About signature algorithm and provider name in SignedObject spec

Weijun Wang weijun.wang at oracle.com
Thu Jan 11 04:44:42 UTC 2018


The class spec of SignedObject.java [1] contains:

* <pre>{@code
* Signature signingEngine = Signature.getInstance(algorithm,
*                                                 provider);
* SignedObject so = new SignedObject(myobject, signingKey,
*                                    signingEngine);
* }</pre>
...
* <p> The signature algorithm can be, among others, the NIST standard
* DSA, using DSA and SHA-256.  The algorithm is specified using the
* same convention as that for signatures. The DSA algorithm using the
* SHA-256 message digest algorithm can be specified, for example, as
* "SHA256withDSA".  In the case of
* RSA or EC the signing algorithm could be specified as, for example,
* "SHA256withRSA" or "SHA256withECDSA".  The algorithm name must be
* specified, as there is no default.
*
* <p> The name of the Cryptography Package Provider is designated
* also by the Signature parameter to the constructor and the
* {@code verify} method.  If the provider is not
* specified, the default provider is used.  Each installation can
* be configured to use a particular provider as default.

While the signature algorithm and provider name can be interpreted as those used in the example, I think there is no need to describe them in so much detail in the class spec. The class contains no API that needs the signature algorithm or a provider name. All is needed is just a Signature object.

getAlgorithm() returns the algorithm but it's not input.

I suggest removing the last 2 paragraphs above, and IMO no CSR is needed.

Thanks
Max

[1] https://docs.oracle.com/javase/9/docs/api/java/security/SignedObject.html


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