]> SD-JWT-based Verifiable Credentials (SD-JWT VC) Spruce Systems, Inc.
oliver.terbu@spruceid.com
Authlete Inc.
mail@danielfett.de
Security Web Authorization Protocol security oauth2 sd-jwt This specification describes data formats as well as validation and processing rules to express Verifiable Credentials with JSON payloads with and without selective disclosure based on the SD-JWT format.
Introduction
Issuer-Holder-Verifier Model In the so-called Issuer-Holder-Verifier Model, Issuers issue so-called Verifiable Credentials to a Holder, who can then present the Verifiable Credentials to Verifiers. Verifiable Credentials are cryptographically signed statements about a Subject, typically the Holder.
Issuer-Holder-Verifier Model with optional Status Provider +------------+ | | | Issuer | | | +------------+ | Issues Verifiable Credential | v +------------+ | | | Holder | | | +------------+ | Presents Verifiable Credential | v +-------------+ | |+ +------------+ | Verifiers ||+ | Status | | |||----- optionally ------->| Provider | +-------------+|| retrieve status of | | +-------------+| Verifiable Credential +------------+ +-------------+
Verifiers can check the authenticity of the data in the Verifiable Credentials and optionally enforce Key Binding, i.e., ask the Holder to prove that they are the intended holder of the Verifiable Credential, for example, by proving possession of a cryptographic key referenced in the credential. This process is further described in . To support revocation of Verifiable Credentials, revocation information can optionally be retrieved from a Status Provider. The role of a Status Provider can be fulfilled by either a fourth party or by the Issuer.
SD-JWT as a Credential Format JSON Web Tokens (JWTs) can in principle be used to express Verifiable Credentials in a way that is easy to understand and process as it builds upon established web primitives. Selective Disclosure JWT (SD-JWT) is a specification that introduces conventions to support selective disclosure for JWTs: For an SD-JWT document, a Holder can decide which claims to release (within bounds defined by the Issuer). SD-JWT is a superset of JWT as it can also be used when there are no selectively disclosable claims and also supports JWS JSON serialization, which is useful for long term archiving and multi signatures. However, SD-JWT itself does not define the claims that must be used within the payload or their semantics. This specification uses SD-JWT and the well-established JWT content rules and extensibility model as basis for representing Verifiable Credentials with JSON payloads. These Verifiable Credentials are called SD-JWT VCs. The use of selective disclosure in SD-JWT VCs is OPTIONAL. SD-JWTs VC can contain claims that are registered in "JSON Web Token Claims" registry as defined in , as well as public and private claims. Note: This specification does not utilize the W3C's Verifiable Credentials Data Model v1.0, v1.1, or v2.0.
Requirements Notation and Conventions The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 .
Terms and Definitions This specification uses the terms "Holder", "Issuer", "Verifier", "Key Binding JWT" defined by .
Verifiable Credential (VC):
An Issuer-signed assertion with claims about a Subject.
SD-JWT-based Verifiable Credential (SD-JWT VC):
A Verifiable Credential encoded using the format defined in . It may or may not contain selectively disclosable claims.
Unsecured Payload of an SD-JWT VC:
A JSON object containing all selectively disclosable and non-selectively disclosable claims of the SD-JWT VC. The Unsecured Payload acts as the input JSON object to issue an SD-JWT VC complying to this specification.
Status Provider:
An entity that provides status information (e.g. revocation) about a Verifiable Credential.
Scope
  • This specification defines
    • Data model and media types for Verifiable Credentials based on SD-JWTs.
    • Validation and processing rules for Verifiers and Holders.
Verifiable Credentials based on SD-JWT This section defines encoding, validation and processing rules for SD-JWT VCs.
Media Type SD-JWT VCs compliant with this specification MUST use the media type application/vc+sd-jwt as defined in .
Data Format SD-JWT VCs MUST be encoded using the SD-JWT format defined in Section 5 of . A presentation of an SD-JWT VC MAY contain a Key Binding JWT. Note that in some cases, an SD-JWT VC MAY have no selectively disclosable claims, and therefore the encoded SD-JWT will not contain any Disclosures.
JOSE Header This section defines JWT header parameters for the SD-JWT component of the SD-JWT VC. The typ header parameter of the SD-JWT MUST be present. The typ value MUST use vc+sd-jwt. This indicates that the payload of the SD-JWT contains plain JSON and follows the rules as defined in this specification. It further indicates that the SD-JWT is a SD-JWT component of a SD-JWT VC. The following is a non-normative example of a decoded SD-JWT header: { "alg": "ES256", "typ": "vc+sd-jwt" }
JWT Claims Set This section defines the claims that can be included in the payload of SD-JWT VCs.
