X509Certificate

 Certificate  ::=  SEQUENCE  {
     tbsCertificate       TBSCertificate,
     signatureAlgorithm   AlgorithmIdentifier,
     signature            BIT STRING  }
 

 TBSCertificate  ::=  SEQUENCE  {
     version         [0]  EXPLICIT Version DEFAULT v1,
     serialNumber         CertificateSerialNumber,
     signature            AlgorithmIdentifier,
     issuer               Name,
     validity             Validity,
     subject              Name,
     subjectPublicKeyInfo SubjectPublicKeyInfo,
     issuerUniqueID  [1]  IMPLICIT UniqueIdentifier OPTIONAL,
                          -- If present, version must be v2 or v3
     subjectUniqueID [2]  IMPLICIT UniqueIdentifier OPTIONAL,
                          -- If present, version must be v2 or v3
     extensions      [3]  EXPLICIT Extensions OPTIONAL
                          -- If present, version must be v3
     }
 

 try (InputStream inStream = new FileInputStream("fileName-of-cert")) {
     CertificateFactory cf = CertificateFactory.getInstance("X.509");
     X509Certificate cert = (X509Certificate)cf.generateCertificate(inStream);
 }
 

See also:

• Certificate
• CertificateFactory
• X509Extension

X509Certificate

protected X509Certificate ()

Constructor for X.509 certificates.

checkValidity

public abstract void checkValidity ()

Checks that the certificate is currently valid. It is if the current date and time are within the validity period given in the certificate.

The validity period consists of two date/time values: the first and last dates (and times) on which the certificate is valid. It is defined in ASN.1 as:

 validity             Validity

 Validity ::= SEQUENCE {
     notBefore      CertificateValidityDate,
     notAfter       CertificateValidityDate }

 CertificateValidityDate ::= CHOICE {
     utcTime        UTCTime,
     generalTime    GeneralizedTime }
 

Throws
CertificateExpiredException	if the certificate has expired.
CertificateNotYetValidException	if the certificate is not yet valid.

checkValidity

public abstract void checkValidity (Date date)

Checks that the given date is within the certificate's validity period. In other words, this determines whether the certificate would be valid at the given date/time.

Parameters
date	Date: the Date to check against to see if this certificate is valid at that date/time.

Throws
CertificateExpiredException	if the certificate has expired with respect to the date supplied.
CertificateNotYetValidException	if the certificate is not yet valid with respect to the date supplied.

getBasicConstraints

public abstract int getBasicConstraints ()

Gets the certificate constraints path length from the critical BasicConstraints extension, (OID = 2.5.29.19).

The basic constraints extension identifies whether the subject of the certificate is a Certificate Authority (CA) and how deep a certification path may exist through that CA. The pathLenConstraint field (see below) is meaningful only if cA is set to TRUE. In this case, it gives the maximum number of CA certificates that may follow this certificate in a certification path. A value of zero indicates that only an end-entity certificate may follow in the path.

The ASN.1 definition for this is:

 BasicConstraints ::= SEQUENCE {
     cA                  BOOLEAN DEFAULT FALSE,
     pathLenConstraint   INTEGER (0..MAX) OPTIONAL }
 

Returns
int	the value of pathLenConstraint if the BasicConstraints extension is present in the certificate and the subject of the certificate is a CA, otherwise -1. If the subject of the certificate is a CA and pathLenConstraint does not appear, Integer.MAX_VALUE is returned to indicate that there is no limit to the allowed length of the certification path.

getExtendedKeyUsage

public List<String> getExtendedKeyUsage ()

Gets an unmodifiable list of Strings representing the OBJECT IDENTIFIERs of the ExtKeyUsageSyntax field of the extended key usage extension, (OID = 2.5.29.37). It indicates one or more purposes for which the certified public key may be used, in addition to or in place of the basic purposes indicated in the key usage extension field. The ASN.1 definition for this is:

 ExtKeyUsageSyntax ::= SEQUENCE SIZE (1..MAX) OF KeyPurposeId

 KeyPurposeId ::= OBJECT IDENTIFIER
 

Key purposes may be defined by any organization with a need. Object identifiers used to identify key purposes shall be assigned in accordance with IANA or ITU-T Rec. X.660 | ISO/IEC/ITU 9834-1.

