]> git.ipfire.org Git - thirdparty/openssl.git/blame - doc/apps/smime.pod
Make req seed the PRNG if signing with
[thirdparty/openssl.git] / doc / apps / smime.pod
CommitLineData
e3775a33
DSH
1=pod
2
3=head1 NAME
4
5smime - S/MIME utility
6
7=head1 SYNOPSIS
8
9B<openssl> B<smime>
10[B<-encrypt>]
11[B<-decrypt>]
12[B<-sign>]
13[B<-verify>]
14[B<-pk7out>]
3fc9635e 15[B<-des>]
e3775a33
DSH
16[B<-des3>]
17[B<-rc2-40>]
18[B<-rc2-64>]
19[B<-rc2-128>]
20[B<-in file>]
21[B<-certfile file>]
22[B<-signer file>]
23[B<-recip file>]
24[B<-in file>]
fd13f0ee 25[B<-inform SMIME|PEM|DER>]
e3775a33
DSH
26[B<-inkey file>]
27[B<-out file>]
fd13f0ee
DSH
28[B<-outform SMIME|PEM|DER>]
29[B<-content file>]
e3775a33
DSH
30[B<-to addr>]
31[B<-from ad>]
32[B<-subject s>]
33[B<-text>]
d13e4eb0 34[B<-rand file(s)>]
e3775a33
DSH
35[cert.pem]...
36
37=head1 DESCRIPTION
38
39The B<smime> command handles S/MIME mail. It can encrypt, decrypt, sign and
40verify S/MIME messages.
41
42=head1 COMMAND OPTIONS
43
44There are five operation options that set the type of operation to be performed.
45The meaning of the other options varies according to the operation type.
46
47=over 4
48
49=item B<-encrypt>
50
51encrypt mail for the given recipient certificates. Input file is the message
52to be encrypted. The output file is the encrypted mail in MIME format.
53
54=item B<-decrypt>
55
56decrypt mail using the supplied certificate and private key. Expects an
57encrypted mail message in MIME format for the input file. The decrypted mail
58is written to the output file.
59
60=item B<-sign>
61
62sign mail using the supplied certificate and private key. Input file is
63the message to be signed. The signed message in MIME format is written
64to the output file.
65
66=item B<-verify>
67
68verify signed mail. Expects a signed mail message on input and outputs
69the signed data. Both clear text and opaque signing is supported.
70
71=item B<-pk7out>
72
73takes an input message and writes out a PEM encoded PKCS#7 structure.
74
75=item B<-in filename>
76
77the input message to be encrypted or signed or the MIME message to
78be decrypted or verified.
79
fd13f0ee
DSH
80=item B<-inform SMIME|PEM|DER>
81
82this specifies the input format for the PKCS#7 structure. The default
83is B<SMIME> which reads an S/MIME format message. B<PEM> and B<DER>
84format change this to expect PEM and DER format PKCS#7 structures
85instead. This currently only affects the input format of the PKCS#7
86structure, if no PKCS#7 structure is being input (for example with
87B<-encrypt> or B<-sign>) this option has no effect.
88
e3775a33
DSH
89=item B<-out filename>
90
91the message text that has been decrypted or verified or the output MIME
92format message that has been signed or verified.
93
fd13f0ee
DSH
94=item B<-outform SMIME|PEM|DER>
95
96this specifies the output format for the PKCS#7 structure. The default
97is B<SMIME> which write an S/MIME format message. B<PEM> and B<DER>
98format change this to write PEM and DER format PKCS#7 structures
99instead. This currently only affects the output format of the PKCS#7
100structure, if no PKCS#7 structure is being output (for example with
101B<-verify> or B<-decrypt>) this option has no effect.
102
103=item B<-content filename>
104
105This specifies a file containing the detached content, this is only
106useful with the B<-verify> command. This is only usable if the PKCS#7
107structure is using the detached signature form where the content is
108not included. This option will override any content if the input format
109is S/MIME and it uses the multipart/signed MIME content type.
110
e3775a33
DSH
111=item B<-text>
112
113this option adds plain text (text/plain) MIME headers to the supplied
114message if encrypting or signing. If decrypting or verifying it strips
115off text headers: if the decrypted or verified message is not of MIME
116type text/plain then an error occurs.
117
118=item B<-CAfile file>
119
120a file containing trusted CA certificates, only used with B<-verify>.
