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javax.security.cert

public abstract Class X509Certificate

extends Certificate
Class Inheritance
Annotations
@SuppressWarnings:removal
@Deprecated
since:9
forRemoval:true
Imports
java.io.InputStream, java.lang.reflect.Constructor, .InvocationTargetException, java.math.BigInteger, java.security.Principal, .Security, java.util.Date

Deprecated

for removal since 9.

Use the classes in java.security.cert instead.

Abstract class for X.509 v1 certificates. This provides a standard way to access all the version 1 attributes of an X.509 certificate. Attributes that are specific to X.509 v2 or v3 are not available through this interface. Future API evolution will provide full access to complete X.509 v3 attributes.

The basic X.509 format was defined by ISO/IEC and ANSI X9 and is described below in ASN.1: 

Certificate  ::=  SEQUENCE  {
    tbsCertificate       TBSCertificate,
    signatureAlgorithm   AlgorithmIdentifier,
    signature            BIT STRING  }

These certificates are widely used to support authentication and other functionality in Internet security systems. Common applications include Privacy Enhanced Mail (PEM), Transport Layer Security (SSL), code signing for trusted software distribution, and Secure Electronic Transactions (SET).

These certificates are managed and vouched for by Certificate Authorities (CAs). CAs are services which create certificates by placing data in the X.509 standard format and then digitally signing that data. CAs act as trusted third parties, making introductions between principals who have no direct knowledge of each other. CA certificates are either signed by themselves, or by some other CA such as a "root" CA.

The ASN.1 definition of tbsCertificate is: 

TBSCertificate  ::=  SEQUENCE  {
    version         [0]  EXPLICIT Version DEFAULT v1,
    serialNumber         CertificateSerialNumber,
    signature            AlgorithmIdentifier,
    issuer               Name,
    validity             Validity,
    subject              Name,
    subjectPublicKeyInfo SubjectPublicKeyInfo,
    }

Here is sample code to instantiate an X.509 certificate: 

InputStream inStream = new FileInputStream("fileName-of-cert");
X509Certificate cert = X509Certificate.getInstance(inStream);
inStream.close();
OR 
byte[] certData = <certificate read from a file, say>
X509Certificate cert = X509Certificate.getInstance(certData);

In either case, the code that instantiates an X.509 certificate consults the value of the cert.provider.x509v1 security property to locate the actual implementation or instantiates a default implementation.

The cert.provider.x509v1 property is set to a default implementation for X.509 such as: 

cert.provider.x509v1=com.sun.security.cert.internal.x509.X509V1CertImpl

The value of this cert.provider.x509v1 property has to be changed to instantiate another implementation. If this security property is not set, a default implementation will be used. Currently, due to possible security restrictions on access to Security properties, this value is looked up and cached at class initialization time and will fallback on a default implementation if the Security property is not accessible.

Note

The classes in the package javax.security.cert exist for compatibility with earlier versions of the Java Secure Sockets Extension (JSSE). New applications should instead use the standard Java SE certificate classes located in java.security.cert.

Author
Hemma Prafullchandra
Since
1.4
See Also
Certificate, java.security.cert.X509Extension, security properties

Field Summary

Modifier and TypeField and Description
private static final String
X509_PROVIDER

Constant to lookup in the Security properties file.

private static String
X509Provider

Constructor Summary

AccessConstructor and Description
public
X509Certificate()

Constructor for subclasses to call.

Method Summary

Modifier and TypeMethod and Description
public abstract void
checkValidity()

Checks that the certificate is currently valid.

public abstract void
checkValidity(Date
the Date to check against to see if this certificate is valid at that date/time.
date)

Checks that the specified date is within the certificate's validity period.

private static final X509Certificate
getInst(Object value)
References Deprecated X509Certificate is deprecated or references (maybe indirectly) at least one deprecated element.

public static final X509Certificate

Returns:

an X509Certificate object initialized with the data from the input stream.
getInstance(InputStream
an input stream with the data to be read to initialize the certificate.
inStream)
References Deprecated X509Certificate is deprecated or references (maybe indirectly) at least one deprecated element.

Instantiates an X509Certificate object, and initializes it with the data read from the input stream inStream.

public static final X509Certificate

Returns:

an X509Certificate object initialized with the data from certData.
getInstance(byte[]
a byte array containing the DER-encoded certificate.
certData)
References Deprecated X509Certificate is deprecated or references (maybe indirectly) at least one deprecated element.

