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# Heimdal's ASN.1 Compiler
This is a new README, and it's not very rich in contents yet. Be sure to check
out the [README on the template backend](/lib/asn1/README-template.md) and the [README
on automatic open type decoding via X.681/X.682/X.683
annotations](/lib/asn1/README-X681.md).
## Table of Contents
1. [Introduction](#Introduction)
2. [ASN.1 Support in Heimdal](#asn1-support-in-heimdal)
3. [News](#News)
4. [Features](#Features)
5. [Limitations](#Limitations)
6. [Compiler Usage](#Compiler-usage)
7. [APIs Generated by the Compiler](#APIs-generated-by-the-compiler)
8. [asn1_print Usage](#asn1_print-usage)
9. [Implementation](#implementation)
10. [Moving From C](#moving-from-c)
## Introduction
ASN.1 is a... some would say baroque, perhaps obsolete, archaic even, "syntax"
for expressing data type schemas, and also a set of "encoding rules" (ERs) that
specify many ways to encode values of those types for interchange.
Some ERs are binary, others are textual. Some binary ERs are tag-length-value
(TLV), others have no need for tagging. Some of the ERs are roundly and
rightly disliked, but then there are XER (XML Encoding Rules) and JER (JSON
Encoding Rules) that really illustrate how the syntax and the encoding rules
really are separate and distinct things.
ASN.1 is a wheel that everyone loves to reinvent, and often badly. It's worth
knowing a bit about it before reinventing this wheel badly yet again.
It's also worth pondering that there appears to be ways to map most data
exchange metaschemas and schemas onto others, and therefore too, transliterate
most encodings onto others.
First, an example of the syntax:
```ASN.1
-- This is what a certificate looks like (as in TLS server certificates, or
-- "SSL certs):
Certificate ::= SEQUENCE {
tbsCertificate TBSCertificate,
signatureAlgorithm AlgorithmIdentifier,
signatureValue BIT STRING
}
-- The main body of a certificate is here though:
TBSCertificate ::= SEQUENCE {
version [0] Version DEFAULT 1,
serialNumber CertificateSerialNumber,
signature AlgorithmIdentifier,
issuer Name,
validity Validity,
subject Name,
subjectPublicKeyInfo SubjectPublicKeyInfo,
issuerUniqueID [1] IMPLICIT BIT STRING OPTIONAL,
subjectUniqueID [2] IMPLICIT BIT STRING OPTIONAL,
extensions [3] EXPLICIT Extensions OPTIONAL
}
```
Here we see something akin to a "structure" or "record" with various named
fields of various types. Some of these are optional, which means they can have
no value given in encodings. One is defaulted, which means that if no values
is given in encodings then the default value is intended.
Those `[0]` things are called tags and are decidedly obsolete, along with all
"tag-length-value" (TLV) or "self-describing" encoding rules. Tags appear as
lexical tokens in ASN.1 only because a) in the early 80s TLV encodings were
thought fantastic, and b) automatic tagging wasn't invented and implemented
until it was too late. New ASN.1 modules should never need to have those tags
appear in the syntax.
ASN.1 has a lot of competition, and may even be obsolete. Obsolete
technologies take decades to die out because of the need to interoperate with
the installed base. So even if ASN.1 is obsolete, we find ourselves needing to
implement a large subset of it in order to implement certain important network
protocols.
Encoding rules? There are many:
- JSON Encoding Rules (JER) ([X.697](https://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X/recommendation.asp?lang=en&parent=T-REC-X.697))
Use JSON instead of some binary scheme like DER (see below).
- XML Encoding Rules (XER) ([X.693](https://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X/recommendation.asp?lang=en&parent=T-REC-X.693))
- Generic String Encoding Rules (GSER) ([RFC3641](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3641))
- Basic, Distinguished, and Canonical Encoding Rules (BER, DER, CER) ([X.690](https://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X/recommendation.asp?lang=en&parent=T-REC-X.690)
These are the dreaded tag-length-value encoding rules. They are redundant,
wasteful, and inefficient in spite of being non-textual (i.e., binary)!
