How PHP uses certificate operations in OpenSSL encryption

Regarding symmetric and asymmetric encryption operations, we have already studied the contents of two articles. Next, we will continue to learn about certificate generation.

Generate CSR certificate signing request

CSR is a signing request used to generate a certificate. In the CSR, we need some dn information. In fact, it is the service object of the current certificate, including company name, email address and other contents.

$privkey = openssl_pkey_new([
    "private_key_bits" => 2048,
    "private_key_type" => OPENSSL_KEYTYPE_RSA,
]);

$dn = [
    "countryName" => "CN", // 国家
    "stateOrProvinceName" => "Hunan", // 省
    "localityName" => "Changsha", // 市
    "organizationName" => "zyblog", // 公司单位名称
    "organizationalUnitName" => "zyblog", // 公司单位名称
    "commonName" => "zyblog.xxx", // 公用名称，一般可以填域名
    "emailAddress" => "zy@zyblog.xxx" // 邮箱地址
];

$csr = openssl_csr_new($dn, $privkey, ['digest_alg' => 'sha256']);

openssl_csr_export($csr, $csr_string);

var_dump($csr_string);
// string(1102) "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----
// MIIC9DCCAdwCAQAwga4xCzAJBgNVBAYTAkdCMREwDwYDVQQIDAhTb21lcnNldDEU
// MBIGA1UEBwwLR2xhc3RvbmJ1cnkxHzAdBgNVBAoMFlRoZSBCcmFpbiBSb29tIExp
// bWl0ZWQxHzAdBgNVBAsMFlBIUCBEb2N1bWVudGF0aW9uIFRlYW0xFDASBgNVBAMM
// C1dleiBGdXJsb25nMR4wHAYJKoZIhvcNAQkBFg93ZXpAZXhhbXBsZS5jb20wggEi
// MA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4IBDwAwggEKAoIBAQCh+kxDtR7+YMOCJP+s77YJmbt2
// AigtVnoy3iOj+JvP3VXCU9dIehw4deT/TBpmlpxVWPfhZF2VmpoCZNhNWFbv+6sz
// tMPhALoconSHABh+5K5UvVRGfm7Zv+0wts/8l/ZXz/pL9wpB0bCpuSXb2CjY+CkN
// hM5AYc53PHPOYU5ZC1B+z96a7gsNE+6A9qJSFRPAKWIR8QlX1ewPe23EmY2yscSC
// 6bqVkq1BFBuezim+pstWU0AQYASgSzTEtBBD4h4PHo82BmFfhHlWPWU3BZTUL8u1
// 4JJ2MBsK1F/G047EckPhrHDO9zwp6mFf5KPNr6oIwAyzvw8K8CdazpFeX863AgMB
// AAGgADANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQsFAAOCAQEALFZB3Jcc7dkt5yGPhjsxct/qyGcLJl4V
// rS1uDhHSI49FUauJOKoVnuSHblMkrWaWUr5PmETf6kVYZ8uZdiuXcswDF5Ax8CTc
// uRy+3kGB3Oswm/35RyiKV2oi1LHLhGXaiKdZvNl41wOqNobFAYPbTXWSkcbpmw+1
// KfEsmMwpYGYXX/zC1CzHf2t7OsPhsAyvDW5EqYhaKn+oNXFiL22pQDzM1MM8xwhB
// akpqZPHGIpJDUdoI3o8CSIlRI2BxWGcDTUh2OViOroS8O6gAmmD7uvmMOnNwiZIN
// 90FkKMpYyEsfo+Bj8DL0RjLpUDhYLJOXf0rs+yMkrU4FW2naiaWnbg==
// -----END CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----
// "

$public_key = openssl_csr_get_public_key($csr);
$info = openssl_pkey_get_details($public_key);
var_dump($info['key']);
// string(451) "-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
// MIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8AMIIBCgKCAQEAvDBrEHxkWucb/YQlzccO
// bbgzlTficOAglSEDPBybnWXGfQRiqRij/QGyCPGVH9Ex7UTogsOp67+Jj0h8ikCD
// rCeomRfM7U95NBXrJJdELZFf6twXNBBNB4d8PL96LIatSGpjCDbBXemuIVi2T7Rl
// i6towHxNjQuSILnUadMceGsehB9Ao699rAqRtmrnyPbcAACbpZq50haYTl62gtuu
// hOPHlDpGlWIEaj7hHzBsI3kMky0Fo35TLini2pDPSZhdIyJucDJNw5MMjcky9FWx
// cvje1cx+rQtk1ez41nda9YkDlFIEQjS2X3YVTqSrxPZbfYG4Vavp2yZe2Pz6rw5W
// mQIDAQAB
// -----END PUBLIC KEY-----
// "

Use openssl_csr_new() to generate a CSR handle through the private key, and then extract the certificate request content through openssl_csr_export(). It can be seen that the CSR contains public key information, because we can extract the public key through openssl_csr_get_public_key() and openssl_pkey_get_details().

