6 verify - Utility to verify certificates
13 [B<-CApath directory>]
16 [B<-allow_proxy_certs>]
17 [B<-attime timestamp>]
45 [B<-auth_level level>]
46 [B<-verify_depth num>]
47 [B<-verify_email email>]
48 [B<-verify_hostname hostname>]
50 [B<-verify_name name>]
58 The B<verify> command verifies certificate chains.
66 Print out a usage message.
70 A B<file> of trusted certificates.
71 The file should contain one or more certificates in PEM format.
73 =item B<-CApath directory>
75 A directory of trusted certificates. The certificates should have names
76 of the form: hash.0 or have symbolic links to them of this
77 form ("hash" is the hashed certificate subject name: see the B<-hash> option
78 of the B<x509> utility). Under Unix the B<c_rehash> script will automatically
79 create symbolic links to a directory of certificates.
83 Do not load the trusted CA certificates from the default file location.
87 Do not load the trusted CA certificates from the default directory location.
89 =item B<-allow_proxy_certs>
91 Allow the verification of proxy certificates.
93 =item B<-attime timestamp>
95 Perform validation checks using time specified by B<timestamp> and not
96 current system time. B<timestamp> is the number of seconds since
97 01.01.1970 (UNIX time).
99 =item B<-check_ss_sig>
101 Verify the signature on the self-signed root CA. This is disabled by default
102 because it doesn't add any security.
104 =item B<-CRLfile file>
106 The B<file> should contain one or more CRLs in PEM format.
107 This option can be specified more than once to include CRLs from multiple
110 =item B<-crl_download>
112 Attempt to download CRL information for this certificate.
116 Checks end entity certificate validity by attempting to look up a valid CRL.
117 If a valid CRL cannot be found an error occurs.
119 =item B<-crl_check_all>
121 Checks the validity of B<all> certificates in the chain by attempting
122 to look up valid CRLs.
126 Specifying an engine B<id> will cause L<verify(1)> to attempt to load the
128 The engine will then be set as the default for all its supported algorithms.
129 If you want to load certificates or CRLs that require engine support via any of
130 the B<-trusted>, B<-untrusted> or B<-CRLfile> options, the B<-engine> option
131 must be specified before those options.
133 =item B<-explicit_policy>
135 Set policy variable require-explicit-policy (see RFC5280).
137 =item B<-extended_crl>
139 Enable extended CRL features such as indirect CRLs and alternate CRL
142 =item B<-ignore_critical>
144 Normally if an unhandled critical extension is present which is not
145 supported by OpenSSL the certificate is rejected (as required by RFC5280).
146 If this option is set critical extensions are ignored.
148 =item B<-inhibit_any>
150 Set policy variable inhibit-any-policy (see RFC5280).
152 =item B<-inhibit_map>
154 Set policy variable inhibit-policy-mapping (see RFC5280).
156 =item B<-nameopt option>
158 Option which determines how the subject or issuer names are displayed. The
159 B<option> argument can be a single option or multiple options separated by
160 commas. Alternatively the B<-nameopt> switch may be used more than once to
161 set multiple options. See the L<x509(1)> manual page for details.
163 =item B<-no_check_time>
165 This option suppresses checking the validity period of certificates and CRLs
166 against the current time. If option B<-attime timestamp> is used to specify
167 a verification time, the check is not suppressed.
169 =item B<-partial_chain>
171 Allow verification to succeed even if a I<complete> chain cannot be built to a
172 self-signed trust-anchor, provided it is possible to construct a chain to a
173 trusted certificate that might not be self-signed.