Instantiates an X509Certificate object, and initializes it with the specified byte array.

public abstract Principal

Returns:

a Principal whose name is the issuer distinguished name.
getIssuerDN()

Gets the issuer (issuer distinguished name) value from the certificate.

public abstract Date

Returns:

the end date of the validity period.
getNotAfter()

Gets the notAfter date from the validity period of the certificate.

public abstract Date

Returns:

the start date of the validity period.
getNotBefore()

Gets the notBefore date from the validity period of the certificate.

public abstract BigInteger

Returns:

the serial number.
getSerialNumber()

Gets the serialNumber value from the certificate.

public abstract String

Returns:

the signature algorithm name.
getSigAlgName()

Gets the signature algorithm name for the certificate signature algorithm.

public abstract String

Returns:

the signature algorithm OID string.
getSigAlgOID()

Gets the signature algorithm OID string from the certificate.

public abstract byte[]

Returns:

the DER-encoded signature algorithm parameters, or null if no parameters are present.
getSigAlgParams()

Gets the DER-encoded signature algorithm parameters from this certificate's signature algorithm.

public abstract Principal

Returns:

a Principal whose name is the subject name.
getSubjectDN()

Gets the subject (subject distinguished name) value from the certificate.

public abstract int

Returns:

the version number from the ASN.1 encoding, i.e. 0, 1 or 2.
getVersion()

Gets the version (version number) value from the certificate.

Inherited from javax.security.cert.Certificate:
equalsgetEncodedgetPublicKeyhashCodetoStringverifyverify

Field Detail

X509_PROVIDERback to summary
private static final String X509_PROVIDER

Constant to lookup in the Security properties file. In the Security properties file the default implementation for X.509 v3 is given as: 

cert.provider.x509v1=com.sun.security.cert.internal.x509.X509V1CertImpl
X509Providerback to summary
private static String X509Provider

Constructor Detail

X509Certificateback to summary
public X509Certificate()

Constructor for subclasses to call.

Method Detail

checkValidityback to summary
public abstract void checkValidity() throws CertificateExpiredException, CertificateNotYetValidException

Checks that the certificate is currently valid. It is if the current date and time are within the validity period given in the certificate.

The validity period consists of two date/time values: the first and last dates (and times) on which the certificate is valid. It is defined in ASN.1 as: 

validity             Validity

Validity ::= SEQUENCE {
    notBefore      CertificateValidityDate,
    notAfter       CertificateValidityDate }

CertificateValidityDate ::= CHOICE {
    utcTime        UTCTime,
    generalTime    GeneralizedTime }
Exceptions
CertificateExpiredException:
if the certificate has expired.
CertificateNotYetValidException:
if the certificate is not yet valid.
checkValidityback to summary
public abstract void checkValidity(Date date) throws CertificateExpiredException, CertificateNotYetValidException

Checks that the specified date is within the certificate's validity period. In other words, this determines whether the certificate would be valid at the specified date/time.

Parameters
date:Date

the Date to check against to see if this certificate is valid at that date/time.

Exceptions
CertificateExpiredException:
if the certificate has expired with respect to the date supplied.
CertificateNotYetValidException:
if the certificate is not yet valid with respect to the date supplied.
See Also
checkValidity()
getInstback to summary
private static final X509Certificate getInst(Object value) throws CertificateException

References Deprecated

X509Certificate is deprecated or references (maybe indirectly) at least one deprecated element.

See corresponding docs for further information.

getInstanceback to summary
public static final X509Certificate getInstance(InputStream inStream) throws CertificateException

References Deprecated

X509Certificate is deprecated or references (maybe indirectly) at least one deprecated element.

See corresponding docs for further information.

Instantiates an X509Certificate object, and initializes it with the data read from the input stream inStream. The implementation (X509Certificate is an abstract class) is provided by the class specified as the value of the cert.provider.x509v1 security property.

Note

Only one DER-encoded certificate is expected to be in the input stream. Also, all X509Certificate subclasses must provide a constructor of the form: 

public <subClass>(InputStream inStream) ...
Parameters
inStream:InputStream

an input stream with the data to be read to initialize the certificate.

Returns:X509Certificate

an X509Certificate object initialized with the data from the input stream.

Exceptions
CertificateException:
if a class initialization or certificate parsing error occurs.
getInstanceback to summary
public static final X509Certificate getInstance(byte[] certData) throws CertificateException

References Deprecated

X509Certificate is deprecated or references (maybe indirectly) at least one deprecated element.

See corresponding docs for further information.

Instantiates an X509Certificate object, and initializes it with the specified byte array. The implementation (X509Certificate is an abstract class) is provided by the class specified as the value of the cert.provider.x509v1 security property.

