To address the issue they were trying to address (what happens when a mission critical server's RTC malfunctions or the battery dies?), Windows should treat it no differently than any other hardware malfunction in a mission-critical server: raise an alarm so a system operator can take a look and address the issue.
> “The false assumption is that most SSL implementations return the server time,” Simen said. “This was probably true in a Microsoft-only ecosystem back when they implemented it, but at that time [when STS was introduced], OpenSSL was already sending random data instead.”
And they link the reason for sending random data at https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/tls/_clS-TIIlZUcid_2S4...
The post starts with
> Here's something I wrote about removing a fingerprinting opportunity from the current TLS protocol.
So the point is not that it was a bad idea, it is that MS didn't keep up with the world and didn't respond to requests from their customers to fix the problem.
> “Since the device is not in a state to communicate securely over the network, it cannot obtain time securely over the network as well, unless you choose to ignore network security or at least punch some holes into it by making exceptions.”
So, because they can't trust the network, or the time, they instead choose to randomly trust some of the requests over the network.
But it's okay because they rely on the certificate from that request to report whether it has been revoked or not.
I think that if you're making mission-critical systems rely on nonguaranteed behavior from systems you don't control, then it's a Bad Idea.
https://www.ietf.org/archive/id/draft-mathewson-no-gmtunixti...
It really feels like someone's thought experiment that was cargo-culted into production. Timestamps are truthy to begin with, and mission-critical systems are designed to die and be reborn anew like the common Phoenix. Physical issues that might come up are addressed in the spec and logical issues stop everything they touch. At no point have I ever hoped that a third party would start pumping garbage into the problem.
(Whatever other representations there are of "The Good Idea Fairy", I can't help but think of Baldrick and his "cunning plans".)