177 Enable policy processing and add B<arg> to the user-initial-policy-set (see
178 RFC5280). The policy B<arg> can be an object name an OID in numeric form.
179 This argument can appear more than once.
181 =item B<-policy_check>
183 Enables certificate policy processing.
185 =item B<-policy_print>
187 Print out diagnostics related to policy processing.
189 =item B<-purpose purpose>
191 The intended use for the certificate. If this option is not specified,
192 B<verify> will not consider certificate purpose during chain verification.
193 Currently accepted uses are B<sslclient>, B<sslserver>, B<nssslserver>,
194 B<smimesign>, B<smimeencrypt>. See the B<VERIFY OPERATION> section for more
197 =item B<-suiteB_128_only>, B<-suiteB_128>, B<-suiteB_192>
199 Enable the Suite B mode operation at 128 bit Level of Security, 128 bit or
200 192 bit, or only 192 bit Level of Security respectively.
201 See RFC6460 for details. In particular the supported signature algorithms are
202 reduced to support only ECDSA and SHA256 or SHA384 and only the elliptic curves
205 =item B<-trusted_first>
207 When constructing the certificate chain, use the trusted certificates specified
208 via B<-CAfile>, B<-CApath> or B<-trusted> before any certificates specified via
210 This can be useful in environments with Bridge or Cross-Certified CAs.
211 As of OpenSSL 1.1.0 this option is on by default and cannot be disabled.
213 =item B<-no_alt_chains>
215 By default, unless B<-trusted_first> is specified, when building a certificate
216 chain, if the first certificate chain found is not trusted, then OpenSSL will
217 attempt to replace untrusted issuer certificates with certificates from the
218 trust store to see if an alternative chain can be found that is trusted.
219 As of OpenSSL 1.1.0, with B<-trusted_first> always on, this option has no
222 =item B<-untrusted file>
224 A B<file> of additional untrusted certificates (intermediate issuer CAs) used
225 to construct a certificate chain from the subject certificate to a trust-anchor.
226 The B<file> should contain one or more certificates in PEM format.
227 This option can be specified more than once to include untrusted certificates
228 from multiple B<files>.
230 =item B<-trusted file>
232 A B<file> of trusted certificates, which must be self-signed, unless the
233 B<-partial_chain> option is specified.
234 The B<file> contains one or more certificates in PEM format.
235 With this option, no additional (e.g., default) certificate lists are
237 That is, the only trust-anchors are those listed in B<file>.
238 This option can be specified more than once to include trusted certificates
239 from multiple B<files>.
240 This option implies the B<-no-CAfile> and B<-no-CApath> options.
241 This option cannot be used in combination with either of the B<-CAfile> or
246 Enable support for delta CRLs.
250 Print extra information about the operations being performed.
252 =item B<-auth_level level>
254 Set the certificate chain authentication security level to B<level>.
255 The authentication security level determines the acceptable signature and
256 public key strength when verifying certificate chains.
257 For a certificate chain to validate, the public keys of all the certificates
258 must meet the specified security B<level>.
259 The signature algorithm security level is enforced for all the certificates in
260 the chain except for the chain's I<trust anchor>, which is either directly
261 trusted or validated by means other than its signature.
262 See L<SSL_CTX_set_security_level(3)> for the definitions of the available
264 The default security level is -1, or "not set".
265 At security level 0 or lower all algorithms are acceptable.
266 Security level 1 requires at least 80-bit-equivalent security and is broadly
267 interoperable, though it will, for example, reject MD5 signatures or RSA keys
268 shorter than 1024 bits.
270 =item B<-verify_depth num>
272 Limit the certificate chain to B<num> intermediate CA certificates.
273 A maximal depth chain can have up to B<num+2> certificates, since neither the
274 end-entity certificate nor the trust-anchor certificate count against the
275 B<-verify_depth> limit.
277 =item B<-verify_email email>
279 Verify if the B<email> matches the email address in Subject Alternative Name or
280 the email in the subject Distinguished Name.
282 =item B<-verify_hostname hostname>
284 Verify if the B<hostname> matches DNS name in Subject Alternative Name or
285 Common Name in the subject certificate.
287 =item B<-verify_ip ip>
289 Verify if the B<ip> matches the IP address in Subject Alternative Name of
290 the subject certificate.
292 =item B<-verify_name name>
294 Use default verification policies like trust model and required certificate
295 policies identified by B<name>.
296 The trust model determines which auxiliary trust or reject OIDs are applicable
297 to verifying the given certificate chain.
