Index

Found 353 pages:

# Page Tags and summary
1 Network Security Services JSS, NSS, NeedsMigration
Network Security Services (NSS) is a set of libraries designed to support cross-platform development of security-enabled client and server applications. Applications built with NSS can support SSL v3, TLS, PKCS #5, PKCS #7, PKCS #11, PKCS #12, S/MIME, X.509 v3 certificates, and other security standards.
2 An overview of NSS Internals API, Intermediate, Intro, NSS, Tools
A High-Level Overview to the Internals of Network Security Services (NSS)

Software developed by the Mozilla.org projects traditionally used its own implementation of security protocols and cryptographic algorithms, originally called Netscape Security Services, nowadays called Network Security Services (NSS). NSS is a library written in the C programming language. It's free and open source software, and many other software projects have decided to use it. In order to support multiple operating systems (OS), it is based on a cross platform portability layer, called the Netscape Portable Runtime (NSPR), which provides cross platform application programming interfaces (APIs) for OS specific APIs like file system access, memory management, network communication, and multithreaded programming.

NSS offers lots of functionality; we'll walk through the list of modules, design principles, and important relevant standards.

In order to allow interoperability between software and devices that perform cryptographic operations, NSS conforms to a standard called PKCS#11. (Note that it's important to look at the number 11, as there are other PKCS standards with different numbers that define quite different topics.)

A software or hardware module conforming to the PKCS#11 standard implements an interface of C calls, which allow querying the characteristics and offered services of the module. Multiple elements of NSS's own modules have been implemented with this interface, and NSS makes use of this interface when talking to those modules. This strategy allows NSS to work with many hardware devices (e.g., to speed up the calculations required for cryptographic operations, or to access smartcards that securely protect a secret key) and software modules (e.g., to allow to load such modules as a plugin that provides additional algorithms or stores key or trust information) that implement the PKCS#11 interface.

A core element of NSS is FreeBL, a base library providing hash functions, big number calculations, and cryptographic algorithms.

Softoken is an NSS module that exposes most FreeBL functionality as a PKCS#11 module.

Some cryptography uses the same secret key for both encrypting and decrypting, for example password based encryption (PBE). This is often sufficient if you encrypt data for yourself, but as soon as you need to exchange signed/encrypted data with communication partners, using public key encryption simplifies the key management. The environment that describes how to use public key encryption is called Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). The public keys that are exchanged between parties are transported using a container; the container is called a certificate, following standard X.509 version 3. A certificate contains lots of other details; for example, it contains a signature by a third party that expresses trust in the ownership relationship for the certificate. The trust assigned by the third party might be restricted to certain uses, which are listed in certificate extensions that are contained in the certificate.

Many (if not most) of the operations performed by NSS involve the use of X.509 certificates (often abbreviated as “cert”, unfortunately making it easy to confuse with the term “computer emergency response team“).

When checking whether a certificate is trusted or not, it's necessary to find a relevant trust anchor (root certificate) that represents the signing capability of a trusted third party, usually called a Certificate Authority (CA). A trust anchor is just another X.509 certificate that is already known and has been deliberately marked as trusted by a software vendor, administrators inside an organizational infrastructure, or the software user. NSS ships a predefined set of CA certificates. This set, including their trust assignments, is provided by NSS as a software module, called CKBI (“built-in root certificates”), which also implements the PKCS#11 interface. On an organizational level the contents of the set are managed according to the Mozilla CA policy. On a technical level the set is a binary software module.

A cryptographic transaction, such as encryption or decryption related to a data exchange, usually involves working with the X.509 certs of your communication partners (peer). It's also required that you safely keep your own secret keys that belong to your own certificates. You might want to protect the storage of your secret keys with PBE. You might decide to modify the default trust provided by NSS. All of this requires storing, looking up, and retrieving data. NSS simplifies performing these operations by offering storage and management APIs. NSS doesn't require the programmer to manage individual files containing individual certificates or keys. Instead, NSS offers to use its own database(s). Once you have imported certificates and keys into the NSS database, you can easily look them up and use them again.

Because of NSS's expectation to operate with an NSS database, it's mandatory that you perform an initialization call, where you tell NSS which database you will be using. In the most simple scenario, the programmer will provide a directory on your filesystem as a parameter to the init function, and NSS is designed to do the rest. It will detect and open an existing database, or it can create a new one. Alternatively, should you decide that you don't want to work with any persistent recording of certificates, you may initialize NSS in a no-database mode. Usually, NSS will flush all data to disk as soon as new data has been added to permanent storage. Storage consists of multiple files: a key database file, which contains your secret keys, and a certificate database file which contains the public portion of your own certificates, the certificates of peers or CAs, and a list of trust decisions (such as to not trust a built-in CA, or to explicitly trust other CAs). Examples for the database files are key3.db and cert8.db, where the numbers are file version numbers. A third file contains the list of external PKCS#11 modules that have been registered to be used by NSS. The file could be named secmod.db, but in newer database generations a file named pkcs11.txt is used.

Only NSS is allowed to access and manipulate these database files directly; a programmer using NSS must go through the APIs offered by NSS to manipulate the data stored in these files. The programmer's task is to initialize NSS with the required parameters (such as a database), and NSS will then transparently manage the database files.

Most of the time certificates and keys are supposed to be stored in the NSS database. Therefore, after initial import or creation, the programmer usually doesn't deal with their raw bytes. Instead, the programmer will use lookup functions, and NSS will provide an access handle that will be subsequently used by the application's code. Those handles are reference counted. NSS will usually create an in-memory (RAM) presentation of certificates, once a certificate has been received from the network, read from disk, or looked up from the database, and prepare in-memory data structures that contain the certificate's properties, as well as providing a handle for the programmer to use. Once the application is done with a handle, it should be released, allowing NSS to free the associated resources. When working with handles to private keys it's usually difficult (and undesired) that an application gets access to the raw key data; therefore it may be difficult to extract such data from NSS. The usual minimum requirement is that private keys must be wrapped using a protective layer (such as password-based encryption). The intention is to make it easier to review code for security. The less code that has access to raw secret keys, the less code that must be reviewed.

NSS has only limited functionality to look up raw keys. The preferred approach is to use certificates, and to look up certificates by properties such as the contained subject name (information that describes the owner of the certificate). For example, while NSS supports random calculation (creation) of a new public/private key pair, it's difficult to work with such a raw key pair. The usual approach is to create a certificate signing request (CSR) as soon as an application is done with the creation step, which will have created a handle to the key pair, and which can be used for the necessary related operations, like producing a proof-of-ownership of the private key, which is usually required when submitting the public key with a CSR to a CA. The usual follow up action is receiving a signed certificate from a CA. (However, it's also possible to use NSS functionality to create a self-signed certificate, which, however, usually won't be trusted by other parties.) Once received, it's sufficient to tell NSS to import such a new certificate into the NSS database, and NSS will automatically perform a lookup of the embedded public key, be able to find the associated private key, and subsequently be able to treat it as a personal certificate. (A personal certificate is a certificate for which the private key is in possession, and which could be used for signing data or for decrypting data.) A unique nickname can/should be assigned to the certificate at the time of import, which can later be used to easily identify and retrieve it.

It's important to note that NSS requires strict cleanup for all handles returned by NSS. The application should always call the appropriate dereference (destroy) functions once a handle is no longer needed. This is particularly important for applications that might need to close a database and reinitialize NSS using a different one, without restarting. Such an operation might fail at runtime if data elements are still being referenced.

In addition to the FreeBL, Softoken, and CKBI modules, there is an utility library for general operations (e.g., encoding/decoding between data formats, a list of standardized object identifiers (OID)). NSS has an SSL/TLS module that implements the Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security network protocols, an S/MIME module that implements CMS messaging used by secure email and some instant messaging implementations, a DBM library that implements the classic database storage, and finally a core NSS library for the big set of “everything else”. Newer generations of the database use the SQLite database to allow concurrent access by multiple applications.

All of the above are provided as shared libraries. The CRMF library, which is used to produce certain kinds of certificate requests, is available as a library for static linking only.

When dealing with certificates (X.509), file formats such as PKCS#12 (certificates and keys), PKCS#7 (signed data), and message formats as CMS, we should mention ASN.1, which is a syntax for storing structured data in a very efficient (small sized) presentation. It was originally developed for telecommunication systems at times where it was critical to minimize data as much as possible (although it still makes sense to use that principle today for good performance). In order to process data available in the ASN.1 format, the usual approach is to parse it and transfer it to a presentation that requires more space but is easier to work with, such as (nested) C data structures. Over the time NSS has received three different ASN.1 parser implementations, each having their own specific properties, advantages and disadvantages, which is why all of them are still being used (nobody has yet dared to replace the older with the newer ones because of risks for side effects). When using the ASN.1 parser(s), a template definition is passed to the parser, which will analyze the ASN.1 data stream accordingly. The templates are usually closely aligned to definitions found in RFC documents.

A data block described as DER is usually in ASN.1 format. You must know which data you are expecting, and use the correct template for parsing, based on the context of your software's interaction. Data described as PEM is a base64 encoded presentation of DER, usually wrapped between human readable BEGIN/END lines. NSS prefers the binary presentation, but is often capable to use base64 or ASCII presentations, especially when importing data from files. A recent development adds support for loading external PEM files that contain private keys, in a software library called nss-pem, which is separately available, but should eventually become a core part of NSS.

Looking at the code level, NSS deals with blocks of raw data all the time. The common structure to store such an untyped block is SECItem, which contains a size and an untyped C pointer variable.

When dealing with memory, NSS makes use of arenas, which are an attempt to simplify management with the limited offerings of C (because there are no destructors). The idea is to group multiple memory allocations in order to simplify cleanup. Performing an operation often involves allocating many individual data items, and the code might be required to abort a task at many positions in the logic. An arena is requested once processing of a task starts, and all memory allocations that are logically associated to that task are requested from the associated arena. The implementation of arenas makes sure that all individual memory blocks are tracked. Once a task is done, regardless whether it completed or was aborted, the programmer simply needs to release the arena, and all individually allocated blocks will be released automatically. Often freeing is combined with immediately erasing (zeroing, zfree) the memory associated to the arena, in order to make it more difficult for attackers to extract keys from a memory dump.

NSS uses many C data structures. Often NSS has multiple implementations for the same or similar concepts. For example, there are multiple presentations of certificates, and the NSS internals (and sometimes even the application using NSS) might have to convert between them.

Key responsibilites of NSS are verification of signatures and certificates. In order to verify a digital signature, we have to look at the application data (e.g., a document that was signed), the signature data block (the digital signature), and a public key (as found in a certificate that is believed to be the signer, e.g., identified by metadata received together with the signature). The signature is verified if it can be shown that the signature data block must have been produced by the owner of the public key (because only that owner has the associated private key).

Verifying a certificate (A) requires some additional steps. First, you must identify the potential signer (B) of a certificate (A). This is done by reading the “issuer name” attribute of a certificate (A), and trying to find that issuer certificate (B) (by looking for a certificate that uses that name as its “subject name”). Then you attempt to verify the signature found in (A) using the public key found in (B). It might be necessary to try multiple certificates (B1, B2, ...) each having the same subject name.

After succeeding, it might be necessary to repeat this procedure recursively. The goal is to eventually find a certificate B (or C or ...) that has an appropriate trust assigned (e.g., because it can be found in the CKBI module and the user hasn't made any overriding trust decisions, or it can be found in a NSS database file managed by the user or by the local environment).

After having successfully verified the signatures in a (chain of) issuer certificate(s), we're still not done with verifying the certificate A. In a PKI it's suggested/required to perform additional checks. For example: Certificates were valid at the time the signature was made, name in certificates matches the expected signer (check subject name, common name, email, based on application), the trust restrictions recorded inside the certificate (extensions) permit the use (e.g., encryption might be allowed, but not signing), and based on environment/application policy it might be required to perform a revocation check (OCSP or CRL), that asks the issuer(s) of the certificates whether there have been events that made it necessary to revoke the trust (revoke the validity of the cert).

Trust anchors contained in the CKBI module are usually self signed, which is defined as having identical subject name and issuer name fields. If a self-signed certificate is marked as explicitly trusted, NSS will skip checking the self-signature for validity.

NSS has multiple APIs to perform verification of certificates. There is a classic engine that is very stable and works fine in all simple scenarios, for example if all (B) candidate issuer certificates have the same subject and issuer names and differ by validity period; however, it works only in a limited amount of more advanced scenarios. Unfortunately, the world of certificates has become more complex in the recent past. New Certificate Authorities enter the global PKI market, and in order to get started with their business, they might make deals with established CAs and receive so-called cross-signing-certificates. As a result, when searching for a trust path from (A) to a trusted anchor (root) certificate (Z), the set of candidate issuer certificates might have different issuer names (referring to the second or higher issuer level). As a consequence, it will be necessary to try multiple different alternative routes while searching for (Z), in a recursive manner. Only the newer verification engine (internally named libPKIX) is capable of doing that properly.

It's worth mentioning the Extended Validation (EV) principle, which is an effort by software vendors and CAs to define a stricter set of rules for issuing certificates for web site certificates. Instead of simply verifying that the requester of a certificate is in control of an administrative email address at the desired web site's domain, it's required that the CA performs a verification of real world identity documents (such as a company registration document with the country's authority), and it's also required that a browser software performs a revocation check with the CA, prior to granting validity to the certificate. In order to distinguish an EV certificate, CAs will embed a policy OID in the certificate, and the browser is expected to verify that a trust chain permits the end entity (EE) certificate to make use of the policy. Only the APIs of the newer libPKIX engine are capable of performing a policy verification.

That's a good opportunity to talk about SSL/TLS connections to servers in general (not just EV, not just websites). Whenever this document mentions SSL, it refers to either SSL or TLS. (TLS is a newer version of SSL with enhanced features.)

When establishing an SSL connection to a server, (at least) a server certificate (and its trust chain) is exchanged from the server to the client (e.g., the browser), and the client verifies that the certificate can be verified (including matching the name of the expected destination server). Another part of the handshake between both parties is a key exchange. Because public key encryption is more expensive (more calculations required) than symmetric encryption (where both parties use the same key), a key agreement protocol will be executed, where the public and private keys are used to proof and verify the exchanged initial information. Once the key agreement is done, a symmetric encryption will be used (until a potential re-handshake on an existing channel). The combination of the hash and encryption algorithms used for a SSL connection is called a cipher suite.

NSS ships with a set of cipher suites that it supports at a technical level. In addition, NSS ships with a default policy that defines which cipher suites are enabled by default. An application is able to modify the policy used at program runtime, by using function calls to modify the set of enabled cipher suites.

If a programmer wants to influence how NSS verifies certificates or how NSS verifies the data presented in a SSL connection handshake, it is possible to register application-defined callback functions which will be called by NSS at the appropriate point of time, and which can be used to override the decisions made by NSS.

If you would like to use NSS as a toolkit that implements SSL, remember that you must init NSS first. But if you don't care about modifying the default trust permanently (recorded on disk), you can use the no-database init calls. When creating the network socket for data exchange, note that you must use the operating system independent APIs provided by NSPR and NSS. It might be interesting to mention a property of the NSPR file descriptors, which are stacked in layers. This means you can define multiple layers that are involved in data processing. A file descriptor has a pointer to the first layer handling the data. That layer has a pointer to a potential second layer, which might have another pointer to a third layer, etc. Each layer defines its own functions for the open/close/read/write/poll/select (etc.) functions. When using an SSL network connection, you'll already have two layers, the basic NSPR layer and an SSL library layer. The Mozilla applications define a third layer where application specific processing is performed. You can find more details in the NSPR reference documents.

NSS occassionally has to create outbound network connections, in addition to the connections requested by the application. Examples are retrieving OCSP (Online Certificate Status Protocol) information or downloading a CRL (Certificate Revocation List). However, NSS doesn't have an implementation to work with network proxies. If you must support proxies in your application, you are able to register your own implementation of an http request callback interface, and NSS can use your application code that supports proxies.

When using hashing, encryption, and decryption functions, it is possible to stream data (as opposed to operating on a large buffer). Create a context handle while providing all the parameters required for the operation, then call an “update” function multiple times to pass subsets of the input to NSS. The data will be processed and either returned directly or sent to a callback function registered in the context. When done, you call a finalization function that will flush out any pending data and free the resources.

This line is a placeholder for future sections that should explain how libpkix works and is designed.

If you want to work with NSS, it's often helpful to use the command line utilities that are provided by the NSS developers. There are tools for managing NSS databases, for dumping or verifying certificates, for registering PKCS#11 modules with a database, for processing CMS encrypted/signed messages, etc.

For example, if you wanted to create your own pair of keys and request a new certificate from a CA, you could use certutil to create an empty database, then use certutil to operate on your database and create a certificate request (which involves creating the desired key pair) and export it to a file, submit the request file to the CA, receive the file from the CA, and import the certificate into your database. You should assign a good nickname to a certificate when importing it, making it easier for you to refer to it later.

It should be noted that the first database format that can be accessed simultaneously by multiple applications is key4.db/cert9.db – database files with lower numbers will most likely experience unrecoverable corruption if you access them with multiple applications at the same time. In other words, if your browser or your server operates on an older NSS database format, don't use the NSS tools to operate on it while the other software is executing. At the time of writing NSS and the Mozilla applications still use the older database file format by default, where each application has its own NSS database.

If you require a copy of a certificate stored in an NSS database, including its private key, you can use pk12util to export it to the PKCS#12 file format. If you require it in PEM format, you could use the openssl pkcs12 command (that's not NSS) to convert the PKCS#12 file to PEM.

This line is a placeholder for how to prepare a database, how to dump a cert, and how to convert data.

You might have been motivated to work with NSS because it is used by the Mozilla applications such as Firefox, Thunderbird, etc. If you build the Mozilla application, it will automatically build the NSS library, too. However, if you want to work with the NSS command line tools, you will have to follow the standalone NSS build instructions, and build NSS outside of the Mozilla application sources.

The key database file will contain at least one symmetric key, which NSS will automatically create on demand, and which will be used to protect your secret (private) keys. The symmetric key can be protected with PBE by setting a master password on the database. As soon as you set a master password, an attacker stealing your key database will no longer be able to get access to your private key, unless the attacker would also succeed in stealing the master password.

Now you might be interest in how to get the NSS sources, building and testing NSS.
3 Building NSS Guide, NSS, Security
This page has detailed information on how to build NSS. Because NSS is a cross-platform library that builds on many different platforms and has many options, it may be complex to build. Please read these instructions carefully before attempting to build.
4 CERT_FindCertByDERCert NSS
No summary!
5 CERT_FindCertByIssuerAndSN NSS
No summary!
6 Certificate functions NSS
The public functions listed here are used to interact with certificate databases.
7 Cryptography functions NSS
The public functions listed here perform cryptographic operations based on the PKCS #11 interface.
8 Deprecated SSL functions NSS
The following SSL functions have been replaced with newer versions. The deprecated functions are not supported by the new SSL shared libraries. Applications that want to use the SSL shared libraries must convert to calling the new replacement functions listed below.
9 Encrypt Decrypt MAC Keys As Session Objects Decrypt, Encryption, Example, NSS, Sample code
Generates encryption/mac keys and uses session objects.
10 Encrypt and decrypt MAC using token Example, Intermediate, Mozilla, NSS
Generates encryption/mac keys and uses token for storing.
11 FIPS Mode - an explanation NSS
NSS has a "FIPS Mode" that can be enabled when NSS is compiled in a specific way. (Note: Mozilla does not distribute a "FIPS Mode"-ready NSS with Firefox.) This page attempts to provide an informal explanation of what it is, who would use it, and why.
12 Function_Name NSS
No summary!
13 Getting Started With NSS Samples WIP
Network Security Services (NSS) is a base library for cryptographic algorithms and secure network protocols used by Mozilla software.

Would you like to get involved and help us to improve the core security of Mozilla Firefox and other applications that make use of NSS? We are looking forward to your contributions!

