Review Configure Online Responders (OCSP) to use ML-DSA in Windows Server before AD/DNS changes

Keep this document to one review outcome: Review Configure Online Responders (OCSP) to use ML-DSA in Windows Server before AD/DNS changes. Only the official source and traced locations below supply facts. Confirm applicability before acting.

Source fact:

The official Configure Online Responders (OCSP) to use ML-DSA in Windows Server from Microsoft supports the following bounded statements:

• At Introduction below H1, Microsoft states: “This article describes how to configure an Online Responder (OCSP) to sign responses by using Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Algorithm (ML-DSA) in Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS).” The research record locates this support at Introduction below H1.
• At Introduction below H1, Microsoft states: “When you configure OCSP with ML-DSA, you enable revocation checking for certificates by using post-quantum signed responses.” The research record locates this support at Introduction below H1.

The source support ends with the statements listed above. Use them to examine certification authorities, templates, enrollment paths, certificate subjects, private-key handling, and delegated PKI roles in the applicable environment, not to imply a wider guarantee.

What the source does not establish

The cited page and retained statements do not establish the current state of any DSE or customer environment, prove that the documented configuration is applicable, or authorize a production change. Confirm supported versions, dependencies, and the current live source before use. Do not read the source as proof of implementation or permission to change production. Its guidance remains conditional on Active Directory, Windows DNS, time, domain-controller reachability, HTTP or LDAP publication, and protected administrative identities and the environment’s recorded constraints.

Applicability questions

• For source statement 1 at Introduction below H1, which observable configuration, record, or test can confirm applicability here?
• For source statement 2 at Introduction below H1, which observable configuration, record, or test can confirm applicability here?
• Which owner can attest to the recorded state of certification authorities, templates, enrollment paths, certificate subjects, private-key handling, and delegated PKI roles, including exceptions?
• What baseline for Active Directory, Windows DNS, time, domain-controller reachability, HTTP or LDAP publication, and protected administrative identities must accompany the source-specific observation?
• Which success, stop, and escalation criteria are written before testing begins?

DSE recommendation:

DSE recommends using the cited source as the evidence anchor for this decision. Make the source, asset scope, owner, and expected outcome explicit in the review record. Record the source location, examined part of certification authorities, templates, enrollment paths, certificate subjects, private-key handling, and delegated PKI roles, observed and expected states, owner, and reason for deviation.

If the review warrants change, use a bounded implementation with prerequisites, test population, monitoring, abort criteria, and a rehearsed reversal. Sequence checks for Active Directory, Windows DNS, time, domain-controller reachability, HTTP or LDAP publication, and protected administrative identities and sanitize protected material before retention.

Verification and evidence

Build a reproducible chain from Introduction below H1; Introduction below H1 to the observed environment. Useful domain evidence includes CA and template exports, enrollment tests, certificate chains, access-control entries, event logs, and revocation-path checks; label every item with scope, timestamp, collector, and stable identifier.

Label this evidence set DSE-20260827-470 so observations, approvals, exceptions, and later rechecks cannot be substituted from another source review.

Close the review only when the evidence, exception handling, resulting action, and after-state are linked. Schedule a new review after material technical, organizational, incident, or source changes; today’s observation is not a continuing guarantee.

Official references

• Configure Online Responders (OCSP) to use ML-DSA in Windows Server — Microsoft