Post-Quantum Crypto Plumbing Across COSE/JOSE/X.509 — draft-ietf-cose-post-quantum-signatures, draft-ietf-lamps-kyber-certificates, draft-ietf-lamps-pq-composite-kem, draft-ietf-jose-pq-composite-sigs#
IETF 122 (Bangkok) digest Program Adjacent pick Bangkok · 15–21 March 2025
- Tier: Adjacent
- Why: Less exciting than the TLS story but arguably more consequential for identity infra specifically: JOSE/COSE/X.509 are what OAuth tokens, workload credentials, and CMS/S-MIME actually ride on, so PQ support here is a precondition for the identity stack above to survive the transition.
- What: Registers PQ signature algorithm identifiers and serializations (ML-DSA/Dilithium, Falcon, SPHINCS+) for JOSE and COSE; specifies ML-KEM conventions for X.509 PKI; defines Composite ML-KEM combining PQ and traditional algorithms (RSA-OAEP, ECDH, X25519/X448) for extra protection against a break in either component; defines equivalent composite signature schemes for JOSE/COSE. (from abstract only)
- How: "Composite" constructions bind multiple algorithms into one atomic key/signature/KEM object at the protocol level, so a break in the PQ or the classical component alone doesn't compromise the whole credential.
- Where applicable: General; this is infrastructure work — relevant to anyone issuing or verifying certificates, JWTs, or CWTs who needs a PQ migration story, not an end-user-facing feature by itself.