The descriptor "tag-length-value" is due to all values being encoded as some
bytes for a "tag", then some bytes for the length of the encoded value, then
the encoded value itself. The body of a structured type (e.g.,
`Certificate`) is itself a concatenation of the TLV encodings of the fields
of that structured type, in order.
DER and CER are alternative canonical forms of BER.
- Packed Encoding Rules (PER) ([X.691](https://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X/recommendation.asp?lang=en&parent=T-REC-X.691)) and Octet Encoding Rules (OER) ([X.696](https://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X/recommendation.asp?lang=en&parent=T-REC-X.696))
These are a lot like eXternal Data Representation
([XDR](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4506.html)), but with 1-octet
alignment instead of 4-octet alignment.
There is also a meta encoding rule system, the Encoding Control Notation (ECN)
([X.692](https://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X/recommendation.asp?lang=en&parent=T-REC-X.692))
intended to be able to express all sorts of kinds of encodings.
Heimdal currently only supports DER for encoding, and DER and BER for decoding,
but soon may support JER as well, and can print values as JSON, though not
compliant with JER.
The syntax itself is specified by
[X.680](https://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X/recommendation.asp?lang=en&parent=T-REC-X.680),
with extensions via
[X.681](https://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X/recommendation.asp?lang=en&parent=T-REC-X.681),
[X.682](https://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X/recommendation.asp?lang=en&parent=T-REC-X.682),
and
[X.683](https://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X/recommendation.asp?lang=en&parent=T-REC-X.683),.
## ASN.1 Support in Heimdal
Heimdal contains an implementation of:
- ASN.1
- PKIX
- Kerberos
- misc. Heimdal-specific protocols related to PKIX and Kerberos, such as:
- Online certification authority protocols
- Kerberos KDC replication protocols
- Kerberos administration protocols
PKIX and Kerberos both require ASN.1 and DER support.
For historical reasons many ASN.1-using projects have used hand-rolled codecs
that have proven difficult to implement, maintain, and extend, and, of course,
buggy. Heimdal has its own ASN.1 module compiler and library in order to avoid
the pitfalls of hand-rolled codecs, and to satisfy Heimdal's internal needs.
There are other ASN.1 compilers and libraries out there, of course, but it
would prove difficult to switch compilers as generally ASN.1 compilers lack
sufficient control over generated types and APIs for programming languages.
Heimdal's ASN.1 compiler supports a large subset of X.680, X.681, X.682, and
X.683, as well as a large subset of X.690, with an architecture that should
make it easy to add support for encoding rules other than X.690.
## News
In recent times the following features have been added:
- Feature parity for the "template" backend, even superiority, as the codegen
backend does not yet support automatic open type decoding/encoding.
- IMPLICIT tagging support is finally complete.
- Automatic open type traversal, using a subset of X.681/X.682/X.683 for
expressing the requisite metadata.
## Futures
- JER support?
- XDR/OER support?
- Generate comparators? (lib/hx509 has a half-baked Certificate comparator)
## Features
- Most of X.680 is supported.
- Most of X.690 is supported for decoding, with only DER supported for
encoding.
- We have an `asn1_print` program that can decode DER from any exported types
from any ASN.1 modules committed in Heimdal:
```bash
$ ./asn1_print ek.crt Certificate |
jq '.tbsCertificate.extensions[3]._extnValue[]._values'
```
```JSON
[
{
"_type": "TPMSpecification",
"family": "2.0",
"level": 0,
"revision": 138
}
]
[
{
"_type": "TPMSecurityAssertions",
"version": 0,
"fieldUpgradable": true,
"ekGenerationType": "ekgt-injected",
"ekGenerationLocation": "tpmManufacturer",
"ekCertificateGenerationLocation": "tpmManufacturer",
"ccInfo": {
"_type": "CommonCriteriaMeasures",
"version": "3.1",
"assurancelevel": "ealevel4",
"evaluationStatus": "evaluationCompleted",
"plus": true,
"strengthOfFunction": null,
"profileOid": null,
"profileUri": null,
"targetOid": null,
"targetUri": null
},
"fipsLevel": {
"_type": "FIPSLevel",
"version": "140-2",
"level": "sllevel2",
"plus": false
},
"iso9000Certified": false,
"iso9000Uri": null
}
]
```
A complete dump of such a certificate:
```bash
$ ./asn1_print ek.crt Certificate | jq .
