DeepSeek, as mentioned in the context of AI apps and security vulnerabilities, does not explicitly detail its steps for verifying the digital signature of an SSL certificate. However, based on general practices for SSL certificate verification, here are the typical steps that would be involved in verifying the digital signature of an SSL certificate:
1. Obtain the Public Key: The client (e.g., a web browser or an app) obtains the public key of the Certificate Authority (CA) that issued the SSL certificate. This public key is typically stored in a trusted certificate store within the client.
2. Decrypt the Digital Signature: The client uses the CA's public key to decrypt the digital signature attached to the SSL certificate. This digital signature is a hash of the certificate's content, encrypted using the CA's private key.
3. Generate a New Hash: The client generates a new hash of the SSL certificate's content (specifically, the "To Be Signed" part of the certificate) using the same algorithm used by the CA.
4. Compare Hashes: The client compares the decrypted hash from the digital signature with the newly generated hash. If the two hashes match, it indicates that the certificate has not been tampered with and was indeed signed by the CA.
5. Check Certificate Validity: The client verifies that the SSL certificate is valid and has not expired. It also checks if the certificate has been revoked by consulting a Certificate Revocation List (CRL) or using the Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP).
6. Verify Certificate Chain: The client ensures that the SSL certificate is part of a valid certificate chain, meaning it is issued by a trusted CA and all intermediate certificates are valid and trusted.
7. Domain Name Verification: The client checks if the domain name in the SSL certificate matches the domain name of the website being accessed. This ensures that the certificate is being used for the correct domain.
8. Trust Store Verification: The client verifies that the CA issuing the certificate is included in its trust store. If the CA is not trusted, the certificate is considered invalid.
If DeepSeek were to implement these steps, it would significantly enhance its security by ensuring that it connects to legitimate servers and protects against impersonation attacks. However, as noted in the search results, DeepSeek has faced issues related to a lack of proper SSL validation, which makes it vulnerable to such threats[6].
Citations:
[1] https://apidog.com/blog/ssl-certificate-verification/
[2] https://sslinsights.com/what-are-digital-signatures-in-ssl-tls/
[3] https://help.deepsecurity.trendmicro.com/11_0/on-premise/digital-signature-check.html
[4] https://www.appdome.com/dev-sec-blog/ssl-certificate-validation-and-pinning/
[5] https://commandlinefanatic.com/cgi-bin/showarticle.cgi?article=art012
[6] https://www.appknox.com/blog/is-your-ai-app-safe-analyzing-deepseek
[7] https://brainsteam.co.uk/2025/2/12/ai-code-assistant-curl-ssl/
[8] https://www.keenformatics.com/manually-verifying-an-ssl-certificate/