298 See the B<-addtrust> and B<-addreject> options of the L<x509(1)> command-line
300 Supported policy names include: B<default>, B<pkcs7>, B<smime_sign>,
301 B<ssl_client>, B<ssl_server>.
302 These mimics the combinations of purpose and trust settings used in SSL, CMS
304 As of OpenSSL 1.1.0, the trust model is inferred from the purpose when not
305 specified, so the B<-verify_name> options are functionally equivalent to the
306 corresponding B<-purpose> settings.
308 =item B<-x509_strict>
310 For strict X.509 compliance, disable non-compliant workarounds for broken
315 Display information about the certificate chain that has been built (if
316 successful). Certificates in the chain that came from the untrusted list will be
317 flagged as "untrusted".
321 Indicates the last option. All arguments following this are assumed to be
322 certificate files. This is useful if the first certificate filename begins
325 =item B<certificates>
327 One or more certificates to verify. If no certificates are given, B<verify>
328 will attempt to read a certificate from standard input. Certificates must be
333 =head1 VERIFY OPERATION
335 The B<verify> program uses the same functions as the internal SSL and S/MIME
336 verification, therefore this description applies to these verify operations
339 There is one crucial difference between the verify operations performed
340 by the B<verify> program: wherever possible an attempt is made to continue
341 after an error whereas normally the verify operation would halt on the
342 first error. This allows all the problems with a certificate chain to be
345 The verify operation consists of a number of separate steps.
347 Firstly a certificate chain is built up starting from the supplied certificate
348 and ending in the root CA.
349 It is an error if the whole chain cannot be built up.
350 The chain is built up by looking up the issuers certificate of the current
352 If a certificate is found which is its own issuer it is assumed to be the root
355 The process of 'looking up the issuers certificate' itself involves a number of
357 After all certificates whose subject name matches the issuer name of the current
358 certificate are subject to further tests.
359 The relevant authority key identifier components of the current certificate (if
360 present) must match the subject key identifier (if present) and issuer and
361 serial number of the candidate issuer, in addition the keyUsage extension of
362 the candidate issuer (if present) must permit certificate signing.
364 The lookup first looks in the list of untrusted certificates and if no match
365 is found the remaining lookups are from the trusted certificates. The root CA
366 is always looked up in the trusted certificate list: if the certificate to
367 verify is a root certificate then an exact match must be found in the trusted
370 The second operation is to check every untrusted certificate's extensions for
371 consistency with the supplied purpose. If the B<-purpose> option is not included
372 then no checks are done. The supplied or "leaf" certificate must have extensions
373 compatible with the supplied purpose and all other certificates must also be valid
374 CA certificates. The precise extensions required are described in more detail in
375 the B<CERTIFICATE EXTENSIONS> section of the B<x509> utility.
377 The third operation is to check the trust settings on the root CA. The root CA
378 should be trusted for the supplied purpose.
379 For compatibility with previous versions of OpenSSL, a certificate with no
380 trust settings is considered to be valid for all purposes.
382 The final operation is to check the validity of the certificate chain. The validity
383 period is checked against the current system time and the notBefore and notAfter
384 dates in the certificate. The certificate signatures are also checked at this
387 If all operations complete successfully then certificate is considered valid. If
388 any operation fails then the certificate is not valid.
392 When a verify operation fails the output messages can be somewhat cryptic. The
393 general form of the error message is:
395 server.pem: /C=AU/ST=Queensland/O=CryptSoft Pty Ltd/CN=Test CA (1024 bit)
396 error 24 at 1 depth lookup:invalid CA certificate
398 The first line contains the name of the certificate being verified followed by
399 the subject name of the certificate. The second line contains the error number
400 and the depth. The depth is number of the certificate being verified when a
401 problem was detected starting with zero for the certificate being verified itself
402 then 1 for the CA that signed the certificate and so on. Finally a text version
403 of the error number is presented.