```
```JSON
{
"_type": "Certificate",
"tbsCertificate": {
"_type": "TBSCertificate",
"_save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
"version": "rfc3280_version_3",
"serialNumber": "6A0597BA71D7E6D3AC0EDC9EDC95A15B998DE40A",
"signature": {
"_type": "AlgorithmIdentifier",
"algorithm": {
"_type": "OBJECT IDENTIFIER",
"oid": "1.2.840.113549.1.1.11",
"components": [
1,
2,
840,
113549,
1,
1,
11
],
"name": "id-pkcs1-sha256WithRSAEncryption"
},
"parameters": "0500"
},
"issuer": {
"_choice": "rdnSequence",
"value": [
[
{
"_type": "AttributeTypeAndValue",
"type": {
"_type": "OBJECT IDENTIFIER",
"oid": "2.5.4.6",
"components": [
2,
5,
4,
6
],
"name": "id-at-countryName"
},
"value": {
"_choice": "printableString",
"value": "CH"
}
}
],
[
{
"_type": "AttributeTypeAndValue",
"type": {
"_type": "OBJECT IDENTIFIER",
"oid": "2.5.4.10",
"components": [
2,
5,
4,
10
],
"name": "id-at-organizationName"
},
"value": {
"_choice": "printableString",
"value": "STMicroelectronics NV"
}
}
],
[
{
"_type": "AttributeTypeAndValue",
"type": {
"_type": "OBJECT IDENTIFIER",
"oid": "2.5.4.3",
"components": [
2,
5,
4,
3
],
"name": "id-at-commonName"
},
"value": {
"_choice": "printableString",
"value": "STM TPM EK Intermediate CA 05"
}
}
]
]
},
"validity": {
"_type": "Validity",
"notBefore": {
"_choice": "utcTime",
"value": "2018-12-14T00:00:00Z"
},
"notAfter": {
"_choice": "utcTime",
"value": "2028-12-14T00:00:00Z"
}
},
"subject": {
"_choice": "rdnSequence",
"value": []
},
"subjectPublicKeyInfo": {
"_type": "SubjectPublicKeyInfo",
"algorithm": {
"_type": "AlgorithmIdentifier",
"algorithm": {
"_type": "OBJECT IDENTIFIER",
"oid": "1.2.840.113549.1.1.1",
"components": [
1,
2,
840,
113549,
1,
1,
1
],
"name": "id-pkcs1-rsaEncryption"
},
"parameters": "0500"
},
"subjectPublicKey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
},
"issuerUniqueID": null,
"subjectUniqueID": null,
"extensions": [
{
"_type": "Extension",
"extnID": {
"_type": "OBJECT IDENTIFIER",
"oid": "2.5.29.35",
"components": [
2,
5,
29,
35
],
"name": "id-x509-ce-authorityKeyIdentifier"
},
"critical": false,
"extnValue": "301680141ADB994AB58BE57A0CC9B900E7851E1A43C08660",
"_extnValue_choice": "ext-AuthorityKeyIdentifier",
"_extnValue": {
"_type": "AuthorityKeyIdentifier",
"keyIdentifier": "1ADB994AB58BE57A0CC9B900E7851E1A43C08660",
"authorityCertIssuer": null,
"authorityCertSerialNumber": null
}
},
{
"_type": "Extension",
"extnID": {
"_type": "OBJECT IDENTIFIER",
"oid": "2.5.29.32",
"components": [
2,
5,
29,
32
],
"name": "id-x509-ce-certificatePolicies"
},
"critical": false,
"extnValue": "303930370604551D2000302F302D06082B060105050702011621687474703A2F2F7777772E73742E636F6D2F54504D2F7265706F7369746F72792F",
"_extnValue_choice": "ext-CertificatePolicies",
"_extnValue": [
{
"_type": "PolicyInformation",
"policyIdentifier": {
"_type": "OBJECT IDENTIFIER",