New JWT Claims
Verifiable Credential Type - vct Claim This specification defines the JWT claim vct (for verifiable credential type). The vct value MUST be a case-sensitive StringOrURI (see ) value serving as an identifier for the type of the SD-JWT VC. The vct value MUST be a Collision-Resistant Name as defined in Section 2 of . A type is associated with rules defining which claims may or must appear in the Unsecured Payload of the SD-JWT VC and whether they may, must, or must not be selectively disclosable. This specification does not define any vct values; instead it is expected that ecosystems using SD-JWT VCs define such values including the semantics of the respective claims and associated rules (e.g., policies for issuing and validating credentials beyond what is defined in this specification). The following is a non-normative example of how vct is used to express a type: { "vct": "https://credentials.example.com/identity_credential" } For example, a value of https://credentials.example.com/identity_credential can be associated with rules that define that at least the registered JWT claims given_name, family_name, birthdate, and address must appear in the Unsecured Payload. Additionally, the registered JWT claims email and phone_number, and the private claims is_over_18, is_over_21, and is_over_65 may be used. The type might also indicate that any of the aforementioned claims can be selectively disclosable.
Registered JWT Claims SD-JWT VCs MAY use any claim registered in the "JSON Web Token Claims" registry as defined in . If present, the following registered JWT claims MUST be included in the SD-JWT and MUST NOT be included in the Disclosures, i.e. cannot be selectively disclosed:
  • iss
    • REQUIRED. The Issuer of the Verifiable Credential. The value of iss MUST be a URI. See for more information.
  • iat
    • REQUIRED. The time of issuance of the Verifiable Credential. See for more information.
  • nbf
    • OPTIONAL. The time before which the Verifiable Credential MUST NOT be accepted before validating. See for more information.
  • exp
    • OPTIONAL. The expiry time of the Verifiable Credential after which the Verifiable Credential is no longer valid. See for more information.
  • cnf
    • REQUIRED when Cryptographic Key Binding is to be supported. Contains the confirmation method as defined in . It is RECOMMENDED that this contains a JWK as defined in Section 3.2 of . For Cryptographic Key Binding, the Key Binding JWT in the Combined Format for Presentation MUST be signed by the key identified in this claim.
  • vct
    • REQUIRED. The type of the Verifiable Credential, e.g., https://credentials.example.com/identity_credential, as defined in .
  • status
    • OPTIONAL. The information on how to read the status of the Verifiable Credential. See for more information.
The following registered JWT claims MAY be contained in the SD-JWT or in the Disclosures and MAY be selectively disclosed:
  • sub
    • OPTIONAL. The identifier of the Subject of the Verifiable Credential. The Issuer MAY use it to provide the Subject identifier known by the Issuer. There is no requirement for a binding to exist between sub and cnf claims.
Public JWT claims Additional public claims MAY be used in SD-JWT VCs depending on the application.
SD-JWT VC without Selectively Disclosable Claims An SD-JWT VC MAY have no selectively disclosable claims. In that case, the SD-JWT VC MUST NOT contain the _sd claim in the JWT body. It also MUST NOT have any Disclosures.
