OpenSC card init and perso guide

1. Introduction

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't
have to do it himself. -- A.H. Weiler

This guide is about initialising and personalising (no distinction made) cards with the OpenSC library and tools (mostly pkcs15-init).

Some knowlegde about smart cards is assumed. Below is a short overview of some key words and concepts. For more info, see the opensc.html manual.

Filesystem - MF - DF - EF - FID
A smart cards has a non-volatile memory (EEPROM) in which usually a PC-like file system is implemented. The directories are called Dedicated Files (DF) and the files are called Elementary Files (EF). They are identified by a File ID (FID) on 2 bytes. For example, the root of the file system (called Master File or MF) has FID = 3F 00 (hex).

Commands - APDUs
It is possible to send commands (APDUs) to the card to select, read, write, create, list, delete, ... EFs and DFs (not all cards allow all commands).

Access control, PIN, PUK
The file system usually implements some sort of access control on EFs and DFs.
This is usually done by PINs or Keys: you have to provide a PIN or show knowledge of a key before you can perform some command on some EF/DF. A PIN is usually accompanied by a PUK (Pin Unblock Key), which can be used to reset (or unblock) that PIN.

Cryptographic keys
On crypto cards, it is also possible to sign, decrypt, key(pair) generation (what can be done exactly depends on the card). on some cards, key and/or PINs are files in the filesystem, on other cards, they don't exist in the filesystem but are referenced through an ID.

Reader - PC/SC - OpenCT - CT-API
Smart card readers come with a library that can be used on a PC to send APDUs to the card. Commonly used APIs for those libraries are PC/SC, OpenCT and CT-API.

PKCS15
There are standards (e.g. ISO7816, parts 4-...) that specify how to select, read, write, EFs and DFs, and how to sign, decrypt, login, ...
However, there is also a need to know which files contain what, or where the keys, PINs, .. can be found.
For crypto cards, PCKS15 adresses this need by defining some files that contain info on where to find keys, certificates, PINs, and other data. For example, there is a PrKDF (Private Key Directory File) that contains the EFs or ID of the private keys, what those keys can be used for, by which PINs they are protected, ... So a "PCKS15 card" is nothing but any other card on which the right set of files has been added.
In short: PKCS15 allows you to describe where to find PINS, keys, certificates and data on a card, plus all the info that is needed to use them.

A little PKCS15 example:

Here's the textual contents of 3 PKCS15 files: the AODF (Authentication Object Directory File), PrKDF (Private Key Directory File) and CDF (Certificate Directory File) that contain info on resp. the PINs, private keys and certificates. Each of them contains 1 entry.

AODF:

    Com. Flags  : private, modifiable
    Auth ID     : 01
    Flags       : [0x32], local, initialized, needs-padding
    Length      : min_len:4, max_len:8, stored_len:8
    Pad char    : 0x00
    Reference   : 1
    Encoding    : ASCII-numeric
    Path        : 3F005015

PrKDF:

    Com. Flags  : private, modifiable
    Com. Auth ID: 01
    Usage       : [0x32E], decrypt, sign, signRecover, unwrap, derive, nonRep
    Access Flags: [0x1D], sensitive, alwaysSensitive, neverExtract, local
    ModLength   : 1024
    Key ref     : 0
    Native      : yes
    Path        : 3F00501530450012
    ID          : 45

X.509 Certificate [/C=BE/ST=...]

    Com. Flags  : modifiable
    Authority   : no
    Path        : 3f0050154545
    ID          : 45

Some things to note:

The Auth ID (01) of the private key is the same as the one of the PIN which means that you first have to do a login with this PIN before you can use this key.
The key is in an EF with ID = 0012 in the DF with ID = 3045, which on it is turn is a DF with ID 5015, which on it is turn is a DF of the MF (3F00).
The private key and certificates share the same ID (45), which means that they belong together.
The certificate is in the EF with as path: 3F00\5015\3045 and is no CA certificate.

Use the tests/p15dump tool to see yourself what pkcs15 data is on your card, or tools/opensc-explorer to browse through the files.

