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Ballot NS-001: Adopt Network and Certificate System Security Requirements

This email begins the discussion period for Ballot NS-001: Adopt Network and Certificate System Security Requirements.

PURPOSE OF BALLOT The purpose of this ballot is for the Networking Security Working Group to formally adopt version 1.7 of the Network and Certificate System Security Requirements as currently published by the CA/Browser Forum.

MOTION The following motion has been proposed by Clint Wilson of Apple and endorsed by Tim Hollebeek of DigiCert and Ben Wilson of Mozilla. -–Motion Begins-– In accordance with the Bylaws and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy of the CA/Browser Forum, version 1.7 of the Network and Certificate System Security Requirements are adopted in full. -–Motion Ends-– This ballot proposes a Final Guideline. The procedure for approval of this ballot is as follows: Discussion (7+ days) Start Time: January 31 2022 17:00 UTC

End Time: February 07 2022 17:00 UTC

Vote for approval (7 days) Start Time: February 08 2022 22:00 UTC

End Time: February 15 2022 22:00 UTC

Latest releases

Server Certificate Requirements
SC098: Process RFC 8657 CAA Parameters - Jun 16, 2026

Code Signing Requirements
v3.8 - Aug 5, 2024

What’s Changed CSC-25: Import EV Guidelines to CS Baseline Requirements by @dzacharo in https://github.com/cabforum/code-signing/pull/38 Full Changelog: https://github.com/cabforum/code-signing/compare/v3.7...v3.8

S/MIME Requirements
v1.0.15 - Ballot SMC017v2 - Jul 30, 2026

This ballot increases the minimum RSA key size for Root and Subordinate CA certificates in the S/MIME BRs from 2048 to 4096 bits for keys created after September 15, 2026, while retaining the 2048-bit minimum for Subscriber certificates. The ballot further requires that by September 15, 2027, CAs SHALL NOT issue Subscriber certificates from any Sub-CA whose RSA key modulus is less than 3072 bits, effectively sunsetting issuance from legacy 2048-bit Sub-CAs. The ballot also includes minor typographic corrections. This ballot is proposed by Martijn Katerbarg (Sectigo) and endorsed by Ben Wilson (Mozilla) and Stephen Davidson (DigiCert)

Network and Certificate System Security Requirements
Version 2.0.5 (Ballot NS-008) - Jul 9, 2025