pkcs11-tool - Man Page

pkcs11-tool [Options]

The pkcs11-tool utility is used to manage the data objects on smart cards and similar PKCS #11 security tokens. Users can list and read PINs, keys and certificates stored on the token. User PIN authentication is performed for those operations that require it.

--attr-from filename

Extract information from filename (DER-encoded certificate file) and create the corresponding attributes when writing an object to the token. Example: the certificate subject name is used to create the CKA_SUBJECT attribute.

--change-pin,  -c

Change the user PIN on the token

--unlock-pin

Unlock User PIN (without --login unlock in logged in session; otherwise --login-type has to be 'context-specific').

--hash,  -h

Hash some data.

--hash-algorithm mechanism

Specify hash algorithm used with RSA-PKCS-PSS signature or RSA-OAEP decryption. Allowed values are "SHA-1", "SHA256", "SHA384", "SHA512", and some tokens may also allow "SHA224". Default is "SHA-1".

Note that the input to RSA-PKCS-PSS has to be of the size equal to the specified hash algorithm. E.g., for SHA256 the signature input must be exactly 32 bytes long (for mechanisms SHA256-RSA-PKCS-PSS there is no such restriction). For RSA-OAEP, the plaintext input size mLen must be at most keyLen - 2 - 2*hashLen. For example, for RSA 3072-bit key and SHA384, the longest plaintext to encrypt with RSA-OAEP is (with all sizes in bytes): 384 - 2 - 2*48 = 286, aka 286 bytes.

--id id, -d id

Specify the id of the object to operate on.

--init-pin

Initializes the user PIN. This option differs from --change-pin in that it sets the user PIN for the first time. Once set, the user PIN can be changed using --change-pin.

--init-token

Initialize a token: set the token label as well as a Security Officer PIN (the label must be specified using --label).

--input-file filename, -i filename

Specify the path to a file for input.

--keypairgen,  -k

Generate a new key pair (public and private pair.)

--keygen

Generate a new key.

--key-type specification

Specify the type and (not always compulsory) flavour (byte-wise symmetric key length, bit-wise asymmetric key length, elliptic curve identifier, etc.) of the key to create, for example RSA:2048, EC:prime256v1, GOSTR3410-2012-256:B, DES:8, DES3:24, AES:16, AES: or GENERIC:64. If the key type was incompletely specified, possible values are listed.

--usage-sign

Specify 'sign' key usage flag (sets SIGN in privkey, sets VERIFY in pubkey).

--usage-decrypt

Specify 'decrypt' key usage flag.

For RSA keys, sets DECRYPT in privkey and ENCRYPT in pubkey. For secret keys, sets both DECRYPT and ENCRYPT.

--usage-derive

Specify 'derive' key usage flag (EC only).

--usage-wrap

Specify 'wrap' key usage flag.

--label name, -a name

Specify the name of the object to operate on (or the token label when --init-token is used).

--list-mechanisms,  -M

Display a list of mechanisms supported by the token.

--list-objects,  -O

Display a list of objects.

The options --keytype, --label , --id or --application-id can be used to filter the listed objects.

--list-slots,  -L

Display a list of available slots on the token.

--list-token-slots,  -T

List slots with tokens.

--list-interfaces

List interfaces of PKCS #11 3.0 library.

--session-rw,

Forces to open the PKCS#11 session with CKF_RW_SESSION.

--login,  -l

Authenticate to the token before performing other operations. This option is not needed if a PIN is provided on the command line.

--login-type

Specify login type ('so', 'user', 'context-specific'; default:'user').

--mechanism mechanism, -m mechanism

Use the specified mechanism for token operations. See -M for a list of mechanisms supported by your token. The mechanism can also be specified in hexadecimal, e.g., 0x80001234.

--mgf function

Use the specified Message Generation Function (MGF) function for RSA-PKCS-PSS signatures or RSA-OAEP decryptions. Supported arguments are MGF1-SHA1 to MGF1-SHA512 if supported by the driver. The default is based on the hash selection.

--module mod

Specify a PKCS#11 module (or library) to load.

--moz-cert filename, -z filename

Test a Mozilla-like key pair generation and certificate request. Specify the filename to the certificate file.

