precertificate

English

Etymology

From pre- +‎ certificate.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˌpriːˈsɜːrtɪfɪkət/

Noun

precertificate (plural precertificates)

1. (computer science, cybersecurity) A special type of SSL/TLS certificate used in Certificate Transparency (CT) for logging purposes. It's a precursor to the actual SSL/TLS certificate and helps ensure transparency in the certificate issuance process.
   • 2013 June, B. Laurie, A. Langley, E. Kasper, “RFC 6962: Certificate Transparency”, in IETF Datatracker‎^[1], Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), page 9:

     To do so, the CA submits a Precertificate that the log can use to create an entry that will be valid against the issued certificate.

   • 2022, Jingqiang Lin, Qiang Tang, editors, Applied Cryptography in Computer and Communications: Second EAI International Conference, AC3 2022, Virtual Event, May 14-15, 2022, Proceedings (Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering; 448), Springer Nature, →ISBN, page 129:

     Alternatively, before signing the certificate, the CA creates a precertificate that binds the same data in a different format as the final certificate.

   • 2025 January 5, Wikipedia contributors, “Certificate Transparency”, in English Wikipedia‎^[2], Wikimedia Foundation:

     The CA sends the precertificate to logs