Of course, we can also obtain the dn information in the CSR through a function. This function can also obtain the information in the externally downloaded CSR.

print_r(openssl_csr_get_subject($csr));
// Array
// (
//     [C] => CN
//     [ST] => Hunan
//     [L] => Changsha
//     [O] => zyblog
//     [OU] => zyblog
//     [CN] => zyblog.xxx
//     [emailAddress] => zy@zyblog.xxx
// )

Certificate signing and generation x509 certificate

x509 is a standard public key certificate specification and only contains public key information.

$usercert = openssl_csr_sign($csr, NULL, $privkey, 365, array('digest_alg'=>'sha256'));

// 证书签名，返回 x509 证书资源
openssl_x509_export($usercert, $certout_string);
var_dump($certout_string);
// string(1391) "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
// MIID1zCCAr+gAwIBAgIBADANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQsFADCBhTELMAkGA1UEBhMCQ04x
// DjAMBgNVBAgMBUh1bmFuMREwDwYDVQQHDAhDaGFuZ3NoYTEPMA0GA1UECgwGenli
// bG9nMQ8wDQYDVQQLDAZ6eWJsb2cxEzARBgNVBAMMCnp5YmxvZy54eHgxHDAaBgkq
// hkiG9w0BCQEWDXp5QHp5YmxvZy54eHgwHhcNMjAwODAzMDMxNDMyWhcNMjEwODAz
// MDMxNDMyWjCBhTELMAkGA1UEBhMCQ04xDjAMBgNVBAgMBUh1bmFuMREwDwYDVQQH
// DAhDaGFuZ3NoYTEPMA0GA1UECgwGenlibG9nMQ8wDQYDVQQLDAZ6eWJsb2cxEzAR
// BgNVBAMMCnp5YmxvZy54eHgxHDAaBgkqhkiG9w0BCQEWDXp5QHp5YmxvZy54eHgw
// ggEiMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4IBDwAwggEKAoIBAQCpHxkrDFpO6Nl6BlP/ia4W
// KX90bPYcR7JTdtFUm6zvz/YMVFPogJ0SVFR0B8H2ZG1f/HZW8hi1SspjhUsBR4Bc
// wJ4LTh49qMENiiRPicmvHnYZIojedBw2E8TrQMW/08c5W76dU1EdRJX+MOmlRG4a
// bwcHC607PfKSmHlFirR7URt5lSe5fT6nBzBr1nlrqcGhhDncZGI6/xbOt3Lpc3Ql
// yCyJqPGCNdeugkKCdGDobghP9RqfjhrJwQiV9lFGx4AuopgTw1B55CeS0fOnObgA
// 6JQ8bujKp9Ng1ySUpHIu753dnxN/m1/VLHDqbsfPsfwnBmEbrspETio+s8BYuDcn
// AgMBAAGjUDBOMB0GA1UdDgQWBBTor00GqjgVXyuXrRLutraLRw+eYzAfBgNVHSME
// GDAWgBTor00GqjgVXyuXrRLutraLRw+eYzAMBgNVHRMEBTADAQH/MA0GCSqGSIb3
// DQEBCwUAA4IBAQAcOZYmM14yTBSgIM5MbKI4xlp8/pxsvU08937hv6B0J5Ug2Lgn
// Q3hog7+6XMZGAiN9imZZUdl+TOGjG7apz7YXv3cRsguhHn3tn74GzbaySAwyn5eC
// sbHkoYlVui4HNkxS1ddttYnCrnLLfSZ+3N3mWOmzvkcDe/XvTVlmIFHVvA0BiewL
// y/b9RFyraq41CSDRQ9OKgVZfkYnNA7Xm/pHjyQfRVm43D3WK5mCIEdkFA+G1BHXh
// sJ30M6IR02Sg4bIe6GPvUBhcTzR4BZdQM7RMFJGrSQwtahohwB8ZwCXOJKsgoL7m
// 6e5YOL0deuZDTNWfoq3hOwnPfisNsL9v0moy
// -----END CERTIFICATE-----
// "

Through the openssl_csr_sign() function, what you get after signing the CSR is the certificate content of the x509 specification. The public key information can be extracted from this certificate. We can issue this certificate to the user or client, and then the client extracts the public key information from the certificate for data encryption.

var_dump(openssl_x509_check_private_key($certout_string, $privkey));
// bool(true)

// var_dump(openssl_x509_verify($certout_string, $info['key']));
// bool(true)

Of course, we can also verify whether the current x509 certificate content matches our private key. The openssl_x509_verify() below is a function only supported by PHP7.4 and later.

pkcs certificate operation

Finally, let’s take a look at the pkcs signing certificate. pkcs is divided into two types: pkcs7 and pkcs12. pkcs7 is generally used for digital envelope encryption. You can add x509 to it, which will generate two encoding methods: PEM and DER. Generally, we will use PEM, which actually contains public key information.

pkcs12 generally exports PFX files. pkcs12 also needs to add an additional certificate password, so pkcs12 can contain the private key. It is generally used for message exchange and packaging syntax.

openssl_pkcs12_export ($usercert,$pkcs_string, $privkey, '123123' );
var_dump($pkcs_string);
// string(2585) "0�
// 0�p0�l0�e�      *�H��   �0�     *�H��
// *�H��
// g�ʙݔ��8���|�D��v.D��7�i@���     4�߹����
//                                        �`��xd�Wؿhݐ�6Y   3�_F�h�\�3,H{�ȁ+��L��lo1�-���I>i�
//                                                                                          ��Ahۈ��IY
// ~�3���Pƶ#v4��1����[0W|  �V<��hqh�?Q���^�K       ���


