IETF logo The CBOR Object Signing and Encryption (COSE) “typ” (type) Header Parameter specification has been published as RFC 9596! This closes a gap for COSE relative to JOSE, adding the ability to use media types to declare the content of the complete COSE object.

The specification abstract is:

This specification adds the equivalent of the JSON Object Signing and Encryption (JOSE) “typ” (type) header parameter to CBOR Object Signing and Encryption (COSE). This enables the benefits of explicit typing (as defined in RFC 8725, “JSON Web Token Best Current Practices”) to be brought to COSE objects. The syntax of the COSE type header parameter value is the same as the existing COSE content type header parameter.

Special thanks to my co-author Orie Steele, who pointed out the gap and proposed that we close it. He was an active participant and insightful partner in making this RFC happen (his first!). The CBOR and COSE ecosystems are better for it.