For IE and other things using CryptoAPI on Windows, this should be handled 
through the automagic root certificate update through Windows Update (if one 
hasn't disabled it), AFAIK.

The question is really whether that mechanism requires a cert rooted at a 
Microsoft authority or not.  The danger being that someone could use an 
intermediate CA rooted at an md5-signing CA and present a seemingly valid cert 
through that with the right common name.

Some other Microsoft things (i.e. KMCS) require certs rooted to a single 
specific root and not just *any* global root, so it's possible that the same is 
done for root certificate update blobs; however, I don't know for certain, and 
some research would need to be done.  I don't think any of the MS issuing roots 
use md5, though.

- S

-----Original Message-----
From: Deepak Jain [mailto:dee...@ai.net] 
Sent: Friday, January 02, 2009 4:14 PM
To: Steven M. Bellovin
Cc: NANOG
Subject: RE: Security team successfully cracks SSL using 200 PS3's and MD5 flaw.

> If done properly, that's actually an easier task: you build the update
> key into the browser.  When it pulls in an update, it verifies that it
> was signed with the proper key.
> 

If you build it into the browser, how do you revoke it when someone throws 2000 
PS3s to crack it, or your hash, or your [pick algorithmic mistake here].

Deepak


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