Example The following is a non-normative example of an unsecured payload of an SD-JWT VC. { "dct": "https://credentials.example.com/identity_credential", "given_name": "John", "family_name": "Doe", "email": "johndoe@example.com", "phone_number": "+1-202-555-0101", "address": { "street_address": "123 Main St", "locality": "Anytown", "region": "Anystate", "country": "US" }, "birthdate": "1940-01-01", "is_over_18": true, "is_over_21": true, "is_over_65": true } The following is a non-normative example of how the unsecured payload of the SD-JWT VC above can be used in a SD-JWT where the resulting SD-JWT VC contains only claims about the Subject that are selectively disclosable: { "_sd": [ "09vKrJMOlyTWM0sjpu_pdOBVBQ2M1y3KhpH515nXkpY", "2rsjGbaC0ky8mT0pJrPioWTq0_daw1sX76poUlgCwbI", "EkO8dhW0dHEJbvUHlE_VCeuC9uRELOieLZhh7XbUTtA", "IlDzIKeiZdDwpqpK6ZfbyphFvz5FgnWa-sN6wqQXCiw", "JzYjH4svliH0R3PyEMfeZu6Jt69u5qehZo7F7EPYlSE", "PorFbpKuVu6xymJagvkFsFXAbRoc2JGlAUA2BA4o7cI", "TGf4oLbgwd5JQaHyKVQZU9UdGE0w5rtDsrZzfUaomLo", "jdrTE8YcbY4EifugihiAe_BPekxJQZICeiUQwY9QqxI", "jsu9yVulwQQlhFlM_3JlzMaSFzglhQG0DpfayQwLUK4" ], "iss": "https://example.com/issuer", "iat": 1683000000, "exp": 1883000000, "dct": "https://credentials.example.com/identity_credential", "_sd_alg": "sha-256", "cnf": { "jwk": { "kty": "EC", "crv": "P-256", "x": "TCAER19Zvu3OHF4j4W4vfSVoHIP1ILilDls7vCeGemc", "y": "ZxjiWWbZMQGHVWKVQ4hbSIirsVfuecCE6t4jT9F2HZQ" } } } Note that a cnf claim has been added to the SD-JWT payload to express the confirmation method of the Key Binding. The following are the Disclosures belonging to the SD-JWT payload above: Claim given_name:
  • SHA-256 Hash: jsu9yVulwQQlhFlM_3JlzMaSFzglhQG0DpfayQwLUK4
  • Disclosure:
    WyIyR0xDNDJzS1F2ZUNmR2ZyeU5STjl3IiwgImdpdmVuX25hbWUiLCAiSm9o
    biJd
  • Contents: ["2GLC42sKQveCfGfryNRN9w", "given_name", "John"]
Claim family_name:
  • SHA-256 Hash: TGf4oLbgwd5JQaHyKVQZU9UdGE0w5rtDsrZzfUaomLo
  • Disclosure:
    WyJlbHVWNU9nM2dTTklJOEVZbnN4QV9BIiwgImZhbWlseV9uYW1lIiwgIkRv
    ZSJd
  • Contents: ["eluV5Og3gSNII8EYnsxA_A", "family_name", "Doe"]
Claim email:
  • SHA-256 Hash: JzYjH4svliH0R3PyEMfeZu6Jt69u5qehZo7F7EPYlSE
  • Disclosure:
    WyI2SWo3dE0tYTVpVlBHYm9TNXRtdlZBIiwgImVtYWlsIiwgImpvaG5kb2VA
    ZXhhbXBsZS5jb20iXQ
  • Contents: ["6Ij7tM-a5iVPGboS5tmvVA", "email", "johndoe@example.com"]
Claim phone_number:
  • SHA-256 Hash: PorFbpKuVu6xymJagvkFsFXAbRoc2JGlAUA2BA4o7cI
  • Disclosure:
    WyJlSThaV205UW5LUHBOUGVOZW5IZGhRIiwgInBob25lX251bWJlciIsICIr
    MS0yMDItNTU1LTAxMDEiXQ
  • Contents: ["eI8ZWm9QnKPpNPeNenHdhQ", "phone_number",
    "+1-202-555-0101"]
Claim address:
  • SHA-256 Hash: IlDzIKeiZdDwpqpK6ZfbyphFvz5FgnWa-sN6wqQXCiw
  • Disclosure:
    WyJRZ19PNjR6cUF4ZTQxMmExMDhpcm9BIiwgImFkZHJlc3MiLCB7InN0cmVl
    dF9hZGRyZXNzIjogIjEyMyBNYWluIFN0IiwgImxvY2FsaXR5IjogIkFueXRv
    d24iLCAicmVnaW9uIjogIkFueXN0YXRlIiwgImNvdW50cnkiOiAiVVMifV0
  • Contents: ["Qg_O64zqAxe412a108iroA", "address", {"street_address":
    "123 Main St", "locality": "Anytown", "region": "Anystate",
    "country": "US"}]
Claim birthdate:
  • SHA-256 Hash: jdrTE8YcbY4EifugihiAe_BPekxJQZICeiUQwY9QqxI
  • Disclosure:
    WyJBSngtMDk1VlBycFR0TjRRTU9xUk9BIiwgImJpcnRoZGF0ZSIsICIxOTQw
    LTAxLTAxIl0
  • Contents: ["AJx-095VPrpTtN4QMOqROA", "birthdate", "1940-01-01"]
Claim is_over_18:
  • SHA-256 Hash: 09vKrJMOlyTWM0sjpu_pdOBVBQ2M1y3KhpH515nXkpY
  • Disclosure:
    WyJQYzMzSk0yTGNoY1VfbEhnZ3ZfdWZRIiwgImlzX292ZXJfMTgiLCB0cnVl
    XQ
  • Contents: ["Pc33JM2LchcU_lHggv_ufQ", "is_over_18", true]
