X509V3_CONFIG(5SSL) OpenSSL X509V3_CONFIG(5SSL)
NAME
x509v3_config - X509 V3 certificate extension configuration format
DESCRIPTION
Several OpenSSL commands can add extensions to a certificate or
certificate request based on the contents of a configuration file and
CLI options such as -addext. The syntax of configuration files is
described in config(5). The commands typically have an option to
specify the name of the configuration file, and a section within that
file; see the documentation of the individual command for details.
This page uses extensions as the name of the section, when needed in
examples.
Each entry in the extension section takes the form:
name = [critical, ]value(s)
If critical is present then the extension will be marked as critical.
If multiple entries are processed for the same extension name, later
entries override earlier ones with the same name.
The format of values depends on the value of name, many have a type-
value pairing where the type and value are separated by a colon. There
are four main types of extension:
string
multi-valued
raw
arbitrary
Each is described in the following paragraphs.
String extensions simply have a string which contains either the value
itself or how it is obtained.
Multi-valued extensions have a short form and a long form. The short
form is a comma-separated list of names and values:
basicConstraints = critical, CA:true, pathlen:1
The long form allows the values to be placed in a separate section:
[extensions]
basicConstraints = critical, @basic_constraints
[basic_constraints]
CA = true
pathlen = 1
Both forms are equivalent.
If an extension is multi-value and a field value must contain a comma
the long form must be used otherwise the comma would be misinterpreted
as a field separator. For example:
subjectAltName = URI:ldap://somehost.com/CN=foo,OU=bar
will produce an error but the equivalent form:
[extensions]
subjectAltName = @subject_alt_section
[subject_alt_section]
subjectAltName = URI:ldap://somehost.com/CN=foo,OU=bar
is valid.
OpenSSL does not support multiple occurrences of the same field within a
section. In this example:
[extensions]
subjectAltName = @alt_section
[alt_section]
email = steve@example.com
email = steve@example.org
will only recognize the last value. To specify multiple values append a
numeric identifier, as shown here:
[extensions]
subjectAltName = @alt_section
[alt_section]
email.1 = steve@example.com
email.2 = steve@example.org
The syntax of raw extensions is defined by the source code that parses
the extension but should be documented. See "Certificate Policies" for
an example of a raw extension.
If an extension type is unsupported, then the arbitrary extension syntax
must be used, see the "ARBITRARY EXTENSIONS" section for more details.
STANDARD EXTENSIONS
The following sections describe the syntax of each supported extension.
They do not define the semantics of the extension.
Basic Constraints
This is a multi-valued extension which indicates whether a certificate
is a CA certificate. The first value is CA followed by TRUE or FALSE. If
CA is TRUE then an optional pathlen name followed by a nonnegative value
can be included.
For example:
basicConstraints = CA:TRUE
basicConstraints = CA:FALSE
basicConstraints = critical, CA:TRUE, pathlen:1
A CA certificate must include the basicConstraints name with the CA
parameter set to TRUE. An end-user certificate must either have CA:FALSE
or omit the extension entirely. The pathlen parameter specifies the
maximum number of CAs that can appear below this one in a chain. A
pathlen of zero means the CA cannot sign any sub-CA's, and can only sign
end-entity certificates.
Key Usage
Key usage is a multi-valued extension consisting of a list of names of
the permitted key usages. The defined values are: "digitalSignature",
"nonRepudiation", "keyEncipherment", "dataEncipherment", "keyAgreement",
"keyCertSign", "cRLSign", "encipherOnly", and "decipherOnly".
Examples:
keyUsage = digitalSignature, nonRepudiation
keyUsage = critical, keyCertSign
Extended Key Usage
This extension consists of a list of values indicating purposes for
which the certificate public key can be used. Each value can be either
a short text name or an OID. The following text names, and their
intended meaning, are known:
Value Meaning according to RFC 5280 etc.
