User-Level Commands in the Oracle Solaris Cryptographic Framework

The Oracle Solaris Cryptographic Framework provides user-level commands to check the integrity of files, to encrypt files, and to decrypt files. A separate command, elfsign, enables providers to sign binaries for use with the framework.

• digest command – Computes a message digest for one or more files or for stdin. A digest is useful for verifying the integrity of a file. SHA1 and MD5 are examples of digest functions.

• mac command – Computes a message authentication code (MAC) for one or more files or for stdin. A MAC associates data with an authenticated message. A MAC enables a receiver to verify that the message came from the sender and that the message has not been tampered with. The sha1_mac and md5_hmac mechanisms can compute a MAC.

• encrypt command – Encrypts files or stdin with a symmetric cipher. The encrypt -l command lists the algorithms that are available. Mechanisms that are listed under a user-level library are available to the encrypt command. The framework provides AES, DES, 3DES (Triple-DES), and ARCFOUR mechanisms for user encryption.

• decrypt command – Decrypts files or stdin that were encrypted with the encrypt command. The decrypt command uses the identical key and mechanism that were used to encrypt the original file.

Binary Signatures for Third-Party Software

The elfsign command provides a means to sign providers to be used with the Oracle Solaris Cryptographic Framework. Typically, this command is run by the developer of a provider.

The elfsign command has subcommands to request a certificate from Sun and to sign binaries. Another subcommand verifies the signature. Unsigned binaries cannot be used by the Oracle Solaris Cryptographic Framework. To sign one or more providers requires the certificate from Sun and the private key that was used to request the certificate. For more information, see Appendix F, Packaging and Signing Cryptographic Providers, in Oracle Solaris Security for Developers Guide.