Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS)

General Information

Technologies must be operated and maintained in accordance with Federal and Department security and privacy policies and guidelines. More information on the proper use of the TRM can be found on the TRM Proper Use Tab/Section.

Website:	Go to site
Description:	The Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS) standard is used to digitally sign, digest, authenticate, or encrypt arbitrary message content. The CMS describes encapsulation syntax for data protection. It supports digital signatures and encryption. The syntax allows multiple encapsulations; this means one encapsulation envelope can be nested inside another. It also allows arbitrary attributes, such as signing time, to be signed along with the message content, and it provides for other attributes such as countersignatures to be associated with a signature.
Technology/Standard Usage Requirements:	Users must ensure their use of this technology/standard is consistent with VA policies and standards, including, but not limited to, VA Handbooks 6102 and 6500; VA Directives 6004, 6513, and 6517; and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards, including Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). Users must ensure sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. Prior to use of this technology, users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Officer (ISO), Facility Chief Information Officer (CIO), or local Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) representative to ensure that all actions are consistent with current VA policies and procedures prior to implementation.
Section 508 Information:
Decision:	View Decisions

Decision Source:	TRM Mgmt Group
Decision Process:	One-VA TRM v23.10
Decision Date:	10/25/2023 at 16:00:45 UTC
Aliases:	RFC 3852; RFC 5652; RFC 8933
Introduced By:
Standards Body:	Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)

Vendor Release Information

The Vendor Release table provides the known releases for the TRM Industry Standard, obtained from the vendor (or from the release source).

Version	Release Date	Vendor End of Life Date	Vendor Desupport Date
RFC 3852	07/01/2004
RFC 5652	06/21/2013
RFC 8933	10/01/2020

Current Decision Matrix (10/18/2023)

Users must ensure their use of this technology/standard is consistent with VA policies and standards, including, but not limited to, VA Handbooks 6102 and 6500; VA Directives 6004, 6513, and 6517; and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards, including Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). Users must ensure sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. Prior to use of this technology, users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Officer (ISO), Facility Chief Information Officer (CIO), or local Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) representative to ensure that all actions are consistent with current VA policies and procedures prior to implementation.

The VA Decision Matrix displays the current and future VA IT position regarding different releases of a TRM entry. These decisions are based upon the best information available as of the most current date. The consumer of this information has the responsibility to consult the organizations responsible for the desktop, testing, and/or production environments to ensure that the target version of the technology will be supported. Any major.minor version that is not listed in the VA Decision Matrix is considered unapproved for use.

Legend:

White	Approved: The technology/standard has been approved for use.
Yellow	Approved w/Constraints: The technology/standard can be used within the specified constraints located below the decision matrix in the footnote[1] and on the General tab.
Gray	Unapproved: This technology or standard can be used only if a POA&M review is conducted and signed by the Authorizing Official Designated Representative (AODR) as designated by the Authorizing Official (AO) or designee and based upon a recommendation from the POA&M Compliance Enforcement, has been granted to the project team or organization that wishes to use the technology.
Orange	Divest: VA has decided to divest itself on the use of the technology/standard. As a result, all projects currently utilizing the technology/standard must plan to eliminate their use of the technology/standard. Additional information on when the entry is projected to become unapproved may be found on the Decision tab for the specific entry.
Black	Prohibited: The technology/standard is not (currently) permitted to be used under any circumstances.
Blue	Planning/Evaluation Constraint:The period of time this technology is currently being evaluated, reviewed, and tested in controlled environments. Use of this technology is strictly controlled and not available for use within the general population. If a customer would like to use this technology, please work with your local or Regional OI&T office and contact the appropriate evaluation office displayed in the notes below the decision matrix. The Local or Regional OI&T office should submit an inquiry to the TRM if they require further assistance or if the evaluating office is not listed in the notes below.

Release/Version Information:

VA decisions for specific versions may include a ‘.x’ wildcard, which denotes a decision that pertains to a range of multiple versions.

For example, a technology approved with a decision for 7.x would cover any version of 7.(Anything) - 7.(Anything). However, a 7.4.x decision would cover any version of 7.4.(Anything), but would not cover any version of 7.5.x or 7.6.x on the TRM.