Have the PKCS15 files a fixed place so everyone can find them? No, there's only one: the EF(DIR) in the MF and with ID 2F00. That's the starting place.

2. The OpenSC pkcs15-init library and profiles

Reading and writing files, PIN verification, signing and decryption happen in much the same way on all cards. Therefore, the "normal life" commands have been implemented in OpenSC for all supported cards.

However, creating and deleting files, PINs and keys is very card specific and has not yet been implemented for all cards. Currently, pkcs15-init is implemented for: Cryptoflex, Cyberflex, CardOS (etoken), GPK, Miocos, Starcos JCOP and Oberthur. (Check src/pkcs15-init/pkcs15-*.c for possible updates). Because of this, and because pkcs15-init is not necessary for "normal life" operations, it has been put in a separate library and in a separate directory.

Profile
Because the initialisation/personalisation is so card-specific, it would be very hard to make a tool or API that accepts all parameters for all current and future cards.
Therefore, a profile file has been made in OpenSC that contains all the card-specific parameters. This card-specific profile is read by card-specific code in the pkcs15-init library each time this library is used on that card.
See the *.profile files in src/pkcs15-init/. There is one general file (pkcs15.profile) and one card-specific profile for each card.

Profile options
There are currently 3 options you can specify to modify a profile:

default: creation/deletion/generation is controlled by the SO PIN (SO = Security Officer, different from the regular user of the card)
onepin: creation/deletion/generation is controlled by the user PIN and thus by the user. As a result, only 1 user PIN is possible
small: like default, but suitable for card with little memory

3. pkcs15-init tool

This is a command-line tool that uses the pkcs15-init library. It allows you to do all the init/perso things, e.g. add/delete keys, certificates, PINs and data, generate keys, ... while specifying key usage, which PIN protects which key, ...

As said before, not all cards are supported in the pkcs15-init library. In that case, the pkcs15-init tool won't work (top 5 questions on the mailing list:-). To find out which card you have, try "opensc-tool -n"

Below is explained how to do the operations that are supported by pkcs15-tool.
Not all options are explained (run "pkcs15-tool -h" to see them) because some are card-specific or obsolete (or we don't know about them). Feel free to experiment and explain them here.

So the things in this section are fairly general but not guaranteed to work for all cards. See also the section on "card-specific issues".

The --reader or -r can be given with any command. By default the first reader is used. Do "opensc-tool -l" to see the list of available readers.

To see the results of what you did, you can do one of the following:
pkcs15-tool --list-pins --list-public-keys -k -c -C
p15dump (in the src/tests directory)
To see/dump the content of any file, use the opensc-explorer tool.

* Create the PKCS15 files

pkcs15-init -C {-T} {-p <profile>} --so-pin <PIN> --so-puk <PUK> | --no-so-pin | --pin <PIN> --puk <PUK>

This will create the PKCS15 DF (5015) and all the PKCS15 files (some of which will be empty until a key, PIN, ... will be added). It must be done before you can do any of the operations below.

This operation usually requires a 'transport' key. pkcs15-init will ask you for this key and propose the default one for that card. With -T, the default will be used without asking. NOTE: if you get a "Failed to erase card: PIN code or key incorrect", the transport key is wrong. Find this key and then try again, DO NOT try the default key again!
If you want an SO PIN and PUK, do so with the --so-pin and --so-puk options, or specify --no-so-pin if you don't want to. If you use the onpin profile, there is no SO PIN so you should specify --pin and --puk instead. (So you get: pkcs15-init -CT -p pkcs15+onepin --pin <PIN> --puk <PUK>)
To specify the profile file + option. The profile file can only be "pkcs15" for the moment, so you can have:
     pkcs15+default : the default (not needed to specify it)
     pkcs15+onepin: for the onepin profile option
     pkcs15+small: for the small profile option

* Erase the card's content

pkcs15-init -E {-T}

This will delete all keys, PINS, certificates, data that were listed in PKCS15 files, along with the PKCS15 files themselves.

This operation usually requires a 'transport' key. pkcs15-init will ask you for this key and propose the default one for that card. With -T, the default will be used without asking. NOTE: if you get a "Failed to erase card: PIN code or key incorrect", the transport key is wrong. Find this key and then try again, DO NOT try the default key again!