We have a large list of tasks waiting for attention, and we are happy to assist you in identifying areas that match your interest or skills. You can find us on Mozilla IRC in channel #nss or you could ask your questions on the mozilla.dev.tech.crypto newsgroup.
14 HTTP delegation Advanced, Guide, NSS
Up to version 3.11, NSS connects directly over HTTP to an OCSP responder to make the request and fetch the response. It does so in a blocking fashion, and also directly to the responder, ignoring any proxy the application may wish to use. This causes OCSP requests to fail if the network environment requires the use of a proxy.
15 HTTP delegation Advanced, Guide, NSS
Up to version 3.11, NSS connects directly over HTTP to an OCSP responder to make the request and fetch the response. It does so in a blocking fashion, and also directly to the responder, ignoring any proxy the application may wish to use. This causes OCSP requests to fail if the network environment requires the use of a proxy.
16 Index
Found 353 pages:
17 Introduction to Network Security Services Introduction, Mozilla, NSS
Network Security Services (NSS) is a set of libraries designed to support cross-platform development of communications applications that support SSL, S/MIME, and other Internet security standards. For a general overview of NSS and the standards it supports, see Overview of NSS.
18 JSS Guide, JSS, NSS, NeedsMigration
Network Security Services for Java (JSS) is a Java interface to NSS. JSS supports most of the security standards and encryption technologies supported by NSS. JSS also provides a pure Java interface for ASN.1 types and BER/DER encoding.
19 4.3 Release Notes JSS, NSS
Network Security Services for Java (JSS) 4.3 is a minor release with the following new features:
20 4.3.1 Release Notes JSS, NSPR, NSS
Network Security Services for Java (JSS) 4.3.1 is a minor release with the following new features:
21 Build instructions for JSS 4.3.x JSS
Newsgroup: mozilla.dev.tech.crypto
22 Build instructions for JSS 4.4.x JSS
Newsgroup: mozilla.dev.tech.crypto
23 JSS FAQ JSS
Newsgroup: mozilla.dev.tech.crypto
24 JSS Provider Notes Crypto, JSS, Security
Newsgroup: mozilla.dev.tech.crypto
25 Mozilla-JSS JCA Provider notes
Newsgroup: mozilla.dev.tech.crypto
26 Using JSS JSS
Newsgroup: mozilla.dev.tech.crypto
27 JSS 4.4.0 Release Notes D
The Java Security Services (JSS) team has released JSS 4.4.0, which is a minor release.
28 NSS 3.12.4 release notes
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29 NSS 3.12.5 release_notes
This document was generated by genma teruaki on November 28, 2010 using texi2html 1.82.
30 NSS 3.12.6 release notes
No summary!
31 NSS 3.12.9 release notes NSS
<center> 2010-09-23</center> <center> Newsgroup: mozilla.dev.tech.crypto</center>
32 NSS 3.14 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.14, which is a minor release with the following new features:
33 NSS 3.14.1 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.14.1 is a patch release for NSS 3.14. The bug fixes in NSS 3.14.1 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
34 NSS 3.14.2 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.14.2 is a patch release for NSS 3.14. The bug fixes in NSS 3.14.2 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below. NSS 3.14.2 should be used with NSPR 4.9.5 or newer.
35 NSS 3.14.3 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.14.3 is a patch release for NSS 3.14. The bug fixes in NSS 3.14.3 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
36 NSS 3.14.4 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.14.4 is a patch release for NSS 3.14. The bug fixes in NSS 3.14.4 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
37 NSS 3.14.5 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.14.5 is a patch release for NSS 3.14. The bug fixes in NSS 3.14.5 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
38 NSS 3.15 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.15, which is a minor release.
39 NSS 3.15.1 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.15.1 is a patch release for NSS 3.15. The bug fixes in NSS 3.15.1 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
40 NSS 3.15.2 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.15.2 is a patch release for NSS 3.15. The bug fixes in NSS 3.15.2 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
41 NSS 3.15.3 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.15.3 is a patch release for NSS 3.15. The bug fixes in NSS 3.15.3 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
42 NSS 3.15.3.1 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.15.3.1 is a patch release for NSS 3.15. The bug fixes in NSS 3.15.3.1 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
43 NSS 3.15.4 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.15.4 is a patch release for NSS 3.15. The bug fixes in NSS 3.15.4 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
44 NSS 3.15.5 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.15.5 is a patch release for NSS 3.15. The bug fixes in NSS 3.15.5 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
45 NSS 3.16 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.16, which is a minor release.
46 NSS 3.16.1 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.16.1 is a patch release for NSS 3.16. The bug fixes in NSS 3.16.1 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
47 NSS 3.16.2 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.16.2 is a patch release for NSS 3.16. The bug fixes in NSS 3.16.2 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
48 NSS 3.16.2.1 release notes Reference, Référence(2), Security
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.16.2.1 is a patch release for NSS 3.16, based on the NSS 3.16.2 release. The bug fixes in NSS 3.16.2.1 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
49 NSS 3.16.2.2 release notes Reference, Référence(2), Security
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.16.2.2 is a patch release for NSS 3.16. The bug fixes in NSS 3.16.2.2 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
50 NSS 3.16.2.3 release notes Reference, Référence(2), Security
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.16.2.3 is a patch release for NSS 3.16. The bug fixes in NSS 3.16.2.3 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
51 NSS 3.16.3 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.16.3 is a patch release for NSS 3.16. The bug fixes in NSS 3.16.3 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
52 NSS 3.16.4 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.16.4 is a patch release for NSS 3.16. The bug fixes in NSS 3.16.4 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
53 NSS 3.16.5 release notes Reference, Référence(2), Security
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.16.5 is a patch release for NSS 3.16. The bug fixes in NSS 3.16.5 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
54 NSS 3.16.6 release notes Reference, Référence(2), Security
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.16.6 is a patch release for NSS 3.16. The bug fixes in NSS 3.16.6 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
55 NSS 3.17 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.17, which is a minor release.
56 NSS 3.17.1 release notes Reference, Référence(2), Security
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.17.1 is a patch release for NSS 3.17. The bug fixes in NSS 3.17.1 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
57 NSS 3.17.2 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.17.2 is a patch release for NSS 3.17. The bug fixes in NSS 3.17.2 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
58 NSS 3.17.3 release notes Guide, NSS, Security
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.17.3 is a patch release for NSS 3.17. The bug fixes in NSS 3.17.3 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
59 NSS 3.17.4 release notes Guide, NSS, Security
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.17.4 is a patch release for NSS 3.17. The bug fixes in NSS 3.17.4 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
60 NSS 3.18 release notes Guide, NSS, NeedsContent, Security
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.18, which is a minor release.
61 NSS 3.18.1 release notes Networking, Security
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.18.1 is a patch release for NSS 3.18. The bug fixes in NSS 3.18.1 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
62 NSS 3.19 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.19, which is a minor security release.
63 NSS 3.19.1 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.19.1 is a security release for NSS 3.19. The bug fixes in NSS 3.19.1 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
64 NSS 3.19.2 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.19.2 is a patch release for NSS 3.19 that addresses compatibility issues in NSS 3.19.1.
65 NSS 3.19.2.1 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.19.2.1 is a patch release for NSS 3.19.2. The bug fixes in NSS 3.19.2.1 are described in the "Security Advisories" section below.
66 NSS 3.19.2.2 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.19.2.2 is a security patch release for NSS 3.19.2. The bug fixes in NSS 3.19.2.2 are described in the "Security Fixes" section below.
67 NSS 3.19.2.3 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.19.2.3 is a security patch release for NSS 3.19.2. The bug fixes in NSS 3.19.2.3 are described in the "Security Fixes" section below.
68 NSS 3.19.2.4 release notes NSS
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.19.2.4 is a security patch release for NSS 3.19.2. The bug fixed in NSS 3.19.2.4 have been described in the "Security Fixes" section below.
69 NSS 3.19.3 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.19.3 is a patch release for NSS 3.19. The bug fixes in NSS 3.19.3 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
70 NSS 3.19.4 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.19.4 is a patch release for NSS 3.19. The bug fixes in NSS 3.19.4 are described in the "Security Advisories" section below.
71 NSS 3.20 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.20, which is a minor release.
72 NSS 3.20.1 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.20.1 is a patch release for NSS 3.20. The bug fixes in NSS 3.20.1 are described in the "Security Advisories" section below.
73 NSS 3.20.2 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.20.2 is a security patch release for NSS 3.20. The bug fixes in NSS 3.20.2 are described in the "Security Fixes" section below.
74 NSS 3.21 release notes
2016-01-07, this page has been updated to include additional information about the release. The sections "Security Fixes" and "Acknowledgements" have been added.
75 NSS 3.21.1 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.21.1 is a security patch release for NSS 3.21. The bug fixes in NSS 3.21.1 are described in the "Security Fixes" section below.
76 NSS 3.21.2 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.21.2 is a security patch release for NSS 3.21.1. The bug fixes in NSS 3.21.2 are described in the "Security Fixes" section below.
77 NSS 3.21.3 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.21.3 is a security patch release for NSS 3.21.2. The bug fixes in NSS 3.21.3 are described in the "Security Fixes" section below.
78 NSS 3.21.4 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.21.4 is a security patch release for NSS 3.21. The bug fixes in NSS 3.21.4 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
79 NSS 3.22 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.22, which is a minor release.
80 NSS 3.22.1 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.22.1 is a patch release for NSS 3.22. The bug fixes in NSS 3.22.1 are described in the "Notable Changes" section below.
81 NSS 3.22.2 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.22.2 is a security patch release for NSS 3.22. The bug fixes in NSS 3.22.2 are described in the "Security Fixes" section below.
82 NSS 3.22.3 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.22.3 is a patch release for NSS 3.22. The bug fixes in NSS 3.22.3 are described in the "Bugs fixed" section below.
83 NSS 3.23 release notes Networking, Security
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.23, which is a minor release.
84 NSS 3.24 release notes NSS, Release Notes
The Network Security Services (NSS) team has released NSS 3.24, which is a minor release.
85 NSS 3.25 release notes NSS, Release Notes
The Network Security Services (NSS) team has released NSS 3.25, which is a minor release.
86 NSS 3.25.1 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.25.1 is a patch release for NSS 3.25.
87 NSS 3.26 release notes NSS, Release Notes
The Network Security Services (NSS) team has released NSS 3.26, which is a minor release.
88 NSS 3.26.2 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.26.2 is a patch release for NSS 3.26.
89 NSS 3.27 release notes
The Network Security Services (NSS) team has released NSS 3.27, which is a minor release.
90 NSS 3.27.1 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.27.1 is a patch release for NSS 3.27.
91 NSS 3.27.2 Release Notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.27.2 is a patch release for NSS 3.27.
92 NSS 3.28 release notes
The Network Security Services (NSS) team has released NSS 3.28, which is a minor release.
93 NSS 3.28.1 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.28.1 is a patch release for NSS 3.28. The bug fixes in NSS 3.28.1 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
94 NSS 3.28.2 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.28.2 is a patch release for NSS 3.28.
95 NSS 3.28.3 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.28.3 is a patch release for NSS 3.28. The bug fixes in NSS 3.28.3 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
96 NSS 3.28.4 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.28.4 is a security patch release for NSS 3.28. The bug fixes in NSS 3.28.4 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
97 NSS 3.28.5 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.28.5 is a patch release for NSS 3.28. The bug fixes in NSS 3.28.5 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
98 NSS 3.29 release notes
The Network Security Services (NSS) team has released NSS 3.29, which is a minor release.
99 NSS 3.29.1 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.29.1 is a patch release for NSS 3.29. The bug fixes in NSS 3.29.1 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
100 NSS 3.29.2 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.29.2 is a patch release for NSS 3.29. The bug fixes in NSS 3.29.2 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
101 NSS 3.29.3 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.29.3 is a patch release for NSS 3.29. The bug fixes in NSS 3.29.3 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
102 NSS 3.29.5 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.29.5 is a security patch release for NSS 3.29. The bug fixes in NSS 3.29.5 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
103 NSS 3.30 release notes
The Network Security Services (NSS) team has released NSS 3.30, which is a minor release.
104 NSS 3.30.1 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.30.1 is a security patch release for NSS 3.30. The bug fixes in NSS 3.30.1 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
105 NSS 3.30.2 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.30.2 is a patch release for NSS 3.30. The bug fixes in NSS 3.30.2 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
106 NSS 3.31 release notes
The Network Security Services (NSS) team has released NSS 3.31, which is a minor release.
107 NSS 3.31.1 release notes
The Network Security Services (NSS) team has released NSS 3.31.1, which is a patch release for NSS 3.31.
108 NSS 3.32 release notes
The Network Security Services (NSS) team has released NSS 3.32, which is a minor release.
109 NSS 3.33 release notes
The Network Security Services (NSS) team has released NSS 3.33, which is a minor release.
110 NSS 3.34 release notes
The Network Security Services (NSS) team has released NSS 3.34, which is a minor release.
111 NSS 3.34.1 release notes
The Network Security Services (NSS) team has released NSS 3.34.1, which is a minor release.
112 NSS 3.35 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.35, which is a minor release.
113 NSS 3.36 release notes
No summary!
114 NSS 3.36.1 release notes
No summary!
115 NSS 3.36.2 release notes NSS, Release Notes
No summary!
116 NSS 3.36.4 release notes NSS, Release Notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.36.4 is a patch release for NSS 3.36.
117 NSS 3.36.5 release notes Mozilla, NSS, Release Notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.36.5 is a patch release for NSS 3.36. The bug fixes in NSS 3.36.5 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
118 NSS 3.36.6 release notes Mozilla, NSS, Release Notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.36.6 is a patch release for NSS 3.36. The bug fixes in NSS 3.36.6 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
119 NSS 3.36.7 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.36.7 is a patch release for NSS 3.36. The bug fixes in NSS 3.36.7 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below. It was released on 19 January 2019.
120 NSS 3.36.8 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.36.8 is a patch release for NSS 3.36. The bug fixes in NSS 3.36.8 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below. It was released on 21 June 2019.
121 NSS 3.37 release notes
No summary!
122 NSS 3.37.1 release notes
No summary!
123 NSS 3.37.3 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.37.3 is a patch release for NSS 3.37.
124 NSS 3.38 release notes Mozilla, NSS, Release Notes
No summary!
125 NSS 3.39 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.39, which is a minor release.
126 NSS 3.40 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.40, which is a minor release.
127 NSS 3.40.1 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.40.1, which is a patch release for NSS 3.40
128 NSS 3.41 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.41 on 7 December 2018, which is a minor release.
129 NSS 3.41.1 release notes
No summary!
130 NSS 3.42 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.42 on 25 January 2019, which is a minor release.
131 NSS 3.42.1 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.42.1 on 31 January 2019, which is a patch release.
132 NSS 3.43 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.43 on 16 March 2019, which is a minor release.
133 NSS 3.44 release notes
No summary!
134 NSS 3.44.1 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.44.1 is a patch release for NSS 3.44. The bug fixes in NSS 3.44.1 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below. It was released on 21 June 2019.
135 NSS 3.44.2 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.44.2 is a patch release for NSS 3.44. The bug fixes in NSS 3.44.2 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below. It was released on 2 October 2019.
136 NSS 3.44.3 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.44.3 is a patch release for NSS 3.44. The bug fixes in NSS 3.44.3 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below. It was released on 19 November 2019.
137 NSS 3.44.4 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.44.4 on 19 May 2020. This is a security patch release.
138 NSS 3.45 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.45 on 5 July 2019, which is a minor release.
139 NSS 3.46 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.46 on 30 August 2019, which is a minor release.
140 NSS 3.46.1 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.46.1 is a patch release for NSS 3.46. The bug fixes in NSS 3.46.1 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below. It was released on 2 October 2019.
141 NSS 3.47 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.47 on 18 October 2019, which is a minor release.
142 NSS 3.47.1 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.47.1 is a patch release for NSS 3.47. The bug fixes in NSS 3.47.1 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below. It was released on 19 November 2019.
143 NSS 3.48 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.48 on 5 December 2019, which is a minor release.
144 NSS 3.48.1 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.48.1 is a patch release for NSS 3.48. The bug fixes in NSS 3.48.1 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below. It was released on 13 January 2020.
145 NSS 3.49 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.49 on 3 January 2020, which is a minor release.
146 NSS 3.49.1 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.49.1 is a patch release for NSS 3.49. The bug fixes in NSS 3.49.1 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below. It was released on 13 January 2020.
147 NSS 3.49.2 release notes
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.49.2 is a patch release for NSS 3.49. The bug fixes in NSS 3.49.2 are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below. It was released on 23 January 2020.
148 NSS 3.50 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.50 on 7 February 2020, which is a minor release.
149 NSS 3.51 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.51 on 6 March 2020, which is a minor release.
150 NSS 3.51.1 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.51.1 on 3 April 2020. This is a minor release focusing on functional bug fixes and low-risk patches only.
151 NSS 3.52 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.52 on 1 May 2020.
152 NSS 3.52.1 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.52.1 on 19 May 2020. This is a security patch release.
153 NSS 3.53 release notes
The NSS team released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.53 on 29 May 2020. NSS 3.53 will be a long-term support release, supporting Firefox 78 ESR.
154 NSS 3.53.1 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.53.1 on 16 June 2020. This is a security patch release.
155 NSS 3.54 release notes
Moved here.
156 NSS 3.54 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.54 on 26 June 2020, which is a minor release.
157 NSS 3.55 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.55 on 24 July 2020, which is a minor release.
158 NSS 3.56 release notes
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.56 on 21 August 2020, which is a minor release.
159 NSS API Guidelines
Newsgroup: mozilla.dev.tech.crypto
160 NSS CERTVerify Log NSS
All the NSS verify functions except, the *VerifyNow() functions, take a parameter called 'CERTVerifyLog'. If you supply the log parameter, NSS will continue chain validation after each error . The log tells you what the problem was with the chain and what certificate in the chain failed.
161 NSS Certificate Download Specification NSS
This document describes the data formats used by NSS 3.x for installing certificates. This document is currently being revised and has not yet been reviewed for accuracy.
162 NSS Code Coverage NSS
No summary!
163 NSS Config Options
No summary!
164 NSS Developer Tutorial NSS, Tutorial
No summary!
165 NSS FAQ NSS, NeedsUpdate
NSS is set of libraries, APIs, utilities, and documentation designed to support cross-platform development of security-enabled client and server applications. It provides a complete open-source implementation of the crypto libraries used by Mozilla and other companies in the Firefox browser, AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), server products from Red Hat, and other products.
166 NSS Key Log Format
Key logs can be written by NSS so that external programs can decrypt TLS connections. Wireshark 1.6.0 and above can use these log files to decrypt packets. You can tell Wireshark where to find the key file via Edit→Preferences→Protocols→SSL→(Pre)-Master-Secret log filename.
167 NSS Memory allocation NSS
NSS makes extensive use of NSPR's PLArenaPools for memory allocation.
168 NSS PKCS11 Functions NSS
This chapter describes the core PKCS #11 functions that an application needs for communicating with cryptographic modules. In particular, these functions are used for obtaining certificates, keys, and passwords. This was converted from "Chapter 7: PKCS #11 Functions".
169 NSS Sample Code Example
The collection of sample code here demonstrates how NSS can be used for cryptographic operations, certificate handling, SSL, etc. It also demonstrates some best practices in the application of cryptography.
170 Enc Dec MAC Output Public Key as CSR
Generates encryption/mac keys and outputs public key as certificate signing request
171 Enc Dec MAC Using Key Wrap CertReq PKCS10 CSR
Generates encryption/mac keys and outputs public key as pkcs11 certificate signing request
172 EncDecMAC using token object - sample 3 EncDeCMac, HTML, NCC, NCC Article, Web, Web Development
No summary!
173 Encrypt Decrypt_MAC_Using Token
Generates encryption/mac keys and uses token for storing.
174 Hashing - sample 1 HTML, Hashing Sample, JavaScript, NSS, Web Development, hashing
The NSS same code below computes the hash of a file and saves it to another file, this illustrates the use of NSS message APIs.
175 Initialize NSS database - sample 2 HTML, JavaScript, NSS, NSS Article, NSS Initialization, Web Development
The NSS sample code below demonstrates how to initialize the NSS database.
176 NSS Sample Code Sample1
This is an example program that demonstrates how to do key generation and transport between cooperating servers. This program shows the following:
177 NSS Sample Code Sample_1_Hashing Examples, NSS, Security
This is an example program that demonstrates how to compute the hash of a file and save it to another file. This program illustrates the use of NSS message APIs.
178 NSS Sample Code Sample_2_Initialization of NSS Examples, NSS, Security
This example program demonstrates how to initialize the NSS Database. This program illustrates password handling.
179 NSS Sample Code Sample_3_Basic Encryption and MACing Examples, NSS, Security
This example program demonstrates how to encrypt and MAC a file.
180 NSS Sample Code Utilities_1 Examples, NSS, Security
This is a library of utilities used by many of the samples. This code shows the following:
181 NSS Sample Code sample2
No summary!
182 NSS Sample Code sample3
No summary!
183 NSS Sample Code sample4
No summary!
184 NSS Sample Code sample5
No summary!
185 NSS Sample Code sample6
No summary!
186 Utilities for nss samples
These utility functions are adapted from those found in the sectool library used by the NSS security tools and other NSS test applications.
187 sample1 Example, NSS
1. A program to compute the hash of a file and save it to another file.

/* NSPR Headers */
#include <prprf.h>
#include <prtypes.h>
#include <plgetopt.h>
#include <prio.h>
#include <prprf.h>

/* NSS headers */
#include <secoid.h>
#include <secmodt.h>
#include <sechash.h>

typedef struct {
const char *hashName;
SECOidTag oid;
} NameTagPair;

/* The hash algorithms supported */
static const NameTagPair HASH_NAMES[] = {
{ "MD2", SEC_OID_MD2 },
{ "MD5", SEC_OID_MD5 },
{ "SHA1", SEC_OID_SHA1 },
{ "SHA256", SEC_OID_SHA256 },
{ "SHA384", SEC_OID_SHA384 },
{ "SHA512", SEC_OID_SHA512 }
};

/* Maps a hash name to a SECOidTag.
* Returns NULL if the name is not a supported algorithm
*/
static SECOidTag HashNameToOIDTag(const char *hashName)
{
int i, nhashes = sizeof(HASH_NAMES);
SECOidTag hashtag = SEC_OID_UNKNOWN;

for (i = 0; i < nhashes; i++) {
if (PORT_Strcasecmp(hashName, HASH_NAMES[i].hashName) == 0) {
hashtag = HASH_NAMES[i].oid;
break;
}
}
return hashtag;
}

/* Newline */
static void Newline(PRFileDesc* out)
{
PR_fprintf(out, "\n");
}

/* PrintAsHex */
void PrintAsHex(PRFileDesc* out, unsigned char *data, unsigned int len)
{
unsigned i;
int column;
unsigned int limit = 15;
unsigned int level = 1;

column = level;
if (!len) {
PR_fprintf(out, "(empty)\n");
return;
}

for (i = 0; i < len; i++) {
if (i != len - 1) {
PR_fprintf(out, "%02x:", data[i]);
column += 3;
} else {
PR_fprintf(out, "%02x", data[i]);
column += 2;
break;
}
if (column > 76 || (i % 16 == limit)) {
Newline(out);
column = level;
limit = i % 16;
}
}
if (column != level) {
Newline(out);
}
}
188 sample2
No summary!
189 NSS Tech Notes NSS
Newsgroup: mozilla.dev.tech.crypto
190 nss tech note1
The main non-streaming APIs for these two decoders have an identical prototype :
191 nss tech note2
The logger displays all activity between NSS and a specified PKCS #11 module. It works by inserting a special set of entry points between NSS and the module.
192 nss tech note3
No summary!
193 nss tech note4
No summary!
194 nss tech note5
Note: AES encryption, a fixed blocksize of 16 bytes is used. The Rijndael algorithm permits 3 blocksizes (16, 24, 32 bytes), but the AES standard requires the blocksize to be 16 bytes. The keysize can vary and these keysizes are permitted: 16, 24, 32 bytes.

