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📖 NAME

openssl-spkac - SPKAC printing and generating command

🚀 Quick Reference

Use Case	Command	Description
📄 Print SPKAC contents	openssl spkac -in spkac.cnf	Display the SPKAC file in human-readable form
✅ Verify SPKAC signature	openssl spkac -in spkac.cnf -noout -verify	Check that the digital signature is valid
🔑 Create a new SPKAC	openssl spkac -key key.pem -challenge hello -out spkac.cnf	Generate an SPKAC from a private key and challenge string
🔐 Extract public key from SPKAC	openssl spkac -in spkac.cnf -pubkey	Output the public key embedded in the SPKAC

📋 SYNOPSIS

openssl spkac [-help] [-in filename] [-out filename] [-digest digest]
       [-key filename|uri] [-keyform DER|PEM|P12|ENGINE] [-passin arg]
       [-challenge string] [-pubkey] [-spkac spkacname] [-spksect section]
       [-noout] [-verify] [-engine id] [-provider name] [-provider-path path]
       [-propquery propq]

📝 DESCRIPTION

This command processes Netscape signed public key and challenge (SPKAC) files. It can print out their contents, verify the signature and produce its own SPKACs from a supplied private key.

⚙️ OPTIONS

🆘 -help

📝 Print out a usage message.

🙈 -noout

🚫 Don't output the text version of the SPKAC (not used if an SPKAC is being created).

🔑 -pubkey

🔓 Output the public key of an SPKAC (not used if an SPKAC is being created).

✅ -verify

🛡️ Verifies the digital signature on the supplied SPKAC.

• -in filename 📄 This specifies the input filename to read from or standard input if this option is not specified. Ignored if the -key option is used.
• -out filename 📤 Specifies the output filename to write to or standard output by default.
• -digest digest 🔐 Use the specified digest to sign a created SPKAC file. The default digest algorithm is MD5.
• -key filename|uri 🔑 Create an SPKAC file using the private key specified by filename or uri. The -in, -noout, -spksect and -verify options are ignored if present.
• -keyform DER|PEM|P12|ENGINE 📋 The key format; unspecified by default. See openssl-format-options(1) for details.
• -passin arg 🔐 The input file password source. For more information about the format of arg see openssl-passphrase-options(1).
• -challenge string 🎯 Specifies the challenge string if an SPKAC is being created.
• -spkac spkacname 🏷️ Allows an alternative name form the variable containing the SPKAC. The default is "SPKAC". This option affects both generated and input SPKAC files.
• -spksect section 📑 Allows an alternative name form the section containing the SPKAC. The default is the default section.
• -engine id ⚙️ See "Engine Options" in openssl(1). This option is deprecated.
• -provider name 🔌 See "Provider Options" in openssl(1), provider(7), and property(7).
• -provider-path path 📂 Path for provider modules.
• -propquery propq 🔍 Property query for provider selection.

💡 EXAMPLES

📄 Print out the contents of an SPKAC:

openssl spkac -in spkac.cnf

✅ Verify the signature of an SPKAC:

openssl spkac -in spkac.cnf -noout -verify

🔑 Create an SPKAC using the challenge string "hello":

openssl spkac -key key.pem -challenge hello -out spkac.cnf

📝 Example of an SPKAC, (long lines split up for clarity):

SPKAC=MIG5MGUwXDANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAANLADBIAkEA\
1cCoq2Wa3Ixs47uI7FPVwHVIPDx5yso105Y6zpozam135a\
8R0CpoRvkkigIyXfcCjiVi5oWk+6FfPaD03uPFoQIDAQAB\
FgVoZWxsbzANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQQFAANBAFpQtY/FojdwkJ\
h1bEIYuc2EeM2KHTWPEepWYeawvHD0gQ3DngSC75YCWnnD\
dq+NQ3F+X4deMx9AaEglZtULwV4=

📌 NOTES

A created SPKAC with suitable DN components appended can be fed to openssl-ca(1).

SPKACs are typically generated by Netscape when a form is submitted containing the KEYGEN tag as part of the certificate enrollment process.

The challenge string permits a primitive form of proof of possession of private key. By checking the SPKAC signature and a random challenge string some guarantee is given that the user knows the private key corresponding to the public key being certified. This is important in some applications. Without this it is possible for a previous SPKAC to be used in a "replay attack".

🔗 SEE ALSO

• openssl(1)
• openssl-ca(1)

📜 HISTORY

The -engine option was deprecated in OpenSSL 3.0.

The -digest option was added in OpenSSL 3.0.

©️ COPYRIGHT

Copyright 2000-2021 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.

Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (the "License"). You may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html.

📖 NAME 🚀 Quick Reference 📋 SYNOPSIS 📝 DESCRIPTION ⚙️ OPTIONS 💡 EXAMPLES 📌 NOTES 🔗 SEE ALSO 📜 HISTORY ©️ COPYRIGHT