(GSS-API) An application level interface (api) to system security services. It provides a generic interface to services which may be provided by a variety of different security mechanisms. vanilla GSS-API supports security contexts between two entities (known as "principals").

GSS-API is a draft internet standard which is being developed in the common authentication technology working group (cat-wg) of the internet engineering task force (IETF).

Initial specifications for GSS-API appeared in rfc 1508 and rfc 1509. Subsequent revisions appeared in several draft standards documents.

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