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Annex A is the normative annex that assigns object identifiers to the mechanisms, so that a protocol can name the mechanism it uses without ambiguity. It is short, and it is the annex a procurement or interoperability test reads first.

What it asks

Record the object identifier for every mechanism in use, and show that the identifier in the configuration matches the mechanism the verifier expects. Where a product reports an identifier that is not in the annex, treat it as an unregistered mechanism rather than mapping it by name.

What the revision does

The fourth edition will reissue the identifier assignments against the revised mechanism set. The public record does not list the new assignments. The annex keeps its 2009 material and gains the revision, which a copy of the older annex will not have.

Who it binds

The interoperability owner, procurement and the configuration manager.

Evidence an auditor samples

• The object identifier per mechanism, with the edition it comes from (cryptography standard)
• The configuration that pins the identifier (configuration management database)
• The interoperability test that exchanges the identifier (test report)

The test you can run

Ask two systems to name the mechanism they used. If the names differ but both are accepted, the identifier is not being enforced.

Common failures

• Mechanisms are matched by product name rather than identifier.
• An identifier from an older edition is accepted without a mapping note.

How to close it

Make the object identifier the key in the mechanism inventory. It is the one field that a counterparty can check without reading your documentation, which is exactly what an interoperability test needs. The artefact that opens the work is the object identifier per mechanism, with the edition it comes from; the row is only closed when that artefact is dated and has a person against it.

Where it sits against the 2009 edition

Annex status: the 2009 edition carries it, and the revision carries forward it. The citation therefore has to name the edition.

For the file, this row closes when the object identifier per mechanism, with the edition it comes from exists with a date, a named holder and a pointer, and when the test above has been run and recorded. The interoperability owner, procurement and the configuration manager. owns that answer for Annex A.