Note: you can combine erase/create (-E -C or -EC) to erase and then create
the card's contents, except when you change the profile option.

* Add a PIN (not possible with the onepin profile option)

pkcs15-init -P {-a <AuthID>} {--pin <PIN>} {--puk <PUK>} {-l <label>}

You can specify the AuthID with -a, if you don't do so, a value that didn't exist yet on the card will be chosen.
Specify the PIN and PUK with --pin and --puk, if you don't do so, the tool will prompt you for one.
Specify the label (name) of the PIN with -l, or accept the default label.

* Generate a key pair (on card or in software on the PC)

pkcs15-init -G <keyspec> -a <AuthID> --insecure {-i <ID>} {--soft}{-u <keyusage>}{-l <privkeylabel>} {--public-key-label <pubkeylabel>}

This will generate a public and private key pair.

The keyspec consist of the key type, rsa or dsa (depends on what your cards supports), and optinally a slash followed by the keysize in bits. E.g. "rsa/1024" specifies a 1024 bit RSA key pair. Note: dsa is not fully supported.
Specify the AuthID of the PIN that protects this key (from being used in a signature or decryption operation) with -a; or specify --insecure if you want the private key to be used without first providing a PIN.
Specify the ID of the key with -i, otherwise the tool with choose one.
Specify --soft if you don't want the key pair to be generated on-chip.
Specify the usage of the private key with -u; if you add a corresponding certificate later, it should have the same key usage. (Do "pkcs15-init -u help" for help).
Specify the label (name) of the private key with -l, or accept the default label.
Specify the label (name) of the public key with --public-key-label, or accept the default label if you don't do so.
Depending on your card and profile option, you will be prompted to provide your SO PIN and/or PIN; if you don't want to be prompted, add them to the command line with --so-pin <SOPIN> and/or --pin <PIN>.

NOTE: see the SSL engines (below) on how to make a certificate request with the key you generated.

* Add a private key

pkcs15-init -S <keyfile> {-f <keyformat>} -a <AuthID> --insecure {-i <ID>} {-u <keyusage>} {--passphrase <password>} {-l <label>}

The keyfile should be in DER (binary) or PEM format.
The keyformat should be PEM (default) or DER.
Specify the AuthID of the PIN that protects this key (from being used in a signature or decryption operation) with -a; or specify --insecure if you want the private key to be used without first providing a PIN.
Specify the ID of the key with -i
Specify the label (name) of the with -l, or accept the default label.
Depending on your card and profile option, you will be prompted to provide your SO PIN and/or PIN; if you don't want to be prompted, add them to the command line with --so-pin <SOPIN> and/or --pin <PIN>.

* Add a private key + certificate(s) (in a pkcs12 file)

pkcs15-init -S <pkcs12file> -f PKCS12 -a <AuthID> {--insecure} {-i <ID>} {-u <keyusage>} {--passphrase <password>} {-l <privkeylabel>} {--cert-label <usercertlabel>}

This adds the private key and certificate chain to the card. If a certificate already exists on the card, it won't be added again.

Specify the AuthID of the PIN that protects this key (from being used in a signature or decryption operation) with -a; or specify --insecure if you want the private key to be used without first providing a PIN.
Specify the ID of the key and the corresponding certificate with -i, otherwise the tool with choose one; only the 'user cert' will get the same ID as the key, the other certificates will get 'authority' status and another ID.
You can specify the key-usage, but it is not advised to do this so the key usage from the certificate is used.
Specify the password of the pkcs12 key file if you don't want to be prompted for one.
Specify the label (name) of the private key with -l, or accept the default label.
Specify the label (name) of the user certificate with --cert-label, or accept the default label.
Depending on your card and profile option, you will be prompted to provide your SO PIN and/or PIN; if you don't want to be prompted, add them to the command line with --so-pin <SOPIN> and/or --pin <PIN>.

