Client-Rooted Decryption Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) for Secure Cloud-Based Inspection of Encrypted Traffic

원문 (중국어)

Techniques for implementing a client-rooted decryption Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to securely inspect encrypted traffic in cloud-based proxy environments are disclosed. A proxy node generates an intermediate Certificate Authority (CA) certificate signing request (CSR) and sends it to a client device equipped with a locally-managed root CA. The client device cross-signs the CSR, creating a client-specific intermediate CA certificate, which it returns to the proxy node. This client-specific intermediate CA certificate is scoped uniquely to the individual client device, significantly reducing the potential blast radius in case of CA key compromise. The proxy node uses the client-specific CA certificate to dynamically generate short-lived, scoped decryption certificates for inspecting encrypted traffic. This architecture provides client-level control of trust boundaries, enhanced traceability, reduced complexity, and improved scalability of encrypted traffic inspection, minimizing the operational risks associated with conventional centralized certificate management.