openssl-ts

(1ssl)

Time Stamping Authority command

User commands 32 optionsopenssl 3.5.6-1~deb13u2

openssl ts -help openssl ts -query [-config configfile] [-data file_to_hash] [-digest digest_bytes] [-digest] [-tspolicy object_id] [-no_nonce] [-cert] [-in request.tsq] [-out request.tsq] [-text] [-rand files] [-writerand file] [-provider name] [-provider-path path] [-provparam [name:]key=value] [-propquery propq] openssl ts -reply [-config configfile] [-section tsa_section] [-queryfile request.tsq] [-passin password_src] [-signer tsa_cert.pem] [-inkey filename|uri] [-digest] [-chain certs_file.pem] [-tspolicy object_id] [-in response.tsr] [-token_in] [-out response.tsr] [-token_out] [-text] [-engine id] [-provider name] [-provider-path path] [-provparam [name:]key=value] [-propquery propq] openssl ts -verify [-data file_to_hash] [-digest digest_bytes] [-queryfile request.tsq] [-in respon

Options

-help

Print out a usage message.

-query

Generate a TS query. For details see "Timestamp Request generation".

-reply

Generate a TS reply. For details see "Timestamp Response generation".

-verify

Verify a TS response. For details see "Timestamp Response verification".

-configconfigfile

The configuration file to use. Optional; for a description of the default value, see "COMMAND SUMMARY" in openssl(1).

-datafile_to_hash

The data file for which the timestamp request needs to be created. stdin is the default if neither the -data nor the -digest parameter is specified. (Optional)

-digestdigest_bytes

It is possible to specify the message imprint explicitly without the data file. The imprint must be specified in a hexadecimal format, two characters per byte, the bytes optionally separated by colons (e.g. 1A:F6:01:... or 1AF601...). The number of bytes must match the message digest algorithm in use. (Optional)

-digestdigest

The message digest to apply to the data file. Any digest supported by the openssl-dgst(1) command can be used. The default is SHA-256. (Optional)

-tspolicyobject_id

The policy that the client expects the TSA to use for creating the timestamp token. Either the dotted OID notation or OID names defined in the config file can be used. If no policy is requested the TSA will use its own default policy. (Optional)

-no_nonce

No nonce is specified in the request if this option is given. Otherwise, a 64-bit long pseudo-random nonce is included in the request. It is recommended to use a nonce to protect against replay attacks. (Optional)

-cert

The TSA is expected to include its signing certificate in the response. (Optional)

-inrequest.tsq

This option specifies a previously created timestamp request in DER format that will be printed into the output file. Useful when you need to examine the content of a request in human-readable format. (Optional)

-outrequest.tsq

Name of the output file to which the request will be written. Default is stdout. (Optional)

-text

If this option is specified the output is human-readable text format instead of DER. (Optional)

-rand-writerandfiles

See "Random State Options" in openssl(1) for details.

-sectiontsa_section

The name of the config file section containing the settings for the response generation. If not specified the default TSA section is used, see "CONFIGURATION FILE OPTIONS" for details. (Optional)

-queryfilerequest.tsq

The name of the file containing a DER encoded timestamp request. (Optional)

-passinpassword_src

Specifies the password source for the private key of the TSA. See description in openssl(1). (Optional)

-signertsa_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)

-inkeyfilename

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

-chaincerts_file.pem

The collection of certificates in PEM format that will all be included in the response in addition to the signer certificate if the -cert option was used for the request. This file is supposed to contain the certificate chain for the signer certificate from its issuer upwards. The -reply command does not build a certificate chain automatically. (Optional)

-inresponse.tsr

Specifies a previously created timestamp response or timestamp token (if -token_in is also specified) in DER format that will be written to the output file. This option does not require a request, it is useful e.g. when you need to examine the content of a response or token or you want to extract the timestamp token from a response. If the input is a token and the output is a timestamp response a default 'granted' status info is added to the token. (Optional)

-token_in

This flag can be used together with the -in option and indicates that the input is a DER encoded timestamp token (ContentInfo) instead of a timestamp response (TimeStampResp). (Optional)

-outresponse.tsr

The response is written to this file. The format and content of the file depends on other options (see -text, -token_out). The default is stdout. (Optional)

-token_out

The output is a timestamp token (ContentInfo) instead of timestamp response (TimeStampResp). (Optional)

-engineid

See "Engine Options" in openssl(1). This option is deprecated.

-providername

—

-provider-pathpath

—

-provparam[name:]key=value

—

-propquerypropq

See "Provider Options" in openssl(1), provider(7), and property(7).

-untrustedfiles

A set of additional untrusted certificates which may be needed when building the certificate chain for the TSA's signing certificate. These do not need to contain the TSA signing certificate and intermediate CA certificates as far as the response already includes them. (Optional) Multiple sources may be given, separated by commas and/or whitespace. Each file may contain multiple certificates.

-CAfile-CApath-CAstorefile

See "Trusted Certificate Options" in openssl-verification-options(1) for details. At least one of -CAfile, -CApath or -CAstore must be specified.

DESCRIPTION

This command is a basic Time Stamping Authority (TSA) client and server application as specified in RFC 3161 (Time-Stamp Protocol, TSP). A TSA can be part of a PKI deployment and its role is to provide long term proof of the existence of a certain datum before a particular time. Here is a brief description of the protocol:

1.: The TSA client computes a one-way hash value for a data file and sends the hash to the TSA.
2.: The TSA attaches the current date and time to the received hash value, signs them and sends the timestamp token back to the client. By creating this token the TSA certifies the existence of the original data file at the time of response generation.
3.: The TSA client receives the timestamp token and verifies the signature on it. It also checks if the token contains the same hash value that it had sent to the TSA.

There is one DER encoded protocol data unit defined for transporting a timestamp request to the TSA and one for sending the timestamp response back to the client. This command has three main functions: creating a timestamp request based on a data file, creating a timestamp response based on a request, verifying if a response corresponds to a particular request or a data file.

There is no support for sending the requests/responses automatically over HTTP or TCP yet as suggested in RFC 3161. The users must send the requests either by ftp or e-mail.

EXAMPLES

All the examples below presume that OPENSSL_CONF is set to a proper configuration file, e.g. the example configuration file openssl/apps/openssl.cnf will do.

Timestamp Request

To create a timestamp request for design1.txt with SHA-256 digest, without nonce and policy, and without requirement for a certificate in the response:

  openssl ts -query -data design1.txt -no_nonce \
        -out design1.tsq

To create a similar timestamp request with specifying the message imprint explicitly:

  openssl ts -query -digest b7e5d3f93198b38379852f2c04e78d73abdd0f4b \
         -no_nonce -out design1.tsq

To print the content of the previous request in human readable format:

  openssl ts -query -in design1.tsq -text

To create a timestamp request which includes the SHA-512 digest of design2.txt, requests the signer certificate and nonce, and specifies a policy id (assuming the tsa_policy1 name is defined in the OID section of the config file):

  openssl ts -query -data design2.txt -sha512 \
        -tspolicy tsa_policy1 -cert -out design2.tsq

Timestamp Response

Before generating a response a signing certificate must be created for the TSA that contains the timeStamping critical extended key usage extension without any other key usage extensions. You can add this line to the user certificate section of the config file to generate a proper certificate;

   extendedKeyUsage = critical,timeStamping

See openssl-req(1), openssl-ca(1), and openssl-x509(1) for instructions. The examples below assume that cacert.pem contains the certificate of the CA, tsacert.pem is the signing certificate issued by cacert.pem and tsakey.pem is the private key of the TSA.

To create a timestamp response for a request:

  openssl ts -reply -queryfile design1.tsq -inkey tsakey.pem \
        -signer tsacert.pem -out design1.tsr

If you want to use the settings in the config file you could just write:

  openssl ts -reply -queryfile design1.tsq -out design1.tsr

To print a timestamp reply to stdout in human readable format:

  openssl ts -reply -in design1.tsr -text

To create a timestamp token instead of timestamp response:

  openssl ts -reply -queryfile design1.tsq -out design1_token.der -token_out

To print a timestamp token to stdout in human readable format:

  openssl ts -reply -in design1_token.der -token_in -text -token_out

To extract the timestamp token from a response:

  openssl ts -reply -in design1.tsr -out design1_token.der -token_out

To add 'granted' status info to a timestamp token thereby creating a valid response:

  openssl ts -reply -in design1_token.der -token_in -out design1.tsr

Timestamp Verification

To verify a timestamp reply against a request:

  openssl ts -verify -queryfile design1.tsq -in design1.tsr \
        -CAfile cacert.pem -untrusted tsacert.pem

To verify a timestamp reply that includes the certificate chain:

  openssl ts -verify -queryfile design2.tsq -in design2.tsr \
        -CAfile cacert.pem

To verify a timestamp token against the original data file:

  openssl ts -verify -data design2.txt -in design2.tsr \
        -CAfile cacert.pem

To verify a timestamp token against a message imprint:

  openssl ts -verify -digest b7e5d3f93198b38379852f2c04e78d73abdd0f4b \
         -in design2.tsr -CAfile cacert.pem

You could also look at the 'test' directory for more examples.

BUGS

No support for timestamps over SMTP, though it is quite easy to implement an automatic e-mail based TSA with procmail(1) and perl(1). HTTP server support is provided in the form of a separate apache module. HTTP client support is provided by tsget(1). Pure TCP/IP protocol is not supported.
The file containing the last serial number of the TSA is not locked when being read or written. This is a problem if more than one instance of openssl(1) is trying to create a timestamp response at the same time. This is not an issue when using the apache server module, it does proper locking.
Look for the FIXME word in the source files.
The source code should really be reviewed by somebody else, too.
More testing is needed, I have done only some basic tests (see test/testtsa).

HISTORY

OpenSSL 1.1.1 introduced a new random generator (CSPRNG) with an improved seeding mechanism. The new seeding mechanism makes it unnecessary to define a RANDFILE for saving and restoring randomness. This option is retained mainly for compatibility reasons.

The -engine option was deprecated in OpenSSL 3.0.

COPYRIGHT

Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (the "License"). You may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html.