405 A partial list of the error codes and messages is shown below, this also
406 includes the name of the error code as defined in the header file x509_vfy.h
407 Some of the error codes are defined but never returned: these are described
414 The operation was successful.
416 =item B<X509_V_ERR_UNSPECIFIED>
418 Unspecified error; should not happen.
420 =item B<X509_V_ERR_UNABLE_TO_GET_ISSUER_CERT>
422 The issuer certificate of a looked up certificate could not be found. This
423 normally means the list of trusted certificates is not complete.
425 =item B<X509_V_ERR_UNABLE_TO_GET_CRL>
427 The CRL of a certificate could not be found.
429 =item B<X509_V_ERR_UNABLE_TO_DECRYPT_CERT_SIGNATURE>
431 The certificate signature could not be decrypted. This means that the
432 actual signature value could not be determined rather than it not matching
433 the expected value, this is only meaningful for RSA keys.
435 =item B<X509_V_ERR_UNABLE_TO_DECRYPT_CRL_SIGNATURE>
437 The CRL signature could not be decrypted: this means that the actual
438 signature value could not be determined rather than it not matching the
439 expected value. Unused.
441 =item B<X509_V_ERR_UNABLE_TO_DECODE_ISSUER_PUBLIC_KEY>
443 The public key in the certificate SubjectPublicKeyInfo could not be read.
445 =item B<X509_V_ERR_CERT_SIGNATURE_FAILURE>
447 The signature of the certificate is invalid.
449 =item B<X509_V_ERR_CRL_SIGNATURE_FAILURE>
451 The signature of the certificate is invalid.
453 =item B<X509_V_ERR_CERT_NOT_YET_VALID>
455 The certificate is not yet valid: the notBefore date is after the
458 =item B<X509_V_ERR_CERT_HAS_EXPIRED>
460 The certificate has expired: that is the notAfter date is before the
463 =item B<X509_V_ERR_CRL_NOT_YET_VALID>
465 The CRL is not yet valid.
467 =item B<X509_V_ERR_CRL_HAS_EXPIRED>
471 =item B<X509_V_ERR_ERROR_IN_CERT_NOT_BEFORE_FIELD>
473 The certificate notBefore field contains an invalid time.
475 =item B<X509_V_ERR_ERROR_IN_CERT_NOT_AFTER_FIELD>
477 The certificate notAfter field contains an invalid time.
479 =item B<X509_V_ERR_ERROR_IN_CRL_LAST_UPDATE_FIELD>
481 The CRL lastUpdate field contains an invalid time.
483 =item B<X509_V_ERR_ERROR_IN_CRL_NEXT_UPDATE_FIELD>
485 The CRL nextUpdate field contains an invalid time.
487 =item B<X509_V_ERR_OUT_OF_MEM>
489 An error occurred trying to allocate memory. This should never happen.
491 =item B<X509_V_ERR_DEPTH_ZERO_SELF_SIGNED_CERT>
493 The passed certificate is self-signed and the same certificate cannot
494 be found in the list of trusted certificates.
496 =item B<X509_V_ERR_SELF_SIGNED_CERT_IN_CHAIN>
498 The certificate chain could be built up using the untrusted certificates
499 but the root could not be found locally.
501 =item B<X509_V_ERR_UNABLE_TO_GET_ISSUER_CERT_LOCALLY>
503 The issuer certificate could not be found: this occurs if the issuer
504 certificate of an untrusted certificate cannot be found.
506 =item B<X509_V_ERR_UNABLE_TO_VERIFY_LEAF_SIGNATURE>
508 No signatures could be verified because the chain contains only one
509 certificate and it is not self signed.
511 =item B<X509_V_ERR_CERT_CHAIN_TOO_LONG>
513 The certificate chain length is greater than the supplied maximum
516 =item B<X509_V_ERR_CERT_REVOKED>
518 The certificate has been revoked.
520 =item B<X509_V_ERR_INVALID_CA>
522 A CA certificate is invalid. Either it is not a CA or its extensions
523 are not consistent with the supplied purpose.
