I have reviewed this document as part of the security directorate's ongoing effort to review all IETF documents being processed by the IESG. These comments were written primarily for the benefit of the security area directors. Document editors and WG chairs should treat these comments just like any other last call comments. This document defines the syntax and semantics for the Clearance attribute and the Authority Clearance Constraints extension in X.509 certificates. The Clearance attribute is used to indicate the clearance held by the subject. The Clearance attribute may appear in the subject directory attributes extension of a public key certificate or in the attributes field of an attribute certificate. The Authority Clearance Constraints certificate extension values in a Trust Anchor (TA), CA public key certificates, and an Attribute Authority (AA) public key certificate in a public key certification path constrain the effective Clearance of the subject. As with all certificate attributes (in particular constraints), it's always a question of when to use them and what to do when the attribute doesn't exist. In this case the mere presence of an attribute could release classified information, but luckily this is briefly mentioned in the Security Considerations section. -derek -- Derek Atkins 617-623-3745 derek at ihtfp.com www.ihtfp.com Computer and Internet Security Consultant