You can also look at a sample program illustrating encryption
195 nss tech note6
The following applies to NSS 3.8 through 3.10 :
196 nss tech note7
This technical note explains how to use NSS to perform RSA signing and encryption. The industry standard for RSA signing and encryption is PKCS #1. NSS supports PKCS #1 v1.5. NSS doesn't yet support PKCS #1 v2.0 and v2.1, in particular OAEP, but OAEP support is on our to-do list. Your contribution is welcome.
197 nss tech note8
No summary!
198 NSS Third-Party Code NSS, Security, Third-Party Code
This is a list of third-party code included in the NSS repository, broken into two lists: Code that can be compiled into the NSS libraries, and code that is only used for testing.
199 NSS Tools NSS
Newsgroup: mozilla.dev.tech.crypto
200 NSS Tools certutil certificates, x509v3
The Certificate Database Tool is a command-line utility that can create and modify the Netscape Communicator cert8.db and key3.db database files. It can also list, generate, modify, or delete certificates within the cert8.db file and create or change the password, generate new public and private key pairs, display the contents of the key database, or delete key pairs within the key3.db file.
201 NSS Tools certutil-tasks
Newsgroup: mozilla.dev.tech.crypto
202 NSS Tools cmsutil
The cmsutil command-line utility uses the S/MIME Toolkit to perform basic operations, such as encryption and decryption, on Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS) messages.
203 NSS Tools crlutil
Newsgroup: mozilla.dev.tech.crypto
204 NSS Tools dbck-tasks
Newsgroup: mozilla.dev.tech.crypto
205 NSS Tools modutil
The Security Module Database Tool is a command-line utility for managing PKCS #11 module information within secmod.db files or within hardware tokens. You can use the tool to add and delete PKCS #11 modules, change passwords, set defaults, list module contents, enable or disable slots, enable or disable FIPS 140-2 compliance, and assign default providers for cryptographic operations. This tool can also create key3.db, cert8.db, and secmod.db security database files.
206 NSS Tools modutil-tasks
Newsgroup: mozilla.dev.tech.crypto
207 NSS Tools pk12util
The PKCS #12 utility makes sharing of certificates among Enterprise server 3.x and any server (Netscape products or non-Netscape products) that supports PKCS#12 possible. The tool allows you to import certificates and keys from pkcs #12 files into NSS or export them and also list certificates and keys in such files.
208 NSS Tools pk12util-tasks
Newsgroup: mozilla.dev.tech.crypto
209 NSS Tools signver-tasks
No summary!
210 NSS Tools sslstrength
A simple command-line client which connects to an SSL-server, and reports back the encryption cipher and strength used.
211 NSS Tools ssltap
The SSL Debugging Tool is an SSL-aware command-line proxy. It watches TCP connections and displays the data going by. If a connection is SSL, the data display includes interpreted SSL records and handshaking.
212 NSS tools : cmsutil
Name

cmsutil — Performs basic cryptograpic operations, such as encryption and
decryption, on Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS) messages.

Synopsis

cmsutil [options] arguments

Description

The cmsutil command-line uses the S/MIME Toolkit to perform basic
operations, such as encryption and decryption, on Cryptographic Message
Syntax (CMS) messages.

To run cmsutil, type the command cmsutil option [arguments] where option
and arguments are combinations of the options and arguments listed in the
following section. Each command takes one option. Each option may take
zero or more arguments. To see a usage string, issue the command without
options.

Options and Arguments

Options

Options specify an action. Option arguments modify an action. The options
and arguments for the cmsutil command are defined as follows:

-D

Decode a message.

-C

Encrypt a message.

-E

Envelope a message.

-O

Create a certificates-only message.

-S

Sign a message.

Arguments

Option arguments modify an action and are lowercase.

-c content

Use this detached content (decode only).

-d dbdir

Specify the key/certificate database directory (default is ".")

-e envfile

Specify a file containing an enveloped message for a set of
recipients to which you would like to send an encrypted message.
If this is the first encrypted message for that set of recipients,
a new enveloped message will be created that you can then use for
future messages (encrypt only).

-G

Include a signing time attribute (sign only).

-h num

Generate email headers with info about CMS message (decode only).

-i infile

Use infile as a source of data (default is stdin).

-N nickname

Specify nickname of certificate to sign with (sign only).

-n

Suppress output of contents (decode only).

-o outfile

Use outfile as a destination of data (default is stdout).

-P

Include an S/MIME capabilities attribute.

-p password

Use password as key database password.

-r recipient1,recipient2, ...

Specify list of recipients (email addresses) for an encrypted or
enveloped message. For certificates-only message, list of
certificates to send.

-T

Suppress content in CMS message (sign only).

-u certusage

Set type of cert usage (default is certUsageEmailSigner).

-Y ekprefnick

Specify an encryption key preference by nickname.

Usage

Encrypt Example

cmsutil -C [-i infile] [-o outfile] [-d dbdir] [-p password] -r "recipient1,recipient2, . . ." -e envfile


Decode Example

cmsutil -D [-i infile] [-o outfile] [-d dbdir] [-p password] [-c content] [-n] [-h num]


Envelope Example

cmsutil -E [-i infile] [-o outfile] [-d dbdir] [-p password] -r "recipient1,recipient2, ..."


Certificate-only Example

cmsutil -O [-i infile] [-o outfile] [-d dbdir] [-p password] -r "cert1,cert2, . . ."


Sign Message Example

cmsutil -S [-i infile] [-o outfile] [-d dbdir] [-p password] -N nickname[-TGP] [-Y ekprefnick]


See also

certutil(1)

See Also

Additional Resources

NSS is maintained in conjunction with PKI and security-related projects
through Mozilla dn Fedora. The most closely-related project is Dogtag PKI,
with a project wiki at [1]http://pki.fedoraproject.org/wiki/.

For information specifically about NSS, the NSS project wiki is located at
[2]http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/. The NSS site relates
directly to NSS code changes and releases.

Mailing lists: pki-devel@redhat.com and pki-users@redhat.com

IRC: Freenode at #dogtag-pki

Authors

The NSS tools were written and maintained by developers with Netscape and
now with Red Hat.

Authors: Elio Maldonado <emaldona@redhat.com>, Deon Lackey
<dlackey@redhat.com>.

Copyright

(c) 2010, Red Hat, Inc. Licensed under the GNU Public License version 2.

References

Visible links
1. http://pki.fedoraproject.org/wiki/
2. http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/
213 NSS tools : crlutil
Name

crlutil — List, generate, modify, or delete CRLs within the NSS security
database file(s) and list, create, modify or delete certificates entries
in a particular CRL.

Synopsis

crlutil [options] arguments

Description

The Certificate Revocation List (CRL) Management Tool, crlutil, is a
command-line utility that can list, generate, modify, or delete CRLs
within the NSS security database file(s) and list, create, modify or
delete certificates entries in a particular CRL.

The key and certificate management process generally begins with creating
keys in the key database, then generating and managing certificates in the
certificate database(see certutil tool) and continues with certificates
expiration or revocation.

This document discusses certificate revocation list management. For
information on security module database management, see Using the Security
Module Database Tool. For information on certificate and key database
management, see Using the Certificate Database Tool.

To run the Certificate Revocation List Management Tool, type the command

crlutil option [arguments]

where options and arguments are combinations of the options and arguments
listed in the following section. Each command takes one option. Each
option may take zero or more arguments. To see a usage string, issue the
command without options, or with the -H option.

Options and Arguments

Options

Options specify an action. Option arguments modify an action. The options
and arguments for the crlutil command are defined as follows:

-G

Create new Certificate Revocation List(CRL).

-D

Delete Certificate Revocation List from cert database.

-I

Import a CRL to the cert database

-E

Erase all CRLs of specified type from the cert database

-L

List existing CRL located in cert database file.

-M

Modify existing CRL which can be located in cert db or in
arbitrary file. If located in file it should be encoded in ASN.1
encode format.

-G

Arguments

Option arguments modify an action and are lowercase.

-B

Bypass CA signature checks.

-P dbprefix

Specify the prefix used on the NSS security database files (for
example, my_cert8.db and my_key3.db). This option is provided as a
special case. Changing the names of the certificate and key
databases is not recommended.

-a

Use ASCII format or allow the use of ASCII format for input and
output. This formatting follows RFC #1113.

-c crl-gen-file

Specify script file that will be used to control crl
generation/modification. See crl-cript-file format below. If
options -M|-G is used and -c crl-script-file is not specified,
crlutil will read script data from standard input.

-d directory

Specify the database directory containing the certificate and key
database files. On Unix the Certificate Database Tool defaults to
$HOME/.netscape (that is, ~/.netscape). On Windows NT the default
is the current directory.

The NSS database files must reside in the same directory.

-i crl-import-file

Specify the file which contains the CRL to import

-f password-file

Specify a file that will automatically supply the password to
include in a certificate or to access a certificate database. This
is a plain-text file containing one password. Be sure to prevent
unauthorized access to this file.

-l algorithm-name

Specify a specific signature algorithm. List of possible
algorithms: MD2 | MD4 | MD5 | SHA1 | SHA256 | SHA384 | SHA512

-n nickname

Specify the nickname of a certificate or key to list, create, add
to a database, modify, or validate. Bracket the nickname string
with quotation marks if it contains spaces.

-o output-file

Specify the output file name for new CRL. Bracket the output-file
string with quotation marks if it contains spaces. If this
argument is not used the output destination defaults to standard
output.

-t crl-type

Specify type of CRL. possible types are: 0 - SEC_KRL_TYPE, 1 -
SEC_CRL_TYPE. This option is obsolete

-u url

Specify the url.

CRL Generation script syntax

CRL generation script file has the following syntax:

* Line with comments should have # as a first symbol of a line

* Set "this update" or "next update" CRL fields:

update=YYYYMMDDhhmmssZ nextupdate=YYYYMMDDhhmmssZ

Field "next update" is optional. Time should be in GeneralizedTime format
(YYYYMMDDhhmmssZ). For example: 20050204153000Z

* Add an extension to a CRL or a crl certificate entry:

addext extension-name critical/non-critical [arg1[arg2 ...]]

Where:

extension-name: string value of a name of known extensions.
critical/non-critical: is 1 when extension is critical and 0 otherwise.
arg1, arg2: specific to extension type extension parameters

addext uses the range that was set earlier by addcert and will install an
extension to every cert entries within the range.

* Add certificate entries(s) to CRL:

addcert range date

range: two integer values separated by dash: range of certificates that
will be added by this command. dash is used as a delimiter. Only one cert
will be added if there is no delimiter. date: revocation date of a cert.
Date should be represented in GeneralizedTime format (YYYYMMDDhhmmssZ).

* Remove certificate entry(s) from CRL

rmcert range

Where:

range: two integer values separated by dash: range of certificates that
will be added by this command. dash is used as a delimiter. Only one cert
will be added if there is no delimiter.

* Change range of certificate entry(s) in CRL

range new-range

Where:

new-range: two integer values separated by dash: range of certificates
that will be added by this command. dash is used as a delimiter. Only one
cert will be added if there is no delimiter.

Implemented Extensions

The extensions defined for CRL provide methods for associating additional
attributes with CRLs of theirs entries. For more information see RFC #3280

* Add The Authority Key Identifier extension:

The authority key identifier extension provides a means of identifying the
public key corresponding to the private key used to sign a CRL.

authKeyId critical [key-id | dn cert-serial]

Where:

authKeyIdent: identifies the name of an extension critical: value of 1 of
0. Should be set to 1 if this extension is critical or 0 otherwise.
key-id: key identifier represented in octet string. dn:: is a CA
distinguished name cert-serial: authority certificate serial number.

* Add Issuer Alternative Name extension:

The issuer alternative names extension allows additional identities to be
associated with the issuer of the CRL. Defined options include an rfc822
name (electronic mail address), a DNS name, an IP address, and a URI.

issuerAltNames non-critical name-list

Where:

subjAltNames: identifies the name of an extension should be set to 0 since
this is non-critical extension name-list: comma separated list of names

* Add CRL Number extension:

The CRL number is a non-critical CRL extension which conveys a
monotonically increasing sequence number for a given CRL scope and CRL
issuer. This extension allows users to easily determine when a particular
CRL supersedes another CRL

crlNumber non-critical number

Where:

crlNumber: identifies the name of an extension critical: should be set to
0 since this is non-critical extension number: value of long which
identifies the sequential number of a CRL.

* Add Revocation Reason Code extension:

The reasonCode is a non-critical CRL entry extension that identifies the
reason for the certificate revocation.

reasonCode non-critical code

Where:

reasonCode: identifies the name of an extension non-critical: should be
set to 0 since this is non-critical extension code: the following codes
are available:

unspecified (0), keyCompromise (1), cACompromise (2), affiliationChanged
(3), superseded (4), cessationOfOperation (5), certificateHold (6),
removeFromCRL (8), privilegeWithdrawn (9), aACompromise (10)

* Add Invalidity Date extension:

The invalidity date is a non-critical CRL entry extension that provides
the date on which it is known or suspected that the private key was
compromised or that the certificate otherwise became invalid.

invalidityDate non-critical date

Where:

crlNumber: identifies the name of an extension non-critical: should be set
to 0 since this is non-critical extension date: invalidity date of a cert.
Date should be represented in GeneralizedTime format (YYYYMMDDhhmmssZ).

Usage

The Certificate Revocation List Management Tool's capabilities are grouped
as follows, using these combinations of options and arguments. Options and
arguments in square brackets are optional, those without square brackets
are required.

See "Implemented extensions" for more information regarding extensions and
their parameters.

* Creating or modifying a CRL:

crlutil -G|-M -c crl-gen-file -n nickname [-i crl] [-u url] [-d keydir] [-P dbprefix] [-l alg] [-a] [-B]


* Listing all CRls or a named CRL:

crlutil -L [-n crl-name] [-d krydir]


* Deleting CRL from db:

crlutil -D -n nickname [-d keydir] [-P dbprefix]


* Erasing CRLs from db:

crlutil -E [-d keydir] [-P dbprefix]


* Deleting CRL from db:

crlutil -D -n nickname [-d keydir] [-P dbprefix]


* Erasing CRLs from db:

crlutil -E [-d keydir] [-P dbprefix]


* Import CRL from file:

crlutil -I -i crl [-t crlType] [-u url] [-d keydir] [-P dbprefix] [-B]


See also

certutil(1)

See Also

Additional Resources

NSS is maintained in conjunction with PKI and security-related projects
through Mozilla dn Fedora. The most closely-related project is Dogtag PKI,
with a project wiki at [1]http://pki.fedoraproject.org/wiki/.

For information specifically about NSS, the NSS project wiki is located at
[2]http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/. The NSS site relates
directly to NSS code changes and releases.

Mailing lists: pki-devel@redhat.com and pki-users@redhat.com

IRC: Freenode at #dogtag-pki

Authors

The NSS tools were written and maintained by developers with Netscape and
now with Red Hat.

Authors: Elio Maldonado <emaldona@redhat.com>, Deon Lackey
<dlackey@redhat.com>.

Copyright

(c) 2010, Red Hat, Inc. Licensed under the GNU Public License version 2.

References

Visible links
1. http://pki.fedoraproject.org/wiki/
2. http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/
214 NSS tools : modutil
Name

modutil — Manage PKCS #11 module information within the security module
database.

Synopsis

modutil [options] arguments

Description

The Security Module Database Tool, modutil, is a command-line utility for
managing PKCS #11 module information both within secmod.db files and
within hardware tokens. modutil can add and delete PKCS #11 modules,
change passwords on security databases, set defaults, list module
contents, enable or disable slots, enable or disable FIPS 140-2
compliance, and assign default providers for cryptographic operations.
This tool can also create certificate, key, and module security database
files.

The tasks associated with security module database management are part of
a process that typically also involves managing key databases and
certificate databases.

Options

Running modutil always requires one (and only one) option to specify the
type of module operation. Each option may take arguments, anywhere from
none to multiple arguments.

Options

-add modulename

Add the named PKCS #11 module to the database. Use this option
with the -libfile, -ciphers, and -mechanisms arguments.

-changepw tokenname

Change the password on the named token. If the token has not been
initialized, this option initializes the password. Use this option
with the -pwfile and -newpwfile arguments. A password is
equivalent to a personal identification number (PIN).

-chkfips

Verify whether the module is in the given FIPS mode. true means to
verify that the module is in FIPS mode, while false means to
verify that the module is not in FIPS mode.

-create

Create new certificate, key, and module databases. Use the -dbdir
directory argument to specify a directory. If any of these
databases already exist in a specified directory, modutil returns
an error message.

-default modulename

Specify the security mechanisms for which the named module will be
a default provider. The security mechanisms are specified with the
-mechanisms argument.

-delete modulename

Delete the named module. The default NSS PKCS #11 module cannot be
deleted.

-disable modulename

Disable all slots on the named module. Use the -slot argument to
disable a specific slot.

-enable modulename

Enable all slots on the named module. Use the -slot argument to
enable a specific slot.

-fips [true | false]

Enable (true) or disable (false) FIPS 140-2 compliance for the
default NSS module.

-force

Disable modutil's interactive prompts so it can be run from a
script. Use this option only after manually testing each planned
operation to check for warnings and to ensure that bypassing the
prompts will cause no security lapses or loss of database
integrity.

-jar JAR-file

Add a new PKCS #11 module to the database using the named JAR
file. Use this command with the -installdir and -tempdir
arguments. The JAR file uses the NSS PKCS #11 JAR format to
identify all the files to be installed, the module's name, the
mechanism flags, and the cipher flags, as well as any files to be
installed on the target machine, including the PKCS #11 module
library file and other files such as documentation. This is
covered in the JAR installation file section in the man page,
which details the special script needed to perform an installation
through a server or with modutil.

-list [modulename]

Display basic information about the contents of the secmod.db
file. Specifying a modulename displays detailed information about
a particular module and its slots and tokens.

-rawadd

Add the module spec string to the secmod.db database.

-rawlist

Display the module specs for a specified module or for all
loadable modules.

-undefault modulename

Specify the security mechanisms for which the named module will
not be a default provider. The security mechanisms are specified
with the -mechanisms argument.

Arguments

MODULE

Give the security module to access.

MODULESPEC

Give the security module spec to load into the security database.

-ciphers cipher-enable-list

Enable specific ciphers in a module that is being added to the
database. The cipher-enable-list is a colon-delimited list of
cipher names. Enclose this list in quotation marks if it contains
spaces.

-dbdir [sql:]directory

Specify the database directory in which to access or create
security module database files.

modutil supports two types of databases: the legacy security
databases (cert8.db, key3.db, and secmod.db) and new SQLite
databases (cert9.db, key4.db, and pkcs11.txt). If the prefix sql:
is not used, then the tool assumes that the given databases are in
the old format.

--dbprefix prefix

Specify the prefix used on the database files, such as my_ for
my_cert8.db. This option is provided as a special case. Changing
the names of the certificate and key databases is not recommended.

-installdir root-installation-directory

Specify the root installation directory relative to which files
will be installed by the -jar option. This directory should be one
below which it is appropriate to store dynamic library files, such
as a server's root directory.

-libfile library-file

Specify a path to a library file containing the implementation of
the PKCS #11 interface module that is being added to the database.

-mechanisms mechanism-list

Specify the security mechanisms for which a particular module will
be flagged as a default provider. The mechanism-list is a
colon-delimited list of mechanism names. Enclose this list in
quotation marks if it contains spaces.

The module becomes a default provider for the listed mechanisms
when those mechanisms are enabled. If more than one module claims
to be a particular mechanism's default provider, that mechanism's
default provider is undefined.

modutil supports several mechanisms: RSA, DSA, RC2, RC4, RC5, AES,
DES, DH, SHA1, SHA256, SHA512, SSL, TLS, MD5, MD2, RANDOM (for
random number generation), and FRIENDLY (meaning certificates are
publicly readable).

-newpwfile new-password-file

Specify a text file containing a token's new or replacement
password so that a password can be entered automatically with the
-changepw option.

-nocertdb

Do not open the certificate or key databases. This has several
effects:

o With the -create command, only a module security file is
created; certificate and key databases are not created.

o With the -jar command, signatures on the JAR file are not
checked.

o With the -changepw command, the password on the NSS internal
module cannot be set or changed, since this password is
stored in the key database.

-pwfile old-password-file

Specify a text file containing a token's existing password so that
a password can be entered automatically when the -changepw option
is used to change passwords.

-secmod secmodname

Give the name of the security module database (like secmod.db) to
load.

-slot slotname

Specify a particular slot to be enabled or disabled with the
-enable or -disable options.

-string CONFIG_STRING

Pass a configuration string for the module being added to the
database.

-tempdir temporary-directory

Give a directory location where temporary files are created during
the installation by the -jar option. If no temporary directory is
specified, the current directory is used.

Usage and Examples

Creating Database Files

Before any operations can be performed, there must be a set of security
databases available. modutil can be used to create these files. The only
required argument is the database that where the databases will be
located.

modutil -create -dbdir [sql:]directory

Adding a Cryptographic Module

Adding a PKCS #11 module means submitting a supporting library file,
enabling its ciphers, and setting default provider status for various
security mechanisms. This can be done by supplying all of the information
through modutil directly or by running a JAR file and install script. For
the most basic case, simply upload the library:

modutil -add modulename -libfile library-file [-ciphers cipher-enable-list] [-mechanisms mechanism-list]

For example:

modutil -dbdir sql:/home/my/sharednssdb -add "Example PKCS #11 Module" -libfile "/tmp/crypto.so" -mechanisms RSA:DSA:RC2:RANDOM

Using database directory ...
Module "Example PKCS #11 Module" added to database.

Installing a Cryptographic Module from a JAR File

PKCS #11 modules can also be loaded using a JAR file, which contains all
of the required libraries and an installation script that describes how to
install the module. The JAR install script is described in more detail in
[1]the section called “JAR Installation File Format”.