This method was added to version 1.4 of the Java 2 Platform Standard Edition. In order to maintain backwards compatibility with existing service providers, this method is not abstract and it provides a default implementation. Subclasses should override this method with a correct implementation.

Returns
List<String>	the ExtendedKeyUsage extension of this certificate, as an unmodifiable list of object identifiers represented as Strings. Returns null if this certificate does not contain an ExtendedKeyUsage extension.

Throws
CertificateParsingException	if the extension cannot be decoded

getIssuerAlternativeNames

public Collection<List<?>> getIssuerAlternativeNames ()

Gets an immutable collection of issuer alternative names from the IssuerAltName extension, (OID = 2.5.29.18).

The ASN.1 definition of the IssuerAltName extension is:

 IssuerAltName ::= GeneralNames
 

The ASN.1 definition of GeneralNames is defined in getSubjectAlternativeNames.

If this certificate does not contain an IssuerAltName extension, null is returned. Otherwise, a Collection is returned with an entry representing each GeneralName included in the extension. Each entry is a List whose first entry is an Integer (the name type, 0-8) and whose second entry is a String or a byte array (the name, in string or ASN.1 DER encoded form, respectively). For more details about the formats used for each name type, see the getSubjectAlternativeNames method.

Note that the Collection returned may contain more than one name of the same type. Also, note that the returned Collection is immutable and any entries containing byte arrays are cloned to protect against subsequent modifications.

This method was added to version 1.4 of the Java 2 Platform Standard Edition. In order to maintain backwards compatibility with existing service providers, this method is not abstract and it provides a default implementation. Subclasses should override this method with a correct implementation.

Returns
Collection<List<?>>	an immutable Collection of issuer alternative names (or null)

Throws
CertificateParsingException	if the extension cannot be decoded

getIssuerDN

public abstract Principal getIssuerDN ()

Denigrated, replaced by getIssuerX500Principal(). This method returns the issuer as an implementation specific Principal object, which should not be relied upon by portable code.

Gets the issuer (issuer distinguished name) value from the certificate. The issuer name identifies the entity that signed (and issued) the certificate.

The issuer name field contains an X.500 distinguished name (DN). The ASN.1 definition for this is:

 issuer    Name

 Name ::= CHOICE { RDNSequence }
 RDNSequence ::= SEQUENCE OF RelativeDistinguishedName
 RelativeDistinguishedName ::=
     SET OF AttributeValueAssertion

 AttributeValueAssertion ::= SEQUENCE {
                               AttributeType,
                               AttributeValue }
 AttributeType ::= OBJECT IDENTIFIER
 AttributeValue ::= ANY
 

The Name describes a hierarchical name composed of attributes, such as country name, and corresponding values, such as US. The type of the AttributeValue component is determined by the AttributeType; in general it will be a directoryString. A directoryString is usually one of PrintableString, TeletexString or UniversalString.

Returns
Principal	a Principal whose name is the issuer distinguished name.

getIssuerUniqueID

public abstract boolean[] getIssuerUniqueID ()

Gets the issuerUniqueID value from the certificate. The issuer unique identifier is present in the certificate to handle the possibility of reuse of issuer names over time. RFC 3280 recommends that names not be reused and that conforming certificates not make use of unique identifiers. Applications conforming to that profile should be capable of parsing unique identifiers and making comparisons.

The ASN.1 definition for this is:

 issuerUniqueID  [1]  IMPLICIT UniqueIdentifier OPTIONAL

 UniqueIdentifier  ::=  BIT STRING
 

Returns
boolean[]	the issuer unique identifier or null if it is not present in the certificate.

getIssuerX500Principal

public X500Principal getIssuerX500Principal ()

Returns the issuer (issuer distinguished name) value from the certificate as an X500Principal.

It is recommended that subclasses override this method.

Returns
X500Principal	an X500Principal representing the issuer distinguished name

getKeyUsage

public abstract boolean[] getKeyUsage ()

Gets a boolean array representing bits of the KeyUsage extension, (OID = 2.5.29.15). The key usage extension defines the purpose (e.g., encipherment, signature, certificate signing) of the key contained in the certificate. The ASN.1 definition for this is:

 KeyUsage ::= BIT STRING {
     digitalSignature        (0),
     nonRepudiation          (1),
     keyEncipherment         (2),
     dataEncipherment        (3),
     keyAgreement            (4),
     keyCertSign             (5),
     cRLSign                 (6),
     encipherOnly            (7),
     decipherOnly            (8) }
 

RFC 3280 recommends that when used, this be marked as a critical extension.