"oid": "2.5.29.32.0",
"components": [
2,
5,
29,
32,
0
],
"name": "id-x509-ce-certificatePolicies-anyPolicy"
},
"policyQualifiers": [
{
"_type": "PolicyQualifierInfo",
"policyQualifierId": {
"_type": "OBJECT IDENTIFIER",
"oid": "1.3.6.1.5.5.7.2.1",
"components": [
1,
3,
6,
1,
5,
5,
7,
2,
1
],
"name": "id-pkix-qt-cps"
},
"qualifier": "1621687474703A2F2F7777772E73742E636F6D2F54504D2F7265706F7369746F72792F"
}
]
}
]
},
{
"_type": "Extension",
"extnID": {
"_type": "OBJECT IDENTIFIER",
"oid": "2.5.29.17",
"components": [
2,
5,
29,
17
],
"name": "id-x509-ce-subjectAltName"
},
"critical": true,
"extnValue": "304DA44B304931163014060567810502010C0B69643A353335343444323031173015060567810502020C0C53543333485450484148433031163014060567810502030C0B69643A3030343930303038",
"_extnValue_choice": "ext-SubjectAltName",
"_extnValue": [
{
"_choice": "directoryName",
"value": {
"_choice": "rdnSequence",
"value": [
[
{
"_type": "AttributeTypeAndValue",
"type": {
"_type": "OBJECT IDENTIFIER",
"oid": "2.23.133.2.1",
"components": [
2,
23,
133,
2,
1
],
"name": "tcg-at-tpmManufacturer"
},
"value": {
"_choice": "utf8String",
"value": "id:53544D20"
}
}
],
[
{
"_type": "AttributeTypeAndValue",
"type": {
"_type": "OBJECT IDENTIFIER",
"oid": "2.23.133.2.2",
"components": [
2,
23,
133,
2,
2
],
"name": "tcg-at-tpmModel"
},
"value": {
"_choice": "utf8String",
"value": "ST33HTPHAHC0"
}
}
],
[
{
"_type": "AttributeTypeAndValue",
"type": {
"_type": "OBJECT IDENTIFIER",
"oid": "2.23.133.2.3",
"components": [
2,
23,
133,
2,
3
],
"name": "tcg-at-tpmVersion"
},
"value": {
"_choice": "utf8String",
"value": "id:00490008"
}
}
]
]
}
}
]
},
{
"_type": "Extension",
"extnID": {
"_type": "OBJECT IDENTIFIER",
"oid": "2.5.29.9",
"components": [
2,
5,
29,
9
],
"name": "id-x509-ce-subjectDirectoryAttributes"
},
"critical": false,
"extnValue": "305E301706056781050210310E300C0C03322E300201000202008A304306056781050212313A30380201000101FFA0030A0101A1030A0100A2030A0100A310300E1603332E310A01040A01020101FFA40F300D16053134302D320A0102010100",
"_extnValue_choice": "ext-SubjectDirectoryAttributes",
"_extnValue": [
{
"_type": "AttributeSet",
"type": {
"_type": "OBJECT IDENTIFIER",
"oid": "2.23.133.2.16",
"components": [
2,
23,
133,
2,
16
],
"name": "tcg-at-tpmSpecification"
},
"values": [
"300C0C03322E300201000202008A"
],
"_values_choice": "at-TPMSpecification",
"_values": [
{
"_type": "TPMSpecification",
"family": "2.0",
"level": 0,
"revision": 138
}
]
},
{
"_type": "AttributeSet",
"type": {
"_type": "OBJECT IDENTIFIER",
"oid": "2.23.133.2.18",
"components": [
2,
23,
133,
2,
18
],
"name": "tcg-at-tpmSecurityAssertions"
},
"values": [
"30380201000101FFA0030A0101A1030A0100A2030A0100A310300E1603332E310A01040A01020101FFA40F300D16053134302D320A0102010100"
],
"_values_choice": "at-TPMSecurityAssertions",
"_values": [
{
"_type": "TPMSecurityAssertions",
