5 asn1parse - ASN.1 parsing tool
9 B<openssl> B<asn1parse>
26 The B<asn1parse> command is a diagnostic utility that can parse ASN.1
27 structures. It can also be used to extract data from ASN.1 formatted data.
33 =item B<-inform> B<DER|PEM>
35 the input format. B<DER> is binary format and B<PEM> (the default) is base64
40 the input file, default is standard input
42 =item B<-out filename>
44 output file to place the DER encoded data into. If this
45 option is not present then no data will be output. This is most useful when
46 combined with the B<-strparse> option.
50 don't output the parsed version of the input file.
52 =item B<-offset number>
54 starting offset to begin parsing, default is start of file.
56 =item B<-length number>
58 number of bytes to parse, default is until end of file.
62 indents the output according to the "depth" of the structures.
64 =item B<-oid filename>
66 a file containing additional OBJECT IDENTIFIERs (OIDs). The format of this
67 file is described in the NOTES section below.
71 dump unknown data in hex format.
75 like B<-dump>, but only the first B<num> bytes are output.
77 =item B<-strparse offset>
79 parse the contents octets of the ASN.1 object starting at B<offset>. This
80 option can be used multiple times to "drill down" into a nested structure.
82 =item B<-genstr string>, B<-genconf file>
84 generate encoded data based on B<string>, B<file> or both using
85 L<ASN1_generate_nconf(3)|ASN1_generate_nconf(3)> format. If B<file> only is
86 present then the string is obtained from the default section using the name
87 B<asn1>. The encoded data is passed through the ASN1 parser and printed out as
88 though it came from a file, the contents can thus be examined and written to a
89 file using the B<out> option.
95 The output will typically contain lines like this:
97 0:d=0 hl=4 l= 681 cons: SEQUENCE
101 229:d=3 hl=3 l= 141 prim: BIT STRING
102 373:d=2 hl=3 l= 162 cons: cont [ 3 ]
103 376:d=3 hl=3 l= 159 cons: SEQUENCE
104 379:d=4 hl=2 l= 29 cons: SEQUENCE
105 381:d=5 hl=2 l= 3 prim: OBJECT :X509v3 Subject Key Identifier
106 386:d=5 hl=2 l= 22 prim: OCTET STRING
107 410:d=4 hl=2 l= 112 cons: SEQUENCE
108 412:d=5 hl=2 l= 3 prim: OBJECT :X509v3 Authority Key Identifier
109 417:d=5 hl=2 l= 105 prim: OCTET STRING
110 524:d=4 hl=2 l= 12 cons: SEQUENCE
114 This example is part of a self signed certificate. Each line starts with the
115 offset in decimal. B<d=XX> specifies the current depth. The depth is increased
116 within the scope of any SET or SEQUENCE. B<hl=XX> gives the header length
117 (tag and length octets) of the current type. B<l=XX> gives the length of
120 The B<-i> option can be used to make the output more readable.
122 Some knowledge of the ASN.1 structure is needed to interpret the output.
124 In this example the BIT STRING at offset 229 is the certificate public key.
125 The contents octets of this will contain the public key information. This can
126 be examined using the option B<-strparse 229> to yield:
128 0:d=0 hl=3 l= 137 cons: SEQUENCE
129 3:d=1 hl=3 l= 129 prim: INTEGER :E5D21E1F5C8D208EA7A2166C7FAF9F6BDF2059669C60876DDB70840F1A5AAFA59699FE471F379F1DD6A487E7D5409AB6A88D4A9746E24B91D8CF55DB3521015460C8EDE44EE8A4189F7A7BE77D6CD3A9AF2696F486855CF58BF0EDF2B4068058C7A947F52548DDF7E15E96B385F86422BEA9064A3EE9E1158A56E4A6F47E5897
130 135:d=1 hl=2 l= 3 prim: INTEGER :010001
134 If an OID is not part of OpenSSL's internal table it will be represented in
135 numerical form (for example 1.2.3.4). The file passed to the B<-oid> option
136 allows additional OIDs to be included. Each line consists of three columns,
137 the first column is the OID in numerical format and should be followed by white
138 space. The second column is the "short name" which is a single word followed
139 by white space. The final column is the rest of the line and is the
140 "long name". B<asn1parse> displays the long name. Example:
142 C<1.2.3.4 shortName A long name>
148 openssl asn1parse -in file.pem
152 openssl asn1parse -inform DER -in file.der
154 Generate a simple UTF8String:
156 openssl asn1parse -genstr 'UTF8:Hello World'
158 Generate and write out a UTF8String, don't print parsed output:
160 openssl asn1parse -genstr 'UTF8:Hello World' -noout -out utf8.der
162 Generate using a config file:
164 openssl asn1parse -genconf asn1.cnf -noout -out asn1.der
168 asn1=SEQUENCE:seq_sect
173 field2=EXP:0, UTF8:some random string
178 There should be options to change the format of output lines. The output of some
179 ASN.1 types is not well handled (if at all).
183 L<ASN1_generate_nconf(3)|ASN1_generate_nconf(3)>