X509_STORE_CTX_get_error(3)

NAME
X509_STORE_CTX_get_error, X509_STORE_CTX_set_error, X509_STORE_CTX_get_error_depth, X509_STORE_CTX_get_current_cert, X509_STORE_CTX_get1_chain, X509_verify_cert_error_string - get or set certificate verification status information

SYNOPSIS
 #include <openssl/x509.h>
 #include <openssl/x509_vfy.h>
 int    X509_STORE_CTX_get_error(X509_STORE_CTX *ctx);
 void   X509_STORE_CTX_set_error(X509_STORE_CTX *ctx,int s);
 int    X509_STORE_CTX_get_error_depth(X509_STORE_CTX *ctx);
 X509 * X509_STORE_CTX_get_current_cert(X509_STORE_CTX *ctx);
 STACK_OF(X509) *X509_STORE_CTX_get1_chain(X509_STORE_CTX *ctx);
 const char *X509_verify_cert_error_string(long n);

DESCRIPTION
These functions are typically called after X509_verify_cert() has indicated an error or in a verification callback to determine the nature of an error.

X509_STORE_CTX_get_error() returns the error code of ctx, see the ERROR CODES section for a full description of all error codes.

X509_STORE_CTX_set_error() sets the error code of ctx to s. For example it might be used in a verification callback to set an error based on additional checks.

X509_STORE_CTX_get_error_depth() returns the depth of the error. This is a non-negative integer representing where in the certificate chain the error occurred. If it is zero it occured in the end entity certificate, one if it is the certificate which signed the end entity certificate and so on.

X509_STORE_CTX_get_current_cert() returns the certificate in ctx which caused the error or NULL if no certificate is relevant.

X509_STORE_CTX_get1_chain() returns a complete validate chain if a previous call to X509_verify_cert() is successful. If the call to X509_verify_cert() is not successful the returned chain may be incomplete or invalid. The returned chain persists after the ctx structure is freed, when it is no longer needed it should be free up using:

  sk_X509_pop_free(chain, X509_free);
X509_verify_cert_error_string() returns a human readable error string for verification error n.

RETURN VALUES
X509_STORE_CTX_get_error() returns X509_V_OK or an error code.

X509_STORE_CTX_get_error_depth() returns a non-negative error depth.

X509_STORE_CTX_get_current_cert() returns the cerificate which caused the error or NULL if no certificate is relevant to the error.

X509_verify_cert_error_string() returns a human readable error string for verification error n.

ERROR CODES
A list of error codes and messages is shown below. Some of the error codes are defined but currently never returned: these are described as "unused". the operation was successful. the issuer certificate could not be found: this occurs if the issuer certificate of an untrusted certificate cannot be found. the CRL of a certificate could not be found. the certificate signature could not be decrypted. This means that the actual signature value could not be determined rather than it not matching the expected value, this is only meaningful for RSA keys. the CRL signature could not be decrypted: this means that the actual signature value could not be determined rather than it not matching the expected value. Unused. the public key in the certificate SubjectPublicKeyInfo could not be read. the signature of the certificate is invalid. the signature of the certificate is invalid. the certificate is not yet valid: the notBefore date is after the current time. the certificate has expired: that is the notAfter date is before the current time. the CRL is not yet valid. the CRL has expired. the certificate notBefore field contains an invalid time. the certificate notAfter field contains an invalid time. the CRL lastUpdate field contains an invalid time. the CRL nextUpdate field contains an invalid time. an error occurred trying to allocate memory. This should never happen. the passed certificate is self signed and the same certificate cannot be found in the list of trusted certificates. the certificate chain could be built up using the untrusted certificates but the root could not be found locally. the issuer certificate of a locally looked up certificate could not be found. This normally means the list of trusted certificates is not complete. no signatures could be verified because the chain contains only one certificate and it is not self signed. the certificate chain length is greater than the supplied maximum depth. Unused. the certificate has been revoked. a CA certificate is invalid. Either it is not a CA or its extensions are not consistent with the supplied purpose. the basicConstraints pathlength parameter has been exceeded. the supplied certificate cannot be used for the specified purpose. the root CA is not marked as trusted for the specified purpose. the root CA is marked to reject the specified purpose. the current candidate issuer certificate was rejected because its subject name did not match the issuer name of the current certificate. This is only set if issuer check debugging is enabled it is used for status notification and is not in itself an error. the current candidate issuer certificate was rejected because its subject key identifier was present and did not match the authority key identifier current certificate. This is only set if issuer check debugging is enabled it is used for status notification and is not in itself an error. the current candidate issuer certificate was rejected because its issuer name and serial number was present and did not match the authority key identifier of the current certificate. This is only set if issuer check debugging is enabled it is used for status notification and is not in itself an error. the current candidate issuer certificate was rejected because its keyUsage extension does not permit certificate signing. This is only set if issuer check debugging is enabled it is used for status notification and is not in itself an error. A certificate extension had an invalid value (for example an incorrect encoding) or some value inconsistent with other extensions. A certificate policies extension had an invalid value (for example an incorrect encoding) or some value inconsistent with other extensions. This error only occurs if policy processing is enabled. The verification flags were set to require and explicit policy but none was present. The only CRLs that could be found did not match the scope of the certificate. Some feature of a certificate extension is not supported. Unused. A name constraint violation occured in the permitted subtrees. A name constraint violation occured in the excluded subtrees. A certificate name constraints extension included a minimum or maximum field: this is not supported. An unsupported name constraint type was encountered. OpenSSL currently only supports directory name, DNS name, email and URI types. The format of the name constraint is not recognised: for example an email address format of a form not mentioned in RFC3280. This could be caused by a garbage extension or some new feature not currently supported. An error occured when attempting to verify the CRL path. This error can only happen if extended CRL checking is enabled. an application specific error. This will never be returned unless explicitly set by an application.

NOTES
The above functions should be used instead of directly referencing the fields in the X509_VERIFY_CTX structure.

In versions of OpenSSL before 1.0 the current certificate returned by X509_STORE_CTX_get_current_cert() was never NULL. Applications should check the return value before printing out any debugging information relating to the current certificate.

If an unrecognised error code is passed to X509_verify_cert_error_string() the numerical value of the unknown code is returned in a static buffer. This is not thread safe but will never happen unless an invalid code is passed.

SEE ALSO
X509_verify_cert(3)

HISTORY
TBA