The JAR installation script defines the setup information for each
platform that the module can be installed on. For example:

Platforms {
Linux:5.4.08:x86 {
ModuleName { "Example PKCS #11 Module" }
ModuleFile { crypto.so }
DefaultMechanismFlags{0x0000}
CipherEnableFlags{0x0000}
Files {
crypto.so {
Path{ /tmp/crypto.so }
}
setup.sh {
Executable
Path{ /tmp/setup.sh }
}
}
}
Linux:6.0.0:x86 {
EquivalentPlatform { Linux:5.4.08:x86 }
}
}

Both the install script and the required libraries must be bundled in a
JAR file, which is specified with the -jar argument.

modutil -dbdir sql:/home/mt"jar-install-filey/sharednssdb -jar install.jar -installdir sql:/home/my/sharednssdb

This installation JAR file was signed by:
----------------------------------------------

**SUBJECT NAME**

C=US, ST=California, L=Mountain View, CN=Cryptorific Inc., OU=Digital ID
Class 3 - Netscape Object Signing, OU="www.verisign.com/repository/CPS
Incorp. by Ref.,LIAB.LTD(c)9 6", OU=www.verisign.com/CPS Incorp.by Ref
. LIABILITY LTD.(c)97 VeriSign, OU=VeriSign Object Signing CA - Class 3
Organization, OU="VeriSign, Inc.", O=VeriSign Trust Network **ISSUER
NAME**, OU=www.verisign.com/CPS Incorp.by Ref. LIABILITY LTD.(c)97
VeriSign, OU=VeriSign Object Signing CA - Class 3 Organization,
OU="VeriSign, Inc.", O=VeriSign Trust Network
----------------------------------------------

Do you wish to continue this installation? (y/n) y
Using installer script "installer_script"
Successfully parsed installation script
Current platform is Linux:5.4.08:x86
Using installation parameters for platform Linux:5.4.08:x86
Installed file crypto.so to /tmp/crypto.so
Installed file setup.sh to ./pk11inst.dir/setup.sh
Executing "./pk11inst.dir/setup.sh"...
"./pk11inst.dir/setup.sh" executed successfully
Installed module "Example PKCS #11 Module" into module database

Installation completed successfully

Adding Module Spec

Each module has information stored in the security database about its
configuration and parameters. These can be added or edited using the
-rawadd command. For the current settings or to see the format of the
module spec in the database, use the -rawlist option.

modutil -rawadd modulespec

Deleting a Module

A specific PKCS #11 module can be deleted from the secmod.db database:

modutil -delete modulename -dbdir [sql:]directory

Displaying Module Information

The secmod.db database contains information about the PKCS #11 modules
that are available to an application or server to use. The list of all
modules, information about specific modules, and database configuration
specs for modules can all be viewed.

To simply get a list of modules in the database, use the -list command.

modutil -list [modulename] -dbdir [sql:]directory

Listing the modules shows the module name, their status, and other
associated security databases for certificates and keys. For example:

modutil -list -dbdir sql:/home/my/sharednssdb

Listing of PKCS #11 Modules
-----------------------------------------------------------
1. NSS Internal PKCS #11 Module
slots: 2 slots attached
status: loaded

slot: NSS Internal Cryptographic Services
token: NSS Generic Crypto Services

slot: NSS User Private Key and Certificate Services
token: NSS Certificate DB
-----------------------------------------------------------

Passing a specific module name with the -list returns details information
about the module itself, like supported cipher mechanisms, version
numbers, serial numbers, and other information about the module and the
token it is loaded on. For example:

modutil -list "NSS Internal PKCS #11 Module" -dbdir sql:/home/my/sharednssdb

-----------------------------------------------------------
Name: NSS Internal PKCS #11 Module
Library file: **Internal ONLY module**
Manufacturer: Mozilla Foundation
Description: NSS Internal Crypto Services
PKCS #11 Version 2.20
Library Version: 3.11
Cipher Enable Flags: None
Default Mechanism Flags: RSA:RC2:RC4:DES:DH:SHA1:MD5:MD2:SSL:TLS:AES

Slot: NSS Internal Cryptographic Services
Slot Mechanism Flags: RSA:RC2:RC4:DES:DH:SHA1:MD5:MD2:SSL:TLS:AES
Manufacturer: Mozilla Foundation
Type: Software
Version Number: 3.11
Firmware Version: 0.0
Status: Enabled
Token Name: NSS Generic Crypto Services
Token Manufacturer: Mozilla Foundation
Token Model: NSS 3
Token Serial Number: 0000000000000000
Token Version: 4.0
Token Firmware Version: 0.0
Access: Write Protected
Login Type: Public (no login required)
User Pin: NOT Initialized

Slot: NSS User Private Key and Certificate Services
Slot Mechanism Flags: None
Manufacturer: Mozilla Foundation
Type: Software
Version Number: 3.11
Firmware Version: 0.0
Status: Enabled
Token Name: NSS Certificate DB
Token Manufacturer: Mozilla Foundation
Token Model: NSS 3
Token Serial Number: 0000000000000000
Token Version: 8.3
Token Firmware Version: 0.0
Access: NOT Write Protected
Login Type: Login required
User Pin: Initialized

A related command, -rawlist returns information about the database
configuration for the modules. (This information can be edited by loading
new specs using the -rawadd command.)

modutil -rawlist -dbdir sql:/home/my/sharednssdb
name="NSS Internal PKCS #11 Module" parameters="configdir=. certPrefix= keyPrefix= secmod=secmod.db flags=readOnly " NSS="trustOrder=75 cipherOrder=100 slotParams={0x00000001=[slotFlags=RSA,RC4,RC2,DES,DH,SHA1,MD5,MD2,SSL,TLS,AES,RANDOM askpw=any timeout=30 ] } Flags=internal,critical"

Setting a Default Provider for Security Mechanisms

Multiple security modules may provide support for the same security
mechanisms. It is possible to set a specific security module as the
default provider for a specific security mechanism (or, conversely, to
prohibit a provider from supplying those mechanisms).

modutil -default modulename -mechanisms mechanism-list

To set a module as the default provider for mechanisms, use the -default
command with a colon-separated list of mechanisms. The available
mechanisms depend on the module; NSS supplies almost all common
mechanisms. For example:

modutil -default "NSS Internal PKCS #11 Module" -dbdir -mechanisms RSA:DSA:RC2

Using database directory c:\databases...

Successfully changed defaults.

Clearing the default provider has the same format:

modutil -undefault "NSS Internal PKCS #11 Module" -dbdir -mechanisms MD2:MD5

Enabling and Disabling Modules and Slots

Modules, and specific slots on modules, can be selectively enabled or
disabled using modutil. Both commands have the same format:

modutil -enable|-disable modulename [-slot slotname]

For example:

modutil -enable "NSS Internal PKCS #11 Module" -slot "NSS Internal Cryptographic Services " -dbdir .

Slot "NSS Internal Cryptographic Services " enabled.

Be sure that the appropriate amount of trailing whitespace is after the
slot name. Some slot names have a significant amount of whitespace that
must be included, or the operation will fail.

Enabling and Verifying FIPS Compliance

The NSS modules can have FIPS 140-2 compliance enabled or disabled using
modutil with the -fips option. For example:

modutil -fips true -dbdir sql:/home/my/sharednssdb/

FIPS mode enabled.

To verify that status of FIPS mode, run the -chkfips command with either a
true or false flag (it doesn't matter which). The tool returns the current
FIPS setting.

modutil -chkfips false -dbdir sql:/home/my/sharednssdb/

FIPS mode enabled.

Changing the Password on a Token

Initializing or changing a token's password:

modutil -changepw tokenname [-pwfile old-password-file] [-newpwfile new-password-file]

modutil -dbdir sql:/home/my/sharednssdb -changepw "NSS Certificate DB"

Enter old password:
Incorrect password, try again...
Enter old password:
Enter new password:
Re-enter new password:
Token "Communicator Certificate DB" password changed successfully.

JAR Installation File Format

When a JAR file is run by a server, by modutil, or by any program that
does not interpret JavaScript, a special information file must be included
to install the libraries. There are several things to keep in mind with
this file:

o It must be declared in the JAR archive's manifest file.

o The script can have any name.

o The metainfo tag for this is Pkcs11_install_script. To declare
meta-information in the manifest file, put it in a file that is passed
to signtool.

Sample Script

For example, the PKCS #11 installer script could be in the file
pk11install. If so, the metainfo file for signtool includes a line such as
this:

+ Pkcs11_install_script: pk11install

The script must define the platform and version number, the module name
and file, and any optional information like supported ciphers and
mechanisms. Multiple platforms can be defined in a single install file.

ForwardCompatible { IRIX:6.2:mips SUNOS:5.5.1:sparc }
Platforms {
WINNT::x86 {
ModuleName { "Example Module" }
ModuleFile { win32/fort32.dll }
DefaultMechanismFlags{0x0001}
DefaultCipherFlags{0x0001}
Files {
win32/setup.exe {
Executable
RelativePath { %temp%/setup.exe }
}
win32/setup.hlp {
RelativePath { %temp%/setup.hlp }
}
win32/setup.cab {
RelativePath { %temp%/setup.cab }
}
}
}
WIN95::x86 {
EquivalentPlatform {WINNT::x86}
}
SUNOS:5.5.1:sparc {
ModuleName { "Example UNIX Module" }
ModuleFile { unix/fort.so }
DefaultMechanismFlags{0x0001}
CipherEnableFlags{0x0001}
Files {
unix/fort.so {
RelativePath{%root%/lib/fort.so}
AbsolutePath{/usr/local/netscape/lib/fort.so}
FilePermissions{555}
}
xplat/instr.html {
RelativePath{%root%/docs/inst.html}
AbsolutePath{/usr/local/netscape/docs/inst.html}
FilePermissions{555}
}
}
}
IRIX:6.2:mips {
EquivalentPlatform { SUNOS:5.5.1:sparc }
}
}

Script Grammar

The script is basic Java, allowing lists, key-value pairs, strings, and
combinations of all of them.

--> valuelist

valuelist --> value valuelist
<null>

value ---> key_value_pair
string

key_value_pair --> key { valuelist }

key --> string

string --> simple_string
"complex_string"

simple_string --> [^ \t\n\""{""}"]+

complex_string --> ([^\"\\\r\n]|(\\\")|(\\\\))+

Quotes and backslashes must be escaped with a backslash. A complex string
must not include newlines or carriage returns.Outside of complex strings,
all white space (for example, spaces, tabs, and carriage returns) is
considered equal and is used only to delimit tokens.

Keys

The Java install file uses keys to define the platform and module
information.

ForwardCompatible gives a list of platforms that are forward compatible.
If the current platform cannot be found in the list of supported
platforms, then the ForwardCompatible list is checked for any platforms
that have the same OS and architecture in an earlier version. If one is
found, its attributes are used for the current platform.

Platforms (required) Gives a list of platforms. Each entry in the list is
itself a key-value pair: the key is the name of the platform and the value
list contains various attributes of the platform. The platform string is
in the format system name:OS release:architecture. The installer obtains
these values from NSPR. OS release is an empty string on non-Unix
operating systems. NSPR supports these platforms:

o AIX (rs6000)

o BSDI (x86)

o FREEBSD (x86)

o HPUX (hppa1.1)

o IRIX (mips)

o LINUX (ppc, alpha, x86)

o MacOS (PowerPC)

o NCR (x86)

o NEC (mips)

o OS2 (x86)

o OSF (alpha)

o ReliantUNIX (mips)

o SCO (x86)

o SOLARIS (sparc)

o SONY (mips)

o SUNOS (sparc)

o UnixWare (x86)

o WIN16 (x86)

o WIN95 (x86)

o WINNT (x86)

For example:

IRIX:6.2:mips
SUNOS:5.5.1:sparc
Linux:2.0.32:x86
WIN95::x86

The module information is defined independently for each platform in the
ModuleName, ModuleFile, and Files attributes. These attributes must be
given unless an EquivalentPlatform attribute is specified.

Per-Platform Keys

Per-platform keys have meaning only within the value list of an entry in
the Platforms list.

ModuleName (required) gives the common name for the module. This name is
used to reference the module by servers and by the modutil tool.

ModuleFile (required) names the PKCS #11 module file for this platform.
The name is given as the relative path of the file within the JAR archive.

Files (required) lists the files that need to be installed for this
module. Each entry in the file list is a key-value pair. The key is the
path of the file in the JAR archive, and the value list contains
attributes of the file. At least RelativePath or AbsolutePath must be
specified for each file.

DefaultMechanismFlags specifies mechanisms for which this module is the
default provider; this is equivalent to the -mechanism option with the
-add command. This key-value pair is a bitstring specified in hexadecimal
(0x) format. It is constructed as a bitwise OR. If the
DefaultMechanismFlags entry is omitted, the value defaults to 0x0.

RSA: 0x00000001
DSA: 0x00000002
RC2: 0x00000004
RC4: 0x00000008
DES: 0x00000010
DH: 0x00000020
FORTEZZA: 0x00000040
RC5: 0x00000080
SHA1: 0x00000100
MD5: 0x00000200
MD2: 0x00000400
RANDOM: 0x08000000
FRIENDLY: 0x10000000
OWN_PW_DEFAULTS: 0x20000000
DISABLE: 0x40000000

CipherEnableFlags specifies ciphers that this module provides that NSS
does not provide (so that the module enables those ciphers for NSS). This
is equivalent to the -cipher argument with the -add command. This key is a
bitstring specified in hexadecimal (0x) format. It is constructed as a
bitwise OR. If the CipherEnableFlags entry is omitted, the value defaults
to 0x0.

EquivalentPlatform specifies that the attributes of the named platform
should also be used for the current platform. This makes it easier when
more than one platform uses the same settings.

Per-File Keys

Some keys have meaning only within the value list of an entry in a Files
list.

Each file requires a path key the identifies where the file is. Either
RelativePath or AbsolutePath must be specified. If both are specified, the
relative path is tried first, and the absolute path is used only if no
relative root directory is provided by the installer program.

RelativePath specifies the destination directory of the file, relative to
some directory decided at install time. Two variables can be used in the
relative path: %root% and %temp%. %root% is replaced at run time with the
directory relative to which files should be installed; for example, it may
be the server's root directory. The %temp% directory is created at the
beginning of the installation and destroyed at the end. The purpose of
%temp% is to hold executable files (such as setup programs) or files that
are used by these programs. Files destined for the temporary directory are
guaranteed to be in place before any executable file is run; they are not
deleted until all executable files have finished.

AbsolutePath specifies the destination directory of the file as an
absolute path.

Executable specifies that the file is to be executed during the course of
the installation. Typically, this string is used for a setup program
provided by a module vendor, such as a self-extracting setup executable.
More than one file can be specified as executable, in which case the files
are run in the order in which they are specified in the script file.

FilePermissions sets permissions on any referenced files in a string of
octal digits, according to the standard Unix format. This string is a
bitwise OR.

user read: 0400
user write: 0200
user execute: 0100
group read: 0040
group write: 0020
group execute: 0010
other read: 0004
other write: 0002
other execute: 0001

Some platforms may not understand these permissions. They are applied only
insofar as they make sense for the current platform. If this attribute is
omitted, a default of 777 is assumed.

NSS Database Types

NSS originally used BerkeleyDB databases to store security information.
The last versions of these legacy databases are:

o cert8.db for certificates

o key3.db for keys

o secmod.db for PKCS #11 module information

BerkeleyDB has performance limitations, though, which prevent it from
being easily used by multiple applications simultaneously. NSS has some
flexibility that allows applications to use their own, independent
database engine while keeping a shared database and working around the
access issues. Still, NSS requires more flexibility to provide a truly
shared security database.

In 2009, NSS introduced a new set of databases that are SQLite databases
rather than BerkleyDB. These new databases provide more accessibility and
performance:

o cert9.db for certificates

o key4.db for keys

o pkcs11.txt, which is listing of all of the PKCS #11 modules contained
in a new subdirectory in the security databases directory

Because the SQLite databases are designed to be shared, these are the
shared database type. The shared database type is preferred; the legacy
format is included for backward compatibility.

By default, the tools (certutil, pk12util, modutil) assume that the given
security databases follow the more common legacy type. Using the SQLite
databases must be manually specified by using the sql: prefix with the
given security directory. For example:

modutil -create -dbdir sql:/home/my/sharednssdb

To set the shared database type as the default type for the tools, set the
NSS_DEFAULT_DB_TYPE environment variable to sql:

export NSS_DEFAULT_DB_TYPE="sql"

This line can be set added to the ~/.bashrc file to make the change
permanent.

Most applications do not use the shared database by default, but they can
be configured to use them. For example, this how-to article covers how to
configure Firefox and Thunderbird to use the new shared NSS databases:

o https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB_Howto

For an engineering draft on the changes in the shared NSS databases, see
the NSS project wiki:

o https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB

See Also

certutil (1)

pk12util (1)

signtool (1)

The NSS wiki has information on the new database design and how to
configure applications to use it.

o https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB_Howto

o https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB

Additional Resources

For information about NSS and other tools related to NSS (like JSS), check
out the NSS project wiki at
[2]http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/. The NSS site relates
directly to NSS code changes and releases.

Mailing lists: https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-crypto

IRC: Freenode at #dogtag-pki

Authors

The NSS tools were written and maintained by developers with Netscape, Red
Hat, and Sun.

Authors: Elio Maldonado <emaldona@redhat.com>, Deon Lackey
<dlackey@redhat.com>.

Copyright

(c) 2010, Red Hat, Inc. Licensed under the GNU Public License version 2.

References

Visible links
1. JAR Installation File Format
file:///tmp/xmlto.6gGxS0/modutil.pro...r-install-file
2. http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/
215 NSS tools : pk12util
Name

pk12util — Export and import keys and certificate to or from a PKCS #12
file and the NSS database

Synopsis

pk12util [-i p12File [-h tokenname] [-v] [common-options] ] [ -l p12File
[-h tokenname] [-r] [common-options] ] [ -o p12File -n certname [-c
keyCipher] [-C certCipher] [-m|--key_len keyLen] [-n|--cert_key_len
certKeyLen] [common-options] ] [ common-options are: [-d [sql:]directory]
[-P dbprefix] [-k slotPasswordFile|-K slotPassword] [-w
p12filePasswordFile|-W p12filePassword] ]

Description

The PKCS #12 utility, pk12util, enables sharing certificates among any
server that supports PKCS#12. The tool can import certificates and keys
from PKCS#12 files into security databases, export certificates, and list
certificates and keys.

Options and Arguments

Options

-i p12file

Import keys and certificates from a PKCS#12 file into a security
database.

-l p12file

List the keys and certificates in PKCS#12 file.

-o p12file

Export keys and certificates from the security database to a
PKCS#12 file.

Arguments

-n certname

Specify the nickname of the cert and private key to export.

-d [sql:]directory

Specify the database directory into which to import to or export
from certificates and keys.

pk12util supports two types of databases: the legacy security
databases (cert8.db, key3.db, and secmod.db) and new SQLite
databases (cert9.db, key4.db, and pkcs11.txt). If the prefix sql:
is not used, then the tool assumes that the given databases are in
the old format.

-P prefix

Specify the prefix used on the certificate and key databases. This
option is provided as a special case. Changing the names of the
certificate and key databases is not recommended.

-h tokenname

Specify the name of the token to import into or export from.

-v

Enable debug logging when importing.

-k slotPasswordFile

Specify the text file containing the slot's password.

-K slotPassword

Specify the slot's password.

-w p12filePasswordFile

Specify the text file containing the pkcs #12 file password.

-W p12filePassword

Specify the pkcs #12 file password.

-c keyCipher

Specify the key encryption algorithm.

-C certCipher

Specify the key cert (overall package) encryption algorithm.

-m | --key-len keyLength

Specify the desired length of the symmetric key to be used to
encrypt the private key.

-n | --cert-key-len certKeyLength

Specify the desired length of the symmetric key to be used to
encrypt the certificates and other meta-data.

-r

Dumps all of the data in raw (binary) form. This must be saved as
a DER file. The default is to return information in a pretty-print
ASCII format, which displays the information about the
certificates and public keys in the p12 file.

Return Codes

o 0 - No error

o 1 - User Cancelled

o 2 - Usage error

o 6 - NLS init error

o 8 - Certificate DB open error

o 9 - Key DB open error

o 10 - File initialization error

o 11 - Unicode conversion error

o 12 - Temporary file creation error

o 13 - PKCS11 get slot error

o 14 - PKCS12 decoder start error

o 15 - error read from import file

o 16 - pkcs12 decode error

o 17 - pkcs12 decoder verify error

o 18 - pkcs12 decoder validate bags error

o 19 - pkcs12 decoder import bags error

o 20 - key db conversion version 3 to version 2 error

o 21 - cert db conversion version 7 to version 5 error

o 22 - cert and key dbs patch error

o 23 - get default cert db error

o 24 - find cert by nickname error

o 25 - create export context error

o 26 - PKCS12 add password itegrity error

o 27 - cert and key Safes creation error

o 28 - PKCS12 add cert and key error

o 29 - PKCS12 encode error

Examples

Importing Keys and Certificates

The most basic usage of pk12util for importing a certificate or key is the
PKCS#12 input file (-i) and some way to specify the security database
being accessed (either -d for a directory or -h for a token).

pk12util -i p12File [-h tokenname] [-v] [-d [sql:]directory] [-P dbprefix] [-k slotPasswordFile|-K slotPassword] [-w p12filePasswordFile|-W p12filePassword]

For example:

# pk12util -i /tmp/cert-files/users.p12 -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb

Enter a password which will be used to encrypt your keys.
The password should be at least 8 characters long,
and should contain at least one non-alphabetic character.

Enter new password:
Re-enter password:
Enter password for PKCS12 file:
pk12util: PKCS12 IMPORT SUCCESSFUL

Exporting Keys and Certificates

Using the pk12util command to export certificates and keys requires both
the name of the certificate to extract from the database (-n) and the
PKCS#12-formatted output file to write to. There are optional parameters
that can be used to encrypt the file to protect the certificate material.

pk12util -o p12File -n certname [-c keyCipher] [-C certCipher] [-m|--key_len keyLen] [-n|--cert_key_len certKeyLen] [-d [sql:]directory] [-P dbprefix] [-k slotPasswordFile|-K slotPassword] [-w p12filePasswordFile|-W p12filePassword]

For example:

# pk12util -o certs.p12 -n Server-Cert -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb
Enter password for PKCS12 file:
Re-enter password:

Listing Keys and Certificates

The information in a .p12 file are not human-readable. The certificates
and keys in the file can be printed (listed) in a human-readable
pretty-print format that shows information for every certificate and any
public keys in the .p12 file.

pk12util -l p12File [-h tokenname] [-r] [-d [sql:]directory] [-P dbprefix] [-k slotPasswordFile|-K slotPassword] [-w p12filePasswordFile|-W p12filePassword]

For example, this prints the default ASCII output:

# pk12util -l certs.p12

Enter password for PKCS12 file:
Key(shrouded):
Friendly Name: Thawte Freemail Member's Thawte Consulting (Pty) Ltd. ID

Encryption algorithm: PKCS #12 V2 PBE With SHA-1 And 3KEY Triple DES-CBC
Parameters:
Salt:
45:2e:6a:a0:03:4d:7b:a1:63:3c:15:ea:67:37:62:1f
Iteration Count: 1 (0x1)
Certificate:
Data:
Version: 3 (0x2)
Serial Number: 13 (0xd)
Signature Algorithm: PKCS #1 SHA-1 With RSA Encryption
Issuer: "E=personal-freemail@thawte.com,CN=Thawte Personal Freemail C
A,OU=Certification Services Division,O=Thawte Consulting,L=Cape T
own,ST=Western Cape,C=ZA"
....

