xref: /netbsd-src/crypto/external/bsd/netpgp/dist/src/netpgpverify/libnetpgpverify.3 (revision b7b7574d3bf8eeb51a1fa3977b59142ec6434a55)
1.\" $NetBSD: libnetpgpverify.3,v 1.1 2014/03/09 00:15:45 agc Exp $
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3.\" Copyright (c) 2014 Alistair Crooks <agc@NetBSD.org>
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26.Dd February 16, 2014
27.Dt LIBNETPGPVERIFY 3
28.Os
29.Sh NAME
30.Nm libnetpgpverify
31.Nd library to verify digital signatures
32.Sh LIBRARY
33.Lb libnetpgpverify
34.Sh SYNOPSIS
35.In netpgpverify.h
36.Ft int
37.Fo pgpv_read_pubring
38.Fa "pgpv_t *pgp" "const void *keyring" "ssize_t size"
39.Fc
40.Ft int
41.Fo pgpv_read_ssh_pubkeys
42.Fa "pgpv_t *pgp" "const void *keyring" "ssize_t size"
43.Fc
44.Ft size_t
45.Fo pgpv_verify
46.Fa "pgpv_cursor_t *cursor" "pgpv_t *pgp" "const void *ptr" "ssize_t size"
47.Fc
48.Ft size_t
49.Fo pgpv_get_verified
50.Fa "pgpv_cursor_t *cursor" "size_t cookie " "char **ret"
51.Fc
52.Ft size_t
53.Fo pgpv_get_entry
54.Fa "pgpv_t *pgp" "unsigned ent" "char **ret"
55.Fc
56.Ft int
57.Fo pgpv_close
58.Fa "pgpv_t *pgp"
59.Fc
60.Sh DESCRIPTION
61.Nm
62is a small library which will verify a digital signature on a text or
63binary document.
64It has been kept deliberately small and only uses compression libraries
65to function.
66.Pp
67PGP messages, including key rings, are made up of PGP packets, defined
68in RFC 4880.
69To match a digital signature, the public key of the signer must be
70located in a public key ring.
71This library has enough functionality to parse a pubkey keyring,
72using
73.Fn pgpv_read_pubring
74to read the public keys of trusted identities,
75and to read files or memory which has already been signed.
76SSH public keys can also be used for signature verification
77by using the
78.Fn pgpv_read_ssh_pubkeys
79function.
80Please note that the creation date of the signature key
81will show up as January 1st 1970, due to the fact that the
82creation date of the key is not encoded anywhere for an ssh
83key, whilst it is an inherent part of the PGP fingerprint.
84In order that the correct fingerprint is used, the key creation
85date is forced to 0.
86.Pp
87The
88.Fn pgpv_verify
89function is used to verify the signature, either on data, or on memory.
90To signal to
91.Fn pgpv_verify
92to read a file and verify it, the
93.Dv size
94argument should be set to
95.Dv -1
96whilst a positive size signals that the pointer value should be that
97of signed memory.
98.Fn pgpv_verify
99returns a cookie if the ignature was verified, or 0 if it did not.
100This cookie can subsequently be used to retrieve the data which
101was verified.
102.Pp
103If the signature does match, then the file or memory can be considered as being
104verified as being unmodified and unchanged, integrally sound.
105.Pp
106Signatures have validity dates on them, and it is possible for a signature to
107have expired when it is being checked.
108If for any reason the signature does not match, then the reason for not
109verifying the signature will be stored in the
110.Dv why
111buffer in the
112.Dv pgpv_cursor_t
113structure.
114.Pp
115Occasionally, the memory or contents of the file which matched the signature
116will be needed, rather than a boolean value of whether it was verified.
117To do this, the
118.Fn pgpv_get_verified
119function is used.
120Arguments to
121.Fn pgpv_get_verified
122are the cookie returned from the verification, and a buffer
123allocated for the returned data and its size.
124If an error occurs, or the signature is not verified, a zero value is returned
125for the size.
126.Nm
127stores the starts of the data of all verified matches, and so the entry
128number argument is the index of the occurrence of verification.
129The first match will have an entry number of 0, the second 1, and so on.
130.Pp
131The
132.Fn pgpv_close
133function is used to clean up after all matching and verification has taken place.
134It frees and de-allocates all resources used in the verification of the signature.
135.Pp
136The program used for signing may encode into base64 encoding, and it may also
137use embedded compression to make the output smaller than it would otherwise be.
138This is handled automatically by
139.Nm
140.Sh SEE ALSO
141.Xr bn 3 ,
142.\" .Xr bzlib2 3 ,
143.Xr zlib 3
144.Sh STANDARDS
145The
146.Nm
147utility is designed to conform to IETF RFC 4880.
148.Sh HISTORY
149The
150.Nm
151library first appeared in
152.Nx 7.0 .
153.Sh AUTHORS
154.An Alistair Crooks Aq Mt agc@NetBSD.org
155