Returns

boolean[]

the KeyUsage extension of this certificate, represented as an array of booleans. The order of KeyUsage values in the array is the same as in the above ASN.1 definition. The array will contain a value for each KeyUsage defined above. If the KeyUsage list encoded in the certificate is longer than the above list, it will not be truncated. Returns null if this certificate does not contain a KeyUsage extension.

getNotAfter

public abstract Date getNotAfter ()

Gets the notAfter date from the validity period of the certificate. See getNotBefore for relevant ASN.1 definitions.

Returns
Date	the end date of the validity period.

getNotBefore

public abstract Date getNotBefore ()

Gets the notBefore date from the validity period of the certificate. The relevant ASN.1 definitions are:

 validity             Validity

 Validity ::= SEQUENCE {
     notBefore      CertificateValidityDate,
     notAfter       CertificateValidityDate }

 CertificateValidityDate ::= CHOICE {
     utcTime        UTCTime,
     generalTime    GeneralizedTime }
 

Returns
Date	the start date of the validity period.

getSerialNumber

public abstract BigInteger getSerialNumber ()

Gets the serialNumber value from the certificate. The serial number is an integer assigned by the certification authority to each certificate. It must be unique for each certificate issued by a given CA (i.e., the issuer name and serial number identify a unique certificate). The ASN.1 definition for this is:

 serialNumber     CertificateSerialNumber

 CertificateSerialNumber  ::=  INTEGER
 

Returns
BigInteger	the serial number.

getSigAlgName

public abstract String getSigAlgName ()

Gets the signature algorithm name for the certificate signature algorithm. An example is the string "SHA256withRSA". The ASN.1 definition for this is:

 signatureAlgorithm   AlgorithmIdentifier

 AlgorithmIdentifier  ::=  SEQUENCE  {
     algorithm               OBJECT IDENTIFIER,
     parameters              ANY DEFINED BY algorithm OPTIONAL  }
                             -- contains a value of the type
                             -- registered for use with the
                             -- algorithm object identifier value
 

The algorithm name is determined from the algorithm OID string.

Returns
String	the signature algorithm name.

getSigAlgOID

public abstract String getSigAlgOID ()

Gets the signature algorithm OID string from the certificate. An OID is represented by a set of nonnegative whole numbers separated by periods. For example, the string "1.2.840.10040.4.3" identifies the SHA-1 with DSA signature algorithm defined in RFC 3279: Algorithms and Identifiers for the Internet X.509 Public Key Infrastructure Certificate and CRL Profile.

See getSigAlgName for relevant ASN.1 definitions.

Returns
String	the signature algorithm OID string.

getSigAlgParams

public abstract byte[] getSigAlgParams ()

Gets the DER-encoded signature algorithm parameters from this certificate's signature algorithm. In most cases, the signature algorithm parameters are null; the parameters are usually supplied with the certificate's public key. If access to individual parameter values is needed then use AlgorithmParameters and instantiate with the name returned by getSigAlgName.

See getSigAlgName for relevant ASN.1 definitions.

Returns
byte[]	the DER-encoded signature algorithm parameters, or null if no parameters are present.

getSignature

public abstract byte[] getSignature ()

Gets the signature value (the raw signature bits) from the certificate. The ASN.1 definition for this is:

 signature     BIT STRING
 

Returns
byte[]	the signature.

getSubjectAlternativeNames

public Collection<List<?>> getSubjectAlternativeNames ()

Gets an immutable collection of subject alternative names from the SubjectAltName extension, (OID = 2.5.29.17).

