Granted Patent B2

US 12,278,901 · App. 17/547,467 · Granted Apr 15, 2025

Inventors: Yolan Romailler (Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, CH); Nils Amiet (Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, CH)

Assignee: NAGRAVISION SARL

H04L9/3073H04L9/0894H04L9/3242H04L9/3247H04L9/3271

Abstract

Claims (60)

1. A method of registering or authenticating a user with a relying party, the method comprising:

receiving, at an authenticator, a request to generate a key pair, the request including key-generation data, the key-generation data including relying party information associated with the relying party and user information associated with the user;

deterministically generating, at the authenticator, based on the relying party information, the user information, and a secret key stored in a memory of the authenticator, a key pair comprising a public key and a private key;

one or more of transmitting the public key or performing further processing using the private key to register or authenticate the user with the relying party; and

deleting the key pair from the memory of the authenticator.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the key pair is an elliptic curve key pair.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein:

either:

the memory of the authenticator stores an elliptic curve equation, a base point, and a predetermined function, or

the key-generation data includes an elliptic curve equation, a base point, and a predetermined function; and

wherein generating the key pair comprises deterministically generating an integer based on the secret key and the key-generation data; and deriving a point based on the integer and the key-generation data, wherein:

the point is the public key, and

the integer is the private key.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein:

the method further includes applying a one-way function to a one-way-function input, the one-way-function input being based on the key-generation data, to generate a one-way-function output; and

either:

the one-way-function output is the integer; or

the method further includes generating the integer from the one-way function output.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising combining a salt with the one-way-function input before applying the one-way function.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the one-way function is a keyed one-way function, an output of which is dependent on a function key.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the keyed one-way function is a hash-based method authentication code (HMAC) function, and the function key is an HMAC key.

8. The method of claim 4 , further comprising combining the one-way-function output with a master key to generate the integer.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the key-generation data includes a tuple of data comprising at least a relying party ID and a user ID.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving an authorization input from a user; and

validating the authorization input by comparing data derived from the authorization input with stored data corresponding to an expected authorization input associated with the user in question;

wherein the key pair is deterministically generated responsive to validating the authorization input.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

registering a user with the relying party; and

transmitting an attestation object to a client device of the user, the attestation object including the public key, and one or more of: a credential ID associated with the public key, and an attestation signature.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the method is a method of authenticating a user with the relying party; and

the method further comprises:

receiving authentication challenge data from a client device of the user;

generating an assertion signature using an authentication algorithm such as a digital signature algorithm; and

transmitting the generated assertion signature to the client device.

13. An authenticator for registering or authenticating a user with a relying party, the authenticator configured to:

receive a request to generate a key pair, the request including key-generation data, the key-generation data including relying party information associated with the relying party and user information associated with the user;

deterministically generate, based on the relying party information, the user information, and a secret key stored in a memory of the authenticator, a key pair comprising a public key and a private key;

one or more of transmit the public key or perform further processing using the private key to register or authenticate the user with the relying party; and

delete the key pair from the memory of the authenticator.

14. The authenticator of claim 13 , wherein:

the key pair is an elliptic curve key pair;

either:

the memory of the authenticator stores an elliptic curve equation, a base point, and a predetermined function,

or:

the key-generation data includes an elliptic curve equation, a base point, and a predetermined function; and

to generate the key pair, the authenticator is configured to deterministically generate an integer based on the secret key and the key-generation data; and deriving a point based on the integer and the key-generation data, wherein:

the point is the public key, and

the integer is the private key.

15. The authenticator of claim 14 , wherein:

the authenticator is further configured to apply a one-way function to a one-way function input, the one-way function being based on the key-generation data, to generate a one-way function output; and

either:

the one-way function output is the integer; or

the authenticator is further configured to generate an integer from the one-way function output.

16. The authenticator of claim 15 , wherein the authenticator is further configured to combine a salt with the one-way function input before applying the one-way function.

17. The authenticator of claim 15 , wherein the one-way function is a keyed one-way function, and wherein an output of the keyed one-way function is dependent on a function key.

18. The authenticator of claim 17 , wherein the keyed one-way function is a hash-based method authentication code (HMAC) function, and the function key is an HMAC key.

19. The authenticator of claim 13 , wherein the authenticator is a standalone device including an interface for connecting with a client device.

20. The authenticator of claim 13 , wherein the authenticator is a module on an electronic device.

Assignments (2)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (19)