5 asn1parse - ASN.1 parsing tool
9 B<openssl> B<asn1parse>
24 The B<asn1parse> command is a diagnostic utility that can parse ASN.1
25 structures. It can also be used to extract data from ASN.1 formatted data.
31 =item B<-inform> B<DER|PEM>
33 the input format. B<DER> is binary format and B<PEM> (the default) is base64
38 the input file, default is standard input
40 =item B<-out filename>
42 output file to place the DER encoded data into. If this
43 option is not present then no data will be output. This is most useful when
44 combined with the B<-strparse> option.
48 don't output the parsed version of the input file.
50 =item B<-offset number>
52 starting offset to begin parsing, default is start of file.
54 =item B<-length number>
56 number of bytes to parse, default is until end of file.
60 indents the output according to the "depth" of the structures.
62 =item B<-oid filename>
64 a file containing additional OBJECT IDENTIFIERs (OIDs). The format of this
65 file is described in the NOTES section below.
67 =item B<-strparse offset>
69 parse the contents octets of the ASN.1 object starting at B<offset>. This
70 option can be used multiple times to "drill down" into a nested structure.
72 =item B<-genstr string>, B<-genconf file>
74 generate encoded data based on B<string>, B<file> or both using
75 L<ASN1_generate_nconf(3)|ASN1_generate_nconf(3)> format. If B<file> only is
76 present then the string is obtained from the default section using the name
77 B<asn1>. The encoded data is passed through the ASN1 parser and printed out as
78 though it came from a file, the contents can thus be examined and written to a
79 file using the B<out> option.
85 The output will typically contain lines like this:
87 0:d=0 hl=4 l= 681 cons: SEQUENCE
91 229:d=3 hl=3 l= 141 prim: BIT STRING
92 373:d=2 hl=3 l= 162 cons: cont [ 3 ]
93 376:d=3 hl=3 l= 159 cons: SEQUENCE
94 379:d=4 hl=2 l= 29 cons: SEQUENCE
95 381:d=5 hl=2 l= 3 prim: OBJECT :X509v3 Subject Key Identifier
96 386:d=5 hl=2 l= 22 prim: OCTET STRING
97 410:d=4 hl=2 l= 112 cons: SEQUENCE
98 412:d=5 hl=2 l= 3 prim: OBJECT :X509v3 Authority Key Identifier
99 417:d=5 hl=2 l= 105 prim: OCTET STRING
100 524:d=4 hl=2 l= 12 cons: SEQUENCE
104 This example is part of a self signed certificate. Each line starts with the
105 offset in decimal. B<d=XX> specifies the current depth. The depth is increased
106 within the scope of any SET or SEQUENCE. B<hl=XX> gives the header length
107 (tag and length octets) of the current type. B<l=XX> gives the length of
110 The B<-i> option can be used to make the output more readable.
112 Some knowledge of the ASN.1 structure is needed to interpret the output.
114 In this example the BIT STRING at offset 229 is the certificate public key.
115 The contents octets of this will contain the public key information. This can
116 be examined using the option B<-strparse 229> to yield:
118 0:d=0 hl=3 l= 137 cons: SEQUENCE
119 3:d=1 hl=3 l= 129 prim: INTEGER :E5D21E1F5C8D208EA7A2166C7FAF9F6BDF2059669C60876DDB70840F1A5AAFA59699FE471F379F1DD6A487E7D5409AB6A88D4A9746E24B91D8CF55DB3521015460C8EDE44EE8A4189F7A7BE77D6CD3A9AF2696F486855CF58BF0EDF2B4068058C7A947F52548DDF7E15E96B385F86422BEA9064A3EE9E1158A56E4A6F47E5897
120 135:d=1 hl=2 l= 3 prim: INTEGER :010001
124 If an OID is not part of OpenSSL's internal table it will be represented in
125 numerical form (for example 1.2.3.4). The file passed to the B<-oid> option
126 allows additional OIDs to be included. Each line consists of three columns,
127 the first column is the OID in numerical format and should be followed by white
128 space. The second column is the "short name" which is a single word followed
129 by white space. The final column is the rest of the line and is the
130 "long name". B<asn1parse> displays the long name. Example:
132 C<1.2.3.4 shortName A long name>
138 openssl asn1parse -in file.pem
142 openssl asn1parse -inform DER -in file.der
144 Generate a simple UTF8String:
146 openssl asn1parse -genstr 'UTF8:Hello World'
148 Generate and write out a UTF8String, don't print parsed output:
150 openssl asn1parse -genstr 'UTF8:Hello World' -noout -out utf8.der
152 Generate using a config file:
154 openssl asn1parse -genconf asn1.cnf -noout -out asn1.der
158 asn1=SEQUENCE:seq_sect
163 field2=EXP:0, UTF8:some random string
168 There should be options to change the format of output lines. The output of some
169 ASN.1 types is not well handled (if at all).
173 L<ASN1_generate_nconf(3)|ASN1_generate_nconf(3)>