ssl - How do you sign a Certificate Signing Request with your Certification Authority?

Question

During my search, I found several ways of signing a SSL Certificate Signing Request:

1. Using the x509 module:

   openssl x509 -req -days 360 -in server.csr -CA ca.crt -CAkey ca.key -CAcreateserial -out server.crt
   

2. Using the ca module:

   openssl ca -cert ca.crt -keyfile ca.key -in server.csr -out server.crt
   

Note: I am unsure of the use of the right parameters for this one. Please advise correct usage if I am to use it.

What way should one use to sign certificate requests with your Certification Authority? Is one method better than the other (for example, one being deprecated)?

Answer 1

1. Using the x509 module
openssl x509 ...
...

2 Using the ca module
openssl ca ...
...

You are missing the prelude to those commands.

This is a two-step process. First you set up your CA, and then you sign an end entity certificate (a.k.a server or user). Both of the two commands elide the two steps into one. And both assume you have a an OpenSSL configuration file already setup for both CAs and Server (end entity) certificates.

---

First, create a basic configuration file:

$ touch openssl-ca.cnf

Then, add the following to it:

HOME            = .
RANDFILE        = $ENV::HOME/.rnd

####################################################################
[ ca ]
default_ca    = CA_default      # The default ca section

[ CA_default ]

default_days     = 1000         # How long to certify for
default_crl_days = 30           # How long before next CRL
default_md       = sha256       # Use public key default MD
preserve         = no           # Keep passed DN ordering

x509_extensions = ca_extensions # The extensions to add to the cert

email_in_dn     = no            # Don't concat the email in the DN
copy_extensions = copy          # Required to copy SANs from CSR to cert

####################################################################
[ req ]
default_bits       = 4096
default_keyfile    = cakey.pem
distinguished_name = ca_distinguished_name
x509_extensions    = ca_extensions
string_mask        = utf8only

####################################################################
[ ca_distinguished_name ]
countryName         = Country Name (2 letter code)
countryName_default = US

stateOrProvinceName         = State or Province Name (full name)
stateOrProvinceName_default = Maryland

localityName                = Locality Name (eg, city)
localityName_default        = Baltimore

organizationName            = Organization Name (eg, company)
organizationName_default    = Test CA, Limited

organizationalUnitName         = Organizational Unit (eg, division)
organizationalUnitName_default = Server Research Department

commonName         = Common Name (e.g. server FQDN or YOUR name)
commonName_default = Test CA

emailAddress         = Email Address
emailAddress_default = [email protected]

####################################################################
[ ca_extensions ]

subjectKeyIdentifier   = hash
authorityKeyIdentifier = keyid:always, issuer
basicConstraints       = critical, CA:true
keyUsage               = keyCertSign, cRLSign

The fields above are taken from a more complex openssl.cnf (you can find it in /usr/lib/openssl.cnf), but I think they are the essentials for creating the CA certificate and private key.

Tweak the fields above to suit your taste. The defaults save you the time from entering the same information while experimenting with configuration file and command options.

I omitted the CRL-relevant stuff, but your CA operations should have them. See openssl.cnf and the related crl_ext section.

Then, execute the following. The -nodes omits the password or passphrase so you can examine the certificate. It's a really bad idea to omit the password or passphrase.

$ openssl req -x509 -config openssl-ca.cnf -newkey rsa:4096 -sha256 -nodes -out cacert.pem -outform PEM

After the command executes, cacert.pem will be your certificate for CA operations, and cakey.pem will be the private key. Recall the private key does not have a password or passphrase.

You can dump the certificate with the following.

$ openssl x509 -in cacert.pem -text -noout
Certificate:
    Data:
        Version: 3 (0x2)
        Serial Number: 11485830970703032316 (0x9f65de69ceef2ffc)
    Signature Algorithm: sha256WithRSAEncryption
        Issuer: C=US, ST=MD, L=Baltimore, CN=Test CA/[email protected]
        Validity
            Not Before: Jan 24 14:24:11 2014 GMT
            Not After : Feb 23 14:24:11 2014 GMT
        Subject: C=US, ST=MD, L=Baltimore, CN=Test CA/[email protected]
        Subject Public Key Info:
            Public Key Algorithm: rsaEncryption
                Public-Key: (4096 bit)
                Modulus:
                    00:b1:7f:29:be:78:02:b8:56:54:2d:2c:ec:ff:6d:
                    ...
                    39:f9:1e:52:cb:8e:bf:8b:9e:a6:93:e1:22:09:8b:
                    59:05:9f
                Exponent: 65537 (0x10001)
        X509v3 extensions:
            X509v3 Subject Key Identifier:
                4A:9A:F3:10:9E:D7:CF:54:79:DE:46:75:7A:B0:D0:C1:0F:CF:C1:8A
            X509v3 Authority Key Identifier:
                keyid:4A:9A:F3:10:9E:D7:CF:54:79:DE:46:75:7A:B0:D0:C1:0F:CF:C1:8A

            X509v3 Basic Constraints: critical
                CA:TRUE
            X509v3 Key Usage:
                Certificate Sign, CRL Sign
    Signature Algorithm: sha256WithRSAEncryption
         4a:6f:1f:ac:fd:fb:1e:a4:6d:08:eb:f5:af:f6:1e:48:a5:c7:
         ...
         cd:c6:ac:30:f9:15:83:41:c1:d1:20:fa:85:e7:4f:35:8f:b5:
         38:ff:fd:55:68:2c:3e:37

And test its purpose with the following (don't worry about the Any Purpose: Yes; see "critical,CA:FALSE" but "Any Purpose CA : Yes").

$ openssl x509 -purpose -in cacert.pem -inform PEM
Certificate purposes:
SSL client : No
SSL client CA : Yes
SSL server : No
SSL server CA : Yes
Netscape SSL server : No
Netscape SSL server CA : Yes
S/MIME signing : No
S/MIME signing CA : Yes
S/MIME encryption : No
S/MIME encryption CA : Yes
CRL signing : Yes
CRL signing CA : Yes
Any Purpose : Yes
Any Purpose CA : Yes
OCSP helper : Yes
OCSP helper CA : Yes
Time Stamp signing : No
Time Stamp signing CA : Yes
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
MIIFpTCCA42gAwIBAgIJAJ9l3mnO7y/8MA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBCwUAMGExCzAJBgNV
...
aQUtFrV4hpmJUaQZ7ySr/RjCb4KYkQpTkOtKJOU1Ic3GrDD5FYNBwdEg+oXnTzWP
tTj//VVoLD43
-----END CERTIFICATE-----

---

For part two, I'm going to create another configuration file that's easily digestible. First, touch the openssl-server.cnf (you can make one of these for user certificates also).

$ touch openssl-server.cnf

Then open it, and add the following.

HOME            = .
RANDFILE        = $ENV::HOME/.rnd

####################################################################
[ req ]
default_bits       = 2048
default_keyfile    = serverkey.pem
distinguished_name = server_distinguished_name
req_extensions     = server_req_extensions
string_mask        = utf8only

####################################################################
[ server_distinguished_name ]
countryName         = Country Name (2 letter code)
countryName_default = US

stateOrProvinceName         = State or Province Name (full name)
stateOrProvinceName_default = MD

localityName         = Locality Name (eg, city)
localityName_default = Baltimore

organizationName            = Organization Name (eg, company)
organizationName_default    = Test Server, Limited

commonName           = Common Name (e.g. server FQDN or YOUR name)
commonName_default   = Test Server

emailAddress         = Email Address
emailAddress_default = [email protected]

####################################################################
[ server_req_extensions ]

subjectKeyIdentifier = hash
basicConstraints     = CA:FALSE
keyUsage             = digitalSignature, keyEncipherment
subjectAltName       = @alternate_names
nsComment            = "OpenSSL Generated Certificate"

####################################################################
[ alternate_names ]

DNS.1  = example.com
DNS.2  = www.example.com
DNS.3  = mail.example.com
DNS.4  = ftp.example.com

If you are developing and need to use your workstation as a server, then you may need to do the following for Chrome. Otherwise Chrome may complain a Common Name is invalid (ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID). I'm not sure what the relationship is between an IP address in the SAN and a CN in this instance.

# IPv4 localhost
IP.1     = 127.0.0.1

# IPv6 localhost
IP.2     = ::1

Then, create the server certificate request. Be sure to omit -x509*. Adding -x509 will create a certificate, and not a request.

$ openssl req -config openssl-server.cnf -newkey rsa:2048 -sha256 -nodes -out servercert.csr -outform PEM

After this command executes, you will have a request in servercert.csr and a private key in serverkey.pem.

And you can inspect it again.

$ openssl req -text -noout -verify -in servercert.csr
Certificate:
    verify OK
    Certificate Request:
        Version: 0 (0x0)
        Subject: C=US, ST=MD, L=Baltimore, CN=Test Server/[email protected]
        Subject Public Key Info:
            Public Key Algorithm: rsaEncryption
                Public-Key: (2048 bit)
                Modulus:
                    00:ce:3d:58:7f:a0:59:92:aa:7c:a0:82:dc:c9:6d:
                    ...
                    f9:5e:0c:ba:84:eb:27:0d:d9:e7:22:5d:fe:e5:51:
                    86:e1
                Exponent: 65537 (0x10001)
        Attributes:
        Requested Extensions:
            X509v3 Subject Key Identifier:
                1F:09:EF:79:9A:73:36:C1:80:52:60:2D:03:53:C7:B6:BD:63:3B:61
            X509v3 Basic Constraints:
                CA:FALSE
            X509v3 Key Usage:
                Digital Signature, Key Encipherment
            X509v3 Subject Alternative Name:
                DNS:example.com, DNS:www.example.com, DNS:mail.example.com, DNS:ftp.example.com
            Netscape Comment:
                OpenSSL Generated Certificate
    Signature Algorithm: sha256WithRSAEncryption
         6d:e8:d3:85:b3:88:d4:1a:80:9e:67:0d:37:46:db:4d:9a:81:
         ...
         76:6a:22:0a:41:45:1f:e2:d6:e4:8f:a1:ca:de:e5:69:98:88:
         a9:63:d0:a7

Next, you have to sign it with your CA.

---

You are almost ready to sign the server's certificate by your CA. The CA's openssl-ca.cnf needs two more sections before issuing the command.

First, open openssl-ca.cnf and add the following two sections.

####################################################################
[ signing_policy ]
countryName            = optional
stateOrProvinceName    = optional
localityName           = optional
organizationName       = optional
organizationalUnitName = optional
commonName             = supplied
emailAddress           = optional

####################################################################
[ signing_req ]
subjectKeyIdentifier   = hash
authorityKeyIdentifier = keyid,issuer
basicConstraints       = CA:FALSE
keyUsage               = digitalSignature, keyEncipherment

Second, add the following to the [ CA_default ] section of openssl-ca.cnf. I left them out earlier, because they can complicate things (they were unused at the time). Now you'll se