----- ----------------------------------
serverAuth SSL/TLS WWW Server Authentication
clientAuth SSL/TLS WWW Client Authentication
codeSigning Code Signing
emailProtection E-mail Protection (S/MIME)
timeStamping Trusted Timestamping
OCSPSigning OCSP Signing
ipsecIKE ipsec Internet Key Exchange
msCodeInd Microsoft Individual Code Signing (authenticode)
msCodeCom Microsoft Commercial Code Signing (authenticode)
msCTLSign Microsoft Trust List Signing
msEFS Microsoft Encrypted File System
While IETF RFC 5280 says that id-kp-serverAuth and id-kp-clientAuth are
only for WWW use, in practice they are used for all kinds of TLS clients
and servers, and this is what OpenSSL assumes as well.
Examples:
extendedKeyUsage = critical, codeSigning, 1.2.3.4
extendedKeyUsage = serverAuth, clientAuth
Subject Key Identifier
The SKID extension specification has a value with three choices.
none
No SKID extension will be included.
hash
The process specified in RFC 5280 section 4.2.1.2. (1) is followed:
The keyIdentifier is composed of the 160-bit SHA-1 hash of the value
of the BIT STRING subjectPublicKey (excluding the tag, length, and
number of unused bits).
A hex string (possibly with ":" separating bytes)
The provided value is output directly. This choice is strongly
discouraged.
By default the x509, req, and ca apps behave as if hash was given.
Example:
subjectKeyIdentifier = hash
Authority Key Identifier
The AKID extension specification may have the value none indicating that
no AKID shall be included. Otherwise it may have the value keyid or
issuer or both of them, separated by ",". Either or both can have the
option always, indicated by putting a colon ":" between the value and
this option. For self-signed certificates the AKID is suppressed unless
always is present.
By default the x509, req, and ca apps behave as if none was given for
self-signed certificates and keyid"," issuer otherwise.
If keyid is present, an attempt is made to copy the subject key
identifier (SKID) from the issuer certificate except if the issuer
certificate is the same as the current one and it is not self-signed.
The hash of the public key related to the signing key is taken as
fallback if the issuer certificate is the same as the current
certificate. If always is present but no value can be obtained, an
error is returned.
If issuer is present, and in addition it has the option always specified
or keyid is not present, then the issuer DN and serial number are copied
from the issuer certificate. If this fails, an error is returned.
Examples:
authorityKeyIdentifier = keyid, issuer
authorityKeyIdentifier = keyid, issuer:always
Subject Alternative Name
This is a multi-valued extension that supports several types of name
identifier, including email (an email address), URI (a uniform resource
indicator), DNS (a DNS domain name), RID (a registered ID: OBJECT
IDENTIFIER), IP (an IP address), dirName (a distinguished name), and
otherName. The syntax of each is described in the following paragraphs.
The email option has two special values. "copy" will automatically
include any email addresses contained in the certificate subject name in
the extension. "move" will automatically move any email addresses from
the certificate subject name to the extension.
The IP address used in the IP option can be in either IPv4 or IPv6
format.
The value of dirName is specifies the configuration section containing
the distinguished name to use, as a set of name-value pairs. Multi-
valued AVAs can be formed by prefacing the name with a + character.
The value of otherName can include arbitrary data associated with an
OID; the value should be the OID followed by a semicolon and the content
in specified using the syntax in ASN1_generate_nconf(3).
Examples:
subjectAltName = email:copy, email:my@example.com, URI:http://my.example.com/
subjectAltName = IP:192.168.7.1
subjectAltName = IP:13::17
subjectAltName = email:my@example.com, RID:1.2.3.4
subjectAltName = otherName:1.2.3.4;UTF8:some other identifier
[extensions]
subjectAltName = dirName:dir_sect
[dir_sect]
C = UK
O = My Organization
OU = My Unit
CN = My Name
Non-ASCII Email Address conforming the syntax defined in Section 3.3 of
RFC 6531 are provided as otherName.SmtpUTF8Mailbox. According to RFC
8398, the email address should be provided as UTF8String. To enforce the
valid representation in the certificate, the SmtpUTF8Mailbox should be
provided as follows
subjectAltName=@alts
[alts]
otherName = 1.3.6.1.5.5.7.8.9;FORMAT:UTF8,UTF8String:nonasciiname.example.com
Issuer Alternative Name
This extension supports most of the options of subject alternative name;
it does not support email:copy. It also adds issuer:copy as an allowed
value, which copies any subject alternative names from the issuer
certificate, if possible.
