1

We are planning to implement the time-stamping service (RFC 3161) using OpenTSA and we wanted to know:

Does OpenTSA support PKCS #11 (Cryptoki) to talk to HSMs?

BTW: I did not find documentation or much information on OpenTSA.

It would be really helpful if you could comment on the support of PCKS #11 by OpenTSA.

1

1 Answer 1

2

I think that you're asking how to generate a timestamp response as defined in timestamp-protocol: RFC3161, with openssl to generate and sign the response using a PKCS#11 (HSM in your case) as a TSA signer.

I think that there is no native way to use PKCS#11with openssl to do this. (maybe with some plugin like: opensc pkcs11 engine for openssl).

If you take a look on ts command documentation: https://www.openssl.org/docs/apps/ts.html. To generate a timestamp response you can use the follow command:

openssl ts -reply [-config configfile] [-section tsa_section] [-queryfile request.tsq] [-passin password_src] [-signer tsa_cert.pem] [-inkey private.pem] [-chain certs_file.pem] [-policy object_id] [-in response.tsr] [-token_in] [-out response.tsr] [-token_out] [-text] [-engine id]

The TSA signer certificate and private key are specified in the following parameters which specify that both must be in PEM format, so seems that use of PKCS#11 it's not possible.

-signer tsa_cert.pem The signer certificate of the TSA in PEM format. The TSA signing certificate must have exactly one extended key usage assigned to it: timeStamping. The extended key usage must also be critical, otherwise the certificate is going to be refused. Overrides the signer_cert variable of the config file. (Optional)

-inkey private.pem The signer private key of the TSA in PEM format. Overrides the signer_key config file option. (Optional)

However as I comment before, it can be possible maybe using opensc pkcs11 engine for openssl, I can't confirm if it works because I'm unfamiliar with it engine. Take a look on this quickstart guide which may put you on the right direction.

Hope this helps,

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .