2 {- OpenSSL::safe::output_do_not_edit_headers(); -}
6 openssl-ocsp - Online Certificate Status Protocol utility
18 [B<-sign_other> I<file>]
30 [B<-host> I<host>:I<port>]
31 [B<-multi> I<process-count>]
34 [B<-attime> I<timestamp>]
48 [B<-purpose> I<purpose>]
55 [B<-auth_level> I<num>]
56 [B<-verify_depth> I<num>]
57 [B<-verify_email> I<email>]
58 [B<-verify_hostname> I<hostname>]
60 [B<-verify_name> I<name>]
63 [B<-validity_period> I<n>]
66 [B<-verify_other> I<file>]
69 [B<-no_signature_verify>]
81 [B<-rsigopt> I<nm>:I<v>]
89 {- $OpenSSL::safe::opt_trust_synopsis -}
91 =for openssl ifdef multi
95 The Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) enables applications to
96 determine the (revocation) state of an identified certificate (RFC 2560).
98 This command performs many common OCSP tasks. It can be used
99 to print out requests and responses, create requests and send queries
100 to an OCSP responder and behave like a mini OCSP server itself.
104 This command operates as either a client or a server.
105 The options are described below, divided into those two modes.
107 =head2 OCSP Client Options
113 Print out a usage message.
115 =item B<-out> I<filename>
117 specify output filename, default is standard output.
119 =item B<-issuer> I<filename>
121 This specifies the current issuer certificate. This option can be used
122 multiple times. The certificate specified in I<filename> must be in
123 PEM format. This option B<MUST> come before any B<-cert> options.
125 =item B<-cert> I<filename>
127 Add the certificate I<filename> to the request. The issuer certificate
128 is taken from the previous B<-issuer> option, or an error occurs if no
129 issuer certificate is specified.
131 =item B<-serial> I<num>
133 Same as the B<-cert> option except the certificate with serial number
134 B<num> is added to the request. The serial number is interpreted as a
135 decimal integer unless preceded by C<0x>. Negative integers can also
136 be specified by preceding the value by a C<-> sign.
138 =item B<-signer> I<filename>, B<-signkey> I<filename>
140 Sign the OCSP request using the certificate specified in the B<-signer>
141 option and the private key specified by the B<-signkey> option. If
142 the B<-signkey> option is not present then the private key is read
143 from the same file as the certificate. If neither option is specified then
144 the OCSP request is not signed.
146 =item B<-sign_other> I<filename>
148 Additional certificates to include in the signed request.
150 =item B<-nonce>, B<-no_nonce>
152 Add an OCSP nonce extension to a request or disable OCSP nonce addition.
153 Normally if an OCSP request is input using the B<-reqin> option no
154 nonce is added: using the B<-nonce> option will force addition of a nonce.
155 If an OCSP request is being created (using B<-cert> and B<-serial> options)
156 a nonce is automatically added specifying B<-no_nonce> overrides this.
158 =item B<-req_text>, B<-resp_text>, B<-text>
160 Print out the text form of the OCSP request, response or both respectively.
162 =item B<-reqout> I<file>, B<-respout> I<file>
164 Write out the DER encoded certificate request or response to I<file>.
166 =item B<-reqin> I<file>, B<-respin> I<file>
168 Read OCSP request or response file from I<file>. These option are ignored
169 if OCSP request or response creation is implied by other options (for example
170 with B<-serial>, B<-cert> and B<-host> options).
172 =item B<-url> I<responder_url>
174 Specify the responder URL. Both HTTP and HTTPS (SSL/TLS) URLs can be specified.
176 =item B<-host> I<hostname>:I<port>, B<-path> I<pathname>
178 If the B<-host> option is present then the OCSP request is sent to the host
179 I<hostname> on port I<port>. The B<-path> option specifies the HTTP pathname
180 to use or "/" by default. This is equivalent to specifying B<-url> with scheme
181 http:// and the given hostname, port, and pathname.
183 =item B<-header> I<name>=I<value>
185 Adds the header I<name> with the specified I<value> to the OCSP request
186 that is sent to the responder.
187 This may be repeated.
189 =item B<-timeout> I<seconds>
191 Connection timeout to the OCSP responder in seconds.
192 On POSIX systems, when running as an OCSP responder, this option also limits
193 the time that the responder is willing to wait for the client request.
194 This time is measured from the time the responder accepts the connection until
195 the complete request is received.
197 =item B<-multi> I<process-count>
199 Run the specified number of OCSP responder child processes, with the parent
200 process respawning child processes as needed.
201 Child processes will detect changes in the CA index file and automatically
203 When running as a responder B<-timeout> option is recommended to limit the time
204 each child is willing to wait for the client's OCSP response.
205 This option is available on POSIX systems (that support the fork() and other
206 required unix system-calls).
208 =item B<-attime>, B<-check_ss_sig>, B<-crl_check>, B<-crl_check_all>,
209 B<-explicit_policy>, B<-extended_crl>, B<-ignore_critical>, B<-inhibit_any>,
210 B<-inhibit_map>, B<-no_alt_chains>, B<-no_check_time>, B<-partial_chain>, B<-policy>,
211 B<-policy_check>, B<-policy_print>, B<-purpose>, B<-suiteB_128>,
212 B<-suiteB_128_only>, B<-suiteB_192>, B<-trusted_first>, B<-use_deltas>,
213 B<-auth_level>, B<-verify_depth>, B<-verify_email>, B<-verify_hostname>,
214 B<-verify_ip>, B<-verify_name>, B<-x509_strict>
216 Set different certificate verification options.
217 See L<openssl-verify(1)> manual page for details.
219 =item B<-verify_other> I<file>
221 File containing additional certificates to search when attempting to locate
222 the OCSP response signing certificate. Some responders omit the actual signer's
223 certificate from the response: this option can be used to supply the necessary
224 certificate in such cases.
226 =item B<-trust_other>
228 The certificates specified by the B<-verify_other> option should be explicitly
229 trusted and no additional checks will be performed on them. This is useful
230 when the complete responder certificate chain is not available or trusting a
231 root CA is not appropriate.
233 =item B<-VAfile> I<file>
235 File containing explicitly trusted responder certificates. Equivalent to the
236 B<-verify_other> and B<-trust_other> options.
240 Don't attempt to verify the OCSP response signature or the nonce
241 values. This option will normally only be used for debugging since it
242 disables all verification of the responders certificate.
246 Ignore certificates contained in the OCSP response when searching for the
247 signers certificate. With this option the signers certificate must be specified
248 with either the B<-verify_other> or B<-VAfile> options.
250 =item B<-no_signature_verify>
252 Don't check the signature on the OCSP response. Since this option
253 tolerates invalid signatures on OCSP responses it will normally only be
254 used for testing purposes.
256 =item B<-no_cert_verify>
258 Don't verify the OCSP response signers certificate at all. Since this
259 option allows the OCSP response to be signed by any certificate it should
260 only be used for testing purposes.
264 Do not use certificates in the response as additional untrusted CA
267 =item B<-no_explicit>
269 Do not explicitly trust the root CA if it is set to be trusted for OCSP signing.
271 =item B<-no_cert_checks>
273 Don't perform any additional checks on the OCSP response signers certificate.
274 That is do not make any checks to see if the signers certificate is authorised
275 to provide the necessary status information: as a result this option should
276 only be used for testing purposes.
278 =item B<-validity_period> I<nsec>, B<-status_age> I<age>
280 These options specify the range of times, in seconds, which will be tolerated
281 in an OCSP response. Each certificate status response includes a B<notBefore>
282 time and an optional B<notAfter> time. The current time should fall between
283 these two values, but the interval between the two times may be only a few
284 seconds. In practice the OCSP responder and clients clocks may not be precisely
285 synchronised and so such a check may fail. To avoid this the
286 B<-validity_period> option can be used to specify an acceptable error range in
287 seconds, the default value is 5 minutes.
289 If the B<notAfter> time is omitted from a response then this means that new
290 status information is immediately available. In this case the age of the
291 B<notBefore> field is checked to see it is not older than I<age> seconds old.
292 By default this additional check is not performed.
294 =item B<-rcid> I<digest>
296 This option sets the digest algorithm to use for certificate identification
297 in the OCSP response. Any digest supported by the L<openssl-dgst(1)> command can
298 be used. The default is the same digest algorithm used in the request.
302 This option sets digest algorithm to use for certificate identification in the
303 OCSP request. Any digest supported by the OpenSSL B<dgst> command can be used.
304 The default is SHA-1. This option may be used multiple times to specify the
305 digest used by subsequent certificate identifiers.
307 {- $OpenSSL::safe::opt_trust_item -}
311 =head2 OCSP Server Options
315 =item B<-index> I<indexfile>
317 The I<indexfile> parameter is the name of a text index file in B<ca>
318 format containing certificate revocation information.
320 If the B<-index> option is specified then this command switches to
321 responder mode, otherwise it is in client mode. The request(s) the responder
322 processes can be either specified on the command line (using B<-issuer>
323 and B<-serial> options), supplied in a file (using the B<-reqin> option)
324 or via external OCSP clients (if B<-port> or B<-url> is specified).
326 If the B<-index> option is present then the B<-CA> and B<-rsigner> options
327 must also be present.
331 CA certificate corresponding to the revocation information in the index
332 file given with B<-index>.
334 =item B<-rsigner> I<file>
336 The certificate to sign OCSP responses with.
338 =item B<-rother> I<file>
340 Additional certificates to include in the OCSP response.
342 =item B<-resp_no_certs>
344 Don't include any certificates in the OCSP response.
346 =item B<-resp_key_id>
348 Identify the signer certificate using the key ID, default is to use the
351 =item B<-rkey> I<file>
353 The private key to sign OCSP responses with: if not present the file
354 specified in the B<-rsigner> option is used.
