Question

Using Java I have created RSA keypairs. Using Java I can use these keys to sign and verify some text. I can also “export” these keys in PEM format and load them into a Python test script. Once in the Python script, I can use these keys to sign and verify some text using M2Crypto.

I have not yet been able to verify in Python the signature I created in Java.

Right now I am just trying to get cross-platform signing and verifying to work.

Here is Java snippet:

Signature sig = Signature.getInstance("MD5WithRSA");
sig.initSign(key.getPrivate());
sig.update("This is a message.".getBytes("UTF8"));
byte[] signatureBytes = sig.sign();     
return Base64.encodeBytes(signatureBytes, Base64.DO_BREAK_LINES);

Which generates:

PIp4eLhA941xmpdqu7j60731R9oWSNWcHvwoVADKxABGoUE02eDS0qZ4yQD2vYBdRDXXxHV4UjtW
YQwv9nsOzCBWeDQ0vv6W0dLVfTBuk79On7AALuwnTFr8s0y5ZN5RINvPPR60mwONav26ZbPj4ub3
NZqUS/zkqyO8Z8D2zUjk0pqAhWDGbFBaWPQJBPOY9iRt8GlsAUkGfYGeIx9DNU8aiJmQ3NnUHbs4
5NEr3xydbNJjwK96kkNJ9vyKZRfnNd4eW2UllPiwJSRQgefCQfh79ZuiYeQEuk3HMh7Si4iYl7uU
rWCgYFl4fGV1X/k+BSHR4ZZFWGQ3IPfafYHyNw==

And here is the public key:

-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
MIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8AMIIBCgKCAQEAg+N7xQHVHU3VHMZ9VGFdUf6ud3rAL8YS
sfWv2zFMnKAjh6XacwDGX6jJR/0/pyDriRGw/uodBDSFvgn9XEM/srMYtbJ1KQ9R9ChDifixF3Hx
yzbzPRvFoEfZnS/63+d1r0wnafz7xx0eDEYE3TgRKTMikwOsuIOFWa7GhA4BvP7ad79bI5ORJdLu
9Je+k+4dbt0xk2t7YopxYmyU+4zhZMxuthJTr69rXgqhgsCRdK6kFIGm3YuJ1WQcci8OVwH+3o7F
XzJHpSTxH57m6PX5lXaywIDCbUauTpBV3w+0vTeGI/2o+U40qhLBkpZT9GSVKxgXl5a0XxrkwTGn
61XZqQIDAQAB
-----END PUBLIC KEY-----

Then in Python the key is loaded and the signature is attempted to be verified:

from M2Crypto import RSA, EVP
pub_key = RSA.load_pub_key('public_key.pem')
verify_evp = EVP.PKey()
verify_evp.assign_rsa(pub_key)
verify_evp.verify_init()
verify_evp.verify_update("This is a message.")
if verify_evp.verify_final(sig_string.decode('base64')) == 1:
    print "Good"
else:
    print "Bad"

And this does not verify. I suspect it is some leading or trailing characters or encoding weirdness that I don’t understand.

I have no particular attachement to M2Crypto and have played a bit with the gdata.tlslite modules as well.

Please note that the keys are working, and that the text and signature above verify in Java, and the keys (public and private) can be used within Python to sign and verify text. The problem is somewhere in how Java-generated signature and/or the message text is getting into the Python code.

What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

M2Crypto.EVP defaults to ‘sha1’ (SHA1) and you’re using MD5WithRSA. I think you should switch SHA1WithRSA (MD5 is a very weak algorithm).