How to: Sign Messages by One Signer
This example creates a CMS/PKCS #7 signed message by using System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs. The message is signed by a single signer. The signature on that message is then verified.
Example
This example uses the following classes:
The following example requires that a public key certificate with the subject name "MessageSigner1" be contained in the My certificate store, and that the associated private key exists.
.gif) Note |
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This example is only for illustrative purposes. Production environments might use a different model in which the sender and the recipient of the message execute in different processes with their unique public key credentials. |
Set up this example by using the Makecert.exe utility, one of several ways to do so. Certificate Creation Tool (Makecert.exe) is a convenient utility for generating test certificates. In a production environment, certificates are generated by a certification authority.
The following Makecert command generates the required public key certificates and private keys.
Makecert -n "CN=MessageSigner1" -ss My
// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
#region Using directives
using System;
using System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs;
using System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates;
using System.Text;
#endregion
namespace SigningAMessageByOneSigner
{
class SignedCmsSingleSigner
{
const String signerName = "MessageSigner1";
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.WriteLine("System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs " +
"Sample: Single-signer signed and verified message");
// Original message.
const String msg = "This is the message to be signed.";
Console.WriteLine("\nOriginal message (len {0}): {1} ",
msg.Length, msg);
// Convert message to array of bytes for signing.
Encoding unicode = Encoding.Unicode;
byte[] msgBytes = unicode.GetBytes(msg);
Console.WriteLine("\n\n------------------------------");
Console.WriteLine(" SETUP OF CREDENTIALS ");
Console.WriteLine("------------------------------\n");
X509Certificate2 signerCert = GetSignerCert();
Console.WriteLine("\n\n----------------------");
Console.WriteLine(" SENDER SIDE ");
Console.WriteLine("----------------------\n");
byte[] encodedSignedCms = SignMsg(msgBytes, signerCert);
Console.WriteLine("\n\n------------------------");
Console.WriteLine(" RECIPIENT SIDE ");
Console.WriteLine("------------------------\n");
if (VerifyMsg(encodedSignedCms))
{
Console.WriteLine("\nMessage verified");
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine("\nMessage failed to verify");
}
}
// Open the My (or Personal) certificate store and search for
// credentials to sign the message with. The certificate
// must have the subject name "MessageSigner1".
static public X509Certificate2 GetSignerCert()
{
// Open the My certificate store.
X509Store storeMy = new X509Store(StoreName.My,
StoreLocation.CurrentUser);
storeMy.Open(OpenFlags.ReadOnly);
// Display certificates to help troubleshoot
// the example's setup.
Console.WriteLine("Found certs with the following subject " +
"names in the {0} store:", storeMy.Name);
foreach (X509Certificate2 cert in storeMy.Certificates)
{
Console.WriteLine("\t{0}", cert.SubjectName.Name);
}
// Find the signer's certificate.
X509Certificate2Collection certColl =
storeMy.Certificates.Find(X509FindType.FindBySubjectName,
signerName, false);
Console.WriteLine(
"Found {0} certificates in the {1} store with name {2}",
certColl.Count, storeMy.Name, signerName);
// Check to see if the certificate suggested by the example
// requirements is not present.
if (certColl.Count == 0)
{
Console.WriteLine(
"A suggested certificate to use for this example " +
"is not in the certificate store. Select " +
"an alternate certificate to use for " +
"signing the message.");
}
storeMy.Close();
// If more than one matching cert, return the first one.
return certColl[0];
}
// Sign the message with the private key of the signer.
static public byte[] SignMsg(
Byte[] msg,
X509Certificate2 signerCert)
{
// Place message in a ContentInfo object.
// This is required to build a SignedCms object.
ContentInfo contentInfo = new ContentInfo(msg);
// Instantiate SignedCms object with the ContentInfo above.
// Has default SubjectIdentifierType IssuerAndSerialNumber.
// Has default Detached property value false, so message is
// included in the encoded SignedCms.
SignedCms signedCms = new SignedCms(contentInfo);
// Formulate a CmsSigner object for the signer.
CmsSigner cmsSigner = new CmsSigner(signerCert);
// Sign the CMS/PKCS #7 message.
Console.Write("Computing signature with signer subject " +
"name {0} ... ", signerCert.SubjectName.Name);
signedCms.ComputeSignature(cmsSigner);
Console.WriteLine("Done.");
// Encode the CMS/PKCS #7 message.
return signedCms.Encode();
}
// Verify the encoded SignedCms message and return a Boolean
// value that specifies whether the verification was successful.
static public bool VerifyMsg(byte[] encodedSignedCms)
{
// Prepare an object in which to decode and verify.
SignedCms signedCms = new SignedCms();
signedCms.Decode(encodedSignedCms);
// Catch a verification exception if you want to
// advise the message recipient that
// security actions might be appropriate.
try
{
// Verify signature. Do not validate signer
// certificate for the purposes of this example.
// Note that in a production environment, validating
// the signer certificate chain will probably
// be necessary.
Console.Write("Checking signature on message ... ");
signedCms.CheckSignature(true);
Console.WriteLine("Done.");
}
catch (System.Security.Cryptography.CryptographicException e)
{
Console.WriteLine("VerifyMsg caught exception: {0}",
e.Message);
Console.WriteLine("Verification of the signed PKCS #7 " +
"failed. The message, signatures, or " +
"countersignatures may have been modified " +
"in transit or storage. The message signers or " +
"countersigners may not be who they claim to be. " +
"The message's authenticity or integrity, " +
"or both, are not guaranteed.");
return false;
}
return true;
}
}
}
See Also
Tasks
How to: Sign a Message by Multiple Signers
How to: Countersign a Message
How to: Envelope a Message for One Recipient
How to: Envelope a Message for Multiple Recipients