--output-file filename, -o filename

Specify the path to a file for output.

--pin pin, -p pin

Use the given pin for token operations. If set to env:VARIABLE, the value of the environment variable VARIABLE is used. WARNING: Be careful using this option as other users may be able to read the command line from the system or if it is embedded in a script. If set to env:VARIABLE, the value of the environment variable VARIABLE is used.

This option will also set the --login option.

--puk puk

Supply User PUK on the command line.

--new-pin pin

Supply new User PIN on the command line.

--sensitive

Set the CKA_SENSITIVE attribute (object cannot be revealed in plaintext).

--extractable

Set the CKA_EXTRACTABLE attribute (object can be extracted)

--undestroyable

Set the CKA_DESTROYABLE attribute to false (object cannot be destroyed)

--set-id id, -e id

Set the CKA_ID of the object.

--show-info,  -I

Display general token information.

--sign,  -s

Sign some data.

--decrypt,

Decrypt some data.

--encrypt,

Encrypt some data.

--unwrap,

Unwrap key.

--wrap,

Wrap key.

--derive,

Derive a secret key using another key and some data.

--derive-pass-der,

Derive ECDHpass DER encoded pubkey for compatibility with some PKCS#11 implementations

--salt-len bytes

Specify how many bytes of salt should be used in RSA-PSS signatures. Accepts two special values: "-1" means salt length equals to digest length, "-2" or "-3" means use maximum permissible length. For verify operation "-2" means that the salt length is automatically recovered from signature. The value "-2" for the verify operation is supported for opensc pkcs#11 module only. Default is digest length (-1).

--slot id

Specify the id of the slot to use (accepts HEX format with 0x.. prefix or decimal number).

--slot-description description

Specify the description of the slot to use.

--slot-index index

Specify the index of the slot to use.

--object-index index

Specify the index of the object to use.

--use-locking

Tell pkcs11 module it should use OS thread locking.

--test-threads options

Test a pkcs11 module's thread implication. (See source code).

--token-label label

Specify the label of token. Will be used the first slot, that has the inserted token with this label.

--so-pin pin

Use the given pin as the Security Officer PIN for some token operations (token initialization, user PIN initialization, etc). If set to env:VARIABLE, the value of the environment variable VARIABLE is used. The same warning as --pin also applies here.

--test,  -t

Perform some tests on the token. This option is most useful when used with either --login or --pin.

--test-hotplug

Test hotplug capabilities (C_GetSlotList + C_WaitForSlotEvent).

--private

Set the CKA_PRIVATE attribute (object is only viewable after a login).

--always-auth

Set the CKA_ALWAYS_AUTHENTICATE attribute to a private key object. If set, the user has to supply the PIN for each use (sign or decrypt) with the key.

--allowed-mechanisms mechanisms

Sets the CKA_ALLOWED_MECHANISMS attribute to a key objects when importing an object or generating a keys. The argument accepts comma-separated list of algorithmsm, that can be used with the given key.

--test-ec

Test EC (best used with the --login or --pin option).

--test-fork

Test forking and calling C_Initialize() in the child.

--type type, -y type

Specify the type of object to operate on. Valid value are cert, privkey, pubkey, secrkey and data.

--verbose,  -v

Cause pkcs11-tool to be more verbose.

NB! This does not affect OpenSC debugging level! To set OpenSC PKCS#11 module into debug mode, set the OPENSC_DEBUG environment variable to a non-zero number.

--verify,

Verify signature of some data.

--read-object,  -r

Get object's CKA_VALUE attribute (use with --type).

--delete-object,  -b

Delete an object.

--application-label label

Specify the application label of the data object (use with --type data).

--application-id id

Specify the application ID of the data object (use with --type data).

--issuer data

Specify the issuer in hexadecimal format (use with --type cert).

--subject data

Specify the subject in hexadecimal format (use with --type cert/privkey/pubkey).

--signature-file filename

The path to the signature file for signature verification

--signature-format format

Format for ECDSA signature: 'rs' (default), 'sequence', 'openssl'.

--write-object filename, -w filename

Write a key or certificate object to the token. filename points to the DER-encoded certificate or key file.

