Question

I’m writing a C program that encrypts(based on the private key) and decrypts(based on the public key) text. I’m trying to do this with the OpenSSL lib. Does anyone know any good tutorial, quick starting guide or sample code? I haven’t found any decent one on the web.

Answer 1

Here’s an example I created for encrypting a file using RSA for the asymmetric algorithm and AES-128-CBC for the symmetric algorithm, with the OpenSSL EVP functions:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

#include <openssl/evp.h>
#include <openssl/pem.h>
#include <openssl/rsa.h>
#include <openssl/err.h>

#include <arpa/inet.h> /* For htonl() */

int do_evp_seal(FILE *rsa_pkey_file, FILE *in_file, FILE *out_file)
{
    int retval = 0;
    RSA *rsa_pkey = NULL;
    EVP_PKEY *pkey = EVP_PKEY_new();
    EVP_CIPHER_CTX ctx;
    unsigned char buffer[4096];
    unsigned char buffer_out[4096 + EVP_MAX_IV_LENGTH];
    size_t len;
    int len_out;
    unsigned char *ek = NULL;
    int eklen;
    uint32_t eklen_n;
    unsigned char iv[EVP_MAX_IV_LENGTH];

    if (!PEM_read_RSA_PUBKEY(rsa_pkey_file, &rsa_pkey, NULL, NULL))
    {
        fprintf(stderr, "Error loading RSA Public Key File.\n");
        ERR_print_errors_fp(stderr);
        retval = 2;
        goto out;
    }

    if (!EVP_PKEY_assign_RSA(pkey, rsa_pkey))
    {
        fprintf(stderr, "EVP_PKEY_assign_RSA: failed.\n");
        retval = 3;
        goto out;
    }

    EVP_CIPHER_CTX_init(&ctx);
    ek = malloc(EVP_PKEY_size(pkey));

    if (!EVP_SealInit(&ctx, EVP_aes_128_cbc(), &ek, &eklen, iv, &pkey, 1))
    {
        fprintf(stderr, "EVP_SealInit: failed.\n");
        retval = 3;
        goto out_free;
    }

    /* First we write out the encrypted key length, then the encrypted key,
     * then the iv (the IV length is fixed by the cipher we have chosen).
     */

    eklen_n = htonl(eklen);
    if (fwrite(&eklen_n, sizeof eklen_n, 1, out_file) != 1)
    {
        perror("output file");
        retval = 5;
        goto out_free;
    }
    if (fwrite(ek, eklen, 1, out_file) != 1)
    {
        perror("output file");
        retval = 5;
        goto out_free;
    }
    if (fwrite(iv, EVP_CIPHER_iv_length(EVP_aes_128_cbc()), 1, out_file) != 1)
    {
        perror("output file");
        retval = 5;
        goto out_free;
    }

    /* Now we process the input file and write the encrypted data to the
     * output file. */

    while ((len = fread(buffer, 1, sizeof buffer, in_file)) > 0)
    {
        if (!EVP_SealUpdate(&ctx, buffer_out, &len_out, buffer, len))
        {
            fprintf(stderr, "EVP_SealUpdate: failed.\n");
            retval = 3;
            goto out_free;
        }

        if (fwrite(buffer_out, len_out, 1, out_file) != 1)
        {
            perror("output file");
            retval = 5;
            goto out_free;
        }
    }

    if (ferror(in_file))
    {
        perror("input file");
        retval = 4;
        goto out_free;
    }

    if (!EVP_SealFinal(&ctx, buffer_out, &len_out))
    {
        fprintf(stderr, "EVP_SealFinal: failed.\n");
        retval = 3;
        goto out_free;
    }

    if (fwrite(buffer_out, len_out, 1, out_file) != 1)
    {
        perror("output file");
        retval = 5;
        goto out_free;
    }

    out_free:
    EVP_PKEY_free(pkey);
    free(ek);

    out:
    return retval;
}

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    FILE *rsa_pkey_file;
    int rv;

    if (argc < 2)
    {
        fprintf(stderr, "Usage: %s <PEM RSA Public Key File>\n", argv[0]);
        exit(1);
    }

    rsa_pkey_file = fopen(argv[1], "rb");
    if (!rsa_pkey_file)
    {
        perror(argv[1]);
        fprintf(stderr, "Error loading PEM RSA Public Key File.\n");
        exit(2);
    }

    rv = do_evp_seal(rsa_pkey_file, stdin, stdout);

    fclose(rsa_pkey_file);
    return rv;
}

And the corresponding decryption example:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