Alternatively, the -r prints the certificates and then exports them into
separate DER binary files. This allows the certificates to be fed to
another application that supports .p12 files. Each certificate is written
to a sequentially-number file, beginning with file0001.der and continuing
through file000N.der, incrementing the number for every certificate:

# pk12util -l test.p12 -r
Enter password for PKCS12 file:
Key(shrouded):
Friendly Name: Thawte Freemail Member's Thawte Consulting (Pty) Ltd. ID

Encryption algorithm: PKCS #12 V2 PBE With SHA-1 And 3KEY Triple DES-CBC
Parameters:
Salt:
45:2e:6a:a0:03:4d:7b:a1:63:3c:15:ea:67:37:62:1f
Iteration Count: 1 (0x1)
Certificate Friendly Name: Thawte Personal Freemail Issuing CA - Thawte Consulting

Certificate Friendly Name: Thawte Freemail Member's Thawte Consulting (Pty) Ltd. ID

Password Encryption

PKCS#12 provides for not only the protection of the private keys but also
the certificate and meta-data associated with the keys. Password-based
encryption is used to protect private keys on export to a PKCS#12 file
and, optionally, the entire package. If no algorithm is specified, the
tool defaults to using PKCS12 V2 PBE with SHA1 and 3KEY Triple DES-cbc for
private key encryption. PKCS12 V2 PBE with SHA1 and 40 Bit RC4 is the
default for the overall package encryption when not in FIPS mode. When in
FIPS mode, there is no package encryption.

The private key is always protected with strong encryption by default.

Several types of ciphers are supported.

Symmetric CBC ciphers for PKCS#5 V2

DES_CBC

o RC2-CBC

o RC5-CBCPad

o DES-EDE3-CBC (the default for key encryption)

o AES-128-CBC

o AES-192-CBC

o AES-256-CBC

o CAMELLIA-128-CBC

o CAMELLIA-192-CBC

o CAMELLIA-256-CBC

PKCS#12 PBE ciphers

PKCS #12 PBE with Sha1 and 128 Bit RC4

o PKCS #12 PBE with Sha1 and 40 Bit RC4

o PKCS #12 PBE with Sha1 and Triple DES CBC

o PKCS #12 PBE with Sha1 and 128 Bit RC2 CBC

o PKCS #12 PBE with Sha1 and 40 Bit RC2 CBC

o PKCS12 V2 PBE with SHA1 and 128 Bit RC4

o PKCS12 V2 PBE with SHA1 and 40 Bit RC4 (the default for
non-FIPS mode)

o PKCS12 V2 PBE with SHA1 and 3KEY Triple DES-cbc

o PKCS12 V2 PBE with SHA1 and 2KEY Triple DES-cbc

o PKCS12 V2 PBE with SHA1 and 128 Bit RC2 CBC

o PKCS12 V2 PBE with SHA1 and 40 Bit RC2 CBC

PKCS#5 PBE ciphers

PKCS #5 Password Based Encryption with MD2 and DES CBC

o PKCS #5 Password Based Encryption with MD5 and DES CBC

o PKCS #5 Password Based Encryption with SHA1 and DES CBC

With PKCS#12, the crypto provider may be the soft token module or an
external hardware module. If the cryptographic module does not support the
requested algorithm, then the next best fit will be selected (usually the
default). If no suitable replacement for the desired algorithm can be
found, the tool returns the error no security module can perform the
requested operation.

NSS Database Types

NSS originally used BerkeleyDB databases to store security information.
The last versions of these legacy databases are:

o cert8.db for certificates

o key3.db for keys

o secmod.db for PKCS #11 module information

BerkeleyDB has performance limitations, though, which prevent it from
being easily used by multiple applications simultaneously. NSS has some
flexibility that allows applications to use their own, independent
database engine while keeping a shared database and working around the
access issues. Still, NSS requires more flexibility to provide a truly
shared security database.

In 2009, NSS introduced a new set of databases that are SQLite databases
rather than BerkleyDB. These new databases provide more accessibility and
performance:

o cert9.db for certificates

o key4.db for keys

o pkcs11.txt, which is listing of all of the PKCS #11 modules contained
in a new subdirectory in the security databases directory

Because the SQLite databases are designed to be shared, these are the
shared database type. The shared database type is preferred; the legacy
format is included for backward compatibility.

By default, the tools (certutil, pk12util, modutil) assume that the given
security databases follow the more common legacy type. Using the SQLite
databases must be manually specified by using the sql: prefix with the
given security directory. For example:

# pk12util -i /tmp/cert-files/users.p12 -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb

To set the shared database type as the default type for the tools, set the
NSS_DEFAULT_DB_TYPE environment variable to sql:

export NSS_DEFAULT_DB_TYPE="sql"

This line can be set added to the ~/.bashrc file to make the change
permanent.

Most applications do not use the shared database by default, but they can
be configured to use them. For example, this how-to article covers how to
configure Firefox and Thunderbird to use the new shared NSS databases:

o https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB_Howto

For an engineering draft on the changes in the shared NSS databases, see
the NSS project wiki:

o https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB

See Also

certutil (1)

modutil (1)

The NSS wiki has information on the new database design and how to
configure applications to use it.

o https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB_Howto

o https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB

Additional Resources

For information about NSS and other tools related to NSS (like JSS), check
out the NSS project wiki at
[1]http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/. The NSS site relates
directly to NSS code changes and releases.

Mailing lists: https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-crypto

IRC: Freenode at #dogtag-pki

Authors

The NSS tools were written and maintained by developers with Netscape, Red
Hat, and Sun.

Authors: Elio Maldonado <emaldona@redhat.com>, Deon Lackey
<dlackey@redhat.com>.

Copyright

(c) 2010, Red Hat, Inc. Licensed under the GNU Public License version 2.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/
216 NSS tools : signtool
Name

signtool — Digitally sign objects and files.

Synopsis

signtool [-k keyName] -h -H -l -L -M -v -w
-G nickname -s size -b basename [[-c Compression
Level] ] [[-d cert-dir] ] [[-i installer script] ] [[-m metafile] ] [[-x
name] ] [[-f filename] ] [[-t|--token tokenname] ] [[-e extension] ] [[-o]
] [[-z] ] [[-X] ] [[--outfile] ] [[--verbose value] ] [[--norecurse] ]
[[--leavearc] ] [[-j directory] ] [[-Z jarfile] ] [[-O] ] [[-p password] ]
[directory-tree] [archive]

Description

The Signing Tool, signtool, creates digital signatures and uses a Java
Archive (JAR) file to associate the signatures with files in a directory.
Electronic software distribution over any network involves potential
security problems. To help address some of these problems, you can
associate digital signatures with the files in a JAR archive. Digital
signatures allow SSL-enabled clients to perform two important operations:

* Confirm the identity of the individual, company, or other entity whose
digital signature is associated with the files

* Check whether the files have been tampered with since being signed

If you have a signing certificate, you can use Netscape Signing Tool to
digitally sign files and package them as a JAR file. An object-signing
certificate is a special kind of certificate that allows you to associate
your digital signature with one or more files.

An individual file can potentially be signed with multiple digital
signatures. For example, a commercial software developer might sign the
files that constitute a software product to prove that the files are
indeed from a particular company. A network administrator manager might
sign the same files with an additional digital signature based on a
company-generated certificate to indicate that the product is approved for
use within the company.

The significance of a digital signature is comparable to the significance
of a handwritten signature. Once you have signed a file, it is difficult
to claim later that you didn't sign it. In some situations, a digital
signature may be considered as legally binding as a handwritten signature.
Therefore, you should take great care to ensure that you can stand behind
any file you sign and distribute.

For example, if you are a software developer, you should test your code to
make sure it is virus-free before signing it. Similarly, if you are a
network administrator, you should make sure, before signing any code, that
it comes from a reliable source and will run correctly with the software
installed on the machines to which you are distributing it.

Before you can use Netscape Signing Tool to sign files, you must have an
object-signing certificate, which is a special certificate whose
associated private key is used to create digital signatures. For testing
purposes only, you can create an object-signing certificate with Netscape
Signing Tool 1.3. When testing is finished and you are ready to
disitribute your software, you should obtain an object-signing certificate
from one of two kinds of sources:

* An independent certificate authority (CA) that authenticates your
identity and charges you a fee. You typically get a certificate from an
independent CA if you want to sign software that will be distributed over
the Internet.

* CA server software running on your corporate intranet or extranet.
Netscape Certificate Management System provides a complete management
solution for creating, deploying, and managing certificates, including CAs
that issue object-signing certificates.

You must also have a certificate for the CA that issues your signing
certificate before you can sign files. If the certificate authority's
certificate isn't already installed in your copy of Communicator, you
typically install it by clicking the appropriate link on the certificate
authority's web site, for example on the page from which you initiated
enrollment for your signing certificate. This is the case for some test
certificates, as well as certificates issued by Netscape Certificate
Management System: you must download the the CA certificate in addition to
obtaining your own signing certificate. CA certificates for several
certificate authorities are preinstalled in the Communicator certificate
database.

When you receive an object-signing certificate for your own use, it is
automatically installed in your copy of the Communicator client software.
Communicator supports the public-key cryptography standard known as PKCS
#12, which governs key portability. You can, for example, move an
object-signing certificate and its associated private key from one
computer to another on a credit-card-sized device called a smart card.

Options

-b basename

Specifies the base filename for the .rsa and .sf files in the
META-INF directory to conform with the JAR format. For example, -b
signatures causes the files to be named signatures.rsa and
signatures.sf. The default is signtool.

-c#

Specifies the compression level for the -J or -Z option. The
symbol # represents a number from 0 to 9, where 0 means no
compression and 9 means maximum compression. The higher the level
of compression, the smaller the output but the longer the
operation takes. If the -c# option is not used with either the -J
or the -Z option, the default compression value used by both the
-J and -Z options is 6.

-d certdir

Specifies your certificate database directory; that is, the
directory in which you placed your key3.db and cert7.db files. To
specify the current directory, use "-d." (including the period).
The Unix version of signtool assumes ~/.netscape unless told
otherwise. The NT version of signtool always requires the use of
the -d option to specify where the database files are located.

-e extension

Tells signtool to sign only files with the given extension; for
example, use -e".class" to sign only Java class files. Note that
with Netscape Signing Tool version 1.1 and later this option can
appear multiple times on one command line, making it possible to
specify multiple file types or classes to include.

-f commandfile

Specifies a text file containing Netscape Signing Tool options and
arguments in keyword=value format. All options and arguments can
be expressed through this file. For more information about the
syntax used with this file, see "Tips and Techniques".

-i scriptname

Specifies the name of an installer script for SmartUpdate. This
script installs files from the JAR archive in the local system
after SmartUpdate has validated the digital signature. For more
details, see the description of -m that follows. The -i option
provides a straightforward way to provide this information if you
don't need to specify any metadata other than an installer script.

-j directory

Specifies a special JavaScript directory. This option causes the
specified directory to be signed and tags its entries as inline
JavaScript. This special type of entry does not have to appear in
the JAR file itself. Instead, it is located in the HTML page
containing the inline scripts. When you use signtool -v, these
entries are displayed with the string NOT PRESENT.

-k key ... directory

Specifies the nickname (key) of the certificate you want to sign
with and signs the files in the specified directory. The directory
to sign is always specified as the last command-line argument.
Thus, it is possible to write signtool -k MyCert -d . signdir You
may have trouble if the nickname contains a single quotation mark.
To avoid problems, escape the quotation mark using the escape
conventions for your platform. It's also possible to use the -k
option without signing any files or specifying a directory. For
example, you can use it with the -l option to get detailed
information about a particular signing certificate.

-G nickname

Generates a new private-public key pair and corresponding
object-signing certificate with the given nickname. The newly
generated keys and certificate are installed into the key and
certificate databases in the directory specified by the -d option.
With the NT version of Netscape Signing Tool, you must use the -d
option with the -G option. With the Unix version of Netscape
Signing Tool, omitting the -d option causes the tool to install
the keys and certificate in the Communicator key and certificate
databases. If you are installing the keys and certificate in the
Communicator databases, you must exit Communicator before using
this option; otherwise, you risk corrupting the databases. In all
cases, the certificate is also output to a file named x509.cacert,
which has the MIME-type application/x-x509-ca-cert. Unlike
certificates normally used to sign finished code to be distributed
over a network, a test certificate created with -G is not signed
by a recognized certificate authority. Instead, it is self-signed.
In addition, a single test signing certificate functions as both
an object-signing certificate and a CA. When you are using it to
sign objects, it behaves like an object-signing certificate. When
it is imported into browser software such as Communicator, it
behaves like an object-signing CA and cannot be used to sign
objects. The -G option is available in Netscape Signing Tool 1.0
and later versions only. By default, it produces only RSA
certificates with 1024-byte keys in the internal token. However,
you can use the -s option specify the required key size and the -t
option to specify the token. For more information about the use of
the -G option, see "Generating Test Object-Signing
Certificates""Generating Test Object-Signing Certificates" on page
1241.

-l

Lists signing certificates, including issuing CAs. If any of your
certificates are expired or invalid, the list will so specify.
This option can be used with the -k option to list detailed
information about a particular signing certificate. The -l option
is available in Netscape Signing Tool 1.0 and later versions only.

-J

Signs a directory of HTML files containing JavaScript and creates
as many archive files as are specified in the HTML tags. Even if
signtool creates more than one archive file, you need to supply
the key database password only once. The -J option is available
only in Netscape Signing Tool 1.0 and later versions. The -J
option cannot be used at the same time as the -Z option. If the
-c# option is not used with the -J option, the default compression
value is 6. Note that versions 1.1 and later of Netscape Signing
Tool correctly recognizes the CODEBASE attribute, allows paths to
be expressed for the CLASS and SRC attributes instead of filenames
only, processes LINK tags and parses HTML correctly, and offers
clearer error messages.

-L

Lists the certificates in your database. An asterisk appears to
the left of the nickname for any certificate that can be used to
sign objects with signtool.

--leavearc

Retains the temporary .arc (archive) directories that the -J
option creates. These directories are automatically erased by
default. Retaining the temporary directories can be an aid to
debugging.

-m metafile

Specifies the name of a metadata control file. Metadata is signed
information attached either to the JAR archive itself or to files
within the archive. This metadata can be any ASCII string, but is
used mainly for specifying an installer script. The metadata file
contains one entry per line, each with three fields: field #1:
file specification, or + if you want to specify global metadata
(that is, metadata about the JAR archive itself or all entries in
the archive) field #2: the name of the data you are specifying;
for example: Install-Script field #3: data corresponding to the
name in field #2 For example, the -i option uses the equivalent of
this line: + Install-Script: script.js This example associates a
MIME type with a file: movie.qt MIME-Type: video/quicktime For
information about the way installer script information appears in
the manifest file for a JAR archive, see The JAR Format on
Netscape DevEdge.

-M

Lists the PKCS #11 modules available to signtool, including smart
cards. The -M option is available in Netscape Signing Tool 1.0 and
later versions only. For information on using Netscape Signing
Tool with smart cards, see "Using Netscape Signing Tool with Smart
Cards". For information on using the -M option to verify
FIPS-140-1 validated mode, see "Netscape Signing Tool and
FIPS-140-1".

--norecurse

Blocks recursion into subdirectories when signing a directory's
contents or when parsing HTML.

-o

Optimizes the archive for size. Use this only if you are signing
very large archives containing hundreds of files. This option
makes the manifest files (required by the JAR format) considerably
smaller, but they contain slightly less information.

--outfile outputfile

Specifies a file to receive redirected output from Netscape
Signing Tool.

-p password

Specifies a password for the private-key database. Note that the
password entered on the command line is displayed as plain text.

-s keysize

Specifies the size of the key for generated certificate. Use the
-M option to find out what tokens are available. The -s option can
be used with the -G option only.

-t token

Specifies which available token should generate the key and
receive the certificate. Use the -M option to find out what tokens
are available. The -t option can be used with the -G option only.

-v archive

Displays the contents of an archive and verifies the cryptographic
integrity of the digital signatures it contains and the files with
which they are associated. This includes checking that the
certificate for the issuer of the object-signing certificate is
listed in the certificate database, that the CA's digital
signature on the object-signing certificate is valid, that the
relevant certificates have not expired, and so on.

--verbosity value

Sets the quantity of information Netscape Signing Tool generates
in operation. A value of 0 (zero) is the default and gives full
information. A value of -1 suppresses most messages, but not error
messages.

-w archive

Displays the names of signers of any files in the archive.

-x directory

Excludes the specified directory from signing. Note that with
Netscape Signing Tool version 1.1 and later this option can appear
multiple times on one command line, making it possible to specify
several particular directories to exclude.

-z

Tells signtool not to store the signing time in the digital
signature. This option is useful if you want the expiration date
of the signature checked against the current date and time rather
than the time the files were signed.

-Z jarfile

Creates a JAR file with the specified name. You must specify this
option if you want signtool to create the JAR file; it does not do
so automatically. If you don't specify -Z, you must use an
external ZIP tool to create the JAR file. The -Z option cannot be
used at the same time as the -J option. If the -c# option is not
used with the -Z option, the default compression value is 6.

The Command File Format

Entries in a Netscape Signing Tool command file have this general format:
keyword=value Everything before the = sign on a single line is a keyword,
and everything from the = sign to the end of line is a value. The value
may include = signs; only the first = sign on a line is interpreted. Blank
lines are ignored, but white space on a line with keywords and values is
assumed to be part of the keyword (if it comes before the equal sign) or
part of the value (if it comes after the first equal sign). Keywords are
case insensitive, values are generally case sensitive. Since the = sign
and newline delimit the value, it should not be quoted.

Subsection

basename

Same as -b option.

compression

Same as -c option.

certdir

Same as -d option.

extension

Same as -e option.

generate

Same as -G option.

installscript

Same as -i option.

javascriptdir

Same as -j option.

htmldir

Same as -J option.

certname

Nickname of certificate, as with -k and -l -k options.

signdir

The directory to be signed, as with -k option.

list

Same as -l option. Value is ignored, but = sign must be present.

listall

Same as -L option. Value is ignored, but = sign must be present.

metafile

Same as -m option.

modules

Same as -M option. Value is ignored, but = sign must be present.

optimize

Same as -o option. Value is ignored, but = sign must be present.

password

Same as -p option.

keysize

Same as -s option.

token

Same as -t option.

verify

Same as -v option.

who

Same as -w option.

exclude

Same as -x option.

notime

Same as -z option. value is ignored, but = sign must be present.

jarfile

Same as -Z option.

outfile

Name of a file to which output and error messages will be
redirected. This option has no command-line equivalent.

Extended Examples

The following example will do this and that

Listing Available Signing Certificates

You use the -L option to list the nicknames for all available certificates
and check which ones are signing certificates.

signtool -L

using certificate directory: /u/jsmith/.netscape
S Certificates
- ------------
BBN Certificate Services CA Root 1
IBM World Registry CA
VeriSign Class 1 CA - Individual Subscriber - VeriSign, Inc.
GTE CyberTrust Root CA
Uptime Group Plc. Class 4 CA
* Verisign Object Signing Cert
Integrion CA
GTE CyberTrust Secure Server CA
AT&T Directory Services
* test object signing cert
Uptime Group Plc. Class 1 CA
VeriSign Class 1 Primary CA
- ------------

Certificates that can be used to sign objects have *'s to their left.

Two signing certificates are displayed: Verisign Object Signing Cert and
test object signing cert.

You use the -l option to get a list of signing certificates only,
including the signing CA for each.

signtool -l

using certificate directory: /u/jsmith/.netscape
Object signing certificates
---------------------------------------

Verisign Object Signing Cert
Issued by: VeriSign, Inc. - Verisign, Inc.
Expires: Tue May 19, 1998
test object signing cert
Issued by: test object signing cert (Signtool 1.0 Testing
Certificate (960187691))
Expires: Sun May 17, 1998
---------------------------------------

For a list including CAs, use the -L option.

Signing a File

1. Create an empty directory.

mkdir signdir

2. Put some file into it.

echo boo > signdir/test.f

3. Specify the name of your object-signing certificate and sign the
directory.

signtool -k MySignCert -Z testjar.jar signdir

using key "MySignCert"
using certificate directory: /u/jsmith/.netscape
Generating signdir/META-INF/manifest.mf file..
--> test.f
adding signdir/test.f to testjar.jar
Generating signtool.sf file..
Enter Password or Pin for "Communicator Certificate DB":

adding signdir/META-INF/manifest.mf to testjar.jar
adding signdir/META-INF/signtool.sf to testjar.jar
adding signdir/META-INF/signtool.rsa to testjar.jar

tree "signdir" signed successfully

4. Test the archive you just created.

signtool -v testjar.jar

using certificate directory: /u/jsmith/.netscape
archive "testjar.jar" has passed crypto verification.
status path
------------ -------------------
verified test.f

Using Netscape Signing Tool with a ZIP Utility

To use Netscape Signing Tool with a ZIP utility, you must have the utility
in your path environment variable. You should use the zip.exe utility
rather than pkzip.exe, which cannot handle long filenames. You can use a
ZIP utility instead of the -Z option to package a signed archive into a
JAR file after you have signed it:

cd signdir

zip -r ../myjar.jar *
adding: META-INF/ (stored 0%)
adding: META-INF/manifest.mf (deflated 15%)
adding: META-INF/signtool.sf (deflated 28%)
adding: META-INF/signtool.rsa (stored 0%)
adding: text.txt (stored 0%)

Generating the Keys and Certificate

The signtool option -G generates a new public-private key pair and
certificate. It takes the nickname of the new certificate as an argument.
The newly generated keys and certificate are installed into the key and
certificate databases in the directory specified by the -d option. With
the NT version of Netscape Signing Tool, you must use the -d option with
the -G option. With the Unix version of Netscape Signing Tool, omitting
the -d option causes the tool to install the keys and certificate in the
Communicator key and certificate databases. In all cases, the certificate
is also output to a file named x509.cacert, which has the MIME-type
application/x-x509-ca-cert.