Example:
issuerAltName = issuer:copy
Authority Info Access
This extension gives details about how to retrieve information that
related to the certificate that the CA makes available. The syntax is
access_id;location, where access_id is an object identifier (although
only a few values are well-known) and location has the same syntax as
subject alternative name (except that email:copy is not supported).
Possible values for access_id include OCSP (OCSP responder), caIssuers
(CA Issuers), ad_timestamping (AD Time Stamping), AD_DVCS (ad dvcs),
caRepository (CA Repository).
Examples:
authorityInfoAccess = OCSP;URI:http://ocsp.example.com/,caIssuers;URI:http://myca.example.com/ca.cer
authorityInfoAccess = OCSP;URI:http://ocsp.example.com/
CRL distribution points
This is a multi-valued extension whose values can be either a name-value
pair using the same form as subject alternative name or a single value
specifying the section name containing all the distribution point
values.
When a name-value pair is used, a DistributionPoint extension will be
set with the given value as the fullName field as the distributionPoint
value, and the reasons and cRLIssuer fields will be omitted.
When a single option is used, the value specifies the section, and that
section can have the following items:
fullname
The full name of the distribution point, in the same format as the
subject alternative name.
relativename
The value is taken as a distinguished name fragment that is set as
the value of the nameRelativeToCRLIssuer field.
CRLIssuer
The value must in the same format as the subject alternative name.
reasons
A multi-value field that contains the reasons for revocation. The
recognized values are: "keyCompromise", "CACompromise",
"affiliationChanged", "superseded", "cessationOfOperation",
"certificateHold", "privilegeWithdrawn", and "AACompromise".
Only one of fullname or relativename should be specified.
Simple examples:
crlDistributionPoints = URI:http://example.com/myca.crl
crlDistributionPoints = URI:http://example.com/myca.crl, URI:http://example.org/my.crl
Full distribution point example:
[extensions]
crlDistributionPoints = crldp1_section
[crldp1_section]
fullname = URI:http://example.com/myca.crl
CRLissuer = dirName:issuer_sect
reasons = keyCompromise, CACompromise
[issuer_sect]
C = UK
O = Organisation
CN = Some Name
Issuing Distribution Point
This extension should only appear in CRLs. It is a multi-valued
extension whose syntax is similar to the "section" pointed to by the CRL
distribution points extension. The following names have meaning:
fullname
The full name of the distribution point, in the same format as the
subject alternative name.
relativename
The value is taken as a distinguished name fragment that is set as
the value of the nameRelativeToCRLIssuer field.
onlysomereasons
A multi-value field that contains the reasons for revocation. The
recognized values are: "keyCompromise", "CACompromise",
"affiliationChanged", "superseded", "cessationOfOperation",
"certificateHold", "privilegeWithdrawn", and "AACompromise".
onlyuser, onlyCA, onlyAA, indirectCRL
The value for each of these names is a boolean.
Example:
[extensions]
issuingDistributionPoint = critical, @idp_section
[idp_section]
fullname = URI:http://example.com/myca.crl
indirectCRL = TRUE
onlysomereasons = keyCompromise, CACompromise
Certificate Policies
This is a raw extension that supports all of the defined fields of the
certificate extension.
Policies without qualifiers are specified by giving the OID. Multiple
policies are comma-separated. For example:
certificatePolicies = 1.2.4.5, 1.1.3.4
To include policy qualifiers, use the "@section" syntax to point to a
section that specifies all the information.
The section referred to must include the policy OID using the name
policyIdentifier. cPSuri qualifiers can be included using the syntax:
CPS.nnn = value
where "nnn" is a number.
userNotice qualifiers can be set using the syntax:
userNotice.nnn = @notice
The value of the userNotice qualifier is specified in the relevant
section. This section can include explicitText, organization, and
noticeNumbers options. explicitText and organization are text strings,
noticeNumbers is a comma separated list of numbers. The organization and
noticeNumbers options (if included) must BOTH be present. Some software
might require the ia5org option at the top level; this changes the
encoding from Displaytext to IA5String.