openssl_pkcs12_read($pkcs_string, $certs, &#39;123123&#39;);
var_dump($certs);
// array(2) {
//     ["cert"]=>
//     string(1391) "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
//   MIID1zCCAr+gAwIBAgIBADANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQsFADCBhTELMAkGA1UEBhMCQ04x
//   DjAMBgNVBAgMBUh1bmFuMREwDwYDVQQHDAhDaGFuZ3NoYTEPMA0GA1UECgwGenli
//   bG9nMQ8wDQYDVQQLDAZ6eWJsb2cxEzARBgNVBAMMCnp5YmxvZy54eHgxHDAaBgkq
//   hkiG9w0BCQEWDXp5QHp5YmxvZy54eHgwHhcNMjAwODAzMDcwOTE2WhcNMjEwODAz
//   MDcwOTE2WjCBhTELMAkGA1UEBhMCQ04xDjAMBgNVBAgMBUh1bmFuMREwDwYDVQQH
//   DAhDaGFuZ3NoYTEPMA0GA1UECgwGenlibG9nMQ8wDQYDVQQLDAZ6eWJsb2cxEzAR
//   BgNVBAMMCnp5YmxvZy54eHgxHDAaBgkqhkiG9w0BCQEWDXp5QHp5YmxvZy54eHgw
//   ggEiMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4IBDwAwggEKAoIBAQCrbNHa2lFTBMwwzO0roPBL
//   ugmNa7Yij6zsIPYIdIm3x5oFCaZKsnMrynlZGZquEjs6ZXVVALB3tTKxwefIjl5P
//   FJ4Iw1dUbYTk324Cu+ZCZ8wo2LegcxXq95uyRzRvMwr1gxicWxUhNuoZ6mavHnU0
//   hiDR7w9FaZM3Pj1LPNW7fJKyr4vIF8sHH+ebS0+bZAps4Zqw9ey+llnHQYZYhbF8
//   Crf7Gh7Phg/86h3Ozbe1vwOfKZetf7+1vzwqI4y6ATwOoiqcxMegn8m5hoDlUqov
//   T/GwaRTUwUg37XUlEYvVuLtvTlwuSXL9WUkvvkWB1EbimNPsET4ZZMykcUWd+BMr
//   AgMBAAGjUDBOMB0GA1UdDgQWBBSRShEEnJT8VYskN7l8HkBT3whS8jAfBgNVHSME
//   GDAWgBSRShEEnJT8VYskN7l8HkBT3whS8jAMBgNVHRMEBTADAQH/MA0GCSqGSIb3
//   DQEBCwUAA4IBAQASAIhSQrXMnKVR+m7KXFhrqvVemUwnI6+v0trsBpFqgORVJehM
//   NSQ7Du+6z0RWdL7puQN5OeTZmFRDS16RrrBc30Y/hv/Zv8e2/YSmqIoQY0SIWdLu
//   NaEbINLpeUMUTz3LXCRAzOv1JecGD2Jz18Gia/W/N+1b/H0EP7ZmL0/WTlmjCejf
//   ncr9o6wkB+STtZervPUbSOBF3Pq4dxEKE/G0E8Qk6oyMBR76DUJwutCwoSrd6F68
//   xEGjmrBHgPqNJqy28cbCh1enEnPORec0ZJBuQ3Vqv5MQRNmqikpqDak6nHLGOQu+
//   //IJ5JICwm29xnOCKpyohbEg4KFg4shBY66y
//   -----END CERTIFICATE-----
//   "
//     ["pkey"]=>
//     string(1704) "-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----
//   MIIEvgIBADANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAASCBKgwggSkAgEAAoIBAQCrbNHa2lFTBMww
//   zO0roPBLugmNa7Yij6zsIPYIdIm3x5oFCaZKsnMrynlZGZquEjs6ZXVVALB3tTKx
//   wefIjl5PFJ4Iw1dUbYTk324Cu+ZCZ8wo2LegcxXq95uyRzRvMwr1gxicWxUhNuoZ
//   6mavHnU0hiDR7w9FaZM3Pj1LPNW7fJKyr4vIF8sHH+ebS0+bZAps4Zqw9ey+llnH
//   QYZYhbF8Crf7Gh7Phg/86h3Ozbe1vwOfKZetf7+1vzwqI4y6ATwOoiqcxMegn8m5
//   hoDlUqovT/GwaRTUwUg37XUlEYvVuLtvTlwuSXL9WUkvvkWB1EbimNPsET4ZZMyk
//   cUWd+BMrAgMBAAECggEAPbsCFv1nK64embQx8/QQlDR6HCMdg3SZoK596q2MqlGG
//   dSn0aBG6x5ox+JPvz59hFLZUeje1VGY7yyc4gFBERdX20tEFMbH+mSycQP/I+0DF
//   lC/2cCEBU4u21YwupZyL5b0/r45dHYjY5Fw0fftJ2ZAzYWXk6eoKyWnwSJevn8O1
//   GYLBR3dHsbXp7L1SEMVbPzJ/IbR4AQYZetSbVbp/3Vow2WbMJtwQtFt0/gRJyQ67
//   wnjAcZ1Duej2ol8bi1+vG1tTh7YYNrO0zzwlXKib2vBxpUjk++4Y5lVEd+GynWAv
//   zRE6uBw0mmA7dWesld/Ns9eIxxg1SHqIWccmSXzTAQKBgQDf+Cn8AOEcW/oK/o/8
//   AIh2OSm2/Xi4BwFrcU8DfZKSP+7aexS3MUDnQAUnE91YcHjNPxs7G6s9rA6WCO7N
//   cAKGiWqn18IE9ZKv6iuz9VhOm8tlYc2iZvUnxYT99rt0vQYmjfjFJY7KeqYE+oJg
//   4nc6+XVlrtA2ql8FXHH+JzxsSQKBgQDD8O8kaFt8aZGEEXVlJ7UXiXspbSiTxJ6J
//   UGoG0mHKzL+NGmftHFvQN9DnLkFW9/KtmO9DSoWncuckAsVYQTH4DCIAZMEn41Qi
//   oS1zoeX1fCCdbWLtxvkzJKxiNhRe9cgiL/IOV3Mv/S5Bt4sDt1qT8RC5DucqI1pK
//   90wqTIY70wKBgQCWg8VbWQ/vqhRJDTigR49tvA6/rmpRakvW8+gA1YQKCzMu2uZa
//   EpymjEyqLVxkkfltHcrkFz0mjhmjVM9/epYH6hOmRoZaJNr2o+3I28oD0gmH0YmL
//   aZu5pbExp33k/x9CC8kyXIIwquolkGDMUYWFOZ5evnOpOSfwh2cIQUAHGQKBgQCX
//   Ko1E+GIEdOm4C0QXu2+h7gYf6sBQaHOrGmgCRVL/A8GQWdvt+V/4HufDQ1NThk0q
//   kv+cWaUNj781cBHSSdIEPVAKH7FJVb/2S4TmXfQs1QvQiLC3IzfkthlsV66VqGcz
//   wOutFtieIGUMfE76mf1+f4/YReAgCVBC39FaHNm+0wKBgANeWcdh2atSMIliyCXG
//   v0nZ7o4ffj+epAXocW1kmdOmUy154swsEdzUwWatj1//OU5S0O/HzeTTn4YbYhR2
//   einGRvz5POin3L7enePSescV4ooUESB5mLwNmqANu94uYHuVNyMwolsIOgkkLxNm
//   HtCaz0u0MZLJY6R6pAtT5KpN
//   -----END PRIVATE KEY-----
//   "
//   }

