1# [RustCrypto]: PKCS#8 (Private Keys)
2
3[![crate][crate-image]][crate-link]
4[![Docs][docs-image]][docs-link]
5[![Build Status][build-image]][build-link]
6![Apache2/MIT licensed][license-image]
7![Rust Version][rustc-image]
8[![Project Chat][chat-image]][chat-link]
9
10Pure Rust implementation of Public-Key Cryptography Standards (PKCS) #8:
11Private-Key Information Syntax Specification ([RFC 5208]).
12
13[Documentation][docs-link]
14
15## About PKCS#8
16
17PKCS#8 is a format for cryptographic private keys, often containing pairs
18of private and public keys.
19
20You can identify a PKCS#8 private key encoded as PEM (i.e. text) by the
21following:
22
23```text
24-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----
25```
26
27PKCS#8 private keys can optionally be encrypted under a password using
28key derivation algorithms like PBKDF2 and [scrypt], and encrypted with
29ciphers like AES-CBC. When a PKCS#8 private key has been encrypted,
30it starts with the following:
31
32```text
33-----BEGIN ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY-----
34```
35
36PKCS#8 private keys can also be serialized in an ASN.1-based binary format.
37The PEM text encoding is a Base64 representation of this format.
38
39## Supported Algorithms
40
41This crate is implemented in an algorithm-agnostic manner with the goal of
42enabling PKCS#8 support for any algorithm.
43
44That said, it has been tested for interoperability against keys generated by
45OpenSSL for the  following algorithms:
46
47- ECC (`id-ecPublicKey`)
48- Ed25519 (`id-Ed25519`)
49- RSA (`id-rsaEncryption`)
50- X25519 (`id-X25519`)
51
52Please open an issue if you encounter trouble using it with a particular
53algorithm, including the ones listed above or other algorithms.
54
55## Minimum Supported Rust Version
56
57This crate requires **Rust 1.65** at a minimum.
58
59We may change the MSRV in the future, but it will be accompanied by a minor
60version bump.
61
62## License
63
64Licensed under either of:
65
66 * [Apache License, Version 2.0](http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
67 * [MIT license](http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
68
69at your option.
70
71### Contribution
72
73Unless you explicitly state otherwise, any contribution intentionally submitted
74for inclusion in the work by you, as defined in the Apache-2.0 license, shall be
75dual licensed as above, without any additional terms or conditions.
76
77[//]: # (badges)
78
79[crate-image]: https://buildstats.info/crate/pkcs8
80[crate-link]: https://crates.io/crates/pkcs8
81[docs-image]: https://docs.rs/pkcs8/badge.svg
82[docs-link]: https://docs.rs/pkcs8/
83[license-image]: https://img.shields.io/badge/license-Apache2.0/MIT-blue.svg
84[rustc-image]: https://img.shields.io/badge/rustc-1.65+-blue.svg
85[chat-image]: https://img.shields.io/badge/zulip-join_chat-blue.svg
86[chat-link]: https://rustcrypto.zulipchat.com/#narrow/stream/300570-formats
87[build-image]: https://github.com/RustCrypto/formats/workflows/pkcs8/badge.svg?branch=master&event=push
88[build-link]: https://github.com/RustCrypto/formats/actions
89
90[//]: # (links)
91
92[RustCrypto]: https://github.com/rustcrypto
93[RFC 5208]: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5208
94[scrypt]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrypt
95