An ordered list of certificates containing an end-user subscriber certificate and Certifying Authority certificates (See valid certificate).
a list of hierarchically ordered public-key certificates, starting at the signer's public-key certificate and ending at the certificate of a Root Certification Authority ("Root CA")
a sequence of certificates, where each certificate in the chain is signed by the subsequent certificate
The links between a certificate and the original source of its authenticity. This corresponds to the 'trust hierarchy' by which each link in the chain gains its authority to make statements about the identity to which a certificate refers. (The government says what are tax offices, the tax offices say who tax inspectors are, and so on.) As a result, it is possible to see the links between all the organizations involved in vouching for the authority of the final certificate holder. Usually a certificate chain links the certificate you have been presented with to a root certificate. See also root certificate, trusted authorities.
A hierarchical series of certificates signed by successive certificate authorities. A CA certificate identifies a certificate authority (CA) and is used to sign certificates issued by that authority. A CA certificate can in turn be signed by the CA certificate of a parent CA, and so on up to a root CA. Certificate Management System allows any end entity to retrieve all the certificates in a certificate chain.
A chain of certificates that attest to the identity of an organization that uses a secure web server to serve data. A certificate chain is made up of a server certificate and one or more CA certificates. The certificate chain is received from a certificate authority in response to a request for a server certificate. The certificate authority decides whether to send a single server certificate or a certificate chain in response to a request for a server certificate.
An ordered list of certificates containing an end-user or subscriber certificate and its certificate authority certificates.