"version": 0,
"fieldUpgradable": true,
"ekGenerationType": "ekgt-injected",
"ekGenerationLocation": "tpmManufacturer",
"ekCertificateGenerationLocation": "tpmManufacturer",
"ccInfo": {
"_type": "CommonCriteriaMeasures",
"version": "3.1",
"assurancelevel": "ealevel4",
"evaluationStatus": "evaluationCompleted",
"plus": true,
"strengthOfFunction": null,
"profileOid": null,
"profileUri": null,
"targetOid": null,
"targetUri": null
},
"fipsLevel": {
"_type": "FIPSLevel",
"version": "140-2",
"level": "sllevel2",
"plus": false
},
"iso9000Certified": false,
"iso9000Uri": null
}
]
}
]
},
{
"_type": "Extension",
"extnID": {
"_type": "OBJECT IDENTIFIER",
"oid": "2.5.29.15",
"components": [
2,
5,
29,
15
],
"name": "id-x509-ce-keyUsage"
},
"critical": true,
"extnValue": "03020520",
"_extnValue_choice": "ext-KeyUsage",
"_extnValue": [
"keyEncipherment"
]
},
{
"_type": "Extension",
"extnID": {
"_type": "OBJECT IDENTIFIER",
"oid": "2.5.29.19",
"components": [
2,
5,
29,
19
],
"name": "id-x509-ce-basicConstraints"
},
"critical": true,
"extnValue": "3000",
"_extnValue_choice": "ext-BasicConstraints",
"_extnValue": {
"_type": "BasicConstraints",
"cA": false,
"pathLenConstraint": null
}
},
{
"_type": "Extension",
"extnID": {
"_type": "OBJECT IDENTIFIER",
"oid": "2.5.29.37",
"components": [
2,
5,
29,
37
],
"name": "id-x509-ce-extKeyUsage"
},
"critical": false,
"extnValue": "300706056781050801",
"_extnValue_choice": "ext-ExtKeyUsage",
"_extnValue": [
{
"_type": "OBJECT IDENTIFIER",
"oid": "2.23.133.8.1",
"components": [
2,
23,
133,
8,
1
],
"name": "tcg-kp-EKCertificate"
}
]
},
{
"_type": "Extension",
"extnID": {
"_type": "OBJECT IDENTIFIER",
"oid": "1.3.6.1.5.5.7.1.1",
"components": [
1,
3,
6,
1,
5,
5,
7,
1,
1
],
"name": "id-pkix-pe-authorityInfoAccess"
},
"critical": false,
"extnValue": "303C303A06082B06010505073002862E687474703A2F2F7365637572652E676C6F62616C7369676E2E636F6D2F73746D74706D656B696E7430352E637274",
"_extnValue_choice": "ext-AuthorityInfoAccess",
"_extnValue": [
{
"_type": "AccessDescription",
"accessMethod": {
"_type": "OBJECT IDENTIFIER",
"oid": "1.3.6.1.5.5.7.48.2",
"components": [
1,
3,
6,
1,
5,
5,
7,
48,
2
],
"name": "id-pkix-ad-caIssuers"
},
"accessLocation": {
"_choice": "uniformResourceIdentifier",
"value": "http://secure.globalsign.com/stmtpmekint05.crt"
}
}
]
}
]
},
"signatureAlgorithm": {
"_type": "AlgorithmIdentifier",
"algorithm": {
"_type": "OBJECT IDENTIFIER",
"oid": "1.2.840.113549.1.1.11",
"components": [
1,
2,
840,
113549,
1,
1,
11
],
"name": "id-pkcs1-sha256WithRSAEncryption"
},
"parameters": "0500"
},
"signatureValue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
}
```
(Notice that OID names look a bit weird. For reasons that may have been
lost to time and may no longer be relevant, these OIDs are defined with
slightly different names in the ASN.1 modules in Heimdal's source tree.
