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The environmental clause fixes the domain parameters, the authenticity of the public key and the trust a verifier places in the group. Because the arithmetic is short, the security rests almost entirely on the group being sound and on the verifier using the right one.

What it asks

Evidence the group parameters, their distribution and the verifier trust path, and show that the group in use matches the group in the record. Where a domain shares parameters, record the authority that generated them and the date of the last review.

What the revision does

The fourth edition will restate these conditions. The revised wording is not public. The 2009 wording is therefore superseded at publication.

Who it binds

The domain authority and the verifier operator.

Evidence an auditor samples

• The group parameter set, with generation and distribution records (cryptography standard)
• The verifier configuration that names the group (configuration management database)
• The review date for the group (review log)

The test you can run

Compare the group in the verifier configuration with the group in the standard. A mismatch is a finding even if both groups are sound.

Common failures

• The verifier accepts any group the claimant names.
• The group review date predates the last change to the deployment.

How to close it

Pin the group in configuration and test the pin. A verifier that accepts a claimant supplied group has moved the security decision to the claimant, which the clause does not allow. The artefact that opens the work is the group parameter set, with generation and distribution records; the row is only closed when that artefact is dated and has a person against it.

Where it sits against the 2009 edition

6.1 is a 2009 clause that the revision replaces. For 6.1, the 2009 obligation is the one to evidence until publication; after it, this row is rebuilt against the published text.

For the file, this row closes when the group parameter set, with generation and distribution records exists with a date, a named holder and a pointer, and when the test above has been run and recorded. The domain authority and the verifier operator. owns that answer for 6.1.