Certificates contain standard information about the entity they identify,
such as the common name and organization name. Netscape Signing Tool
prompts you for this information when you run the command with the -G
option. However, all of the requested fields are optional for test
certificates. If you do not enter a common name, the tool provides a
default name. In the following example, the user input is in boldface:

signtool -G MyTestCert

using certificate directory: /u/someuser/.netscape
Enter certificate information. All fields are optional. Acceptable
characters are numbers, letters, spaces, and apostrophes.
certificate common name: Test Object Signing Certificate
organization: Netscape Communications Corp.
organization unit: Server Products Division
state or province: California
country (must be exactly 2 characters): US
username: someuser
email address: someuser@netscape.com
Enter Password or Pin for "Communicator Certificate DB": [Password will not echo]
generated public/private key pair
certificate request generated
certificate has been signed
certificate "MyTestCert" added to database
Exported certificate to x509.raw and x509.cacert.

The certificate information is read from standard input. Therefore, the
information can be read from a file using the redirection operator (<) in
some operating systems. To create a file for this purpose, enter each of
the seven input fields, in order, on a separate line. Make sure there is a
newline character at the end of the last line. Then run signtool with
standard input redirected from your file as follows:

signtool -G MyTestCert inputfile

The prompts show up on the screen, but the responses will be automatically
read from the file. The password will still be read from the console
unless you use the -p option to give the password on the command line.

Using the -M Option to List Smart Cards

You can use the -M option to list the PKCS #11 modules, including smart
cards, that are available to signtool:

signtool -d "c:\netscape\users\jsmith" -M

using certificate directory: c:\netscape\users\username
Listing of PKCS11 modules
-----------------------------------------------
1. Netscape Internal PKCS #11 Module
(this module is internally loaded)
slots: 2 slots attached
status: loaded
slot: Communicator Internal Cryptographic Services Version 4.0
token: Communicator Generic Crypto Svcs
slot: Communicator User Private Key and Certificate Services
token: Communicator Certificate DB
2. CryptOS
(this is an external module)
DLL name: core32
slots: 1 slots attached
status: loaded
slot: Litronic 210
token:
-----------------------------------------------

Using Netscape Signing Tool and a Smart Card to Sign Files

The signtool command normally takes an argument of the -k option to
specify a signing certificate. To sign with a smart card, you supply only
the fully qualified name of the certificate.

To see fully qualified certificate names when you run Communicator, click
the Security button in Navigator, then click Yours under Certificates in
the left frame. Fully qualified names are of the format smart
card:certificate, for example "MyCard:My Signing Cert". You use this name
with the -k argument as follows:

signtool -k "MyCard:My Signing Cert" directory

Verifying FIPS Mode

Use the -M option to verify that you are using the FIPS-140-1 module.

signtool -d "c:\netscape\users\jsmith" -M

using certificate directory: c:\netscape\users\jsmith
Listing of PKCS11 modules
-----------------------------------------------
1. Netscape Internal PKCS #11 Module
(this module is internally loaded)
slots: 2 slots attached
status: loaded
slot: Communicator Internal Cryptographic Services Version 4.0
token: Communicator Generic Crypto Svcs
slot: Communicator User Private Key and Certificate Services
token: Communicator Certificate DB
-----------------------------------------------

This Unix example shows that Netscape Signing Tool is using a FIPS-140-1
module:

signtool -d "c:\netscape\users\jsmith" -M
using certificate directory: c:\netscape\users\jsmith
Enter Password or Pin for "Communicator Certificate DB": [password will not echo]
Listing of PKCS11 modules
-----------------------------------------------
1. Netscape Internal FIPS PKCS #11 Module
(this module is internally loaded)
slots: 1 slots attached
status: loaded
slot: Netscape Internal FIPS-140-1 Cryptographic Services
token: Communicator Certificate DB
-----------------------------------------------

See Also

signver (1)

The NSS wiki has information on the new database design and how to
configure applications to use it.

o https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB_Howto

o https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB

Additional Resources

For information about NSS and other tools related to NSS (like JSS), check
out the NSS project wiki at
[1]http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/. The NSS site relates
directly to NSS code changes and releases.

Mailing lists: https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-crypto

IRC: Freenode at #dogtag-pki

Authors

The NSS tools were written and maintained by developers with Netscape, Red
Hat, and Sun.

Authors: Elio Maldonado <emaldona@redhat.com>, Deon Lackey
<dlackey@redhat.com>.

Copyright

(c) 2010, Red Hat, Inc. Licensed under the GNU Public License version 2.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/
217 NSS tools : signver
Name

signver — Verify a detached PKCS#7 signature for a file.

Synopsis

signtool -A | -V -d directory [-a] [-i input_file] [-o output_file] [-s
signature_file] [-v]

Description

The Signature Verification Tool, signver, is a simple command-line utility
that unpacks a base-64-encoded PKCS#7 signed object and verifies the
digital signature using standard cryptographic techniques. The Signature
Verification Tool can also display the contents of the signed object.

Options

-A

Displays all of the information in the PKCS#7 signature.

-V

Verifies the digital signature.

-d [sql:]directory

Specify the database directory which contains the certificates and
keys.

signver supports two types of databases: the legacy security
databases (cert8.db, key3.db, and secmod.db) and new SQLite
databases (cert9.db, key4.db, and pkcs11.txt). If the prefix sql:
is not used, then the tool assumes that the given databases are in
the old format.

-a

Sets that the given signature file is in ASCII format.

-i input_file

Gives the input file for the object with signed data.

-o output_file

Gives the output file to which to write the results.

-s signature_file

Gives the input file for the digital signature.

-v

Enables verbose output.

Extended Examples

Verifying a Signature

The -V option verifies that the signature in a given signature file is
valid when used to sign the given object (from the input file).

signver -V -s signature_file -i signed_file -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb

signatureValid=yes

Printing Signature Data

The -A option prints all of the information contained in a signature file.
Using the -o option prints the signature file information to the given
output file rather than stdout.

signver -A -s signature_file -o output_file

NSS Database Types

NSS originally used BerkeleyDB databases to store security information.
The last versions of these legacy databases are:

o cert8.db for certificates

o key3.db for keys

o secmod.db for PKCS #11 module information

BerkeleyDB has performance limitations, though, which prevent it from
being easily used by multiple applications simultaneously. NSS has some
flexibility that allows applications to use their own, independent
database engine while keeping a shared database and working around the
access issues. Still, NSS requires more flexibility to provide a truly
shared security database.

In 2009, NSS introduced a new set of databases that are SQLite databases
rather than BerkleyDB. These new databases provide more accessibility and
performance:

o cert9.db for certificates

o key4.db for keys

o pkcs11.txt, which is listing of all of the PKCS #11 modules contained
in a new subdirectory in the security databases directory

Because the SQLite databases are designed to be shared, these are the
shared database type. The shared database type is preferred; the legacy
format is included for backward compatibility.

By default, the tools (certutil, pk12util, modutil) assume that the given
security databases follow the more common legacy type. Using the SQLite
databases must be manually specified by using the sql: prefix with the
given security directory. For example:

# signver -A -s signature -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb

To set the shared database type as the default type for the tools, set the
NSS_DEFAULT_DB_TYPE environment variable to sql:

export NSS_DEFAULT_DB_TYPE="sql"

This line can be set added to the ~/.bashrc file to make the change
permanent.

Most applications do not use the shared database by default, but they can
be configured to use them. For example, this how-to article covers how to
configure Firefox and Thunderbird to use the new shared NSS databases:

o https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB_Howto

For an engineering draft on the changes in the shared NSS databases, see
the NSS project wiki:

o https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB

See Also

signtool (1)

The NSS wiki has information on the new database design and how to
configure applications to use it.

o Setting up the shared NSS database

https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB_Howto

o Engineering and technical information about the shared NSS database

https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB

Additional Resources

For information about NSS and other tools related to NSS (like JSS), check
out the NSS project wiki at
[1]http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/. The NSS site relates
directly to NSS code changes and releases.

Mailing lists: https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-crypto

IRC: Freenode at #dogtag-pki

Authors

The NSS tools were written and maintained by developers with Netscape, Red
Hat, and Sun.

Authors: Elio Maldonado <emaldona@redhat.com>, Deon Lackey
<dlackey@redhat.com>.

Copyright

(c) 2010, Red Hat, Inc. Licensed under the GNU Public License version 2.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/
218 NSS tools : ssltap
Name

ssltap — Tap into SSL connections and display the data going by

Synopsis

libssltap [-vhfsxl] [-p port] [hostname:port]

Description

The SSL Debugging Tool ssltap is an SSL-aware command-line proxy. It
watches TCP connections and displays the data going by. If a connection is
SSL, the data display includes interpreted SSL records and handshaking

Options

-v

Print a version string for the tool.

-h

Turn on hex/ASCII printing. Instead of outputting raw data, the
command interprets each record as a numbered line of hex values,
followed by the same data as ASCII characters. The two parts are
separated by a vertical bar. Nonprinting characters are replaced
by dots.

-f

Turn on fancy printing. Output is printed in colored HTML. Data
sent from the client to the server is in blue; the server's reply
is in red. When used with looping mode, the different connections
are separated with horizontal lines. You can use this option to
upload the output into a browser.

-s

Turn on SSL parsing and decoding. The tool does not automatically
detect SSL sessions. If you are intercepting an SSL connection,
use this option so that the tool can detect and decode SSL
structures.

If the tool detects a certificate chain, it saves the DER-encoded
certificates into files in the current directory. The files are
named cert.0x, where x is the sequence number of the certificate.

If the -s option is used with -h, two separate parts are printed
for each record: the plain hex/ASCII output, and the parsed SSL
output.

-x

Turn on hex/ASCII printing of undecoded data inside parsed SSL
records. Used only with the -s option. This option uses the same
output format as the -h option.

-l prefix

Turn on looping; that is, continue to accept connections rather
than stopping after the first connection is complete.

-p port

Change the default rendezvous port (1924) to another port.

The following are well-known port numbers:

* HTTP 80

* HTTPS 443

* SMTP 25

* FTP 21

* IMAP 143

* IMAPS 993 (IMAP over SSL)

* NNTP 119

* NNTPS 563 (NNTP over SSL)

Usage and Examples

You can use the SSL Debugging Tool to intercept any connection
information. Although you can run the tool at its most basic by issuing
the ssltap command with no options other than hostname:port, the
information you get in this way is not very useful. For example, assume
your development machine is called intercept. The simplest way to use the
debugging tool is to execute the following command from a command shell:

$ ssltap www.netscape.com

The program waits for an incoming connection on the default port 1924. In
your browser window, enter the URL http://intercept:1924. The browser
retrieves the requested page from the server at www.netscape.com, but the
page is intercepted and passed on to the browser by the debugging tool on
intercept. On its way to the browser, the data is printed to the command
shell from which you issued the command. Data sent from the client to the
server is surrounded by the following symbols: --> [ data ] Data sent from
the server to the client is surrounded by the following symbols: "left
arrow"-- [ data ] The raw data stream is sent to standard output and is
not interpreted in any way. This can result in peculiar effects, such as
sounds, flashes, and even crashes of the command shell window. To output a
basic, printable interpretation of the data, use the -h option, or, if you
are looking at an SSL connection, the -s option. You will notice that the
page you retrieved looks incomplete in the browser. This is because, by
default, the tool closes down after the first connection is complete, so
the browser is not able to load images. To make the tool continue to
accept connections, switch on looping mode with the -l option. The
following examples show the output from commonly used combinations of
options.

Example 1

$ ssltap.exe -sx -p 444 interzone.mcom.com:443 > sx.txt

Output

Connected to interzone.mcom.com:443
-->; [
alloclen = 66 bytes
[ssl2] ClientHelloV2 {
version = {0x03, 0x00}
cipher-specs-length = 39 (0x27)
sid-length = 0 (0x00)
challenge-length = 16 (0x10)
cipher-suites = {

(0x010080) SSL2/RSA/RC4-128/MD5
(0x020080) SSL2/RSA/RC4-40/MD5
(0x030080) SSL2/RSA/RC2CBC128/MD5
(0x040080) SSL2/RSA/RC2CBC40/MD5
(0x060040) SSL2/RSA/DES64CBC/MD5
(0x0700c0) SSL2/RSA/3DES192EDE-CBC/MD5
(0x000004) SSL3/RSA/RC4-128/MD5
(0x00ffe0) SSL3/RSA-FIPS/3DES192EDE-CBC/SHA
(0x00000a) SSL3/RSA/3DES192EDE-CBC/SHA
(0x00ffe1) SSL3/RSA-FIPS/DES64CBC/SHA
(0x000009) SSL3/RSA/DES64CBC/SHA
(0x000003) SSL3/RSA/RC4-40/MD5
(0x000006) SSL3/RSA/RC2CBC40/MD5
}
session-id = { }
challenge = { 0xec5d 0x8edb 0x37c9 0xb5c9 0x7b70 0x8fe9 0xd1d3

0x2592 }
}
]
<-- [
SSLRecord {
0: 16 03 00 03 e5 |.....
type = 22 (handshake)
version = { 3,0 }
length = 997 (0x3e5)
handshake {
0: 02 00 00 46 |...F
type = 2 (server_hello)
length = 70 (0x000046)
ServerHello {
server_version = {3, 0}
random = {...}
0: 77 8c 6e 26 6c 0c ec c0 d9 58 4f 47 d3 2d 01 45 |
wn&l.ì..XOG.-.E
10: 5c 17 75 43 a7 4c 88 c7 88 64 3c 50 41 48 4f 7f |

\.uC§L.Ç.d<PAHO.
session ID = {
length = 32

contents = {..}
0: 14 11 07 a8 2a 31 91 29 11 94 40 37 57 10 a7 32 | ...¨*1.)..@7W.§2
10: 56 6f 52 62 fe 3d b3 65 b1 e4 13 0f 52 a3 c8 f6 | VoRbþ=³e±...R£È.
}
cipher_suite = (0x0003) SSL3/RSA/RC4-40/MD5
}
0: 0b 00 02 c5 |...Å
type = 11 (certificate)
length = 709 (0x0002c5)
CertificateChain {
chainlength = 706 (0x02c2)
Certificate {
size = 703 (0x02bf)
data = { saved in file 'cert.001' }
}
}
0: 0c 00 00 ca |....
type = 12 (server_key_exchange)
length = 202 (0x0000ca)
0: 0e 00 00 00 |....
type = 14 (server_hello_done)
length = 0 (0x000000)
}
}
]
--> [
SSLRecord {
0: 16 03 00 00 44 |....D
type = 22 (handshake)
version = { 3,0 }
length = 68 (0x44)
handshake {
0: 10 00 00 40 |...@
type = 16 (client_key_exchange)
length = 64 (0x000040)
ClientKeyExchange {
message = {...}
}
}
}
]
--> [
SSLRecord {
0: 14 03 00 00 01 |.....
type = 20 (change_cipher_spec)
version = { 3,0 }
length = 1 (0x1)
0: 01 |.
}
SSLRecord {
0: 16 03 00 00 38 |....8
type = 22 (handshake)
version = { 3,0 }
length = 56 (0x38)
< encrypted >

}
]
<-- [
SSLRecord {
0: 14 03 00 00 01 |.....
type = 20 (change_cipher_spec)
version = { 3,0 }
length = 1 (0x1)
0: 01 |.
}
]
<-- [
SSLRecord {
0: 16 03 00 00 38 |....8
type = 22 (handshake)
version = { 3,0 }
length = 56 (0x38)
< encrypted >

}
]
--> [
SSLRecord {
0: 17 03 00 01 1f |.....
type = 23 (application_data)
version = { 3,0 }
length = 287 (0x11f)
< encrypted >
}
]
<-- [
SSLRecord {
0: 17 03 00 00 a0 |....
type = 23 (application_data)
version = { 3,0 }
length = 160 (0xa0)
< encrypted >

}
]
<-- [
SSLRecord {
0: 17 03 00 00 df |....ß
type = 23 (application_data)
version = { 3,0 }
length = 223 (0xdf)
< encrypted >

}
SSLRecord {
0: 15 03 00 00 12 |.....
type = 21 (alert)
version = { 3,0 }
length = 18 (0x12)
< encrypted >
}
]
Server socket closed.

Example 2

The -s option turns on SSL parsing. Because the -x option is not used in
this example, undecoded values are output as raw data. The output is
routed to a text file.

$ ssltap -s -p 444 interzone.mcom.com:443 > s.txt

Output

Connected to interzone.mcom.com:443
--> [
alloclen = 63 bytes
[ssl2] ClientHelloV2 {
version = {0x03, 0x00}
cipher-specs-length = 36 (0x24)
sid-length = 0 (0x00)
challenge-length = 16 (0x10)
cipher-suites = {
(0x010080) SSL2/RSA/RC4-128/MD5
(0x020080) SSL2/RSA/RC4-40/MD5
(0x030080) SSL2/RSA/RC2CBC128/MD5
(0x060040) SSL2/RSA/DES64CBC/MD5
(0x0700c0) SSL2/RSA/3DES192EDE-CBC/MD5
(0x000004) SSL3/RSA/RC4-128/MD5
(0x00ffe0) SSL3/RSA-FIPS/3DES192EDE-CBC/SHA
(0x00000a) SSL3/RSA/3DES192EDE-CBC/SHA
(0x00ffe1) SSL3/RSA-FIPS/DES64CBC/SHA
(0x000009) SSL3/RSA/DES64CBC/SHA
(0x000003) SSL3/RSA/RC4-40/MD5
}
session-id = { }
challenge = { 0x713c 0x9338 0x30e1 0xf8d6 0xb934 0x7351 0x200c
0x3fd0 }
]
>-- [
SSLRecord {
type = 22 (handshake)
version = { 3,0 }
length = 997 (0x3e5)
handshake {
type = 2 (server_hello)
length = 70 (0x000046)
ServerHello {
server_version = {3, 0}
random = {...}
session ID = {
length = 32
contents = {..}
}
cipher_suite = (0x0003) SSL3/RSA/RC4-40/MD5
}
type = 11 (certificate)
length = 709 (0x0002c5)
CertificateChain {
chainlength = 706 (0x02c2)
Certificate {
size = 703 (0x02bf)
data = { saved in file 'cert.001' }
}
}
type = 12 (server_key_exchange)
length = 202 (0x0000ca)
type = 14 (server_hello_done)
length = 0 (0x000000)
}
}
]
--> [
SSLRecord {
type = 22 (handshake)
version = { 3,0 }
length = 68 (0x44)
handshake {
type = 16 (client_key_exchange)
length = 64 (0x000040)
ClientKeyExchange {
message = {...}
}
}
}
]
--> [
SSLRecord {
type = 20 (change_cipher_spec)
version = { 3,0 }
length = 1 (0x1)
}
SSLRecord {
type = 22 (handshake)
version = { 3,0 }
length = 56 (0x38)
> encrypted >
}
]
>-- [
SSLRecord {
type = 20 (change_cipher_spec)
version = { 3,0 }
length = 1 (0x1)
}
]
>-- [
SSLRecord {
type = 22 (handshake)
version = { 3,0 }
length = 56 (0x38)
> encrypted >
}
]
--> [
SSLRecord {
type = 23 (application_data)
version = { 3,0 }
length = 287 (0x11f)
> encrypted >
}
]
[
SSLRecord {
type = 23 (application_data)
version = { 3,0 }
length = 160 (0xa0)
> encrypted >
}
]
>-- [
SSLRecord {
type = 23 (application_data)
version = { 3,0 }
length = 223 (0xdf)
> encrypted >
}
SSLRecord {
type = 21 (alert)
version = { 3,0 }
length = 18 (0x12)
> encrypted >
}
]
Server socket closed.

Example 3

In this example, the -h option turns hex/ASCII format. There is no SSL
parsing or decoding. The output is routed to a text file.

$ ssltap -h -p 444 interzone.mcom.com:443 > h.txt

Output

Connected to interzone.mcom.com:443
--> [
0: 80 40 01 03 00 00 27 00 00 00 10 01 00 80 02 00 | .@....'.........
10: 80 03 00 80 04 00 80 06 00 40 07 00 c0 00 00 04 | .........@......
20: 00 ff e0 00 00 0a 00 ff e1 00 00 09 00 00 03 00 | ........á.......
30: 00 06 9b fe 5b 56 96 49 1f 9f ca dd d5 ba b9 52 | ..þ[V.I.\xd9 ...º¹R
40: 6f 2d |o-
]
<-- [
0: 16 03 00 03 e5 02 00 00 46 03 00 7f e5 0d 1b 1d | ........F.......
10: 68 7f 3a 79 60 d5 17 3c 1d 9c 96 b3 88 d2 69 3b | h.:y`..<..³.Òi;
20: 78 e2 4b 8b a6 52 12 4b 46 e8 c2 20 14 11 89 05 | x.K.¦R.KFè. ...
30: 4d 52 91 fd 93 e0 51 48 91 90 08 96 c1 b6 76 77 | MR.ý..QH.....¶vw
40: 2a f4 00 08 a1 06 61 a2 64 1f 2e 9b 00 03 00 0b | *ô..¡.a¢d......
50: 00 02 c5 00 02 c2 00 02 bf 30 82 02 bb 30 82 02 | ..Å......0...0..
60: 24 a0 03 02 01 02 02 02 01 36 30 0d 06 09 2a 86 | $ .......60...*.
70: 48 86 f7 0d 01 01 04 05 00 30 77 31 0b 30 09 06 | H.÷......0w1.0..
80: 03 55 04 06 13 02 55 53 31 2c 30 2a 06 03 55 04 | .U....US1,0*..U.
90: 0a 13 23 4e 65 74 73 63 61 70 65 20 43 6f 6d 6d | ..#Netscape Comm
a0: 75 6e 69 63 61 74 69 6f 6e 73 20 43 6f 72 70 6f | unications Corpo
b0: 72 61 74 69 6f 6e 31 11 30 0f 06 03 55 04 0b 13 | ration1.0...U...
c0: 08 48 61 72 64 63 6f 72 65 31 27 30 25 06 03 55 | .Hardcore1'0%..U
d0: 04 03 13 1e 48 61 72 64 63 6f 72 65 20 43 65 72 | ....Hardcore Cer
e0: 74 69 66 69 63 61 74 65 20 53 65 72 76 65 72 20 | tificate Server
f0: 49 49 30 1e 17 0d 39 38 30 35 31 36 30 31 30 33 | II0...9805160103
<additional data lines>
]
<additional records in same format>
Server socket closed.

