pyspkac V-0.1

Author:

Ralf Schlatterbeck <rsc@runtux.com>

This library supports the format of browser-generated SPKAC certificate requests.

The HTML keygen tag which previously was supported by most Mozilla-based browsers is now in the HTML-5 standard. The keygen tag is used in a HTML form element and displays a key generation widget to the user. When submitted, the browser locally generates a public key pair, locally stores the private key, and submits the public key to the web server in the SPKAC format.

When generating a form with a keygen element, the web server can include a challenge string in the form. This challenge string is returned in the SPKAC generated by the browser. It is signed together with the public key by the private key retained by the browser.

This package is intended for server-side support of SPKAC. It uses a submitted SPKAC and checks for correct challenge string and that the public key and challenge are properly signed by the browser. It supports a method for generating a certificate from the data in the SPKAC and additional data supplied by the web application.

The generated certificate can then typically be used for client authentication to a web application and is therefore called a client certificate. The web browser (or other client-side application) supplies the certificate in the SSL handshake and proves it is in the posession of the necessary private key.

python setup.py install --prefix=/usr/local