qq.com>

Section 4.1.2.2 says:

Original Text
-------------
The serial number MUST be a positive integer assigned by the CA to
   each certificate.  It MUST be unique for each certificate issued by a
   given CA (i.e., the issuer name and serial number identify a unique
   certificate).  CAs MUST force the serialNumber to be a non-negative
   integer.

Corrected Text
--------------
The serial number MUST be a positive integer assigned by the CA to
   each certificate.  It MUST be unique for each certificate issued by
   a given CA (i.e., the issuer name and serial number identify a
   unique certificate).  CAs MUST force the serialNumber to be
   positive integer.

Notes
-----
r/non-negative/positive
The text contains inconsistent requirements for the certificate
serialNumber. The first sentence requires the serial number to be a
positive integer, which excludes zero. However, the last sentence
requires CAs to force the serialNumber to be a non-negative integer,
which permits zero. These two requirements are contradictory and may
cause ambiguity for certificate issuers regarding whether a serial
number of zero is permitted. The last sentence should use "positive
integer" instead of "non-negative integer" to maintain consistency
within this section.

Instructions:
-------------
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--------------------------------------
RFC3280 (draft-ietf-pkix-new-part1)
--------------------------------------
Title               : Internet X.509 Public Key Infrastructure Certificate and Certificate Revocation List (CRL) Profile
Publication Date    : May 2002
Author(s)           : R. Housley, W. Polk, W. Ford, D. Solo
Category            : Proposed Standard
Source              : pkix (sec)
Stream              : IETF
Verifying Party     : IESG