Example 4

In this example, the -s option turns on SSL parsing, and the -h option
turns on hex/ASCII format. Both formats are shown for each record. The
output is routed to a text file.

$ ssltap -hs -p 444 interzone.mcom.com:443 > hs.txt

Output

Connected to interzone.mcom.com:443
--> [
0: 80 3d 01 03 00 00 24 00 00 00 10 01 00 80 02 00 | .=....$.........
10: 80 03 00 80 04 00 80 06 00 40 07 00 c0 00 00 04 | .........@......
20: 00 ff e0 00 00 0a 00 ff e1 00 00 09 00 00 03 03 | ........á.......
30: 55 e6 e4 99 79 c7 d7 2c 86 78 96 5d b5 cf e9 |U..yÇ\xb0 ,.x.]µÏé
alloclen = 63 bytes
[ssl2] ClientHelloV2 {
version = {0x03, 0x00}
cipher-specs-length = 36 (0x24)
sid-length = 0 (0x00)
challenge-length = 16 (0x10)
cipher-suites = {
(0x010080) SSL2/RSA/RC4-128/MD5
(0x020080) SSL2/RSA/RC4-40/MD5
(0x030080) SSL2/RSA/RC2CBC128/MD5
(0x040080) SSL2/RSA/RC2CBC40/MD5
(0x060040) SSL2/RSA/DES64CBC/MD5
(0x0700c0) SSL2/RSA/3DES192EDE-CBC/MD5
(0x000004) SSL3/RSA/RC4-128/MD5
(0x00ffe0) SSL3/RSA-FIPS/3DES192EDE-CBC/SHA
(0x00000a) SSL3/RSA/3DES192EDE-CBC/SHA
(0x00ffe1) SSL3/RSA-FIPS/DES64CBC/SHA
(0x000009) SSL3/RSA/DES64CBC/SHA
(0x000003) SSL3/RSA/RC4-40/MD5
}
session-id = { }
challenge = { 0x0355 0xe6e4 0x9979 0xc7d7 0x2c86 0x7896 0x5db

0xcfe9 }
}
]
<additional records in same formats>
Server socket closed.

Usage Tips

When SSL restarts a previous session, it makes use of cached information
to do a partial handshake. If you wish to capture a full SSL handshake,
restart the browser to clear the session id cache.

If you run the tool on a machine other than the SSL server to which you
are trying to connect, the browser will complain that the host name you
are trying to connect to is different from the certificate. If you are
using the default BadCert callback, you can still connect through a
dialog. If you are not using the default BadCert callback, the one you
supply must allow for this possibility.

See Also

The NSS Security Tools are also documented at
[1]http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/.

Additional Resources

NSS is maintained in conjunction with PKI and security-related projects
through Mozilla dn Fedora. The most closely-related project is Dogtag PKI,
with a project wiki at [2]http://pki.fedoraproject.org/wiki/.

For information specifically about NSS, the NSS project wiki is located at
[3]http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/. The NSS site relates
directly to NSS code changes and releases.

Mailing lists: pki-devel@redhat.com and pki-users@redhat.com

IRC: Freenode at #dogtag-pki

Authors

The NSS tools were written and maintained by developers with Netscape and
now with Red Hat and Sun.

Authors: Elio Maldonado <emaldona@redhat.com>, Deon Lackey
<dlackey@redhat.com>.

Copyright

(c) 2010, Red Hat, Inc. Licensed under the GNU Public License version 2.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.mozilla.org/projects/secu.../pki/nss/tools
2. http://pki.fedoraproject.org/wiki/
3. http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/
219 NSS tools : vfychain
Name

vfychain — vfychain [options] [revocation options] certfile [[options]
certfile] ...

Synopsis

vfychain

Description

The verification Tool, vfychain, verifies certificate chains. modutil can
add and delete PKCS #11 modules, change passwords on security databases,
set defaults, list module contents, enable or disable slots, enable or
disable FIPS 140-2 compliance, and assign default providers for
cryptographic operations. This tool can also create certificate, key, and
module security database files.

The tasks associated with security module database management are part of
a process that typically also involves managing key databases and
certificate databases.

Options

-a
the following certfile is base64 encoded

-b YYMMDDHHMMZ
Validate date (default: now)

-d directory
database directory

-f
Enable cert fetching from AIA URL

-o oid
Set policy OID for cert validation(Format OID.1.2.3)

-p

Use PKIX Library to validate certificate by calling:

* CERT_VerifyCertificate if specified once,

* CERT_PKIXVerifyCert if specified twice and more.

-r
Following certfile is raw binary DER (default)

-t
Following cert is explicitly trusted (overrides db trust)

-u usage

0=SSL client, 1=SSL server, 2=SSL StepUp, 3=SSL CA, 4=Email
signer, 5=Email recipient, 6=Object signer,
9=ProtectedObjectSigner, 10=OCSP responder, 11=Any CA

-v
Verbose mode. Prints root cert subject(double the argument for
whole root cert info)

-w password
Database password

-W pwfile
Password file

Revocation options for PKIX API (invoked with -pp options) is a
collection of the following flags: [-g type [-h flags] [-m type
[-s flags]] ...] ...

Where:

-g test-type
Sets status checking test type. Possible values are "leaf" or
"chain"

-g test type
Sets status checking test type. Possible values are "leaf" or
"chain".

-h test flags
Sets revocation flags for the test type it follows. Possible
flags: "testLocalInfoFirst" and "requireFreshInfo".

-m method type
Sets method type for the test type it follows. Possible types are
"crl" and "ocsp".

-s method flags
Sets revocation flags for the method it follows. Possible types
are "doNotUse", "forbidFetching", "ignoreDefaultSrc",
"requireInfo" and "failIfNoInfo".

Additional Resources

For information about NSS and other tools related to NSS (like JSS), check
out the NSS project wiki at
[1]http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/. The NSS site relates
directly to NSS code changes and releases.

Mailing lists: https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-crypto

IRC: Freenode at #dogtag-pki

Authors

The NSS tools were written and maintained by developers with Netscape, Red
Hat, and Sun.

Authors: Elio Maldonado <emaldona@redhat.com>, Deon Lackey
<dlackey@redhat.com>.

Copyright

(c) 2010, Red Hat, Inc. Licensed under the GNU Public License version 2.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/
220 NSS tools : vfyserv
Coming soon
221 certutil
Name

certutil — Manage keys and certificate in the the NSS database.

Synopsis

certutil [options] arguments

Description

The Certificate Database Tool, certutil, is a command-line utility that
can create and modify certificate and key database files. It can also
list, generate, modify, or delete certificates within the database, create
or change the password, generate new public and private key pairs, display
the contents of the key database, or delete key pairs within the key
database.

The key and certificate management process generally begins with creating
keys in the key database, then generating and managing certificates in the
certificate database. This document discusses certificate and key database
management. For information security module database management, see the
modutil manpages.

Options and Arguments

Running certutil always requires one (and only one) option to specify the
type of certificate operation. Each option may take arguments, anywhere
from none to multiple arguments. Run the command option and -H to see the
arguments available for each command option.

Options

Options specify an action and are uppercase.

-A

Add an existing certificate to a certificate database. The
certificate database should already exist; if one is not present,
this option will initialize one by default.

-B

Run a series of commands from the specified batch file. This
requires the -i argument.

-C

Create a new binary certificate file from a binary certificate
request file. Use the -i argument to specify the certificate
request file. If this argument is not used, certutil prompts for a
filename.

-D

Delete a certificate from the certificate database.

-E

Add an email certificate to the certificate database.

-F

Delete a private key from a key database. Specify the key to
delete with the -n argument. Specify the database from which to
delete the key with the -d argument. Use the -k argument to
specify explicitly whether to delete a DSA, RSA, or ECC key. If
you don't use the -k argument, the option looks for an RSA key
matching the specified nickname.

When you delete keys, be sure to also remove any certificates
associated with those keys from the certificate database, by using
-D. Some smart cards (for example, the Litronic card) do not let
you remove a public key you have generated. In such a case, only
the private key is deleted from the key pair. You can display the
public key with the command certutil -K -h tokenname.

-G

Generate a new public and private key pair within a key database.
The key database should already exist; if one is not present, this
option will initialize one by default. Some smart cards (for
example, the Litronic card) can store only one key pair. If you
create a new key pair for such a card, the previous pair is
overwritten.

-H

Display a list of the options and arguments used by the
Certificate Database Tool.

-K

List the key ID of keys in the key database. A key ID is the
modulus of the RSA key or the publicValue of the DSA key. IDs are
displayed in hexadecimal ("0x" is not shown).

-L

List all the certificates, or display information about a named
certificate, in a certificate database. Use the -h tokenname
argument to specify the certificate database on a particular
hardware or software token.

-M

Modify a certificate's trust attributes using the values of the -t
argument.

-N

Create new certificate and key databases.

-O

Print the certificate chain.

-R

Create a certificate request file that can be submitted to a
Certificate Authority (CA) for processing into a finished
certificate. Output defaults to standard out unless you use -o
output-file argument. Use the -a argument to specify ASCII output.

-S

Create an individual certificate and add it to a certificate
database.

-T

Reset the key database or token.

-U

List all available modules or print a single named module.

-V

Check the validity of a certificate and its attributes.

-W

Change the password to a key database.

--merge

Merge a source database into the target database. This is used to
merge legacy NSS databases (cert8.db and key3.db) into the newer
SQLite databases (cert9.db and key4.db).

--upgrade-merge

Upgrade an old database and merge it into a new database. This is
used to migrate legacy NSS databases (cert8.db and key3.db) into
the newer SQLite databases (cert9.db and key4.db).

Arguments

Option arguments modify an action and are lowercase.

-a

Use ASCII format or allow the use of ASCII format for input or
output. This formatting follows RFC 1113. For certificate
requests, ASCII output defaults to standard output unless
redirected.

-b validity-time

Specify a time at which a certificate is required to be valid. Use
when checking certificate validity with the -V option. The format
of the validity-time argument is YYMMDDHHMMSS[+HHMM|-HHMM|Z],
which allows offsets to be set relative to the validity end time.
Specifying seconds (SS) is optional. When specifying an explicit
time, use a Z at the end of the term, YYMMDDHHMMSSZ, to close it.
When specifying an offset time, use YYMMDDHHMMSS+HHMM or
YYMMDDHHMMSS-HHMM for adding or subtracting time, respectively.

If this option is not used, the validity check defaults to the
current system time.

-c issuer

Identify the certificate of the CA from which a new certificate
will derive its authenticity. Use the exact nickname or alias of
the CA certificate, or use the CA's email address. Bracket the
issuer string with quotation marks if it contains spaces.

-d [sql:]directory

Specify the database directory containing the certificate and key
database files.

certutil supports two types of databases: the legacy security
databases (cert8.db, key3.db, and secmod.db) and new SQLite
databases (cert9.db, key4.db, and pkcs11.txt). If the prefix sql:
is not used, then the tool assumes that the given databases are in
the old format.

-e

Check a certificate's signature during the process of validating a
certificate.

-f password-file

Specify a file that will automatically supply the password to
include in a certificate or to access a certificate database. This
is a plain-text file containing one password. Be sure to prevent
unauthorized access to this file.

-g keysize

Set a key size to use when generating new public and private key
pairs. The minimum is 512 bits and the maximum is 8192 bits. The
default is 1024 bits. Any size between the minimum and maximum is
allowed.

-h tokenname

Specify the name of a token to use or act on. Unless specified
otherwise the default token is an internal slot (specifically,
internal slot 2). This slot can also be explicitly named with the
string "internal". An internal slots is a virtual slot maintained
in software, rather than a hardware device. Internal slot 2 is
used by key and certificate services. Internal slot 1 is used by
cryptographic services.

-i input_file

Pass an input file to the command. Depending on the command
option, an input file can be a specific certificate, a certificate
request file, or a batch file of commands.

-k rsa|dsa|ec|all

Specify the type of a key. The valid options are RSA, DSA, ECC, or
all. The default value is rsa. Specifying the type of key can
avoid mistakes caused by duplicate nicknames.

-k key-type-or-id

Specify the type or specific ID of a key. Giving a key type
generates a new key pair; giving the ID of an existing key reuses
that key pair (which is required to renew certificates).

-l

Display detailed information when validating a certificate with
the -V option.

-m serial-number

Assign a unique serial number to a certificate being created. This
operation should be performed by a CA. The default serial number
is 0 (zero). Serial numbers are limited to integers.

-n nickname

Specify the nickname of a certificate or key to list, create, add
to a database, modify, or validate. Bracket the nickname string
with quotation marks if it contains spaces.

-o output-file

Specify the output file name for new certificates or binary
certificate requests. Bracket the output-file string with
quotation marks if it contains spaces. If this argument is not
used the output destination defaults to standard output.

-P dbPrefix

Specify the prefix used on the certificate and key database file.
This option is provided as a special case. Changing the names of
the certificate and key databases is not recommended.

-p phone

Specify a contact telephone number to include in new certificates
or certificate requests. Bracket this string with quotation marks
if it contains spaces.

-q pqgfile

Read an alternate PQG value from the specified file when
generating DSA key pairs. If this argument is not used, certutil
generates its own PQG value. PQG files are created with a separate
DSA utility.

-q curve-name

Set the elliptic curve name to use when generating ECC key pairs.
A complete list of ECC curves is given in the help (-H).

-r

Display a certificate's binary DER encoding when listing
information about that certificate with the -L option.

-s subject

Identify a particular certificate owner for new certificates or
certificate requests. Bracket this string with quotation marks if
it contains spaces. The subject identification format follows RFC
#1485.

-t trustargs

Specify the trust attributes to modify in an existing certificate
or to apply to a certificate when creating it or adding it to a
database. There are three available trust categories for each
certificate, expressed in the order SSL, email, object signing for
each trust setting. In each category position, use none, any, or
all of the attribute codes:

o p - Valid peer

o P - Trusted peer (implies p)

o c - Valid CA

o T - Trusted CA to issue client certificates (implies c)

o C - Trusted CA to issue server certificates (SSL only)
(implies c)

o u - Certificate can be used for authentication or signing

o w - Send warning (use with other attributes to include a
warning when the certificate is used in that context)

The attribute codes for the categories are separated by commas,
and the entire set of attributes enclosed by quotation marks. For
example:

-t "TCu,Cu,Tuw"

Use the -L option to see a list of the current certificates and
trust attributes in a certificate database.

-u certusage

Specify a usage context to apply when validating a certificate
with the -V option.

The contexts are the following:

o C (as an SSL client)

o V (as an SSL server)

o S (as an email signer)

o R (as an email recipient)

o O (as an OCSP status responder)

o J (as an object signer)

-v valid-months

Set the number of months a new certificate will be valid. The
validity period begins at the current system time unless an offset
is added or subtracted with the -w option. If this argument is not
used, the default validity period is three months. When this
argument is used, the default three-month period is automatically
added to any value given in the valid-month argument. For example,
using this option to set a value of 3 would cause 3 to be added to
the three-month default, creating a validity period of six months.
You can use negative values to reduce the default period. For
example, setting a value of -2 would subtract 2 from the default
and create a validity period of one month.

-w offset-months

Set an offset from the current system time, in months, for the
beginning of a certificate's validity period. Use when creating
the certificate or adding it to a database. Express the offset in
integers, using a minus sign (-) to indicate a negative offset. If
this argument is not used, the validity period begins at the
current system time. The length of the validity period is set with
the -v argument.

-X

Force the key and certificate database to open in read-write mode.
This is used with the -U and -L command options.

-x

Use certutil to generate the signature for a certificate being
created or added to a database, rather than obtaining a signature
from a separate CA.

-y exp

Set an alternate exponent value to use in generating a new RSA
public key for the database, instead of the default value of
65537. The available alternate values are 3 and 17.

-z noise-file

Read a seed value from the specified file to generate a new
private and public key pair. This argument makes it possible to
use hardware-generated seed values or manually create a value from
the keyboard. The minimum file size is 20 bytes.

-0 SSO_password

Set a site security officer password on a token.

-1 | --keyUsage keyword,keyword

Set a Netscape Certificate Type Extension in the certificate.
There are several available keywords:

o digital signature

o nonRepudiation

o keyEncipherment

o dataEncipherment

o keyAgreement

o certSigning

o crlSigning

o critical

-2

Add a basic constraint extension to a certificate that is being
created or added to a database. This extension supports the
certificate chain verification process. certutil prompts for the
certificate constraint extension to select.

X.509 certificate extensions are described in RFC 5280.

-3

Add an authority key ID extension to a certificate that is being
created or added to a database. This extension supports the
identification of a particular certificate, from among multiple
certificates associated with one subject name, as the correct
issuer of a certificate. The Certificate Database Tool will prompt
you to select the authority key ID extension.

X.509 certificate extensions are described in RFC 5280.

-4

Add a CRL distribution point extension to a certificate that is
being created or added to a database. This extension identifies
the URL of a certificate's associated certificate revocation list
(CRL). certutil prompts for the URL.

X.509 certificate extensions are described in RFC 5280.

-5 | --nsCertType keyword,keyword

Add a Netscape certificate type extension to a certificate that is
being created or added to the database. There are several
available keywords:

o sslClient

o sslServer

o smime

o objectSigning

o sslCA

o smimeCA

o objectSigningCA

o critical

X.509 certificate extensions are described in RFC 5280.

-6 | --extKeyUsage keyword,keyword

Add an extended key usage extension to a certificate that is being
created or added to the database. Several keywords are available:

o serverAuth

o clientAuth

o codeSigning

o emailProtection

o timeStamp

o ocspResponder

o stepUp

o critical

X.509 certificate extensions are described in RFC 5280.

-7 emailAddrs

Add a comma-separated list of email addresses to the subject
alternative name extension of a certificate or certificate request
that is being created or added to the database. Subject
alternative name extensions are described in Section 4.2.1.7 of
RFC 3280.

-8 dns-names

Add a comma-separated list of DNS names to the subject alternative
name extension of a certificate or certificate request that is
being created or added to the database. Subject alternative name
extensions are described in Section 4.2.1.7 of RFC 3280.

--extAIA

Add the Authority Information Access extension to the certificate.
X.509 certificate extensions are described in RFC 5280.

--extSIA

Add the Subject Information Access extension to the certificate.
X.509 certificate extensions are described in RFC 5280.

--extCP

Add the Certificate Policies extension to the certificate. X.509
certificate extensions are described in RFC 5280.

--extPM

Add the Policy Mappings extension to the certificate. X.509
certificate extensions are described in RFC 5280.

--extPC

Add the Policy Constraints extension to the certificate. X.509
certificate extensions are described in RFC 5280.

--extIA

Add the Inhibit Any Policy Access extension to the certificate.
X.509 certificate extensions are described in RFC 5280.

--extSKID

Add the Subject Key ID extension to the certificate. X.509
certificate extensions are described in RFC 5280.

--source-dir certdir

Identify the certificate database directory to upgrade.

--source-prefix certdir

Give the prefix of the certificate and key databases to upgrade.

--upgrade-id uniqueID

Give the unique ID of the database to upgrade.

--upgrade-token-name name

Set the name of the token to use while it is being upgraded.

-@ pwfile

Give the name of a password file to use for the database being
upgraded.

Usage and Examples

Most of the command options in the examples listed here have more
arguments available. The arguments included in these examples are the most
common ones or are used to illustrate a specific scenario. Use the -H
option to show the complete list of arguments for each command option.

Creating New Security Databases

Certificates, keys, and security modules related to managing certificates
are stored in three related databases:

o cert8.db or cert9.db

o key3.db or key4.db

o secmod.db or pkcs11.txt

These databases must be created before certificates or keys can be
generated.

certutil -N -d [sql:]directory

Creating a Certificate Request

A certificate request contains most or all of the information that is used
to generate the final certificate. This request is submitted separately to
a certificate authority and is then approved by some mechanism
(automatically or by human review). Once the request is approved, then the
certificate is generated.

$ certutil -R -k key-type-or-id [-q pqgfile|curve-name] -g key-size -s subject [-h tokenname] -d [sql:]directory [-p phone] [-o output-file] [-a]

The -R command options requires four arguments:

o -k to specify either the key type to generate or, when renewing a
certificate, the existing key pair to use

o -g to set the keysize of the key to generate

o -s to set the subject name of the certificate

o -d to give the security database directory

The new certificate request can be output in ASCII format (-a) or can be
written to a specified file (-o).

For example:

$ certutil -R -k ec -q nistb409 -g 512 -s "CN=John Smith,O=Example Corp,L=Mountain View,ST=California,C=US" -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb -p 650-555-0123 -a -o cert.cer

Generating key. This may take a few moments...


Certificate request generated by Netscape
Phone: 650-555-0123
Common Name: John Smith
Email: (not ed)
Organization: Example Corp
State: California
Country: US

-----BEGIN NEW CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----
MIIBIDCBywIBADBmMQswCQYDVQQGEwJVUzETMBEGA1UECBMKQ2FsaWZvcm5pYTEW
MBQGA1UEBxMNTW91bnRhaW4gVmlldzEVMBMGA1UEChMMRXhhbXBsZSBDb3JwMRMw
EQYDVQQDEwpKb2huIFNtaXRoMFwwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEBBQADSwAwSAJBAMVUpDOZ
KmHnOx7reP8Cc0Lk+fFWEuYIDX9W5K/BioQOKvEjXyQZhit9aThzBVMoSf1Y1S8J
CzdUbCg1+IbnXaECAwEAAaAAMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBBQUAA0EAryqZvpYrUtQ486Ny
qmtyQNjIi1F8c1Z+TL4uFYlMg8z6LG/J/u1E5t1QqB5e9Q4+BhRbrQjRR1JZx3tB
1hP9Gg==
-----END NEW CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----

Creating a Certificate

A valid certificate must be issued by a trusted CA. This can be done by
specifying a CA certificate (-c) that is stored in the certificate
database. If a CA key pair is not available, you can create a self-signed
certificate using the -x argument with the -S command option.

