Home / The record / Elliptic curve mechanisms

The elliptic curve family entered the 2009 edition and is the newest arithmetic in the part. It gives short keys and a different coupon profile, with the verifier able to precompute in one subclause and no coupon at all in another. The fourth edition carries the family forward.

What it asks

Record the curve, the base point, the subgroup order and the coupon arrangement for each deployment, and show that the curve was selected from an approved set rather than generated locally. Test that a point not on the curve and a point outside the subgroup are both rejected.

What the revision does

The fourth edition keeps the family and will restate it. The public record stops before the revised text. The 2009 wording is therefore superseded at publication.

Who it binds

The cryptography owner and the implementer of the point validation.

Evidence an auditor samples

• The curve and base point record per deployment (cryptography standard)
• The curve selection review (design note)
• The point validation tests, on curve and in subgroup (test suite)

The test you can run

Present a point that is not on the curve. If the verifier proceeds, validation is missing.

Common failures

• The curve is generated locally with unexplained parameters.
• Validation checks the coordinates but not the subgroup.

How to close it

Use an approved curve and test both validations. Curve parameters are hard to check by eye, so the selection record and the validation tests are the only practical evidence. Start with the curve and base point record per deployment and let the row close when it exists with a date and a named holder.

Where it sits against the 2009 edition

The 2009 edition carries Clause 9, and the fourth edition replaces it. The public record does not give the new wording, so this page records the obligation that stands today and the question the revision has to answer.

For the file, this row closes when the curve and base point record per deployment exists with a date, a named holder and a pointer, and when the test above has been run and recorded. The cryptography owner and the implementer of the point validation. owns that answer for Clause 9.