Claim is_over_21:
  • SHA-256 Hash: 2rsjGbaC0ky8mT0pJrPioWTq0_daw1sX76poUlgCwbI
  • Disclosure:
    WyJHMDJOU3JRZmpGWFE3SW8wOXN5YWpBIiwgImlzX292ZXJfMjEiLCB0cnVl
    XQ
  • Contents: ["G02NSrQfjFXQ7Io09syajA", "is_over_21", true]
Claim is_over_65:
  • SHA-256 Hash: EkO8dhW0dHEJbvUHlE_VCeuC9uRELOieLZhh7XbUTtA
  • Disclosure:
    WyJsa2x4RjVqTVlsR1RQVW92TU5JdkNBIiwgImlzX292ZXJfNjUiLCB0cnVl
    XQ
  • Contents: ["lklxF5jMYlGTPUovMNIvCA", "is_over_65", true]
The SD-JWT and the Disclosures would then be serialized by the Issuer into the following format for issuance to the Holder: eyJhbGciOiAiRVMyNTYiLCAia2lkIjogImRvYy1zaWduZXItMDUtMjUtMjAyMiIsICJ0 eXAiOiAidmMrc2Qtand0In0.eyJfc2QiOiBbIjA5dktySk1PbHlUV00wc2pwdV9wZE9C VkJRMk0xeTNLaHBINTE1blhrcFkiLCAiMnJzakdiYUMwa3k4bVQwcEpyUGlvV1RxMF9k YXcxc1g3NnBvVWxnQ3diSSIsICJFa084ZGhXMGRIRUpidlVIbEVfVkNldUM5dVJFTE9p ZUxaaGg3WGJVVHRBIiwgIklsRHpJS2VpWmREd3BxcEs2WmZieXBoRnZ6NUZnbldhLXNO NndxUVhDaXciLCAiSnpZakg0c3ZsaUgwUjNQeUVNZmVadTZKdDY5dTVxZWhabzdGN0VQ WWxTRSIsICJQb3JGYnBLdVZ1Nnh5bUphZ3ZrRnNGWEFiUm9jMkpHbEFVQTJCQTRvN2NJ IiwgIlRHZjRvTGJnd2Q1SlFhSHlLVlFaVTlVZEdFMHc1cnREc3JaemZVYW9tTG8iLCAi amRyVEU4WWNiWTRFaWZ1Z2loaUFlX0JQZWt4SlFaSUNlaVVRd1k5UXF4SSIsICJqc3U5 eVZ1bHdRUWxoRmxNXzNKbHpNYVNGemdsaFFHMERwZmF5UXdMVUs0Il0sICJpc3MiOiAi aHR0cHM6Ly9leGFtcGxlLmNvbS9pc3N1ZXIiLCAiaWF0IjogMTY4MzAwMDAwMCwgImV4 cCI6IDE4ODMwMDAwMDAsICJkY3QiOiAiaHR0cHM6Ly9jcmVkZW50aWFscy5leGFtcGxl LmNvbS9pZGVudGl0eV9jcmVkZW50aWFsIiwgIl9zZF9hbGciOiAic2hhLTI1NiIsICJj bmYiOiB7Imp3ayI6IHsia3R5IjogIkVDIiwgImNydiI6ICJQLTI1NiIsICJ4IjogIlRD QUVSMTladnUzT0hGNGo0VzR2ZlNWb0hJUDFJTGlsRGxzN3ZDZUdlbWMiLCAieSI6ICJa eGppV1diWk1RR0hWV0tWUTRoYlNJaXJzVmZ1ZWNDRTZ0NGpUOUYySFpRIn19fQ.b036D utqQ72WszrCq0GuqZnbws3MApQyzA41I5DSJmenUfsADtqW8FbI_N04FP1wZDF_JtV6a 6Ke3Z7apkoTLA~WyIyR0xDNDJzS1F2ZUNmR2ZyeU5STjl3IiwgImdpdmVuX25hbWUiLC AiSm9obiJd~WyJlbHVWNU9nM2dTTklJOEVZbnN4QV9BIiwgImZhbWlseV9uYW1lIiwgI kRvZSJd~WyI2SWo3dE0tYTVpVlBHYm9TNXRtdlZBIiwgImVtYWlsIiwgImpvaG5kb2VA ZXhhbXBsZS5jb20iXQ~WyJlSThaV205UW5LUHBOUGVOZW5IZGhRIiwgInBob25lX251b WJlciIsICIrMS0yMDItNTU1LTAxMDEiXQ~WyJRZ19PNjR6cUF4ZTQxMmExMDhpcm9BIi wgImFkZHJlc3MiLCB7InN0cmVldF9hZGRyZXNzIjogIjEyMyBNYWluIFN0IiwgImxvY2 FsaXR5IjogIkFueXRvd24iLCAicmVnaW9uIjogIkFueXN0YXRlIiwgImNvdW50cnkiOi AiVVMifV0~WyJBSngtMDk1VlBycFR0TjRRTU9xUk9BIiwgImJpcnRoZGF0ZSIsICIxOT QwLTAxLTAxIl0~WyJQYzMzSk0yTGNoY1VfbEhnZ3ZfdWZRIiwgImlzX292ZXJfMTgiLC B0cnVlXQ~WyJHMDJOU3JRZmpGWFE3SW8wOXN5YWpBIiwgImlzX292ZXJfMjEiLCB0cnV lXQ~WyJsa2x4RjVqTVlsR1RQVW92TU5JdkNBIiwgImlzX292ZXJfNjUiLCB0cnVlXQ~
Verification and Processing The recipient (Holder or Verifier) of an SD-JWT VC MUST process and verify an SD-JWT VC as described in Section 8 of . If Key Binding is required (refer to the security considerations in Section 11.6 of ), the Verifier MUST verify the Key Binding JWT according to Section 8 of . To verify the Key Binding JWT, the cnf claim of the SD-JWT MUST be used. Furthermore, the recipient of the SD-JWT VC MUST obtain the public verification key for the Issuer-signed JWT as defined in . If there are no selectively disclosable claims, there is no need to process the _sd claim nor any Disclosures. If status is present in the verified payload of the SD-JWT, the status SHOULD be checked. It depends on the Verifier policy to reject or accept a presentation of a SD-JWT VC based on the status of the Verifiable Credential. Any claims used that are not understood MUST be ignored. Additional validation rules MAY apply, but their use is out of the scope of this specification.
