Master Lists

CSCA certificates are exchanged with the ICAO Public Key Directory (PKD) in the form of Master Lists. As CSCA certificates serve as trust anchors within the ePassport Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), Master Lists provide a secure mechanism for distributing CSCA and link certificates between participating states and countries.

A Master List contains CSCA certificates and link certificates, and is digitally signed using a Master List Signer certificate. This digital signature enables receiving parties to verify the authenticity and integrity of the Master List and the certificates it contains.

The primary purpose of a Master List is to facilitate the trusted exchange of CSCA and link certificates among ICAO member states and countries. By validating the Master List signature, recipient states can establish trust in the included certificates before using them for ePassport validation.

The NPKD Service manages the following types of Master Lists:

Domestic Master Lists: Master Lists created and maintained by the local country and published to the ICAO PKD.
Foreign Master Lists: Master Lists received from other ICAO member states and countries through the ICAO PKD.

The following sections describe the management of both Master List types, as well as the configuration of Master List signing settings: