Cryptographic Token Interface Standard

PKCS#11


Slot and token management functions

Cryptoki provides the following functions for slot and token management:

C_GetSlotList

CK_RV  C_GetSlotList( CK_BBOOL tokenPresent, CK_SLOT_ID_PTR pSlotList, CK_ULONG_PTR pulCount);

C_GetSlotList is used to obtain a list of slots in the system.

Parameters:
tokenPresent indicates whether the list obtained includes only those slots with a token present (TRUE), or all slots (FALSE);
pulCount points to the location that receives the number of slots.
There are two ways for an application to call C_GetSlotList :

  1. If pSlotList is NULL_PTR, then all that C_GetSlotList does is return (in *pulCount) the number of slots, without actually returning a list of slots. The contents of the buffer pointed to by pulCount on entry to C_GetSlotList has no meaning in this case, and the call returns the value CKR_OK.

  2. If pSlotList is not NULL_PTR, then *pulCount must contain the size (in terms of CK_SLOT_ID elements) of the buffer pointed to by pSlotList. If that buffer is large enough to hold the list of slots, then the list is returned in it, and CKR_OK is returned. If not, then the call to C_GetSlotList returns the value CKR_BUFFER_TOO_SMALL. In either case, the value *pulCount is set to hold the number of slots.

Because C_GetSlotList does not allocate any space of its own, an application will often call C_GetSlotList twice (or sometimes even more times"if an application is trying to get a list of all slots with a token present, then the number of such slots can (unfortunately) change between when the application asks for how many such slots there are and when the application asks for the slots themselves). However, multiple calls to C_GetSlotList are by no means required.

All slots which C_GetSlotList reports must be able to be queried as valid slots by C_GetSlotInfo. Furthermore, the set of slots accessible through a Cryptoki library is fixed at the time that C_Initialize is called. If an application calls C_Initialize and C_GetSlotList, and then the user hooks up a new hardware device, that device cannot suddenly appear as a new slot if C_GetSlotList is called again. To recognize the new device, C_Initialize needs to be called again (and to be able to call C_Initialize successfully, C_Finalize needs to be called first). Even if C_Initialize is successfully called, it may or may not be the case that the new device will then be successfully recognized. On some platforms, it may be necessary to restart the entire system.

Returns:
CKR_ARGUMENTS_BAD, CKR_BUFFER_TOO_SMALL, CKR_CRYPTOKI_NOT_INITIALIZED, CKR_FUNCTION_FAILED, CKR_GENERAL_ERROR, CKR_HOST_MEMORY, CKR_OK.
Example:

CK_ULONG ulSlotCount, ulSlotWithTokenCount;
CK_SLOT_ID_PTR pSlotList, pSlotWithTokenList;
CK_RV rv;
/* Get list of all slots */
rv = C_GetSlotList(FALSE, NULL_PTR, &ulSlotCount);
if (rv == CKR_OK) {
pSlotList =
(CK_SLOT_ID_PTR) malloc(ulSlotCount*sizeof(CK_SLOT_ID));
rv = C_GetSlotList(FALSE, pSlotList, &ulSlotCount);
if (rv == CKR_OK) {
/* Now use that list of all slots */
.
.
.
}
free(pSlotList);
}
/* Get list of all slots with a token present */
pSlotWithTokenList = (CK_SLOT_ID_PTR) malloc(0);
ulSlotWithTokenCount = 0;
while (1) {
rv = C_GetSlotList(
TRUE, pSlotWithTokenList, ulSlotWithTokenCount);
if (rv != CKR_BUFFER_TOO_SMALL)
break;
pSlotWithTokenList = realloc(
pSlotWithTokenList,
ulSlotWithTokenList*sizeof(CK_SLOT_ID));
}
if (rv == CKR_OK) {
/* Now use that list of all slots with a token present */
.
.
.
}
free(pSlotWithTokenList);

C_GetSlotInfo

CK_RV  C_GetSlotInfo( CK_SLOT_ID slotID, CK_SLOT_INFO_PTR pInfo);

C_GetSlotInfo obtains information about a particular slot in the system.

Parameters:
slotID is the ID of the slot;
pInfo points to the location that receives the slot information.
Returns:
CKR_ARGUMENTS_BAD, CKR_CRYPTOKI_NOT_INITIALIZED, CKR_DEVICE_ERROR, CKR_FUNCTION_FAILED, CKR_GENERAL_ERROR, CKR_HOST_MEMORY, CKR_OK, CKR_SLOT_ID_INVALID.
See also:
C_GetTokenInfo.'''

C_GetTokenInfo

CK_RV  C_GetTokenInfo( CK_SLOT_ID slotID, CK_TOKEN_INFO_PTR pInfo);

C_GetTokenInfo obtains information about a particular token in the system.

Parameters:
slotID is the ID of the token's slot;
pInfo points to the location that receives the token information.
Returns:
CKR_CRYPTOKI_NOT_INITIALIZED, CKR_DEVICE_ERROR, CKR_DEVICE_MEMORY, CKR_DEVICE_REMOVED, CKR_FUNCTION_FAILED, CKR_GENERAL_ERROR, CKR_HOST_MEMORY, CKR_OK, CKR_SLOT_ID_INVALID, CKR_TOKEN_NOT_PRESENT, CKR_TOKEN_NOT_RECOGNIZED, CKR_ARGUMENTS_BAD.
Example:

CK_ULONG ulCount;
CK_SLOT_ID_PTR pSlotList;
CK_SLOT_INFO slotInfo;
CK_TOKEN_INFO tokenInfo;
CK_RV rv;
rv = C_GetSlotList(FALSE, NULL_PTR, &ulCount);
if ((rv == CKR_OK) && (ulCount > 0)) {
pSlotList = (CK_SLOT_ID_PTR) malloc(ulCount*sizeof(CK_SLOT_ID));
rv = C_GetSlotList(FALSE, pSlotList, &ulCount);
assert(rv == CKR_OK);
/* Get slot information for first slot */
rv = C_GetSlotInfo(pSlotList[0], &slotInfo);
assert(rv == CKR_OK);
/* Get token information for first slot */
rv = C_GetTokenInfo(pSlotList[0], &tokenInfo);
if (rv == CKR_TOKEN_NOT_PRESENT) {
.
.
.
}
.
.
.
free(pSlotList);
}

C_WaitForSlotEvent

CK_RV  C_WaitForSlotEvent( CK_FLAGS flags, CK_SLOT_ID_PTR pSlot, CK_VOID_PTR pReserved);

C_WaitForSlotEvent waits for a slot event, such as token insertion or token removal, to occur.

Parameters:
flags determines whether or not the C_WaitForSlotEvent call blocks (i.e., waits for a slot event to occur);
pSlot points to a location which will receive the ID of the slot that the event occurred in.
pReserved is reserved for future versions: for this version of Cryptoki, it should be NULL_PTR.
At present, the only flag defined for use in the flags argument is CKF_DONT_BLOCK :

#define CKF_DONT_BLOCK 1

Internally, each Cryptoki application has a flag for each slot which is used to track whether or not any unrecognized events involving that slot have occurred. When an application initially calls C_Initialize, every slot's event flag is cleared. Whenever a slot event occurs, the flag corresponding to the slot in which the event occurred is set.

If C_WaitForSlotEvent is called with the CKF_DONT_BLOCK flag set in the flags argument, and some slot's event flag is set, then that event flag is cleared, and the call returns with the ID of that slot in the location pointed to by pSlot. If more than one slot's event flag is set at the time of the call, one such slot is chosen by the library to have its event flag cleared and to have its slot ID returned.

If C_WaitForSlotEvent is called with the CKF_DONT_BLOCK flag set in the flags argument, and no slot's event flag is set, then the call returns with the value CKR_NO_EVENT. In this case, the contents of the location pointed to by pSlot when C_WaitForSlotEvent are undefined.

If C_WaitForSlotEvent is called with the CKF_DONT_BLOCK flag clear in the flags argument, then the call behaves as above, except that it will block. That is, if no slot's event flag is set at the time of the call, C_WaitForSlotEvent will wait until some slot's event flag becomes set. If a thread of an application has a C_WaitForSlotEvent call blocking when another thread of that application calls C_Finalize, the C_WaitForSlotEvent call returns with the value CKR_CRYPTOKI_NOT_INITIALIZED.

Although the parameters supplied to C_Initialize can in general allow for safe multi-threaded access to a Cryptoki library, C_WaitForSlotEvent is exceptional in that the behavior of Cryptoki is undefined if multiple threads of a single application make simultaneous calls to C_WaitForSlotEvent.

Returns:
CKR_ARGUMENTS_BAD, CKR_CRYPTOKI_NOT_INITIALIZED, CKR_FUNCTION_FAILED, CKR_GENERAL_ERROR, CKR_HOST_MEMORY, CKR_NO_EVENT, CKR_OK.
Example:

CK_FLAGS flags = 0;
CK_SLOT_ID slotID;
CK_SLOT_INFO slotInfo;
.
.
.
/* Block and wait for a slot event */
rv = C_WaitForSlotEvent(flags, &slotID, NULL_PTR);
assert(rv == CKR_OK);
/* See what's up with that slot */
rv = C_GetSlotInfo(slotID, &slotInfo);
assert(rv == CKR_OK);
.
.
.

C_GetMechanismList

CK_RV  C_GetMechanismList( CK_SLOT_ID slotID, CK_MECHANISM_TYPE_PTR pMechanismList, CK_ULONG_PTR pulCount);

C_GetMechanismList is used to obtain a list of mechanism types supported by a token.

Parameters:
SlotID is the ID of the token's slot;
pulCount points to the location that receives the number of mechanisms.
There are two ways for an application to call C_GetMechanismList :

  1. If pMechanismList is NULL_PTR, then all that C_GetMechanismList does is return (in *pulCount) the number of mechanisms, without actually returning a list of mechanisms. The contents of *pulCount on entry to C_GetMechanismList has no meaning in this case, and the call returns the value CKR_OK.

  2. If pMechanismList is not NULL_PTR, then *pulCount must contain the size (in terms of CK_MECHANISM_TYPE elements) of the buffer pointed to by pMechanismList. If that buffer is large enough to hold the list of mechanisms, then the list is returned in it, and CKR_OK is returned. If not, then the call to C_GetMechanismList returns the value CKR_BUFFER_TOO_SMALL. In either case, the value *pulCount is set to hold the number of mechanisms.

Because C_GetMechanismList does not allocate any space of its own, an application will often call C_GetMechanismList twice. However, this behavior is by no means required.

Returns:
CKR_BUFFER_TOO_SMALL, CKR_CRYPTOKI_NOT_INITIALIZED, CKR_DEVICE_ERROR, CKR_DEVICE_MEMORY, CKR_DEVICE_REMOVED, CKR_FUNCTION_FAILED, CKR_GENERAL_ERROR, CKR_HOST_MEMORY, CKR_OK, CKR_SLOT_ID_INVALID, CKR_TOKEN_NOT_PRESENT, CKR_TOKEN_NOT_RECOGNIZED, CKR_ARGUMENTS_BAD.
Example:

CK_SLOT_ID slotID;
CK_ULONG ulCount;
CK_MECHANISM_TYPE_PTR pMechanismList;
CK_RV rv;
.
.
.
rv = C_GetMechanismList(slotID, NULL_PTR, &ulCount);
if ((rv == CKR_OK) && (ulCount > 0)) {
pMechanismList =
(CK_MECHANISM_TYPE_PTR)
malloc(ulCount*sizeof(CK_MECHANISM_TYPE));
rv = C_GetMechanismList(slotID, pMechanismList, &ulCount);
if (rv == CKR_OK) {
.
.
.
}
free(pMechanismList);
}

C_GetMechanismInfo

CK_RV  C_GetMechanismInfo( CK_SLOT_ID slotID, CK_MECHANISM_TYPE type, CK_MECHANISM_INFO_PTR pInfo);

C_GetMechanismInfo obtains information about a particular mechanism possibly supported by a token.

Parameters:
slotID is the ID of the token's slot;
type is the type of mechanism;
pInfo points to the location that receives the mechanism information.
Returns:
CKR_CRYPTOKI_NOT_INITIALIZED, CKR_DEVICE_ERROR, CKR_DEVICE_MEMORY, CKR_DEVICE_REMOVED, CKR_FUNCTION_FAILED, CKR_GENERAL_ERROR, CKR_HOST_MEMORY, CKR_MECHANISM_INVALID, CKR_OK, CKR_SLOT_ID_INVALID, CKR_TOKEN_NOT_PRESENT, CKR_TOKEN_NOT_RECOGNIZED, CKR_ARGUMENTS_BAD.
Example:

CK_SLOT_ID slotID;
CK_MECHANISM_INFO info;
CK_RV rv;
.
.
.
/* Get information about the CKM_MD2 mechanism for this token */
rv = C_GetMechanismInfo(slotID, CKM_MD2, &info);
if (rv == CKR_OK) {
if (info.flags & CKF_DIGEST) {
.
.
.
}
}

C_InitToken

CK_RV  C_InitToken( CK_SLOT_ID slotID, CK_CHAR_PTR pPin, CK_ULONG ulPinLen, CK_UTF8CHAR_PTR pLabel);

C_InitToken initializes a token.

Parameters:
slotID is the ID of the token's slot;
pPin points to the SO's initial PIN (which need not be null-terminated);
ulPinLen is the length in bytes of the PIN;
pLabel points to the 32-byte label of the token (which must be padded with blank characters, and which must not be null-terminated).
If the token has not been initialized (i.e. new from the factory), then the pPin parameter becomes the initial value of the SO PIN. If the token is being reinitialized, the pPin parameter is checked against the existing SO PIN to authorize the initialization operation. In both cases, the SO PIN is the value pPin after the function completes successfully. If the SO PIN is lost, then the card must be reinitialized using a mechanism outside the scope of this standard. The CKF_TOKEN_INITIALIZED flag in the CK_TOKEN_INFO structure indicates the action that will result from calling C_InitToken. If set, the token will be reinitialized, and the client must supply the existing SO password in pPin.

When a token is initialized, all objects that can be destroyed are destroyed (i.e., all except for "indestructible" objects such as keys built into the token). Also, access by the normal user is disabled until the SO sets the normal user's PIN. Depending on the token, some "default" objects may be created, and attributes of some objects may be set to default values.

If the token has a "protected authentication path", as indicated by the CKF_PROTECTED_AUTHENTICATION_PATH flag in its CK_TOKEN_INFO being set, then that means that there is some way for a user to be authenticated to the token without having the application send a PIN through the Cryptoki library. One such possibility is that the user enters a PIN on a PINpad on the token itself, or on the slot device. To initialize a token with such a protected authentication path, the pPin parameter to C_InitToken should be NULL_PTR. During the execution of C_InitToken, the SO's PIN will be entered through the protected authentication path.

If the token has a protected authentication path other than a PINpad, then it is token-dependent whether or not C_InitToken can be used to initialize the token.

A token cannot be initialized if Cryptoki detects that any application has an open session with it; when a call to C_InitToken is made under such circumstances, the call fails with error CKR_SESSION_EXISTS. Unfortunately, it may happen when C_InitToken is called that some other application does have an open session with the token, but Cryptoki cannot detect this, because it cannot detect anything about other applications using the token. If this is the case, then the consequences of the C_InitToken call are undefined.

The C_InitToken function may not be sufficient to properly initialize complex tokens. In these situations, an initialization mechanism outside the scope of Cryptoki must be employed. The definition of "complex token" is product specific.

Returns:
CKR_CRYPTOKI_NOT_INITIALIZED, CKR_DEVICE_ERROR, CKR_DEVICE_MEMORY, CKR_DEVICE_REMOVED, CKR_FUNCTION_FAILED, CKR_GENERAL_ERROR, CKR_HOST_MEMORY, CKR_OK, CKR_PIN_INCORRECT, CKR_PIN_LOCKED, CKR_SESSION_EXISTS, CKR_SLOT_ID_INVALID, CKR_TOKEN_NOT_PRESENT, CKR_TOKEN_NOT_RECOGNIZED, CKR_TOKEN_WRITE_PROTECTED, CKR_ARGUMENTS_BAD.
Example:

CK_SLOT_ID slotID;
CK_CHAR_PTR pin = "MyPIN";
CK_UTF8CHAR label[32];
CK_RV rv;
.
.
.
memset(label, ' ', sizeof(label));
memcpy(label, "My first token", strlen("My first token"));
rv = C_InitToken(slotID, pin, strlen(pin), label);
if (rv == CKR_OK) {
.
.
.
}

C_InitPIN

CK_RV  C_InitPIN( CK_SESSION_HANDLE hSession, CK_CHAR_PTR pPin, CK_ULONG ulPinLen);

C_InitPIN initializes the normal user's PIN.

Parameters:
hSession is the session's handle;
pPin points to the normal user's PIN; ulPinLen is the length in bytes of the PIN.
C_InitPIN can only be called in the "R/W SO Functions" state. An attempt to call it from a session in any other state fails with error CKR_USER_NOT_LOGGED_IN.

