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A Certification Revocation List (CRL) is a critical component in the public key infrastructure (PKI) that enables secure communications. The primary role of a CRL is to provide a current compilation of digital certificates that have been revoked by the certificate authority (CA) before their scheduled expiration date. This revocation may occur for various reasons such as the compromise of a private key, a change in the affiliation of the certificate holder, or the certificate being issued erroneously.

By maintaining a list of revoked certificates, the CRL helps users and systems avoid relying on invalid certificates, thus ensuring that security mechanisms remain robust and trustworthy. When a party needs to verify the authenticity of a certificate, they can check the CRL to ensure that the presented certificate has not been revoked.

The other options do not accurately describe a CRL. A list of public keys would pertain to key distribution and is separate from the revocation process. A list of authorized users refers to individuals who have been granted access to resources, which is not the focus of a CRL. Lastly, a list of active key pairs would involve encryption keys that are currently in use, rather than tracking which certificates are no longer valid.