We'll fix this eventually.)
- Unconstrained integer types have a large integer representation in C that is
not terribly useful in common cases. Range constraints on integer types
cause the compiler to use `int32_t`, `int64_t`, `uint32_t`, and/or
`uint64_t`.
- The Heimdal ASN.1 compiler currently handles a large subset of X.680, and
(in a branch) a small subset of X.681, X.682, and X.683, which manifests as
automatic handling of all open types contained in `SET`/`SEQUENCE` types
that are parameterized with information object sets. This allows all open
types in PKIX certificates, for example, to get decoded automatically no
matter how deeply nested. We use a TCG EK certificate that has eight
certificate extensions, including subject alternative names and subject
directory attributes where the attribute values are not string types, and
all of these things get decoded automatically.
- The template backend dedups templates to save space. This is an O(N^2) kind
of feature that we need to make optional, but it works. (When we implement
JER this will have the side-effect of printing the wrong type names in some
cases because two or more types have the same templates and get deduped.)
...
## Limitations
- `asn1_print`'s JSON support is not X.697 (JER) compatible.
- Control over C types generated is very limited, mainly only for integer
types.
- When using the template backend, `SET { .. }` types are currently not sorted
by tag as they should be, but if the module author sorts them by hand then
DER will be produced.
- `REAL` is not supported.
- `EmbeddedPDV` is not supported.
- `BMPString` is not supported.
- IA5String is not properly supported -- it's essentially treated as a
`UTF8String` with a different tag. This is true of all the string types.
- Only types can be imported at this time. Without some rototilling we likely
will not be able to import anything other than types, values, and object
sets.
- Only simple value syntax is supported. Constructed value syntax (i.e.,
values of `SET`, `SEQUENCE`, `SET OF`, and `SEQUENCE OF`), is not supported.
Values of `CHOICE` types are also not supported.
- ...
## Compiler Usage
First, see the manual page `asn1_compile.1`:
```
ASN1_COMPILE(1) HEIMDAL General Commands Manual ASN1_COMPILE(1)
NAME
asn1_compile — compile ASN.1 modules
SYNOPSIS
asn1_compile [--template] [--prefix-enum] [--enum-prefix=PREFIX]
[--encode-rfc1510-bit-string] [--decode-dce-ber]
[--support-ber] [--preserve-binary=TYPE-NAME]
[--sequence=TYPE-NAME] [--one-code-file] [--gen-name=NAME]
[--option-file=FILE] [--original-order] [--no-parse-units]
[--type-file=C-HEADER-FILE] [--version] [--help]
[FILE.asn1 [NAME]]
DESCRIPTION
asn1_compile Compiles an ASN.1 module into C source code and header
files.
Options supported:
--template
Use the “template” backend instead of the “codegen” backend
(which is the default backend). The template backend generates
“templates” which are akin to bytecode, and which are interpreted
at run-time. The codegen backend generates C code for all func
tions directly, with no template interpretation. The template
backend scales better than the codegen backend because as we add
support for more encoding rules the templates stay mostly the
same, thus scaling linearly with size of module. Whereas the
codegen backend scales linear with the product of module size and
number of encoding rules supported. More importantly, currently
only the template backend supports automatic decoding of open
types via X.681/X.682/X.683 annotations.
--prefix-enum
This option should be removed because ENUMERATED types should
always have their labels prefixed.