Obtaining Public Key for Issuer-signed JWTs A recipient of an SD-JWT VC MUST apply the following rules to obtain the public verification key for the Issuer-signed JWT:
  • JWT Issuer Metadata: If the iss value contains an HTTPS URI, the recipient MUST obtain the public key using JWT Issuer Metadata as defined in .
  • DID Document Resolution: If the iss value contains a DID , the recipient MUST retrieve the public key from the DID Document resolved from the DID in the iss value. In this case, if the kid JWT header parameter is present, the kid MUST be a relative or absolute DID URL of the DID in the iss value, identifying the public key.
  • X.509 Certificates: The recipient MUST obtain the public key from the leaf X.509 certificate defined by the x5c, x5c, or x5t JWT header parameters of the Issuer-signed JWT and validate the X.509 certificate chain in the following cases:
    • If the iss value contains a DNS name encoded as a URI using the DNS URI scheme . In this case, the DNS name MUST match a dNSName Subject Alternative Name (SAN) entry of the leaf certificate.
    • If the iss value contains a URN using the URN URI scheme . In this case, the URN MUST match a unifiedResourceName SAN entry of the leaf certificate.
Separate specifications or ecosystem regulations MAY define rules complementing the rules defined above, but such rules are out of scope of this specification. See for security considerations.
JWT Issuer Metadata This specification defines the JWT Issuer Metadata to retrieve the JWT Issuer Metadata configuration of the JWT Issuer of the JWT. The JWT Issuer is identified by the iss claim in the JWT. Use of the JWT Issuer Metadata is OPTIONAL. JWT Issuers publishing JWT Issuer Metadata MUST make a JWT Issuer Metadata configuration available at the path formed by concatenating the string /.well-known/jwt-issuer to the iss claim value in the JWT. The iss MUST be a case-sensitive URL using the HTTPS scheme that contains scheme, host and, optionally, port number and path components, but no query or fragment components.
JWT Issuer Metadata Request A JWT Issuer Metadata configuration MUST be queried using an HTTP GET request at the path defined in . The following is a non-normative example of a HTTP request for the JWT Issuer Metadata configuration when iss is set to https://example.com: GET /.well-known/jwt-issuer HTTP/1.1 Host: example.com If the iss value contains a path component, any terminating / MUST be removed before inserting /.well-known/ and the well-known URI suffix between the host component and the path component. The following is a non-normative example of a HTTP request for the JWT Issuer Metadata configuration when iss is set to https://example.com/user/1234: GET /.well-known/jwt-issuer/user/1234 HTTP/1.1 Host: example.com
JWT Issuer Metadata Response A successful response MUST use the 200 OK HTTP and return the JWT Issuer Metadata configuration using the application/json content type. An error response uses the applicable HTTP status code value. This specification defines the following JWT Issuer Metadata configuration parameters:
  • issuer REQUIRED. The JWT Issuer identifier, which MUST be identical to the iss value in the JWT.
  • jwks_uri
    • OPTIONAL. URL string referencing the JWT Issuer's JSON Web Key (JWK) Set document which contains the JWT Issuer's public keys. The value of this field MUST point to a valid JWK Set document.
  • jwks
    • OPTIONAL. JWT Issuer's JSON Web Key Set document value, which contains the JWT Issuer's public keys. The value of this field MUST be a JSON object containing a valid JWK Set.