--generate-random num

Get num bytes of random data.

--allow-sw

Allow using software mechanisms that do not have the CKF_HW flag set. May be required when using software tokens and emulators.

--iv data

Initialization vector for symmetric ciphers. The data is hexadecimal number, i.e. "000013aa7bffa0".

--mac-general-param num

Sets the length of the MAC for the general-length MACing mechanisms to num bytes.

--aad data

Additional authenticated data for AEAD ciphers. The data is an hexadecimal number.

--tag-bits-len num

Sets the length of the tag for AEAD ciphers to num bits.

--salt-file filename

Specify the file containing the salt for HKDF (optional)

--info-file filename

Specify the file containing the info for HKDF (optional)

Perform a basic functionality test of the card:

pkcs11-tool --test --login

List all certificates on the smart card:

pkcs11-tool --list-objects --type cert

Read the certificate with ID CERT_ID in DER format from smart card and convert it to PEM via OpenSSL:

pkcs11-tool --read-object --id $CERT_ID --type cert \
					--output-file cert.der
openssl x509 -inform DER -in cert.der -outform PEM > cert.pem

Write a certificate to token:

pkcs11-tool --login --write-object certificate.der --type cert

Generate new RSA Key pair:

pkcs11-tool --login --keypairgen --key-type RSA:2048

Generate new extractable RSA Key pair:

pkcs11-tool --login --keypairgen --key-type RSA:2048 --extractable

Generate an elliptic curve key pair with OpenSSL and import it to the card as $ID:

openssl genpkey -out EC_private.der -outform DER \
	-algorithm EC -pkeyopt ec_paramgen_curve:P-521
pkcs11-tool --write-object EC_private.der --id "$ID" \
	--type privkey --label "EC private key" -p "$PIN"
openssl pkey -in EC_private.der -out EC_public.der \
	-pubout -inform DER -outform DER
pkcs11-tool --write-object EC_public.der --id "$ID" \
	--type pubkey  --label "EC public key" -p $PIN

List private keys:

pkcs11-tool --login --list-objects --type privkey

Sign some data stored in file data using the private key with ID ID and using the RSA-PKCS mechanism:

pkcs11-tool --sign --id $ID --mechanism RSA-PKCS \
	--input-file data --output-file data.sig

The same is also possible by piping the data from stdin rather than specifying a input file:

dd if=data bs=128 count=1 \
	| pkcs11-tool --sign --id $ID --mechanism RSA-PKCS \
	> data.sig

Verify the signed data:

pkcs11-tool --id ID --verify -m RSA-PKCS \
	--input-file data --signature-file data.sig

To encrypt file using the AES key with ID 85 and using mechanism AES-CBC with padding:

pkcs11-tool --login --encrypt --id 85 -m AES-CBC-PAD \
	--iv "00000000000000000000000000000000" \
	-i file.txt -o encrypted_file.data

Decipher the encrypted file:

pkcs11-tool --login --decrypt --id 85 -m AES-CBC-PAD \
	--iv "00000000000000000000000000000000" \
	--i encrypted_file.data -o decrypted.txt

Use the key with ID 75 using mechanism AES-CBC-PAD, with initialization vector "00000000000000000000000000000000" to wrap the key with ID 76 into output file exported_aes.key

pkcs11-tool --login --wrap --id 75 --mechanism AES-CBC-PAD \
	--iv "00000000000000000000000000000000" \
	--application-id 76 \
	--output-file exported_aes.key

Use the key with ID 22 and mechanism RSA-PKCS to unwrap key from file aes_wrapped.key. After a successful unwrap operation, a new AES key is created on token. ID of this key is set to 90 and label of this key is set to unwrapped-key Note: for the MyEID card, the AES key size must be present in key specification i.e. AES:16

pkcs11-tool --login --unwrap --mechanism RSA-PKCS --id 22 \
	-i aes_wrapped.key --key-type AES: \
	--application-id 90 --applicatin-label unwrapped-key

Use the SO-PIN to initialize or re-set the PIN:

pkcs11-tool --login --login-type so --init-pin

pkcs11-tool was written by Olaf Kirch <okir@suse.de>.