525 =item B<X509_V_ERR_PATH_LENGTH_EXCEEDED>
527 The basicConstraints pathlength parameter has been exceeded.
529 =item B<X509_V_ERR_INVALID_PURPOSE>
531 The supplied certificate cannot be used for the specified purpose.
533 =item B<X509_V_ERR_CERT_UNTRUSTED>
535 The root CA is not marked as trusted for the specified purpose.
537 =item B<X509_V_ERR_CERT_REJECTED>
539 The root CA is marked to reject the specified purpose.
541 =item B<X509_V_ERR_SUBJECT_ISSUER_MISMATCH>
543 Not used as of OpenSSL 1.1.0 as a result of the deprecation of the
544 B<-issuer_checks> option.
546 =item B<X509_V_ERR_AKID_SKID_MISMATCH>
548 Not used as of OpenSSL 1.1.0 as a result of the deprecation of the
549 B<-issuer_checks> option.
551 =item B<X509_V_ERR_AKID_ISSUER_SERIAL_MISMATCH>
553 Not used as of OpenSSL 1.1.0 as a result of the deprecation of the
554 B<-issuer_checks> option.
556 =item B<X509_V_ERR_KEYUSAGE_NO_CERTSIGN>
558 Not used as of OpenSSL 1.1.0 as a result of the deprecation of the
559 B<-issuer_checks> option.
561 =item B<X509_V_ERR_UNABLE_TO_GET_CRL_ISSUER>
563 Unable to get CRL issuer certificate.
565 =item B<X509_V_ERR_UNHANDLED_CRITICAL_EXTENSION>
567 Unhandled critical extension.
569 =item B<X509_V_ERR_KEYUSAGE_NO_CRL_SIGN>
571 Key usage does not include CRL signing.
573 =item B<X509_V_ERR_UNHANDLED_CRITICAL_CRL_EXTENSION>
575 Unhandled critical CRL extension.
577 =item B<X509_V_ERR_INVALID_NON_CA>
579 Invalid non-CA certificate has CA markings.
581 =item B<X509_V_ERR_PROXY_PATH_LENGTH_EXCEEDED>
583 Proxy path length constraint exceeded.
585 =item B<X509_V_ERR_PROXY_SUBJECT_INVALID>
587 Proxy certificate subject is invalid. It MUST be the same as the issuer
588 with a single CN component added.