121
122=item B<-CApath dir>
123
124a directory containing trusted CA certificates, only used with
125B<-verify>. This directory must be a standard certificate directory: that
126is a hash of each subject name (using B<x509 -hash>) should be linked
127to each certificate.
128
3fc9635e 129=item B<-des -des3 -rc2-40 -rc2-64 -rc2-128>
e3775a33
DSH
130
131the encryption algorithm to use. DES (56 bits), triple DES (168 bits)
132or 40, 64 or 128 bit RC2 respectively if not specified 40 bit RC2 is
133used. Only used with B<-encrypt>.
134
135=item B<-nointern>
136
137when verifying a message normally certificates (if any) included in
138the message are searched for the signing certificate. With this option
139only the certificates specified in the B<-certfile> option are used.
140The supplied certificates can still be used as untrusted CAs however.
141
142=item B<-noverify>
143
144do not verify the signers certificate of a signed message.
145
146=item B<-nochain>
147
19d2bb57 148do not do chain verification of signers certificates: that is don't
e3775a33
DSH
149use the certificates in the signed message as untrusted CAs.
150
151=item B<-nosigs>
152
153don't try to verify the signatures on the message.
154
155=item B<-nocerts>
156
157when signing a message the signer's certificate is normally included
158with this option it is excluded. This will reduce the size of the
159signed message but the verifier must have a copy of the signers certificate
160available locally (passed using the B<-certfile> option for example).
161
162=item B<-noattr>
163
164normally when a message is signed a set of attributes are included which
165include the signing time and supported symmetric algorithms. With this
166option they are not included.
167
168=item B<-binary>
169
170normally the input message is converted to "canonical" format which is
3fc9635e
DSH
171effectively using CR and LF as end of line: as required by the S/MIME
172specification. When this option is present no translation occurs. This
173is useful when handling binary data which may not be in MIME format.
e3775a33
DSH
174
175=item B<-nodetach>
176
177when signing a message use opaque signing: this form is more resistant
178to translation by mail relays but it cannot be read by mail agents that
179do not support S/MIME. Without this option cleartext signing with
180the MIME type multipart/signed is used.
181
182=item B<-certfile file>
183
184allows additional certificates to be specified. When signing these will
185be included with the message. When verifying these will be searched for
186the signers certificates. The certificates should be in PEM format.
187
188=item B<-signer file>
189
190the signers certificate when signing a message. If a message is
191being verified then the signers certificates will be written to this
192file if the verification was successful.
193
194=item B<-recip file>
195
196the recipients certificate when decrypting a message. This certificate
197must match one of the recipients of the message or an error occurs.
198
199=item B<-inkey file>
200
201the private key to use when signing or decrypting. This must match the
202corresponding certificate. If this option is not specified then the
203private key must be included in the certificate file specified with
204the B<-recip> or B<-signer> file.
205
d13e4eb0
DSH
206=item B<-rand file(s)>
207
208a file or files containing random data used to seed the random number
a4cfd178
UM
209generator, or an EGD socket (see L<RAND_egd(3)|RAND_egd(3)>).
210Multiple files can be specified separated by a OS-dependent character.
b87ef946 211The separator is B<;> for MS-Windows, B<,> for OpenVMS, and B<:> for
a4cfd178 212all others.
d13e4eb0 213
e3775a33
DSH
214=item B<cert.pem...>
215
216one or more certificates of message recipients: used when encrypting
217a message.
218
219=item B<-to, -from, -subject>
220
221the relevant mail headers. These are included outside the signed
222portion of a message so they may be included manually. If signing
223then many S/MIME mail clients check the signers certificate's email
224address matches that specified in the From: address.
225
226=back
227
228=head1 NOTES
229
230The MIME message must be sent without any blank lines between the
231headers and the output. Some mail programs will automatically add
232a blank line. Piping the mail directly to sendmail is one way to
233achieve the correct format.
234
3fc9635e 235The supplied message to be signed or encrypted must include the
fd13f0ee 236necessary MIME headers or many S/MIME clients wont display it
3fc9635e
DSH
237properly (if at all). You can use the B<-text> option to automatically
238add plain text headers.
239
e3775a33
DSH
240A "signed and encrypted" message is one where a signed message is
241then encrypted. This can be produced by encrypting an already signed
3fc9635e 242message: see the examples section.
e3775a33
DSH
243
244This version of the program only allows one signer per message but it
245will verify multiple signers on received messages. Some S/MIME clients
19d2bb57 246choke if a message contains multiple signers. It is possible to sign
e3775a33
DSH
247messages "in parallel" by signing an already signed message.