Example:
[extensions]
certificatePolicies = ia5org, 1.2.3.4, 1.5.6.7.8, @polsect
[polsect]
policyIdentifier = 1.3.5.8
CPS.1 = "http://my.host.example.com/"
CPS.2 = "http://my.your.example.com/"
userNotice.1 = @notice
[notice]
explicitText = "Explicit Text Here"
organization = "Organisation Name"
noticeNumbers = 1, 2, 3, 4
The character encoding of explicitText can be specified by prefixing the
value with UTF8, BMP, or VISIBLE followed by colon. For example:
[notice]
explicitText = "UTF8:Explicit Text Here"
Policy Constraints
This is a multi-valued extension which consisting of the names
requireExplicitPolicy or inhibitPolicyMapping and a non negative integer
value. At least one component must be present.
Example:
policyConstraints = requireExplicitPolicy:3
Inhibit Any Policy
This is a string extension whose value must be a non negative integer.
Example:
inhibitAnyPolicy = 2
Name Constraints
This is a multi-valued extension. The name should begin with the word
permitted or excluded followed by a ;. The rest of the name and the
value follows the syntax of subjectAltName except email:copy is not
supported and the IP form should consist of an IP addresses and subnet
mask separated by a /.
Examples:
nameConstraints = permitted;IP:192.168.0.0/255.255.0.0
nameConstraints = permitted;email:.example.com
nameConstraints = excluded;email:.com
OCSP No Check
This is a string extension. It is parsed, but ignored.
Example:
noCheck = ignored
TLS Feature (aka Must Staple)
This is a multi-valued extension consisting of a list of TLS extension
identifiers. Each identifier may be a number (0..65535) or a supported
name. When a TLS client sends a listed extension, the TLS server is
expected to include that extension in its reply.
The supported names are: status_request and status_request_v2.
Example:
tlsfeature = status_request
DEPRECATED EXTENSIONS
The following extensions are non standard, Netscape specific and largely
obsolete. Their use in new applications is discouraged.
Netscape String extensions
Netscape Comment (nsComment) is a string extension containing a comment
which will be displayed when the certificate is viewed in some browsers.
Other extensions of this type are: nsBaseUrl, nsRevocationUrl,
nsCaRevocationUrl, nsRenewalUrl, nsCaPolicyUrl and nsSslServerName.
Netscape Certificate Type
This is a multi-valued extensions which consists of a list of flags to
be included. It was used to indicate the purposes for which a
certificate could be used. The basicConstraints, keyUsage and extended
key usage extensions are now used instead.
Acceptable values for nsCertType are: client, server, email, objsign,
reserved, sslCA, emailCA, objCA.
ARBITRARY EXTENSIONS
If an extension is not supported by the OpenSSL code then it must be
encoded using the arbitrary extension format. It is also possible to use
the arbitrary format for supported extensions. Extreme care should be
taken to ensure that the data is formatted correctly for the given
extension type.
There are two ways to encode arbitrary extensions.
The first way is to use the word ASN1 followed by the extension content
using the same syntax as ASN1_generate_nconf(3). For example:
[extensions]
1.2.3.4 = critical, ASN1:UTF8String:Some random data
1.2.3.4.1 = ASN1:SEQUENCE:seq_sect
[seq_sect]
field1 = UTF8:field1
field2 = UTF8:field2
It is also possible to use the word DER to include the raw encoded data
in any extension.
1.2.3.4 = critical, DER:01:02:03:04
1.2.3.4.1 = DER:01020304
The value following DER is a hex dump of the DER encoding of the
extension Any extension can be placed in this form to override the
default behaviour. For example:
basicConstraints = critical, DER:00:01:02:03
WARNINGS
There is no guarantee that a specific implementation will process a
given extension. It may therefore be sometimes possible to use
certificates for purposes prohibited by their extensions because a
specific application does not recognize or honour the values of the
relevant extensions.
The DER and ASN1 options should be used with caution. It is possible to
create invalid extensions if they are not used carefully.
SEE ALSO
openssl-req(1), openssl-ca(1), openssl-x509(1), ASN1_generate_nconf(3)
COPYRIGHT
Copyright 2004-2023 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
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>.
3.5.4 2025-09-30 X509V3_CONFIG(5SSL)
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