590 =item B<X509_V_ERR_KEYUSAGE_NO_DIGITAL_SIGNATURE>
592 Key usage does not include digital signature.
594 =item B<X509_V_ERR_PROXY_CERTIFICATES_NOT_ALLOWED>
596 Proxy certificates not allowed, please use B<-allow_proxy_certs>.
598 =item B<X509_V_ERR_INVALID_EXTENSION>
600 Invalid or inconsistent certificate extension.
602 =item B<X509_V_ERR_INVALID_POLICY_EXTENSION>
604 Invalid or inconsistent certificate policy extension.
606 =item B<X509_V_ERR_NO_EXPLICIT_POLICY>
610 =item B<X509_V_ERR_DIFFERENT_CRL_SCOPE>
614 =item B<X509_V_ERR_UNSUPPORTED_EXTENSION_FEATURE>
616 Unsupported extension feature.
618 =item B<X509_V_ERR_UNNESTED_RESOURCE>
620 RFC 3779 resource not subset of parent's resources.
622 =item B<X509_V_ERR_PERMITTED_VIOLATION>
624 Permitted subtree violation.
626 =item B<X509_V_ERR_EXCLUDED_VIOLATION>
628 Excluded subtree violation.
630 =item B<X509_V_ERR_SUBTREE_MINMAX>
632 Name constraints minimum and maximum not supported.
634 =item B<X509_V_ERR_APPLICATION_VERIFICATION>
636 Application verification failure. Unused.
638 =item B<X509_V_ERR_UNSUPPORTED_CONSTRAINT_TYPE>
640 Unsupported name constraint type.
642 =item B<X509_V_ERR_UNSUPPORTED_CONSTRAINT_SYNTAX>
644 Unsupported or invalid name constraint syntax.
646 =item B<X509_V_ERR_UNSUPPORTED_NAME_SYNTAX>
648 Unsupported or invalid name syntax.
650 =item B<X509_V_ERR_CRL_PATH_VALIDATION_ERROR>
652 CRL path validation error.
654 =item B<X509_V_ERR_PATH_LOOP>
658 =item B<X509_V_ERR_SUITE_B_INVALID_VERSION>
660 Suite B: certificate version invalid.
662 =item B<X509_V_ERR_SUITE_B_INVALID_ALGORITHM>
664 Suite B: invalid public key algorithm.
666 =item B<X509_V_ERR_SUITE_B_INVALID_CURVE>
668 Suite B: invalid ECC curve.
670 =item B<X509_V_ERR_SUITE_B_INVALID_SIGNATURE_ALGORITHM>
672 Suite B: invalid signature algorithm.
674 =item B<X509_V_ERR_SUITE_B_LOS_NOT_ALLOWED>
676 Suite B: curve not allowed for this LOS.
678 =item B<X509_V_ERR_SUITE_B_CANNOT_SIGN_P_384_WITH_P_256>
680 Suite B: cannot sign P-384 with P-256.
682 =item B<X509_V_ERR_HOSTNAME_MISMATCH>
686 =item B<X509_V_ERR_EMAIL_MISMATCH>
688 Email address mismatch.
690 =item B<X509_V_ERR_IP_ADDRESS_MISMATCH>
694 =item B<X509_V_ERR_DANE_NO_MATCH>
696 DANE TLSA authentication is enabled, but no TLSA records matched the
698 This error is only possible in L<s_client(1)>.
700 =item B<X509_V_ERR_EE_KEY_TOO_SMALL>
702 EE certificate key too weak.
704 =item B<X509_ERR_CA_KEY_TOO_SMALL>
706 CA certificate key too weak.
708 =item B<X509_ERR_CA_MD_TOO_WEAK>
710 CA signature digest algorithm too weak.
712 =item B<X509_V_ERR_INVALID_CALL>
714 nvalid certificate verification context.
716 =item B<X509_V_ERR_STORE_LOOKUP>
718 Issuer certificate lookup error.
720 =item B<X509_V_ERR_NO_VALID_SCTS>
722 Certificate Transparency required, but no valid SCTs found.
724 =item B<X509_V_ERR_PROXY_SUBJECT_NAME_VIOLATION>
726 Proxy subject name violation.
728 =item B<X509_V_ERR_OCSP_VERIFY_NEEDED>
730 Returned by the verify callback to indicate an OCSP verification is needed.
732 =item B<X509_V_ERR_OCSP_VERIFY_FAILED>
734 Returned by the verify callback to indicate OCSP verification failed.
736 =item B<X509_V_ERR_OCSP_CERT_UNKNOWN>
738 Returned by the verify callback to indicate that the certificate is not recognized
739 by the OCSP responder.
745 Although the issuer checks are a considerable improvement over the old
746 technique they still suffer from limitations in the underlying X509_LOOKUP
747 API. One consequence of this is that trusted certificates with matching
748 subject name must either appear in a file (as specified by the B<-CAfile>
749 option) or a directory (as specified by B<-CApath>). If they occur in
750 both then only the certificates in the file will be recognised.
752 Previous versions of OpenSSL assume certificates with matching subject
753 name are identical and mishandled them.
755 Previous versions of this documentation swapped the meaning of the
756 B<X509_V_ERR_UNABLE_TO_GET_ISSUER_CERT> and
757 B<X509_V_ERR_UNABLE_TO_GET_ISSUER_CERT_LOCALLY> error codes.
765 The B<-show_chain> option was first added to OpenSSL 1.1.0.
767 The B<-issuer_checks> option is deprecated as of OpenSSL 1.1.0 and
772 Copyright 2000-2017 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
774 Licensed under the OpenSSL license (the "License"). You may not use
775 this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy
776 in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at
777 L<https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.