RFE: Unsignable keys

Neil Williams linux at codehelp.co.uk
Sat Jan 1 14:42:57 CET 2005


Request for Enhancement / Comments: GnuPG.

Would it be possible to create an --expert option to generate a key that 
CANNOT be signed (under any circumstances) unless BOTH secret keys are 
available? (signer has to have secret key anyway, these special keys would 
also need the signee secret key in the same keyring).

$ gpg --expert-unsignable --gen-key 
or
$ gpg --expert-verification --gen-key

This could be useful for corporate and verification keys that would then be 
used to sign other keys but could only be signed by keys owned by the 
original key owner. These signatures could be used to bring the key into the 
WoT without allowing any of the noise that pollutes current robot / 
impersonal keys.

If the PGP Global Directory Verification Key was unsignable, only those with 
access to the secret key within PGP GD would be able to sign it.

Anyone else would get a telling off from GnuPG:
"This is a verification key - it cannot be verified or signed without access
to it's secret key. Your request to sign this key has been ignored."

(I haven't looked at the OpenPGP spec, it probably breaks it but as an 
--expert option, GnuPG already supports other options that allow operation 
outside the strict spec.)

Comments?


-- 

Neil Williams
=============
http://www.dclug.org.uk/
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