Re: Why is this a big deal?
Digging a little deeper, I think a big cause of the problem is that ASN.1 (used in RFC5820 to define the structure of a certificate) seems to only have the data type "Integer", with the exact meaning of that term being "depending on constraints specified " in a specific specification ie. in the text of the specification, in this case RFC5820.
Funny I missed that and obviously have forgotten ASN.1 (not had to use it for nearly 30 years), given the origins of ASN.1 - somewhere in the mists of defining OSI PDUs, it is a little surprising that it is so vague and allows for ambiguous interpretation. Additionally, I have discovered that it is known that this ambiguity has caused problems with ASN.1 decodes over the years, yet no one has seen fit to revise the ASN.1 specification...
Biting the hand that feeds IT
