OCSP Stapling Moves Certificate Status Into the TLS Handshake
OCSP Stapling Moves Certificate Status Into the TLS Handshake A valid certificate can become unsafe before its expiration date. A private key may be exposed, a certificate may be issued in error, or an operator may need to retire credentials early. Revocation exists for that gap, but checking revocation status creates another dependency on the path that is supposed to establish trust. The Online Certificate Status Protocol, or OCSP, gives relying parties a way to ask an issuer-designated responder about a certificate. A direct query can return a signed status response, yet it also adds network work outside the connection being authenticated. OCSP stapling changes the delivery path: the TLS server obtains the signed response and sends it to the client as part of the handshake.