JWT Issuer Metadata MUST include either jwks_uri or jwks in their JWT Issuer Metadata, but not both. It is RECOMMENDED that the JWT contains a kid JWT header parameter that can be used to lookup the public key in the JWK Set included by value or referenced in the JWT Issuer Metadata. The following is a non-normative example of a JWT Issuer Metadata configuration including jwks: { "issuer":"https://example.com", "jwks":{ "keys":[ { "kid":"doc-signer-05-25-2022", "e":"AQAB", "n":"nj3YJwsLUFl9BmpAbkOswCNVx17Eh9wMO-_AReZwBqfaWFcfG HrZXsIV2VMCNVNU8Tpb4obUaSXcRcQ-VMsfQPJm9IzgtRdAY8NN8Xb7PEcYyk lBjvTtuPbpzIaqyiUepzUXNDFuAOOkrIol3WmflPUUgMKULBN0EUd1fpOD70p RM0rlp_gg_WNUKoW1V-3keYUJoXH9NztEDm_D2MQXj9eGOJJ8yPgGL8PAZMLe 2R7jb9TxOCPDED7tY_TU4nFPlxptw59A42mldEmViXsKQt60s1SLboazxFKve qXC_jpLUt22OC6GUG63p-REw-ZOr3r845z50wMuzifQrMI9bQ", "kty":"RSA" } ] } } The following is a non-normative example of a JWT Issuer Metadata configuration including jwks_uri: { "issuer":"https://example.com", "jwks_uri":"https://jwt-issuer.example.org/my_public_keys.jwks" } Additional JWT Issuer Metadata configuration parameters MAY also be used.
JWT Issuer Metadata Validation The issuer value returned MUST be identical to the iss value of the JWT. If these values are not identical, the data contained in the response MUST NOT be used.
Presenting Verifiable Credentials This section defines encoding, validation and processing rules for presentations of SD-JWT VCs.
Key Binding JWT If the presentation of the SD-JWT VC includes a Key Binding JWT, the Key Binding JWT MUST adhere to the rules defined in Section 5.3 of . The Key Binding JWT MAY include addtional claims which, when not understood, MUST be ignored by the Verifier.
Examples The following is a non-normative example of a presentation of the SD-JWT shown above including a Key Binding JWT: eyJhbGciOiAiRVMyNTYiLCAia2lkIjogImRvYy1zaWduZXItMDUtMjUtMjAyMiIsICJ0 eXAiOiAidmMrc2Qtand0In0.eyJfc2QiOiBbIjA5dktySk1PbHlUV00wc2pwdV9wZE9C VkJRMk0xeTNLaHBINTE1blhrcFkiLCAiMnJzakdiYUMwa3k4bVQwcEpyUGlvV1RxMF9k YXcxc1g3NnBvVWxnQ3diSSIsICJFa084ZGhXMGRIRUpidlVIbEVfVkNldUM5dVJFTE9p ZUxaaGg3WGJVVHRBIiwgIklsRHpJS2VpWmREd3BxcEs2WmZieXBoRnZ6NUZnbldhLXNO NndxUVhDaXciLCAiSnpZakg0c3ZsaUgwUjNQeUVNZmVadTZKdDY5dTVxZWhabzdGN0VQ WWxTRSIsICJQb3JGYnBLdVZ1Nnh5bUphZ3ZrRnNGWEFiUm9jMkpHbEFVQTJCQTRvN2NJ IiwgIlRHZjRvTGJnd2Q1SlFhSHlLVlFaVTlVZEdFMHc1cnREc3JaemZVYW9tTG8iLCAi amRyVEU4WWNiWTRFaWZ1Z2loaUFlX0JQZWt4SlFaSUNlaVVRd1k5UXF4SSIsICJqc3U5 eVZ1bHdRUWxoRmxNXzNKbHpNYVNGemdsaFFHMERwZmF5UXdMVUs0Il0sICJpc3MiOiAi aHR0cHM6Ly9leGFtcGxlLmNvbS9pc3N1ZXIiLCAiaWF0IjogMTY4MzAwMDAwMCwgImV4 cCI6IDE4ODMwMDAwMDAsICJkY3QiOiAiaHR0cHM6Ly9jcmVkZW50aWFscy5leGFtcGxl LmNvbS9pZGVudGl0eV9jcmVkZW50aWFsIiwgIl9zZF9hbGciOiAic2hhLTI1NiIsICJj bmYiOiB7Imp3ayI6IHsia3R5IjogIkVDIiwgImNydiI6ICJQLTI1NiIsICJ4IjogIlRD QUVSMTladnUzT0hGNGo0VzR2ZlNWb0hJUDFJTGlsRGxzN3ZDZUdlbWMiLCAieSI6ICJa eGppV1diWk1RR0hWV0tWUTRoYlNJaXJzVmZ1ZWNDRTZ0NGpUOUYySFpRIn19fQ.b036D utqQ72WszrCq0GuqZnbws3MApQyzA41I5DSJmenUfsADtqW8FbI_N04FP1wZDF_JtV6a 6Ke3Z7apkoTLA~WyJRZ19PNjR6cUF4ZTQxMmExMDhpcm9BIiwgImFkZHJlc3MiLCB7In