#include <openssl/evp.h>
#include <openssl/pem.h>
#include <openssl/rsa.h>
#include <openssl/err.h>

#include <arpa/inet.h> /* For htonl() */

int do_evp_unseal(FILE *rsa_pkey_file, FILE *in_file, FILE *out_file)
{
    int retval = 0;
    RSA *rsa_pkey = NULL;
    EVP_PKEY *pkey = EVP_PKEY_new();
    EVP_CIPHER_CTX ctx;
    unsigned char buffer[4096];
    unsigned char buffer_out[4096 + EVP_MAX_IV_LENGTH];
    size_t len;
    int len_out;
    unsigned char *ek;
    unsigned int eklen;
    uint32_t eklen_n;
    unsigned char iv[EVP_MAX_IV_LENGTH];

    if (!PEM_read_RSAPrivateKey(rsa_pkey_file, &rsa_pkey, NULL, NULL))
    {
        fprintf(stderr, "Error loading RSA Private Key File.\n");
        ERR_print_errors_fp(stderr);
        retval = 2;
        goto out;
    }

    if (!EVP_PKEY_assign_RSA(pkey, rsa_pkey))
    {
        fprintf(stderr, "EVP_PKEY_assign_RSA: failed.\n");
        retval = 3;
        goto out;
    }

    EVP_CIPHER_CTX_init(&ctx);
    ek = malloc(EVP_PKEY_size(pkey));

    /* First need to fetch the encrypted key length, encrypted key and IV */

    if (fread(&eklen_n, sizeof eklen_n, 1, in_file) != 1)
    {
        perror("input file");
        retval = 4;
        goto out_free;
    }
    eklen = ntohl(eklen_n);
    if (eklen > EVP_PKEY_size(pkey))
    {
        fprintf(stderr, "Bad encrypted key length (%u > %d)\n", eklen,
            EVP_PKEY_size(pkey));
        retval = 4;
        goto out_free;
    }
    if (fread(ek, eklen, 1, in_file) != 1)
    {
        perror("input file");
        retval = 4;
        goto out_free;
    }
    if (fread(iv, EVP_CIPHER_iv_length(EVP_aes_128_cbc()), 1, in_file) != 1)
    {
        perror("input file");
        retval = 4;
        goto out_free;
    }

    if (!EVP_OpenInit(&ctx, EVP_aes_128_cbc(), ek, eklen, iv, pkey))
    {
        fprintf(stderr, "EVP_OpenInit: failed.\n");
        retval = 3;
        goto out_free;
    }

    while ((len = fread(buffer, 1, sizeof buffer, in_file)) > 0)
    {
        if (!EVP_OpenUpdate(&ctx, buffer_out, &len_out, buffer, len))
        {
            fprintf(stderr, "EVP_OpenUpdate: failed.\n");
            retval = 3;
            goto out_free;
        }

        if (fwrite(buffer_out, len_out, 1, out_file) != 1)
        {
            perror("output file");
            retval = 5;
            goto out_free;
        }
    }

    if (ferror(in_file))
    {
        perror("input file");
        retval = 4;
        goto out_free;
    }

    if (!EVP_OpenFinal(&ctx, buffer_out, &len_out))
    {
        fprintf(stderr, "EVP_SealFinal: failed.\n");
        retval = 3;
        goto out_free;
    }

    if (fwrite(buffer_out, len_out, 1, out_file) != 1)
    {
        perror("output file");
        retval = 5;
        goto out_free;
    }

    out_free:
    EVP_PKEY_free(pkey);
    free(ek);

    out:
    return retval;
}

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    FILE *rsa_pkey_file;
    int rv;

    if (argc < 2)
    {
        fprintf(stderr, "Usage: %s <PEM RSA Private Key File>\n", argv[0]);
        exit(1);
    }

    rsa_pkey_file = fopen(argv[1], "rb");
    if (!rsa_pkey_file)
    {
        perror(argv[1]);
        fprintf(stderr, "Error loading PEM RSA Private Key File.\n");
        exit(2);
    }

    rv = do_evp_unseal(rsa_pkey_file, stdin, stdout);

    fclose(rsa_pkey_file);
    return rv;
}

I think that’s fairly easy to follow. As written both commands can be used as part of a pipeline (they take input on stdin and write output to stdout).