SoftHSM 1.3.3

SoftHSM is an implementation of a cryptographic store accessible through a PKCS#11 interface. It can be used to explore PKCS#11 without having a Hardware Security Module. It is being developed as a part of the OpenDNSSEC project. SoftHSM uses Botan for its cryptographic operations.

Background

OpenDNSSEC handles and stores its cryptographic keys via the PKCS#11 interface. This interface specifies how to communicate with cryptographic devices such as HSM:s (Hardware Security Modules) and smart cards. The purpose of these devices is, among others, to generate cryptographic keys and sign information without revealing private-key material to the outside world. They are often designed to perform well on these specific tasks compared to ordinary processes in a normal computer.

A potential problem with the use of the PKCS#11 interface is that it might limit the wide spread use of OpenDNSSEC, since a potential user might not be willing to invest in a new hardware device. To counter this effect, OpenDNSSEC is providing a software implementation of a generic cryptographic device with a PKCS#11 interface, the SoftHSM. SoftHSM is designed to meet the requirements of OpenDNSSEC, but can also work together with other cryptographic products because of the PKCS#11 interface.


Product's homepage

Limitations:

Sessions:
· Maximum 2048 concurrent sessions with the library

Objects:
· The number of objects per token is limited by the integer counter of the database, around 4.29 billion objects.

Key generation:
· RSA 512-4096 bit

Sign and verify:
· CKM_RSA_PKCS
· CKM_MD5_RSA_PKCS
· CKM_RIPEMD160_RSA_PKCS
· CKM_SHA1_RSA_PKCS
· CKM_SHA256_RSA_PKCS
· CKM_SHA384_RSA_PKCS
· CKM_SHA512_RSA_PKCS

Digest:
· CKM_MD5
· CKM_RIPEMD160
· CKM_SHA_1
· CKM_SHA256
· CKM_SHA384
· CKM_SHA512

What's New in This Release: [ read full changelog ]

· This version increases performance by adding more indexes to the database, describes the usage of SO and the user PIN in the README, and detects whether a C++ compiler is missing.