N0cmVldF9hZGRyZXNzIjogIjEyMyBNYWluIFN0IiwgImxvY2FsaXR5IjogIkFueXRvd2 4iLCAicmVnaW9uIjogIkFueXN0YXRlIiwgImNvdW50cnkiOiAiVVMifV0~eyJhbGciOi AiRVMyNTYiLCAidHlwIjogImtiK2p3dCJ9.eyJub25jZSI6ICIxMjM0NTY3ODkwIiwgI mF1ZCI6ICJodHRwczovL2V4YW1wbGUuY29tL3ZlcmlmaWVyIiwgImlhdCI6IDE2OTgwO DAwMTR9.2tyXCwCi-LRVW4eoFxZFr5ryYWRczatgWrnG13rktjYunChVT9_qIkKL_Clf NM1WKoPT5IsTrxEnaSGKbUQwrw In this presentation, the Holder provides only the Disclosure for the claim address. Other claims are not disclosed to the Verifier. The following example shows a presentation of a (different) SD-JWT without a Key Binding JWT: eyJhbGciOiAiRVMyNTYiLCAidHlwIjogInZjK3NkLWp3dCJ9.eyJfc2QiOiBbIjA5dkt ySk1PbHlUV00wc2pwdV9wZE9CVkJRMk0xeTNLaHBINTE1blhrcFkiLCAiMnJzakdiYUM wa3k4bVQwcEpyUGlvV1RxMF9kYXcxc1g3NnBvVWxnQ3diSSIsICJFa084ZGhXMGRIRUp idlVIbEVfVkNldUM5dVJFTE9pZUxaaGg3WGJVVHRBIiwgIklsRHpJS2VpWmREd3BxcEs 2WmZieXBoRnZ6NUZnbldhLXNONndxUVhDaXciLCAiSnpZakg0c3ZsaUgwUjNQeUVNZmV adTZKdDY5dTVxZWhabzdGN0VQWWxTRSIsICJQb3JGYnBLdVZ1Nnh5bUphZ3ZrRnNGWEF iUm9jMkpHbEFVQTJCQTRvN2NJIiwgIlRHZjRvTGJnd2Q1SlFhSHlLVlFaVTlVZEdFMHc 1cnREc3JaemZVYW9tTG8iLCAiamRyVEU4WWNiWTRFaWZ1Z2loaUFlX0JQZWt4SlFaSUN laVVRd1k5UXF4SSIsICJqc3U5eVZ1bHdRUWxoRmxNXzNKbHpNYVNGemdsaFFHMERwZmF 5UXdMVUs0Il0sICJpc3MiOiAiaHR0cHM6Ly9leGFtcGxlLmNvbS9pc3N1ZXIiLCAiaWF 0IjogMTY4MzAwMDAwMCwgImV4cCI6IDE4ODMwMDAwMDAsICJkY3QiOiAiaHR0cHM6Ly9 jcmVkZW50aWFscy5leGFtcGxlLmNvbS9pZGVudGl0eV9jcmVkZW50aWFsIiwgIl9zZF9 hbGciOiAic2hhLTI1NiJ9.yC6LdjdyimoObG9wzkeKHK_xVCA3E0Z9iDNInVmL2QHgr6 a6AxNTz5X030CGeqdp-LgAEd_rS9KQZTuaGCRgyA~WyJRZ19PNjR6cUF4ZTQxMmExMDh pcm9BIiwgImFkZHJlc3MiLCB7InN0cmVldF9hZGRyZXNzIjogIjEyMyBNYWluIFN0Iiw gImxvY2FsaXR5IjogIkFueXRvd24iLCAicmVnaW9uIjogIkFueXN0YXRlIiwgImNvdW5 0cnkiOiAiVVMifV0~
Security Considerations The Security Considerations in the SD-JWT specification apply to this specification. Additionally, the following security considerations need to be taken into account when using SD-JWT VCs:
Server-Side Request Forgery The JWT Issuer Metadata configuration is retrieved from the JWT Issuer by the Holder or Verifier. Similar to other metadata endpoints, the URL for the retrieval MUST be considered an untrusted value and could be a vector for Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) attacks. Before making a request to the JWT Issuer Metadata endpoint, the Holder or Verifier MUST validate the URL to ensure that it is a valid HTTPS URL and that it does not point to internal resources. This requires, in particular, ensuring that the host part of the URL does not address an internal service (by IP address or an internal host name) and that, if an external DNS name is used, the resolved DNS name does not point to an internal IPv4 or IPv6 address. When retrieving the metadata, the Holder or Verifier MUST ensure that the request is made in a time-bound and size-bound manner to prevent denial of service attacks. The Holder or Verifier MUST also ensure that the response is a valid JWT Issuer Metadata configuration document before processing it. Additional considerations can be found in .