--enum-prefix=PREFIX
This option should be removed because ENUMERATED types should
always have their labels prefixed.
--encode-rfc1510-bit-string
Use RFC1510, non-standard handling of “BIT STRING” types.
--decode-dce-ber
--support-ber
--preserve-binary=TYPE-NAME
Generate _save fields in structs to preserve the original
encoding of some sub-value. This is useful for cryptographic
applications to avoid having to re-encode values to check signa
tures, etc.
--sequence=TYPE-NAME
Generate add/remove functions for SET OF and SEQUENCE OF
types.
--one-code-file
Generate a single source code file. Otherwise a separate code
file will be generated for every type.
--gen-name=NAME
Use NAME to form the names of the files generated.
--option-file=FILE
Take additional command-line options from FILE.
--original-order
Attempt to preserve the original order of type definition in the
ASN.1 module. By default the compiler generates types in a topo
logical sort order.
--no-parse-units
Do not generate to-int / from-int functions for enumeration
types.
--type-file=C-HEADER-FILE
Generate an include of the named header file that might be needed
for common type defintions.
--version
--help
HEIMDAL February 22, 2021 HEIMDAL
```
## APIs Generated by the Compiler
Every named type in an ASN.1 module gets a corresponding type in C.
Em-dashes in symbols become underscores.
Every named type in an ASN.1 module also gets several functions generated
associated with it:
- `int decode_TypeName(const unsigned char *, size_t, TypeName *, size_t *);`
Decodes a value of `TypeName` in the given byte array of the given size,
into the given `TypeName` object, and outputs the number of bytes parsed.
Returns 0 on success, or an error that can be formatted as a string using
the `com_err` library.
- `int encode_TypeName(unsigned char *, size_t, const TypeName *, size_t *);`
Encodes the given object of `TypeName` type into the given byte array of the
given size, outputting the number of bytes used.
NOTE WELL: the `unsigned char *` pointer must point to the _last_ byte of
the buffer!
Returns 0 on success, or an error that can be formatted as a string using
the `com_err` library, including system errors such as `ENOMEM`.
- `int length_TypeName(const TypeName *);`
Returns the number of bytes needed to encode the given object.
- `void free_TypeName(TypeName *);`
Releases the memory associated with the content of the given object, but
note that the object itself is _not_ released.
- `int copy_TypeName(const TypeName *, TypeName *);`
Copies the content of the given `const` object to the destination,
non-`const` object.
Returns 0 on success, or an error that can be formatted as a string using
the `com_err` library, including system errors such as `ENOMEM`.
- `char *print_TypeName(const TypeName *, int);`
Returns a string (JSON) representation of the given object. The `int`
argument is a bitset of flags:
- `ASN1_PRINT_INDENT`
Indent the JSON. If not given the the JSON will have no interstitial
whitespace, including newlines.
You will want to review the data structures generated. They look like:
```C
typedef struct TBSCertificate TBSCertificate;
typedef struct AlgorithmIdentifier AlgorithmIdentifier;
typedef struct ... ...;
/*
Certificate ::= SEQUENCE {
tbsCertificate TBSCertificate,
signatureAlgorithm AlgorithmIdentifier,
signatureValue BIT STRING {
},
}
*/
typedef struct Certificate {
TBSCertificate tbsCertificate;
AlgorithmIdentifier signatureAlgorithm;
heim_bit_string signatureValue;
} Certificate;
/*
TBSCertificate ::= SEQUENCE {
version [0] Version OPTIONAL,
serialNumber CertificateSerialNumber,
signature AlgorithmIdentifier,
issuer Name,
validity Validity,
subject Name,
subjectPublicKeyInfo SubjectPublicKeyInfo,
issuerUniqueID [1] IMPLICIT BIT STRING {
} OPTIONAL,
subjectUniqueID [2] IMPLICIT BIT STRING {
} OPTIONAL,
extensions [3] Extensions OPTIONAL,
}
*/
typedef struct TBSCertificate {
heim_octet_string _save;
Version *version;
CertificateSerialNumber serialNumber;
AlgorithmIdentifier signature;
Name issuer;
Validity validity;
Name subject;
SubjectPublicKeyInfo subjectPublicKeyInfo;
heim_bit_string *issuerUniqueID;
heim_bit_string *subjectUniqueID;
Extensions *extensions;
} TBSCertificate;
```
Note how trivial the mapping onto C is.