openssl_x509_export($certs[&#39;cert&#39;], $certout_string);
var_dump($certout_string);
// string(1391) "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
// MIID1zCCAr+gAwIBAgIBADANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQsFADCBhTELMAkGA1UEBhMCQ04x
// DjAMBgNVBAgMBUh1bmFuMREwDwYDVQQHDAhDaGFuZ3NoYTEPMA0GA1UECgwGenli
// bG9nMQ8wDQYDVQQLDAZ6eWJsb2cxEzARBgNVBAMMCnp5YmxvZy54eHgxHDAaBgkq
// hkiG9w0BCQEWDXp5QHp5YmxvZy54eHgwHhcNMjAwODAzMDcwOTE2WhcNMjEwODAz
// MDcwOTE2WjCBhTELMAkGA1UEBhMCQ04xDjAMBgNVBAgMBUh1bmFuMREwDwYDVQQH
// DAhDaGFuZ3NoYTEPMA0GA1UECgwGenlibG9nMQ8wDQYDVQQLDAZ6eWJsb2cxEzAR
// BgNVBAMMCnp5YmxvZy54eHgxHDAaBgkqhkiG9w0BCQEWDXp5QHp5YmxvZy54eHgw
// ggEiMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4IBDwAwggEKAoIBAQCrbNHa2lFTBMwwzO0roPBL
// ugmNa7Yij6zsIPYIdIm3x5oFCaZKsnMrynlZGZquEjs6ZXVVALB3tTKxwefIjl5P
// FJ4Iw1dUbYTk324Cu+ZCZ8wo2LegcxXq95uyRzRvMwr1gxicWxUhNuoZ6mavHnU0
// hiDR7w9FaZM3Pj1LPNW7fJKyr4vIF8sHH+ebS0+bZAps4Zqw9ey+llnHQYZYhbF8
// Crf7Gh7Phg/86h3Ozbe1vwOfKZetf7+1vzwqI4y6ATwOoiqcxMegn8m5hoDlUqov
// T/GwaRTUwUg37XUlEYvVuLtvTlwuSXL9WUkvvkWB1EbimNPsET4ZZMykcUWd+BMr
// AgMBAAGjUDBOMB0GA1UdDgQWBBSRShEEnJT8VYskN7l8HkBT3whS8jAfBgNVHSME
// GDAWgBSRShEEnJT8VYskN7l8HkBT3whS8jAMBgNVHRMEBTADAQH/MA0GCSqGSIb3
// DQEBCwUAA4IBAQASAIhSQrXMnKVR+m7KXFhrqvVemUwnI6+v0trsBpFqgORVJehM
// NSQ7Du+6z0RWdL7puQN5OeTZmFRDS16RrrBc30Y/hv/Zv8e2/YSmqIoQY0SIWdLu
// NaEbINLpeUMUTz3LXCRAzOv1JecGD2Jz18Gia/W/N+1b/H0EP7ZmL0/WTlmjCejf
// ncr9o6wkB+STtZervPUbSOBF3Pq4dxEKE/G0E8Qk6oyMBR76DUJwutCwoSrd6F68
// xEGjmrBHgPqNJqy28cbCh1enEnPORec0ZJBuQ3Vqv5MQRNmqikpqDak6nHLGOQu+
// //IJ5JICwm29xnOCKpyohbEg4KFg4shBY66y
// -----END CERTIFICATE-----

var_dump(openssl_x509_check_private_key($certout_string, $privkey));
// bool(true)

For the test here, we simply export a pkcs12 certificate through openssl_pkcs12_export(). You can see that this function contains the CSR, private key and a custom certificate password. The exported content is binary content, and we can directly save the content as a PFX file.

Through openssl_pkcs12_read(), you can read the contents of a PFX file and obtain the certs information of the certificate, which is the CSR information. You can see that the private key in the export result we used openssl_x509_export() matches the private key we initially created.

Summary

There are still many functions that have not been mentioned about certificates, but we can already generate some simple certificates through the above codes. And you can also read the contents of many certificates and obtain their information. Encryption itself is a very advanced subject, and interested students can continue to study it in depth. The CSR, x509, pkcs related content and generated files mentioned above can be seen in many places, such as the certificate downloaded after successful HTTPS application, WeChat, Alipay related third-party interfaces, etc. You can try to read and parse these certificates yourself, so that you can have a deeper understanding of the relevant knowledge.

Test code:

https://github.com/zhangyue0503/dev-blog/blob/master/php/202007/source/PHP%E7%9A%84OpenSSL%E5%8A%A0%E5%AF%86%E6%89%A9%E5%B1%95%E5%AD%A6%E4%B9%A0%EF%BC%88%E4%B8%89%EF%BC%89%EF%BC%9A%E8%AF%81%E4%B9%A6%E6%93%8D%E4%BD%9C.php