Ballot SMC012: Introduce ACME for S/MIME

Result

• Ballot SMC012: Introduce ACME for S/MIME was adopted as of July 2, 2025.
• The voting period completed with the ballot marked PASSED.
• No IPR Exclusion Notices were filed.

What the ballot does

• Introduces a new method for validation of mailbox control using ACME for S/MIME as defined in RFC 8823.
• Describes how a CA’s ACME server may respond to a POST request by sending Random Value token components via email and SMTP, then receiving a confirming response using the generated Random Value.
• Adds requirements for Random Value generation, sharing, non-reuse, and validity window (no more than 24 hours from creation), with the CA allowed to specify a shorter validity period.
• Notes that implementations MAY use ACME External Account Binding as defined in RFC 8555.
• Includes minor typographic corrections, including clarification in section 7.1.4.2.1 regarding the use of directoryName in the SAN extension.

Voting and adoption checks (Bylaws)

• Bylaw 2.3(6): Certificate Issuer category requirement was MET.
• Bylaw 2.3(6): Certificate Consumer category requirement was MET.
• Bylaw 2.3(6): At least one Voting Member in each category voted in favour was MET.
• Bylaw 2.3(7): Quorum requirement was MET (quorum was 11 for this ballot).