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Network and Certificate System Security Requirements

Network and Certificate System Security Requirements

On 3 August 2012 the CA/Browser Forum adopted the original Network and Certificate System Security Requirements with an effective date of 1 January 2013. Since then, the Network and Certificate System Security Requirements (NCSSRs) have outlined best practices for the general protection of CA networks and supporting systems, including those touching on trusted roles, delegated third parties, system accounts, logging, monitoring, alerting, vulnerability detection and patch management within a CA’s infrastructure.

Current Version

Network and Certificate System Security Requirements v2.0.5 (redlined) (adopted with Ballot NS-008)

Previous Versions

Network and Certificate System Security Requirements v2.0.4 (redlined) (adopted with Ballot NS-007)

Network and Certificate System Security Requirements v2.0.3 (redlined) (adopted with Ballot NS-006)

Network and Certificate System Security Requirements v2.0.2 (redlined) (adopted with Ballot NS-004)

Network and Certificate System Security Requirements v2.0.1 (redlined) (adopted with Ballot NS-005)

Network and Certificate System Security Requirements v2.0 (redlined) (adopted with Ballot NS-003)

Network Security Controls v1.7 (redlined) (adopted with Ballot SC41)

Network Security Controls v1.6 (redlined) (adopted with Ballot SC39)

CABForum_Network_Security_Controls_v.1.5 (redlined)(adopted with Ballot SC28)

CABForum_Network_Security_Controls_v.1.4 (redlined)(adopted with Ballot SC29)

CABForum_Network_Security_Controls_v.1.3 (redlined)(adopted with Ballot SC21)

CABForum_Network_Security_Controls_v.1.2 (redlined) (adopted with Ballot SC3)

CABForum_Network_Security_Controls_v.1.1 corrected (adopted with Ballot 210)

CABForum_Network_Security_Controls_v.1.1 corrected-redlined

Network_Security_Controls_V1 (adopted with Ballot 83)

Latest releases
Server Certificate Requirements
SC100: DNSSEC Clarification and Consolidation - Sep 7, 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
v1.0.16 - Ballot SMC018 - Sep 29, 2026

This ballot implements the requirements of CCADB Policy Section 6.3 relating to cross-certificates into the S/MIME BR effective immediately. The ballot also specifies that effective July 1, 2027 id-kp-emailProtection (mandatory) and the id-kp-clientAuth (optional) are the only extKeyUsage (EKU) permitted in both Subordinate CA Certificates and Subscriber Certificates. Finally, the ballot clarifies in the Definitions that Legacy Generation profiles were deprecated effective July 15, 2025. This ballot is proposed by Stephen Davidson (DigiCert) and endorsed by Dustin Hollinback (Apple) and Ashish Dhiman (GlobalSign)

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

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The Certification Authority Browser Forum (CA/Browser Forum) is a voluntary gathering of Certificate Issuers and suppliers of Internet browser software and other applications that use certificates (Certificate Consumers).