Ecosystem-specific Public Key Verification Methods When defining ecosystem-specific rules for the verification of the public key, as outlined in , it is critical that those rules maintain the integrity of the relationship between the iss value within the Issuer-signed JWT and the public keys of the Issuer. It MUST be ensured that for any given iss value, an attacker cannot influence the type of verification process used. Otherwise, an attacker could attempt to make the Verifier use a verification process not intended by the Issuer, allowing the attacker to potentially manipulate the verification result to their advantage.
Privacy Considerations The Privacy Considerations in the SD-JWT specification apply to this specification. Additionally, the following privacy considerations need to be taken into account when using SD-JWT VCs.
Unlinkability The Privacy Considerations in Section 12.5 of apply especially to the cnf claim.
Verifiable Credential Type Identifier Issuers and Holders have to be aware that while this specification supports selective disclosure of claims of a given SD-JWT VC, the vct claim is not selectively disclosable. In certain situations this could lead to unwanted leakage of additional context information. In general, Issuers are advised to choose vct values following data minimization principles. For example, government Issuers issuing an SD-JWT VC to their citizens to enable them to prove their age, might consider using a vct value that does not allow third-parties to infer additional personal information about the Holder, e.g., country of residency or citizenship. Additionally, Holders have to be informed that, besides the actual requested claims, the vct information is shared with the Verifier.
Issuer Phone-Home A malicious Issuer can choose the Issuer identifier of the SD-JWT VC to enable tracking the usage behavior of the Holder if the Issuer identifier is Holder-specific and if the resolution of the key material to verify the Issuer-signed JWT requires the Verifier to phone home to the Issuer. For example, a malicious Issuer could generate a unique value for the Issuer identifier per Holder, e.g., https://example.com/issuer/holder-1234 and host the JWT Issuer Metadata. The Verifier would create a HTTPS GET request to the Holder-specific well-known URI when the SD-JWT VC is verified. This would allow the malicious Issuer to keep track where and how often the SD-JWT VC was used. Verifiers are advised to establish trust in an SD-JWT VC by pinning specific Issuer identifiers and should monitor suspicious behaviour such as frequently rotating Issuer identifiers. If such behaviour was detected, Verifiers are advised to reject SD-JWT VCs issued by such Issuers. Holders are advised to reject SD-JWT VCs if they contain easily correlatable information in the Issuer identifier.
Relationships to Other Documents TBD
Normative References Informative References Server Side Request Forgery Prevention Cheat Sheet Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) v1.0
IANA Considerations
JSON Web Token Claims Registration
  • Claim Name: "vct"
    • Claim Description: Verifiable credential type identifier
    • Change Controller: IETF
    • Specification Document(s): of this document
Media Types Registry
application/vc+sd-jwt The Internet media type for a SD-JWT VC is application/vc+sd-jwt. Type name: : application Subtype name: : vc+sd-jwt Required parameters: : n/a Optional parameters: : n/a Encoding considerations: : 8-bit code points; SD-JWT VC values are encoded as a series of base64url-encoded values (some of which may be the empty string) separated by period ('.') and tilde ('~') characters. Security considerations: : See Security Considerations in . Interoperability considerations: : n/a
  • Published specification: : RFC TODO
  • Applications that use this media type: : Applications that issue, present, verify verifiable credentials and presentations.
  • Additional information:
    • Magic number(s): n/a
    • File extension(s): n/a
    • Macintosh file type code(s): n/a
    • Person & email address to contact for further information: TBD
    • Intended usage: COMMON
    • Restrictions on usage: none
    • Author: Oliver Terbu oliver.terbu@spruceid.com
    • Change controller: IETF
Acknowledgements We would like to thank Alen Horvat, Andres Uribe, Brian Campbell, Christian Bormann, Giuseppe De Marco, Michael Jones, Mike Prorock, Orie Steele, Paul Bastian, Torsten Lodderstedt, Tobias Looker, and Kristina Yasuda for their contributions (some of which substantial) to this draft and to the initial set of implementations.
Document History -01
  • Introduce rules for type identifiers (Collision-Resistant Name)
  • Rename type to vct
  • Removed duplicated and inconsistent requirements on KB-JWT
  • Editorial changes
  • Added issuer public verification key discovery section.
-00
  • Upload as draft-ietf-oauth-sd-jwt-vc-00
  • Aligned terminology and descriptions with latest version of SD-JWT
[[ pre Working Group Adoption: ]] -00
  • Initial Version
  • Removed W3C VCDM transformation algorithm
  • Various editorial changes based on feedback
  • Adjusted terminology based on feedback
  • Added non-selectively disclosable JWT VC
  • Added a note that this is not W3C VCDM