The ASN.1 definition of the SubjectAltName extension is:

 SubjectAltName ::= GeneralNames

 GeneralNames :: = SEQUENCE SIZE (1..MAX) OF GeneralName

 GeneralName ::= CHOICE {
      otherName                       [0]     OtherName,
      rfc822Name                      [1]     IA5String,
      dNSName                         [2]     IA5String,
      x400Address                     [3]     ORAddress,
      directoryName                   [4]     Name,
      ediPartyName                    [5]     EDIPartyName,
      uniformResourceIdentifier       [6]     IA5String,
      iPAddress                       [7]     OCTET STRING,
      registeredID                    [8]     OBJECT IDENTIFIER}
 

If this certificate does not contain a SubjectAltName extension, null is returned. Otherwise, a Collection is returned with an entry representing each GeneralName included in the extension. Each entry is a List whose first entry is an Integer (the name type, 0-8) and whose second entry is a String or a byte array (the name, in string or ASN.1 DER encoded form, respectively).

RFC 822, DNS, and URI names are returned as Strings, using the well-established string formats for those types (subject to the restrictions included in RFC 3280). IPv4 address names are returned using dotted quad notation. IPv6 address names are returned in the form "a1:a2:...:a8", where a1-a8 are hexadecimal values representing the eight 16-bit pieces of the address. OID names are returned as Strings represented as a series of nonnegative integers separated by periods. And directory names (distinguished names) are returned in RFC 2253 string format. No standard string format is defined for otherNames, X.400 names, EDI party names, or any other type of names. They are returned as byte arrays containing the ASN.1 DER encoded form of the name.

Note that the Collection returned may contain more than one name of the same type. Also, note that the returned Collection is immutable and any entries containing byte arrays are cloned to protect against subsequent modifications.

This method was added to version 1.4 of the Java 2 Platform Standard Edition. In order to maintain backwards compatibility with existing service providers, this method is not abstract and it provides a default implementation. Subclasses should override this method with a correct implementation.

Returns
Collection<List<?>>	an immutable Collection of subject alternative names (or null)

Throws
CertificateParsingException	if the extension cannot be decoded

getSubjectDN

public abstract Principal getSubjectDN ()

Denigrated, replaced by getSubjectX500Principal(). This method returns the subject as an implementation specific Principal object, which should not be relied upon by portable code.

Gets the subject (subject distinguished name) value from the certificate. If the subject value is empty, then the getName() method of the returned Principal object returns an empty string ("").

The ASN.1 definition for this is:

 subject    Name
 

See getIssuerDN for Name and other relevant definitions.

Returns
Principal	a Principal whose name is the subject name.

getSubjectUniqueID

public abstract boolean[] getSubjectUniqueID ()

Gets the subjectUniqueID value from the certificate.

The ASN.1 definition for this is:

 subjectUniqueID  [2]  IMPLICIT UniqueIdentifier OPTIONAL

 UniqueIdentifier  ::=  BIT STRING
 

Returns
boolean[]	the subject unique identifier or null if it is not present in the certificate.

getSubjectX500Principal

public X500Principal getSubjectX500Principal ()

Returns the subject (subject distinguished name) value from the certificate as an X500Principal. If the subject value is empty, then the getName() method of the returned X500Principal object returns an empty string ("").

It is recommended that subclasses override this method.

Returns
X500Principal	an X500Principal representing the subject distinguished name

getTBSCertificate

public abstract byte[] getTBSCertificate ()

Gets the DER-encoded certificate information, the tbsCertificate from this certificate. This can be used to verify the signature independently.

Returns
byte[]	the DER-encoded certificate information.

Throws
CertificateEncodingException	if an encoding error occurs.

getVersion

public abstract int getVersion ()

Gets the version (version number) value from the certificate. The ASN.1 definition for this is:

 version  [0] EXPLICIT Version DEFAULT v1

 Version ::=  INTEGER  {  v1(0), v2(1), v3(2)  }
 

Returns
int	the version number, i.e. 1, 2 or 3.

verify

public void verify (PublicKey key, 
                Provider sigProvider)

Verifies that this certificate was signed using the private key that corresponds to the specified public key. This method uses the signature verification engine supplied by the specified provider. Note that the specified Provider object does not have to be registered in the provider list. This method was added to version 1.8 of the Java Platform Standard Edition. In order to maintain backwards compatibility with existing service providers, this method is not abstract and it provides a default implementation.

Parameters
key	PublicKey: the PublicKey used to carry out the verification.
sigProvider	Provider: the signature provider.

Throws
NoSuchAlgorithmException	on unsupported signature algorithms.
InvalidKeyException	on incorrect key.
SignatureException	on signature errors.
CertificateException	on encoding errors.
UnsupportedOperationException	if the method is not supported