Source code
Revision control
Copy as Markdown
Other Tools
.. _mozilla_projects_nss_tools_signver:
NSS tools : signver
===================
.. container::
| Name
| signver — Verify a detached PKCS#7 signature for a file.
| Synopsis
| signtool -A \| -V -d directory [-a] [-i input_file] [-o output_file] [-s
| signature_file] [-v]
| Description
| The Signature Verification Tool, signver, is a simple command-line utility
| that unpacks a base-64-encoded PKCS#7 signed object and verifies the
| digital signature using standard cryptographic techniques. The Signature
| Verification Tool can also display the contents of the signed object.
| Options
| -A
| Displays all of the information in the PKCS#7 signature.
| -V
| Verifies the digital signature.
| -d [sql:]directory
| Specify the database directory which contains the certificates and
| keys.
| signver supports two types of databases: the legacy security
| databases (cert8.db, key3.db, and secmod.db) and new SQLite
| databases (cert9.db, key4.db, and pkcs11.txt). If the prefix sql:
| is not used, then the tool assumes that the given databases are in
| the old format.
| -a
| Sets that the given signature file is in ASCII format.
| -i input_file
| Gives the input file for the object with signed data.
| -o output_file
| Gives the output file to which to write the results.
| -s signature_file
| Gives the input file for the digital signature.
| -v
| Enables verbose output.
| Extended Examples
| Verifying a Signature
| The -V option verifies that the signature in a given signature file is
| valid when used to sign the given object (from the input file).
| signver -V -s signature_file -i signed_file -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb
| signatureValid=yes
| Printing Signature Data
| The -A option prints all of the information contained in a signature file.
| Using the -o option prints the signature file information to the given
| output file rather than stdout.
| signver -A -s signature_file -o output_file
| NSS Database Types
| NSS originally used BerkeleyDB databases to store security information.
| The last versions of these legacy databases are:
| o cert8.db for certificates
| o key3.db for keys
| o secmod.db for PKCS #11 module information
| BerkeleyDB has performance limitations, though, which prevent it from
| being easily used by multiple applications simultaneously. NSS has some
| flexibility that allows applications to use their own, independent
| database engine while keeping a shared database and working around the
| access issues. Still, NSS requires more flexibility to provide a truly
| shared security database.
| In 2009, NSS introduced a new set of databases that are SQLite databases
| rather than BerkleyDB. These new databases provide more accessibility and
| performance:
| o cert9.db for certificates
| o key4.db for keys
| o pkcs11.txt, which is listing of all of the PKCS #11 modules contained
| in a new subdirectory in the security databases directory
| Because the SQLite databases are designed to be shared, these are the
| shared database type. The shared database type is preferred; the legacy
| format is included for backward compatibility.
| By default, the tools (certutil, pk12util, modutil) assume that the given
| security databases follow the more common legacy type. Using the SQLite
| databases must be manually specified by using the sql: prefix with the
| given security directory. For example:
| # signver -A -s signature -d sql:/home/my/sharednssdb
| To set the shared database type as the default type for the tools, set the
| NSS_DEFAULT_DB_TYPE environment variable to sql:
| export NSS_DEFAULT_DB_TYPE="sql"
| This line can be set added to the ~/.bashrc file to make the change
| permanent.
| Most applications do not use the shared database by default, but they can
| be configured to use them. For example, this how-to article covers how to
| configure Firefox and Thunderbird to use the new shared NSS databases:
| For an engineering draft on the changes in the shared NSS databases, see
| the NSS project wiki:
| See Also
| signtool (1)
| The NSS wiki has information on the new database design and how to
| configure applications to use it.
| o Setting up the shared NSS database
| o Engineering and technical information about the shared NSS database
| Additional Resources
| For information about NSS and other tools related to NSS (like JSS), check
| out the NSS project wiki at
|
[1]\ `http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/ <https://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/>`__.
The NSS site relates
| directly to NSS code changes and releases.
| IRC: Freenode at #dogtag-pki
| Authors
| The NSS tools were written and maintained by developers with Netscape, Red
| Hat, and Sun.
| Authors: Elio Maldonado <emaldona@redhat.com>, Deon Lackey
| <dlackey@redhat.com>.
| Copyright
| (c) 2010, Red Hat, Inc. Licensed under the GNU Public License version 2.
| References
| Visible links
| 1.