Note

All X509Certificate subclasses must provide a constructor of the form: 

public <subClass>(InputStream inStream) ...
Parameters
certData:byte[]

a byte array containing the DER-encoded certificate.

Returns:X509Certificate

an X509Certificate object initialized with the data from certData.

Exceptions
CertificateException:
if a class initialization or certificate parsing error occurs.
getIssuerDNback to summary
public abstract Principal getIssuerDN()

Gets the issuer (issuer distinguished name) value from the certificate. The issuer name identifies the entity that signed (and issued) the certificate.

The issuer name field contains an X.500 distinguished name (DN). The ASN.1 definition for this is: 

issuer    Name

Name ::= CHOICE { RDNSequence }
RDNSequence ::= SEQUENCE OF RelativeDistinguishedName
RelativeDistinguishedName ::=
    SET OF AttributeValueAssertion

AttributeValueAssertion ::= SEQUENCE {
                              AttributeType,
                              AttributeValue }
AttributeType ::= OBJECT IDENTIFIER
AttributeValue ::= ANY
The Name describes a hierarchical name composed of attributes, such as country name, and corresponding values, such as US. The type of the AttributeValue component is determined by the AttributeType; in general it will be a directoryString. A directoryString is usually one of PrintableString, TeletexString or UniversalString.
Returns:Principal

a Principal whose name is the issuer distinguished name.

getNotAfterback to summary
public abstract Date getNotAfter()

Gets the notAfter date from the validity period of the certificate. See getNotBefore for relevant ASN.1 definitions.

Returns:Date

the end date of the validity period.

See Also
checkValidity()
getNotBeforeback to summary
public abstract Date getNotBefore()

Gets the notBefore date from the validity period of the certificate. The relevant ASN.1 definitions are: 

validity             Validity

Validity ::= SEQUENCE {
    notBefore      CertificateValidityDate,
    notAfter       CertificateValidityDate }

CertificateValidityDate ::= CHOICE {
    utcTime        UTCTime,
    generalTime    GeneralizedTime }
Returns:Date

the start date of the validity period.

See Also
checkValidity()
getSerialNumberback to summary
public abstract BigInteger getSerialNumber()

Gets the serialNumber value from the certificate. The serial number is an integer assigned by the certification authority to each certificate. It must be unique for each certificate issued by a given CA (i.e., the issuer name and serial number identify a unique certificate). The ASN.1 definition for this is: 

serialNumber     CertificateSerialNumber

CertificateSerialNumber  ::=  INTEGER
Returns:BigInteger

the serial number.

getSigAlgNameback to summary
public abstract String getSigAlgName()

Gets the signature algorithm name for the certificate signature algorithm. An example is the string "SHA-1/DSA". The ASN.1 definition for this is: 

signatureAlgorithm   AlgorithmIdentifier

AlgorithmIdentifier  ::=  SEQUENCE  {
    algorithm               OBJECT IDENTIFIER,
    parameters              ANY DEFINED BY algorithm OPTIONAL  }
                            -- contains a value of the type
                            -- registered for use with the
                            -- algorithm object identifier value

The algorithm name is determined from the algorithm OID string.

Returns:String

the signature algorithm name.

getSigAlgOIDback to summary
public abstract String getSigAlgOID()

Gets the signature algorithm OID string from the certificate. An OID is represented by a set of positive whole numbers separated by periods. For example, the string "1.2.840.10040.4.3" identifies the SHA-1 with DSA signature algorithm, as per the PKIX part I.

See getSigAlgName for relevant ASN.1 definitions.

Returns:String

the signature algorithm OID string.

getSigAlgParamsback to summary
public abstract byte[] getSigAlgParams()

Gets the DER-encoded signature algorithm parameters from this certificate's signature algorithm. In most cases, the signature algorithm parameters are null; the parameters are usually supplied with the certificate's public key.

See getSigAlgName for relevant ASN.1 definitions.

Returns:byte[]

the DER-encoded signature algorithm parameters, or null if no parameters are present.

getSubjectDNback to summary
public abstract Principal getSubjectDN()

Gets the subject (subject distinguished name) value from the certificate. The ASN.1 definition for this is: 

subject    Name

See getIssuerDN for Name and other relevant definitions.

Returns:Principal

a Principal whose name is the subject name.

See Also
getIssuerDN()
getVersionback to summary
public abstract int getVersion()

Gets the version (version number) value from the certificate. The ASN.1 definition for this is: 

version         [0]  EXPLICIT Version DEFAULT v1

Version  ::=  INTEGER  {  v1(0), v2(1), v3(2)  }
Returns:int

the version number from the ASN.1 encoding, i.e. 0, 1 or 2.