* Add a certificate

pkcs15-init -W <certfile> {-f <certformat>} {-i <ID>} {--authority}

The certfile should be in DER (binary) or PEM format
The certformat should be PEM (default) or DER
Specify the ID of the certificate with -i, otherwise the tool with choose one; if the certificate corresponds to a private and/or public key, you should specify the same ID as that key.
Specify --authority if it is a CA certificate.
Depending on your card and profile option, you will be prompted to provide your SO PIN and/or PIN; if you don't want to be prompted, add them to the command line with --so-pin <SOPIN> and/or --pin <PIN>.

* Add a public key

pkcs15-init --store-public-key <keyfile> {-f <keyformat>} {-i <ID>} {-l <label>}

The keyfile should be in DER (binary) or PEM format
The keyformat should be PEM (default) or DER
Specify the ID of the key with -i, otherwise the tool with choose one; if the key corresponds to a private key and/or certificate, you should specify the same ID as that private key and/or certificate.
Specify the label (name) of the with -l, or accept the default label.
Depending on your card and profile option, you will be prompted to provide your SO PIN and/or PIN; if you don't want to be prompted, add them to the command line with --so-pin <SOPIN> and/or --pin <PIN>.

* Add data

pkcs15-init -W <datafile> {-i <ID>} {-l <label>}

The datafile is stored "as is" onto the card.
Specify the ID of the data with -i, or accept the default ID.
Specify the label (name) of the with -l, or accept the default label.
Depending on your card and profile option, you will be prompted to provide your SO PIN and/or PIN; if you don't want to be prompted, add them to the command line with --so-pin <SOPIN> and/or --pin <PIN>.

4. Other tools

* SSL-engines

These libraries can be loaded in OpenSSL so you can do a certificate request with the openssl tool; the signature on the certificate request will then be made with the smart card. The result can then be sent to a CA for certification, the resulting certificate can be put on the card with pkcs15-init or pkcs11-tool.

Run openssl
On the openssl command prompt, type
engine dynamic -pre SO_PATH:engine_pkcs11 -pre ID:pkcs11 -pre LIST_ADD:1 -pre LOAD
or
engine dynamic -pre SO_PATH:engine_opensc -pre ID:opensc -pre LIST_ADD:1 -pre LOAD
depending on which one of the 2 engines (pkcs11 or opensc) you want to use.

Then type (on the openssl command prompt)
     req -engine pkcs11 -new -key <ID> -keyform engine -out <cert_req>
or
     req -engine opensc -new -key <ID> -keyform engine -out <cert_req>
in which ID is the slot+ID in the following format:
     [slot_<slotID>][-][id_<ID>], e.g. id_45 or slot_0-id_45

* pkcs11-tool and Mozilla/Netscape

You can use the OpenSC pkcs11 library to generate a keypair in Mozilla or Netscape, and let the browser generate a certificate request that is sent to an on-line CA to issue and send you a certificate that is then added to the card.

Just go to an online CA (Globalsign, Thawte, ...) and follow their guidelines. Because such a request either costs you or at least requires you to provide a valid mail address, it is advisable to first try you card with "pkcs11-tool --moz-cert <cert_file_in_der_format> --login".

NOTE: This can only be done with the onepin profile option (because the browser won't ask for an SO PIN, only for the user PIN).

5. Card-specific issues

Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize
a mistake when you make it again. -- Franklin P. Jones

Cryptoflex:

DFs and EFs in a DF have to be deleted in reverse order of creation.
OpenSC relies on this fact for security, but also has some downsides. For example, if you did a "pkcs15-init -C" and then added some EFs or DFs in the MF, you won't be able to do a "pkcs15-init -E" afterwards to remove the PKCS15 DF (5015). So you'll first have to manually remove all EFs/DFs you created in the MF before being able remove the pkcs15 DF.

Starcos SPK 2.3:

Due to the way Starcos SPK 2.3 manages access rights it is necessary to manually call "pkcs15-init --finalize" after card personalization if no SO-PIN has been specified. Once the card has been finalized it is no possible to add new private/secrets keys or PINs. If a SO-PIN is used the card will automatically be finalized after the SO-PIN has been stored.
If an SO-PIN is used and if there is enough space in the key file left, then the owner of the SO-PIN can access/use every protected item by creating a PIN for the necessary state.