248
3fc9635e
DSH
249The options B<-encrypt> and B<-decrypt> reflect common usage in S/MIME
250clients. Strictly speaking these process PKCS#7 enveloped data: PKCS#7
251encrypted data is used for other purposes.
252
e3775a33
DSH
253=head1 EXIT CODES
254
255=over 4
256
257=item 0
258
3fc9635e 259the operation was completely successfully.
e3775a33
DSH
260
261=item 1
262
263an error occurred parsing the command options.
264
265=item 2
266
267one of the input files could not be read.
268
269=item 3
270
271an error occurred creating the PKCS#7 file or when reading the MIME
272message.
273
274=item 4
275
276an error occurred decrypting or verifying the message.
277
278=item 5
279
19d2bb57 280the message was verified correctly but an error occurred writing out
e3775a33
DSH
281the signers certificates.
282
283=back
284
285=head1 EXAMPLES
286
3fc9635e
DSH
287Create a cleartext signed message:
288
1675f6eb
RL
289 openssl smime -sign -in message.txt -text -out mail.msg \
290 -signer mycert.pem
3fc9635e
DSH
291
292Create and opaque signed message
293
1675f6eb
RL
294 openssl smime -sign -in message.txt -text -out mail.msg -nodetach \
295 -signer mycert.pem
3fc9635e
DSH
296
297Create a signed message, include some additional certificates and
298read the private key from another file:
299
1675f6eb
RL
300 openssl smime -sign -in in.txt -text -out mail.msg \
301 -signer mycert.pem -inkey mykey.pem -certfile mycerts.pem
3fc9635e
DSH
302
303Send a signed message under Unix directly to sendmail, including headers:
304
1675f6eb
RL
305 openssl smime -sign -in in.txt -text -signer mycert.pem \
306 -from steve@openssl.org -to someone@somewhere \
307 -subject "Signed message" | sendmail someone@somewhere
3fc9635e
DSH
308
309Verify a message and extract the signer's certificate if successful:
310
311 openssl smime -verify -in mail.msg -signer user.pem -out signedtext.txt
312
313Send encrypted mail using triple DES:
314
1675f6eb
RL
315 openssl smime -encrypt -in in.txt -from steve@openssl.org \
316 -to someone@somewhere -subject "Encrypted message" \
317 -des3 user.pem -out mail.msg
3fc9635e
DSH
318
319Sign and encrypt mail:
320
1675f6eb
RL
321 openssl smime -sign -in ml.txt -signer my.pem -text \
322 | openssl -encrypt -out mail.msg \
323 -from steve@openssl.org -to someone@somewhere \
324 -subject "Signed and Encrypted message" -des3 user.pem
3fc9635e
DSH
325
326Note: the encryption command does not include the B<-text> option because the message
327being encrypted already has MIME headers.
328
329Decrypt mail:
330
331 openssl smime -decrypt -in mail.msg -recip mycert.pem -inkey key.pem
332
fd13f0ee
DSH
333The output from Netscape form signing is a PKCS#7 structure with the
334detached signature format. You can use this program to verify the
335signature by line wrapping the base64 encoded structure and surrounding
336it with:
337
338 -----BEGIN PKCS7----
339 -----END PKCS7----
340
341and using the command,
342
343 openssl smime -verify -inform PEM -in signature.pem -content content.txt
344
345alternatively you can base64 decode the signature and use
346
347 openssl smime -verify -inform DER -in signature.der -content content.txt
348
3fc9635e
DSH
349=head1 BUGS
350
351The MIME parser isn't very clever: it seems to handle most messages that I've thrown
352at it but it may choke on others.
353
354The code currently will only write out the signer's certificate to a file: if the
355signer has a separate encryption certificate this must be manually extracted. There
356should be some heuristic that determines the correct encryption certificate.
357
358Ideally a database should be maintained of a certificates for each email address.
359
360The code doesn't currently take note of the permitted symmetric encryption
361algorithms as supplied in the SMIMECapabilities signed attribute. this means the
362user has to manually include the correct encryption algorithm. It should store
363the list of permitted ciphers in a database and only use those.
364
365No revocation checking is done on the signer's certificate.
366
367The current code can only handle S/MIME v2 messages, the more complex S/MIME v3
368structures may cause parsing errors.
e3775a33
DSH
369
370=cut