356 =item B<-rsigopt> I<nm>:I<v>
358 Pass options to the signature algorithm when signing OCSP responses.
359 Names and values of these options are algorithm-specific.
361 =item B<-port> I<portnum>
363 Port to listen for OCSP requests on. The port may also be specified
364 using the B<url> option.
368 Ignore malformed requests or responses: When acting as an OCSP client, retry if
369 a malformed response is received. When acting as an OCSP responder, continue
370 running instead of terminating upon receiving a malformed request.
372 =item B<-nrequest> I<number>
374 The OCSP server will exit after receiving I<number> requests, default unlimited.
376 =item B<-nmin> I<minutes>, B<-ndays> I<days>
378 Number of minutes or days when fresh revocation information is available:
379 used in the B<nextUpdate> field. If neither option is present then the
380 B<nextUpdate> field is omitted meaning fresh revocation information is
381 immediately available.
385 =head1 OCSP RESPONSE VERIFICATION
387 OCSP Response follows the rules specified in RFC2560.
389 Initially the OCSP responder certificate is located and the signature on
390 the OCSP request checked using the responder certificate's public key.
392 Then a normal certificate verify is performed on the OCSP responder certificate
393 building up a certificate chain in the process. The locations of the trusted
394 certificates used to build the chain can be specified by the B<-CAfile>,
395 B<-CApath> or B<-CAstore> options or they will be looked for in the
396 standard OpenSSL certificates directory.
398 If the initial verify fails then the OCSP verify process halts with an
401 Otherwise the issuing CA certificate in the request is compared to the OCSP
402 responder certificate: if there is a match then the OCSP verify succeeds.
404 Otherwise the OCSP responder certificate's CA is checked against the issuing
405 CA certificate in the request. If there is a match and the OCSPSigning
406 extended key usage is present in the OCSP responder certificate then the
407 OCSP verify succeeds.
409 Otherwise, if B<-no_explicit> is B<not> set the root CA of the OCSP responders
410 CA is checked to see if it is trusted for OCSP signing. If it is the OCSP
413 If none of these checks is successful then the OCSP verify fails.
415 What this effectively means if that if the OCSP responder certificate is
416 authorised directly by the CA it is issuing revocation information about
417 (and it is correctly configured) then verification will succeed.
419 If the OCSP responder is a "global responder" which can give details about
420 multiple CAs and has its own separate certificate chain then its root
421 CA can be trusted for OCSP signing. For example:
423 openssl x509 -in ocspCA.pem -addtrust OCSPSigning -out trustedCA.pem
425 Alternatively the responder certificate itself can be explicitly trusted
426 with the B<-VAfile> option.
430 As noted, most of the verify options are for testing or debugging purposes.
431 Normally only the B<-CApath>, B<-CAfile>, B<-CAstore> and (if the responder
432 is a 'global VA') B<-VAfile> options need to be used.
434 The OCSP server is only useful for test and demonstration purposes: it is
435 not really usable as a full OCSP responder. It contains only a very
436 simple HTTP request handling and can only handle the POST form of OCSP
437 queries. It also handles requests serially meaning it cannot respond to
438 new requests until it has processed the current one. The text index file
439 format of revocation is also inefficient for large quantities of revocation
442 It is possible to run this command in responder mode via a CGI
443 script using the B<-reqin> and B<-respout> options.
447 Create an OCSP request and write it to a file:
449 openssl ocsp -issuer issuer.pem -cert c1.pem -cert c2.pem -reqout req.der
451 Send a query to an OCSP responder with URL http://ocsp.myhost.com/ save the
452 response to a file, print it out in text form, and verify the response:
454 openssl ocsp -issuer issuer.pem -cert c1.pem -cert c2.pem \
455 -url http://ocsp.myhost.com/ -resp_text -respout resp.der
457 Read in an OCSP response and print out text form:
459 openssl ocsp -respin resp.der -text -noverify
461 OCSP server on port 8888 using a standard B<ca> configuration, and a separate
462 responder certificate. All requests and responses are printed to a file.
464 openssl ocsp -index demoCA/index.txt -port 8888 -rsigner rcert.pem -CA demoCA/cacert.pem
467 As above but exit after processing one request:
469 openssl ocsp -index demoCA/index.txt -port 8888 -rsigner rcert.pem -CA demoCA/cacert.pem
472 Query status information using an internally generated request:
474 openssl ocsp -index demoCA/index.txt -rsigner rcert.pem -CA demoCA/cacert.pem
475 -issuer demoCA/cacert.pem -serial 1
477 Query status information using request read from a file, and write the response
480 openssl ocsp -index demoCA/index.txt -rsigner rcert.pem -CA demoCA/cacert.pem
481 -reqin req.der -respout resp.der
485 The -no_alt_chains option was added in OpenSSL 1.1.0.
489 Copyright 2001-2019 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
491 Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (the "License"). You may not use
492 this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy
493 in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at
494 L<https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.