VA decisions for specific versions may include ‘+’ symbols; which denotes that the decision for the version specified also includes versions greater than what is specified but is not to exceed or affect previous decimal places.

For example, a technology approved with a decision for 12.6.4+ would cover any version that is greater than 12.6.4, but would not exceed the .6 decimal ie: 12.6.401 is ok, 12.6.5 is ok, 12.6.9 is ok, however 12.7.0 or 13.0 is not.

<Past

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Future>

Release

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

RFC 3852

Unapproved

RFC 5652

Divest
[5]

Unapproved

RFC 8933

Approved w/Constraints
[5]

Approved w/Constraints
[6]

Decision Constraints


[1]	Veterans Affairs (VA) users must ensure VA sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed by the local ISO (Information Security Officer) to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500.

[2]	Veterans Affairs (VA) users must ensure VA sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed by the local ISO (Information Security Officer) to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500.

[3]	Due to National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) identified security vulnerabilities, extra vigilance should be applied to ensure the versions remain properly patched to mitigate known and future vulnerabilities. The local ISO can provide assistance in reviewing the NIST vulnerabilities.

[4]	Veterans Affairs (VA) users must ensure VA sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed by the local ISO (Information Security Officer) to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500.

[5]	Veterans Affairs (VA) users must ensure VA sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed by the local ISSO (Information System Security Officer) to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500.

[6]	Veterans Affairs (VA) users must ensure VA sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed by the local ISSO (Information System Security Officer) to ensure compliance with both VA Handbook 6500 and VA Directive 6500.

Note:

At the time of writing, version RFC 8933 is the most current version, released October 2020.

Version RFC 8933 updates this technology specified in RFC 5652 to ensure that algorithm identifiers in signed-data and authenticated-data content types are adequately protected.

References

The following reference(s) are associated with this entry:
Type	Name	Source	Description
Vendor Provided*	RFC 6268	Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)	This is a link to the RFC 6268 ASN.1 Modules for the Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS) and the Public Key Infrastructure Using X.509 (PKIX).
Vendor Provided*	RFC 3852		This document describes the Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS). This syntax is used to digitally sign, digest, authenticate, or encrypt arbitrary message content.
Vendor Provided*	RFC 5652		This document describes the Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS). This syntax is used to digitally sign, digest, authenticate, or encrypt arbitrary message content.
*NOTE: Vendor provided information is subject to the accuracy of the manufacturer.

Standard Components

Note: This list may not be complete. No component, listed or unlisted, may be used outside of the technology in which it is released. The usage decision for a component is found in the Decision and Decision Constraints.
Source	Name	Description
No components have been identified for this entry.

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Domain Area	Category	Customer Guidance	Category Locked By ELT Date
Security Network Security	Encryption

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Implemented By/Verified With:

No technologies have been identified with this standard.

Comparable Standards:

Encryption Algorithm and IPsec

Associated Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

The use of this standard may help improve the security posture of the organization.
This sets a standard for a specific subject area.
This is a well-documented standard.
At the time of writing, no National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) vulnerabilities had been reported and no VA Cyber Security Operations Center (CSOC) bulletins had been issued for the latest versions of this standard.
This standard may improve productivity for specific staff whose responsibilities include encrypting messages.

Adoption Risks

The potential exists to store Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Protected Health Information (PHI) and/or VA Sensitive data and proper security standards must be followed in these cases.

Architectural Benefits

This standard is compatible with multiple other Technical Reference Model (TRM) standards used by the organization.

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VA Technical Reference Model v 24.3

General Information

Vendor Release Information

Current Decision Matrix (10/18/2023)

Decision Constraints

References

Standard Components

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Implemented By/Verified With:

Comparable Standards:

Associated Standards:

General Analysis

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VA Technical Reference Model v 24.3

General Information

Vendor Release Information

Current Decision Matrix (10/18/2023)

Decision Constraints

References

Standard Components

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Implemented By/Verified With:

Comparable Standards:

Associated Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

Adoption Risks

Architectural Benefits

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