$ certutil -S -k rsa|dsa|ec -n certname -s subject [-c issuer |-x] -t trustargs -d [sql:]directory [-m serial-number] [-v valid-months] [-w offset-months] [-p phone] [-1] [-2] [-3] [-4] [-5 keyword] [-6 keyword] [-7 emailAddress] [-8 dns-names] [--extAIA] [--extSIA] [--extCP] [--extPM] [--extPC] [--extIA] [--extSKID]

The series of numbers and --ext* options set certificate extensions that
can be added to the certificate when it is generated by the CA.

For example, this creates a self-signed certificate:

$ certutil -S -s "CN=Example CA" -n my-ca-cert -x -t "C,C,C" -1 -2 -5 -m 3650

From there, new certificates can reference the self-signed certificate:

$ certutil -S -s "CN=My Server Cert" -n my-server-cert -c "my-ca-cert" -t "u,u,u" -1 -5 -6 -8 -m 730

Generating a Certificate from a Certificate Request

When a certificate request is created, a certificate can be generated by
using the request and then referencing a certificate authority signing
certificate (the issuer specified in the -c argument). The issuing
certificate must be in the certificate database in the specified
directory.

certutil -C -c issuer -i cert-request-file -o output-file [-m serial-number] [-v valid-months] [-w offset-months] -d [sql:]directory [-1] [-2] [-3] [-4] [-5 keyword] [-6 keyword] [-7 emailAddress] [-8 dns-names]

For example:

$ certutil -C -c "my-ca-cert" -i /home/certs/cert.req -o cert.cer -m 010 -v 12 -w 1 -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb -1 nonRepudiation,dataEncipherment -5 sslClient -6 clientAuth -7 jsmith@example.com

Generating Key Pairs

Key pairs are generated automatically with a certificate request or
certificate, but they can also be generated independently using the -G
command option.

certutil -G -d [sql:]directory | -h tokenname -k key-type -g key-size [-y exponent-value] -q pqgfile|curve-name

For example:

$ certutil -G -h lunasa -k ec -g 256 -q sect193r2

Listing Certificates

The -L command option lists all of the certificates listed in the
certificate database. The path to the directory (-d) is required.

$ certutil -L -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb

Certificate Nickname Trust Attributes
SSL,S/MIME,JAR/XPI

CA Administrator of Instance pki-ca1's Example Domain ID u,u,u
TPS Administrator's Example Domain ID u,u,u
Google Internet Authority ,,
Certificate Authority - Example Domain CT,C,C

Using additional arguments with -L can return and print the information
for a single, specific certificate. For example, the -n argument passes
the certificate name, while the -a argument prints the certificate in
ASCII format:

$ certutil -L -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb -a -n "Certificate Authority - Example Domain"

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----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-----END CERTIFICATE-----

Listing Keys

Keys are the original material used to encrypt certificate data. The keys
generated for certificates are stored separately, in the key database.

To list all keys in the database, use the -K command option and the
(required) -d argument to give the path to the directory.

$ certutil -K -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb
certutil: Checking token "NSS Certificate DB" in slot "NSS User Private Key and Certificate Services "
< 0> rsa 455a6673bde9375c2887ec8bf8016b3f9f35861d Thawte Freemail Member's Thawte Consulting (Pty) Ltd. ID
< 1> rsa 40defeeb522ade11090eacebaaf1196a172127df Example Domain Administrator Cert
< 2> rsa 1d0b06f44f6c03842f7d4f4a1dc78b3bcd1b85a5 John Smith user cert

There are ways to narrow the keys listed in the search results:

o To return a specific key, use the -n name argument with the name of
the key.

o If there are multiple security devices loaded, then the -h tokenname
argument can search a specific token or all tokens.

o If there are multiple key types available, then the -k key-type
argument can search a specific type of key, like RSA, DSA, or ECC.

Listing Security Modules

The devices that can be used to store certificates -- both internal
databases and external devices like smart cards -- are recognized and used
by loading security modules. The -U command option lists all of the
security modules listed in the secmod.db database. The path to the
directory (-d) is required.

$ certutil -U -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb

slot: NSS User Private Key and Certificate Services
token: NSS Certificate DB

slot: NSS Internal Cryptographic Services
token: NSS Generic Crypto Services

Adding Certificates to the Database

Existing certificates or certificate requests can be added manually to the
certificate database, even if they were generated elsewhere. This uses the
-A command option.

certutil -A -n certname -t trustargs -d [sql:]directory [-a] [-i input-file]

For example:

$ certutil -A -n "CN=My SSL Certificate" -t "u,u,u" -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb -i /home/example-certs/cert.cer

A related command option, -E, is used specifically to add email
certificates to the certificate database. The -E command has the same
arguments as the -A command. The trust arguments for certificates have the
format SSL,S/MIME,Code-signing, so the middle trust settings relate most
to email certificates (though the others can be set). For example:

$ certutil -E -n "CN=John Smith Email Cert" -t ",Pu," -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb -i /home/example-certs/email.cer

Deleting Certificates to the Database

Certificates can be deleted from a database using the -D option. The only
required options are to give the security database directory and to
identify the certificate nickname.

certutil -D -d [sql:]directory -n "nickname"

For example:

$ certutil -D -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb -n "my-ssl-cert"

Validating Certificates

A certificate contains an expiration date in itself, and expired
certificates are easily rejected. However, certificates can also be
revoked before they hit their expiration date. Checking whether a
certificate has been revoked requires validating the certificate.
Validation can also be used to ensure that the certificate is only used
for the purposes it was initially issued for. Validation is carried out by
the -V command option.

certutil -V -n certificate-name [-b time] [-e] [-u cert-usage] -d [sql:]directory

For example, to validate an email certificate:

$ certutil -V -n "John Smith's Email Cert" -e -u S,R -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb

Modifying Certificate Trust Settings

The trust settings (which relate to the operations that a certificate is
allowed to be used for) can be changed after a certificate is created or
added to the database. This is especially useful for CA certificates, but
it can be performed for any type of certificate.

certutil -M -n certificate-name -t trust-args -d [sql:]directory

For example:

$ certutil -M -n "My CA Certificate" -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb -t "CTu,CTu,CTu"

Printing the Certificate Chain

Certificates can be issued in chains because every certificate authority
itself has a certificate; when a CA issues a certificate, it essentially
stamps that certificate with its own fingerprint. The -O prints the full
chain of a certificate, going from the initial CA (the root CA) through
ever intermediary CA to the actual certificate. For example, for an email
certificate with two CAs in the chain:

$ certutil -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb -O -n "jsmith@example.com"
"Builtin Object Token:Thawte Personal Freemail CA" [E=personal-freemail@thawte.com,CN=Thawte Personal Freemail CA,OU=Certification Services Division,O=Thawte Consulting,L=Cape Town,ST=Western Cape,C=ZA]

"Thawte Personal Freemail Issuing CA - Thawte Consulting" [CN=Thawte Personal Freemail Issuing CA,O=Thawte Consulting (Pty) Ltd.,C=ZA]

"(null)" [E=jsmith@example.com,CN=Thawte Freemail Member]

Resetting a Token

The device which stores certificates -- both external hardware devices and
internal software databases -- can be blanked and reused. This operation
is performed on the device which stores the data, not directly on the
security databases, so the location must be referenced through the token
name (-h) as well as any directory path. If there is no external token
used, the default value is internal.

certutil -T -d [sql:]directory -h token-name -0 security-officer-password

Many networks have dedicated personnel who handle changes to security
tokens (the security officer). This person must supply the password to
access the specified token. For example:

$ certutil -T -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb -h nethsm -0 secret

Upgrading or Merging the Security Databases

Many networks or applications may be using older BerkeleyDB versions of
the certificate database (cert8.db). Databases can be upgraded to the new
SQLite version of the database (cert9.db) using the --upgrade-merge
command option or existing databases can be merged with the new cert9.db
databases using the ---merge command.

The --upgrade-merge command must give information about the original
database and then use the standard arguments (like -d) to give the
information about the new databases. The command also requires information
that the tool uses for the process to upgrade and write over the original
database.

certutil --upgrade-merge -d [sql:]directory [-P dbprefix] --source-dir directory --source-prefix dbprefix --upgrade-id id --upgrade-token-name name [-@ password-file]

For example:

$ certutil --upgrade-merge -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb --source-dir /opt/my-app/alias/ --source-prefix serverapp- --upgrade-id 1 --upgrade-token-name internal

The --merge command only requires information about the location of the
original database; since it doesn't change the format of the database, it
can write over information without performing interim step.

certutil --merge -d [sql:]directory [-P dbprefix] --source-dir directory --source-prefix dbprefix [-@ password-file]

For example:

$ certutil --merge -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb --source-dir /opt/my-app/alias/ --source-prefix serverapp-

Running certutil Commands from a Batch File

A series of commands can be run sequentially from a text file with the -B
command option. The only argument for this specifies the input file.

$ certutil -B -i /path/to/batch-file

NSS Database Types

NSS originally used BerkeleyDB databases to store security information.
The last versions of these legacy databases are:

o cert8.db for certificates

o key3.db for keys

o secmod.db for PKCS #11 module information

BerkeleyDB has performance limitations, though, which prevent it from
being easily used by multiple applications simultaneously. NSS has some
flexibility that allows applications to use their own, independent
database engine while keeping a shared database and working around the
access issues. Still, NSS requires more flexibility to provide a truly
shared security database.

In 2009, NSS introduced a new set of databases that are SQLite databases
rather than BerkleyDB. These new databases provide more accessibility and
performance:

o cert9.db for certificates

o key4.db for keys

o pkcs11.txt, which is listing of all of the PKCS #11 modules contained
in a new subdirectory in the security databases directory

Because the SQLite databases are designed to be shared, these are the
shared database type. The shared database type is preferred; the legacy
format is included for backward compatibility.

By default, the tools (certutil, pk12util, modutil) assume that the given
security databases follow the more common legacy type. Using the SQLite
databases must be manually specified by using the sql: prefix with the
given security directory. For example:

$ certutil -L -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb

To set the shared database type as the default type for the tools, set the
NSS_DEFAULT_DB_TYPE environment variable to sql:

export NSS_DEFAULT_DB_TYPE="sql"

This line can be set added to the ~/.bashrc file to make the change
permanent.

Most applications do not use the shared database by default, but they can
be configured to use them. For example, this how-to article covers how to
configure Firefox and Thunderbird to use the new shared NSS databases:

o https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB_Howto

For an engineering draft on the changes in the shared NSS databases, see
the NSS project wiki:

o https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB

See Also

pk12util (1)

modutil (1)

certutil has arguments or operations that use features defined in several
IETF RFCs.

o http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5280

o http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1113

o http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1485

The NSS wiki has information on the new database design and how to
configure applications to use it.

o https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB_Howto

o https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB

Additional Resources

For information about NSS and other tools related to NSS (like JSS), check
out the NSS project wiki at
[1]http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/. The NSS site relates
directly to NSS code changes and releases.

Mailing lists: https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-crypto

IRC: Freenode at #dogtag-pki

Authors

The NSS tools were written and maintained by developers with Netscape, Red
Hat, and Sun.

Authors: Elio Maldonado <emaldona@redhat.com>, Deon Lackey
<dlackey@redhat.com>.

Copyright

(c) 2010, Red Hat, Inc. Licensed under the GNU Public License version 2.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/
222 NSS Tools sslstrength
No summary!
223 NSS reference NSS
No summary!
224 Building and installing NSS NSS
This chapter describes how to build and install NSS.
225 Build instructions NSS
Numerous optional features of NSS builds are controlled through make variables.
226 Installation guide NSS
No summary!
227 Migration to HG
The NSPR, NSS and related projects have stopped using Mozilla'a CVS server, but have migrated to
Mozilla's HG (Mercurial) server.

Each project now lives in its own separate space, they can be found at:
https://hg.mozilla.org/projects/nspr/
https://hg.mozilla.org/projects/nss/
https://hg.mozilla.org/projects/jss/
https://hg.mozilla.org/projects/python-nss/
228 Sample manual installation NSS
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229 FC_CancelFunction NSS
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230 FC_CloseAllSessions NSS
No summary!
231 FC_CloseSession NSS
No summary!
232 FC_CopyObject NSS
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233 FC_CreateObject NSS
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234 FC_Decrypt NSS
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235 FC_DecryptDigestUpdate NSS
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236 FC_DecryptFinal NSS
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237 FC_DecryptInit NSS
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238 FC_DecryptUpdate NSS
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239 FC_DecryptVerifyUpdate NSS
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240 FC_DeriveKey NSS
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241 FC_DestroyObject NSS
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242 FC_Digest NSS
No summary!
243 FC_DigestEncryptUpdate NSS
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244 FC_DigestFinal NSS
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245 FC_DigestInit NSS
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246 FC_DigestKey NSS
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247 FC_DigestUpdate NSS
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248 FC_Encrypt NSS
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249 FC_EncryptFinal NSS
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250 FC_EncryptInit NSS
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251 FC_EncryptUpdate NSS
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252 FC_Finalize NSS
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253 FC_FindObjects NSS
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254 FC_FindObjectsFinal NSS
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255 FC_FindObjectsInit NSS
No summary!
256 FC_GenerateKey NSS
No summary!
257 FC_GenerateKeyPair NSS
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258 FC_GenerateRandom NSS
No summary!
259 FC_GetAttributeValue NSS
No summary!
260 FC_GetFunctionList NSS
No summary!
261 FC_GetFunctionStatus NSS
No summary!
262 FC_GetInfo NSS
No summary!
263 FC_GetMechanismInfo NSS
No summary!
264 FC_GetMechanismList NSS
No summary!
265 FC_GetObjectSize NSS
No summary!
266 FC_GetOperationState NSS
No summary!
267 FC_GetSessionInfo NSS
No summary!
268 FC_GetSlotInfo NSS
No summary!
269 FC_GetSlotList NSS
No summary!
270 FC_GetTokenInfo NSS
No summary!
271 FC_InitPIN NSS
No summary!
272 FC_InitToken NSS
No summary!
273 FC_Initialize NSS
FC_Initialize - initialize the PKCS #11 library.
274 FC_Login NSS
No summary!
275 FC_Logout NSS
No summary!
276 FC_OpenSession NSS
No summary!
277 FC_SeedRandom NSS
No summary!
278 FC_SetAttributeValue NSS
No summary!
279 FC_SetOperationState NSS
No summary!
280 FC_SetPIN NSS
No summary!
281 FC_Sign NSS
No summary!
282 FC_SignEncryptUpdate NSS
No summary!
283 FC_SignFinal NSS
No summary!
284 FC_SignInit NSS
No summary!
285 FC_SignRecover NSS
No summary!
286 FC_SignRecoverInit NSS
No summary!
287 FC_SignUpdate NSS
No summary!
288 FC_UnwrapKey NSS
No summary!
289 FC_Verify NSS
No summary!
290 FC_VerifyFinal NSS
No summary!
291 FC_VerifyInit NSS
No summary!
292 FC_VerifyRecover NSS
No summary!
293 FC_VerifyRecoverInit NSS
No summary!
294 FC_VerifyUpdate NSS
No summary!
295 FC_WaitForSlotEvent NSS
No summary!
296 FC_WrapKey NSS
No summary!
297 NSC_InitToken NSS
No summary!
298 NSC_Login NSS
No summary!
299 NSPR functions
NSPR is a platform abstraction library that provides a cross-platform API to common OS services. NSS uses NSPR internally as the porting layer. However, a small number of NSPR functions are required for using the certificate verification and SSL functions in NSS. These NSPR functions are listed in this section.
300 NSS Certificate Functions NSS
This chapter describes the functions and related types used to work with a certificate database such as the cert8.db database provided with NSS. This was converted from "Chapter 5: Certificate Functions".
301 NSS Key Functions NSS
This chapter describes two functions used to manipulate private keys and key databases such as the key3.db database provided with NSS. This was converted from "Chapter 6: Key Functions".
302 NSS Tools Man Pages - work in progress
certutil certutil
303 NSS cryptographic module NSS
No summary!
304 FIPS mode of operation NSS
No summary!
305 NSS environment variables NSS
These environment variables affect the RUN TIME behavior of NSS shared libraries. There is a separate set of environment variables that affect how NSS is built, documented below.
306 NSS functions NSS
This page lists all exported functions in NSS 3.11.7 It was ported from here.
307 NSS tools : certutil
Name

certutil — Manage keys and certificate in both NSS databases and other NSS tokens

Synopsis

certutil [options] [[arguments]]

Description

The Certificate Database Tool, certutil, is a command-line utility
that can create and modify certificate and key databases.
It can specifically list, generate, modify, or delete certificates, create or
change the password, generate new public and private key pairs,
display the contents of the key database, or delete key pairs within the key database.

Certificate issuance, part of the key and certificate management process, requires that
keys and certificates be created in the key database. This document discusses certificate
and key database management. For information on the security module database management,
see the modutil manpage.

Options and Arguments

Running certutil always requires one and only one command option to
specify the type of certificate operation. Each option may take arguments,
anywhere from none to multiple arguments. The command option -H will list
all the command options available and their relevant arguments.

Command Options

-A
Add an existing certificate to a certificate database.
The certificate database should already exist; if one is
not present, this command option will initialize one by default.

-B
Run a series of commands from the specified batch file.
This requires the -i argument.

-C
Create a new binary certificate file from a binary
certificate request file. Use the -i argument to specify
the certificate request file. If this argument is not
used, certutil prompts for a filename.

-D
Delete a certificate from the certificate database.
308 NSS tools : cmsutil
Name
309 NSS tools : crlutil Reference
Name
310 NSS tools : modutil Mozilla, NSS, Reference, Security, Tools, Utilities, modutil
Name
311 NSS tools : pk12util
NSS tools : pk12util
312 NSS tools : ssltab
Name
313 NSS tools : ssltap
Name
314 NSS tools : vfychain
Name
315 NSS tools : vfyserv
Name
316 NSS_Initialize
NSS_Initialize - initialize NSS.
317 troubleshoot.html
Newsgroup: mozilla.dev.tech.crypto
318 NSS release notes template
The NSS team has released Network Security Services (NSS) 3.XX, which is a minor release.
or
Network Security Services (NSS) 3.XX.y is a patch release for NSS 3.XX. The bug fixes in NSS 3.XX.y are described in the "Bugs Fixed" section below.
319 NSS sources building testing Build documentation, Guide, NSS, Security
Getting the source code of Network Security Services (NSS), how to build it, and how to run its test suite.
320 NSS troubleshooting NSS
On this page, let's collect information on how to troubleshoot NSS at runtime. Debugging tips, how to enable tracing of the various modules, etc.
321 NSS_3.11.10_release_notes.html
Newsgroup: <ahref="news: mozilla.dev.tech.crypto"="" news.mozilla.org="">mozilla.dev.tech.crypto</ahref="news:>
322 NSS_3.12.1_release_notes.html
Newsgroup: mozilla.dev.tech.crypto
323 NSS_3.12.2_release_notes.html
Newsgroup: mozilla.dev.tech.crypto
324 NSS_3.12_release_notes.html
Newsgroup: mozilla.dev.tech.crypto
325 New NSS Samples Example
This collection of sample code demonstrates how NSS can be used for cryptographic operations, certificate handling, SSL, etc. It also demonstrates some best practices in the application of cryptography.
326 Notes on TLS - SSL 3.0 Intolerant Servers Gecko, NSS, Security
No summary!
327 Older NSS release notes
This page lists release notes for older versions of NSS. See Release notes for recent versions of NSS for recent release notes. The links below are provided for historical information.
328 NSS_3.12.3_release_notes.html
Newsgroup: mozilla.dev.tech.crypto
329 Overview of NSS NSS
If you want to add support for SSL, S/MIME, or other Internet security standards to your application, you can use Network Security Services (NSS) to implement all your security features. NSS provides a complete open-source implementation of the crypto libraries used by AOL, Red Hat, Google, and other companies in a variety of products, including the following:
330 PKCS #11 Netscape Trust Objects
PKCS #11 is a standard that defines ways to store certificates, keys and perform crypto operations. It does not specify a way to store trust objects.
331 PKCS 12 functions NSS
The public functions listed here perform PKCS #12 operations required by some of the NSS tools and other applications.
332 PKCS 7 functions NSS
The public functions listed here perform PKCS #7 operations required by mail and news applications and by some of the NSS tools.
333 PKCS11 NSS, Security
No summary!
334 PKCS #11 Module Specs NSS
No summary!
335 PKCS11 FAQ NSS, Security
No summary!
336 PKCS11 module installation Authentication, Biometric, Mozilla, NSS, PKCS #11, Projects, Security, Smart Card, Smart-card, Smartcard, pkcs11
PKCS #11 modules are external modules which add to Firefox support for smartcard readers, biometric security devices, and external certificate stores. This article covers the two methods for installing PKCS #11 modules into Firefox.
337 PKCS11 Implement
NOTE: This document was originally for the Netscape Security Library that came with Netscape Communicator 4.0. This note will be removed once the document is updated for the current version of NSS.
338 Python binding for NSS
python-nss is a Python binding for NSS (Network Security Services) and NSPR (Netscape Portable Runtime). NSS provides cryptography services supporting SSL, TLS, PKI, PKIX, X509, PKCS*, etc. NSS is an alternative to OpenSSL and used extensively by major software projects. NSS is FIPS-140 certified.
339 Release notes for recent versions of NSS Landing, Mozilla, NSS, Networking, Project, Release Notes, Security
The current Stable release of NSS is 3.56, which was released on 21 August 2020. (NSS 3.56 release notes)
340 S/MIME functions NSS
The public functions listed here perform S/MIME operations using the S/MIME Toolkit.
341 SSL functions NSS
The public functions listed here are used to configure sockets for communication via the SSL and TLS protocols. In addition to the functions listed here, applications that support SSL use some of the Certificate functions, Crypto functions, and Utility functions described below on this page.
342 OLD SSL Reference NSS
Newsgroup: mozilla.dev.tech.crypto
Writer: Sean Cotter
Manager: Wan-Teh Chang
343 gtstd.html
No summary!
344 pkfnc.html
No summary!
345 sslcrt.html
No summary!
346 sslerr.html
347 sslfnc.html
No summary!
348 sslintro.html
No summary!
349 sslkey.html
No summary!
350 ssltyp.html
No summary!
351 TLS Cipher Suite Discovery NSS

In order to communicate securely, an TLS client and TLS server must agree on the cryptographic algorithms and keys that they will both use on the secured connection. They must agree on these items:
352 Utility functions NSS
The public functions listed here perform initialization tasks and other services.
353 modutil-tasks.html
No summary!