`OPTIONAL` fields become pointer fields, with `NULL` indicating
absence and non-NULL indicating presence.
And so on.
## asn1_print Usage
```
ASN1_PRINT(1) BSD General Commands Manual ASN1_PRINT(1)
NAME
asn1_print — dump ASN.1 DER encoded values
SYNOPSIS
asn1_print [-i | --no-indent] [-I | --inner] [-l | --list-types]
[-A | --try-all-types] [-S | --raw-sequence] [-n | --no-print]
[-q | --quiet] [--test-encode] [--test-copy]
[-l -v | --version] [-l -h | --help] [FILE [TypeName...]]
DESCRIPTION
asn1_print Dumps ASN.1 DER-encoded values. If one or more TypeName argu
ments are given, then asn1_print will print the value in a JSON-like for
mat using its knowledge of the ASN.1 modules defining those types, stop
ping at the first type for which it can successfully decode the value.
If TypeNames are given, they must be the names of ASN.1 types exported by
an ASN.1 modules that are compiled into asn1_print. Use the
--try-all-types option to attempt decoding as all ASN.1 types known to
asn1_print. If neither any TypeName nor --try-all-types are given, then
the value will be parsed and displayed using just the self-describing
nature of DER.
Options supported:
-i, --no-indent
Do not indent dump.
-I, --inner
Try to parse inner structures of OCTET STRING and constructed
values.
-l, --list-types
List all types known to asn1_print.
-A, --try-all-types
Attempt to decode the value as any of all types known to
asn1_print.
-S, --raw-sequence
If a value parses as a given TypeName but any bytes are left
over, try to parse those separately as well until all bytes are
consumed or an error occurs.
-n, --no-print
For the case where -A or --try-all-types or where a TypeName is
given, do not output a JSON representation of the value, just
attempt to decode it. This is useful for fuzzing.
-q, --quiet
Similar to -n, --no-print but JSON output will be formatted, just
not output. As with -n, --no-print, this option requires -A -/
--try-all-types or that a TypeName be given. This is useful for
fuzzing.
--test-encode
Check that encoding produces the same value as decoding. Useful
for fuzzing.
--test-copy
Test copy functions. Useful for fuzzing.
-v, --version
-h, --help
HEIMDAL February 22, 2021 HEIMDAL
```
## Implementation
See:
- `lib/asn1/main.c` for the `main()` function of the compiler
- `lib/asn1/asn1parse.y` for the grammar and most of the parsing into an AST
- `lib/asn1/symbol.h` for the types making up the AST
- `lib/asn1/{hash,symbol}.c` for compiler AST supporting functionality
- `lib/asn1/gen.c` for the C header file generator
- `lib/asn1/gen_template.c` for the template generator
- `lib/asn1/gen_{decode,encode,length,copy,free}.c` for the C code generator
- `lib/asn1/gen_{glue,seq}.c` for misc code generator
- `lib/asn1/template.c` for the template interpreter
- `lib/asn1/der*.c` for primitive type primitives
- `lib/asn1/extra.c` for primitives related to `ANY`
...
## Futures
- Add JER support so we can convert between JER and DER?
- Add XDR support?
- Add OER support?
- Add NDR support?
- Perhaps third parties will contribute more control over generate types?
## Moving From C
- Generate and output a JSON representation of the compiled ASN.1 module.
- Code codegen/templategen backends in jq or Haskell or whatever.
- Code template interpreters in some host language.
- Eventually rewrite the compiler itself in Rust or whatever.