If the token has a "protected authentication path", as indicated by the CKF_PROTECTED_AUTHENTICATION_PATH flag in its CK_TOKEN_INFO being set, then that means that there is some way for a user to be authenticated to the token without having the application send a PIN through the Cryptoki library. One such possibility is that the user enters a PIN on a PINpad on the token itself, or on the slot device. To initialize the normal user's PIN on a token with such a protected authentication path, the pPin parameter to C_InitPIN should be NULL_PTR. During the execution of C_InitPIN, the SO will enter the new PIN through the protected authentication path.

If the token has a protected authentication path other than a PINpad, then it is token-dependent whether or not C_InitPIN can be used to initialize the normal user's token access.

Returns:
CKR_CRYPTOKI_NOT_INITIALIZED, CKR_DEVICE_ERROR, CKR_DEVICE_MEMORY, CKR_DEVICE_REMOVED, CKR_FUNCTION_FAILED, CKR_GENERAL_ERROR, CKR_HOST_MEMORY, CKR_OK, CKR_PIN_INVALID, CKR_PIN_LEN_RANGE, CKR_SESSION_CLOSED, CKR_SESSION_READ_ONLY, CKR_SESSION_HANDLE_INVALID, CKR_TOKEN_WRITE_PROTECTED, CKR_USER_NOT_LOGGED_IN, CKR_ARGUMENTS_BAD.
Example:

CK_SESSION_HANDLE hSession;
CK_CHAR newPin[]= {"NewPIN"};
CK_RV rv;
rv = C_InitPIN(hSession, newPin, sizeof(newPin));
if (rv == CKR_OK) {
.
.
.
}

C_SetPIN

CK_RV  C_SetPIN( CK_SESSION_HANDLE hSession, CK_CHAR_PTR pOldPin, CK_ULONG ulOldLen, CK_CHAR_PTR pNewPin, CK_ULONG ulNewLen);

C_SetPIN modifies the PIN of the user that is currently logged in.

Parameters:
hSession is the session's handle;
pOldPin points to the old PIN;
ulOldLen is the length in bytes of the old PIN; pNewPin points to the new PIN;
ulNewLen is the length in bytes of the new PIN.
C_SetPIN can only be called in the "R/W SO Functions" state or "R/W User Functions" state. An attempt to call it from a session in any other state fails with error CKR_SESSION_READ_ONLY.

If the token has a "protected authentication path", as indicated by the CKF_PROTECTED_AUTHENTICATION_PATH flag in its CK_TOKEN_INFO being set, then that means that there is some way for a user to be authenticated to the token without having the application send a PIN through the Cryptoki library. One such possibility is that the user enters a PIN on a PINpad on the token itself, or on the slot device. To modify the current user's PIN on a token with such a protected authentication path, the pOldPin and pNewPin parameters to C_SetPIN should be NULL_PTR. During the execution of C_SetPIN, the current user will enter the old PIN and the new PIN through the protected authentication path. It is not specified how the PINpad should be used to enter two PINs; this varies.

If the token has a protected authentication path other than a PINpad, then it is token-dependent whether or not C_SetPIN can be used to modify the current user's PIN.

Returns:
CKR_CRYPTOKI_NOT_INITIALIZED, CKR_DEVICE_ERROR, CKR_DEVICE_MEMORY, CKR_DEVICE_REMOVED, CKR_FUNCTION_FAILED, CKR_GENERAL_ERROR, CKR_HOST_MEMORY, CKR_OK, CKR_PIN_INCORRECT, CKR_PIN_INVALID, CKR_PIN_LEN_RANGE, CKR_PIN_LOCKED, CKR_SESSION_CLOSED, CKR_SESSION_HANDLE_INVALID, CKR_SESSION_READ_ONLY, CKR_TOKEN_WRITE_PROTECTED, CKR_ARGUMENTS_BAD.
Example:

CK_SESSION_HANDLE hSession;
CK_CHAR oldPin[] = {"OldPIN"};
CK_CHAR newPin[] = {"NewPIN"};
CK_RV rv;
rv = C_SetPIN(
hSession, oldPin, sizeof(oldPin), newPin, sizeof(newPin));
if (rv == CKR_OK) {
.
.
.
}

RSA Security Inc. Public-Key Cryptography Standards - PKCS#11 - v210