xref: /freebsd/crypto/openssl/doc/man3/PKCS7_sign.pod (revision 62cfcf62f627e5093fb37026a6d8c98e4d2ef04c)
1=pod
2
3=head1 NAME
4
5PKCS7_sign - create a PKCS#7 signedData structure
6
7=head1 SYNOPSIS
8
9 #include <openssl/pkcs7.h>
10
11 PKCS7 *PKCS7_sign(X509 *signcert, EVP_PKEY *pkey, STACK_OF(X509) *certs,
12                   BIO *data, int flags);
13
14=head1 DESCRIPTION
15
16PKCS7_sign() creates and returns a PKCS#7 signedData structure. B<signcert> is
17the certificate to sign with, B<pkey> is the corresponding private key.
18B<certs> is an optional additional set of certificates to include in the PKCS#7
19structure (for example any intermediate CAs in the chain).
20
21The data to be signed is read from BIO B<data>.
22
23B<flags> is an optional set of flags.
24
25=head1 NOTES
26
27Any of the following flags (ored together) can be passed in the B<flags>
28parameter.
29
30Many S/MIME clients expect the signed content to include valid MIME headers. If
31the B<PKCS7_TEXT> flag is set MIME headers for type B<text/plain> are prepended
32to the data.
33
34If B<PKCS7_NOCERTS> is set the signer's certificate will not be included in the
35PKCS7 structure, the signer's certificate must still be supplied in the
36B<signcert> parameter though. This can reduce the size of the signature if the
37signers certificate can be obtained by other means: for example a previously
38signed message.
39
40The data being signed is included in the PKCS7 structure, unless
41B<PKCS7_DETACHED> is set in which case it is omitted. This is used for PKCS7
42detached signatures which are used in S/MIME plaintext signed messages for
43example.
44
45Normally the supplied content is translated into MIME canonical format (as
46required by the S/MIME specifications) if B<PKCS7_BINARY> is set no translation
47occurs. This option should be used if the supplied data is in binary format
48otherwise the translation will corrupt it.
49
50The signedData structure includes several PKCS#7 authenticatedAttributes
51including the signing time, the PKCS#7 content type and the supported list of
52ciphers in an SMIMECapabilities attribute. If B<PKCS7_NOATTR> is set then no
53authenticatedAttributes will be used. If B<PKCS7_NOSMIMECAP> is set then just
54the SMIMECapabilities are omitted.
55
56If present the SMIMECapabilities attribute indicates support for the following
57algorithms: triple DES, 128 bit RC2, 64 bit RC2, DES and 40 bit RC2. If any of
58these algorithms is disabled then it will not be included.
59
60If the flags B<PKCS7_STREAM> is set then the returned B<PKCS7> structure is
61just initialized ready to perform the signing operation. The signing is however
62B<not> performed and the data to be signed is not read from the B<data>
63parameter. Signing is deferred until after the data has been written. In this
64way data can be signed in a single pass.
65
66If the B<PKCS7_PARTIAL> flag is set a partial B<PKCS7> structure is output to
67which additional signers and capabilities can be added before finalization.
68
69=head1 NOTES
70
71If the flag B<PKCS7_STREAM> is set the returned B<PKCS7> structure is B<not>
72complete and outputting its contents via a function that does not properly
73finalize the B<PKCS7> structure will give unpredictable results.
74
75Several functions including SMIME_write_PKCS7(), i2d_PKCS7_bio_stream(),
76PEM_write_bio_PKCS7_stream() finalize the structure. Alternatively finalization
77can be performed by obtaining the streaming ASN1 B<BIO> directly using
78BIO_new_PKCS7().
79
80If a signer is specified it will use the default digest for the signing
81algorithm. This is B<SHA1> for both RSA and DSA keys.
82
83The B<certs>, B<signcert> and B<pkey> parameters can all be
84B<NULL> if the B<PKCS7_PARTIAL> flag is set. One or more signers can be added
85using the function PKCS7_sign_add_signer(). PKCS7_final() must also be
86called to finalize the structure if streaming is not enabled. Alternative
87signing digests can also be specified using this method.
88
89If B<signcert> and B<pkey> are NULL then a certificates only
90PKCS#7 structure is output.
91
92In versions of OpenSSL before 1.0.0 the B<signcert> and B<pkey> parameters must
93B<NOT> be NULL.
94
95=head1 BUGS
96
97Some advanced attributes such as counter signatures are not supported.
98
99=head1 RETURN VALUES
100
101PKCS7_sign() returns either a valid PKCS7 structure or NULL if an error
102occurred.  The error can be obtained from ERR_get_error(3).
103
104=head1 SEE ALSO
105
106L<ERR_get_error(3)>, L<PKCS7_verify(3)>
107
108=head1 HISTORY
109
110The B<PKCS7_PARTIAL> flag, and the ability for B<certs>, B<signcert>,
111and B<pkey> parameters to be B<NULL> were added in OpenSSL 1.0.0.
112
113The B<PKCS7_STREAM> flag was added in OpenSSL 1.0.0.
114
115=head1 COPYRIGHT
116
117Copyright 2002-2016 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
118
119Licensed under the OpenSSL license (the "License").  You may not use
120this file except in compliance with the License.  You can obtain a copy
121in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at
122L<https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.
123
124=cut
125