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v1.8 S/MIME Freeware Library Now Available

2000-10-12 10:16:55
All,

Getronics Government Solutions (GGS) (formerly Wang Government Services) has
delivered Version 1.8 of the S/MIME Freeware Library (SFL) source code.  The
SFL source code files are freely available to everyone from the Fortezza
Developer's S/MIME Page
<http://www.armadillo.huntsville.al.us/software/smime>.  

The SFL implements the IETF S/MIME v3 RFC 2630 Cryptographic Message 
Syntax (CMS) and RFC 2634 Enhanced Security Services (ESS) specifications. 
It also implements portions of the RFC 2633 Message Specification and 
RFC 2632 Certificate Handling document.  When used in conjunction with
the Crypto++ v3.2 freeware library, the SFL implements the RFC 2631 
Diffie-Hellman (D-H) Key Agreement Method specification.  It has been 
successfully tested using the MS Windows NT/95/98, Linux and Solaris 2.7
operating 
systems.  Further enhancements, ports and testing of the SFL are still in 
process.  Further releases of the SFL will be provided as significant 
capabilities are added. 

The SFL has been successfully used to sign, verify, encrypt and decrypt
CMS/ESS 
objects using: S/MIME v3 mandatory-to-implement algorithms (DSA, E-S D-H,
3DES) 
provided by the Crypto++ v3.2 library; RSA suite of algorithms provided by
the 
RSA BSAFE v4.2 and Crypto++ v3.2 libraries; and Fortezza suite of algorithms

provided by the Fortezza Crypto Card.  The v1.8 SFL uses the v1.3 R4
Enhanced SNACC  
ASN.1 Library to encode/decode objects. The v1.8 SFL release includes: SFL
High-
level library; Free (a.k.a. Crypto++) Crypto Token Interface Library (CTIL);

BSAFE CTIL; Fortezza CTIL; SPEX/ CTIL; PKCS #11 CTIL (still being tested); 
v1.3 R4 Enhanced SNACC ASN.1 Compiler and Library; test utilities; test
drivers
and test data.  All CTILs were tested as Dynamically Linked Libraries (DLL)
using MS Windows.  The Fortezza, BSAFE and Crypto++ CTILs were tested with
the respective security libraries as shared objects using Linux and Solaris
2.7.  

The SFL has been successfully used to exchange signedData and envelopedData 
messages with the Microsoft (MS) Internet Explorer Outlook Express v4.01 and

Netscape Communicator 4.X S/MIME v2 products.  Signed messages have been 
exchanged with the RSA S/MAIL, WorldTalk and Entrust S/MIME v2 products. 

The SFL has also been used to perform S/MIME v3 interoperability testing
with 
Microsoft that exercised the majority of the features specified by RFCs
2630, 
2631 and 2634.  This testing included the RSA, mandatory S/MIME V3 and
Fortezza 
suites of algorithms.  We used the SFL to successfully process all of the 
SFL-supported sample data included in the S/MIME WG "Examples of S/MIME
Messages"
document.  We have also performed limited S/MIME v3 testing with Baltimore
and
Entrust.  

The following enhancements are included in the v1.8 SFL release (compared
with 
the v1.7 release):

1) Tested using common v1.3 R4 Enhanced SNACC ASN.1 Library, v1.8 CTILs and
LIBCERT libraries shared with the v1.4 Access Control Library (ACL) and v1.8
Certificate Management Library (CML).

2) Added OpenSSL-based PKCS #12 create/read capabilities that can be used in
conjunction with any of the CTILs.  For example, we used this capability to
import Microsoft-created PKCS #12 files directly into the Crypto++ CTIL.
CTIL logins optionally accept a PCKS #12 file to obtain both the private key
and certificate.  

3) Enhanced PKCS #11 (v2.1) CTIL tested with the 30 June 2000 production
version of the Litronic Maestro v1.0 crypto library.  We successfully used
the PKCS #11 CTIL and v1.0 Maestro library to sign/verify and
encrypt/decrypt S/MIME v3 messages using a Fortezza Card.  We performed
signed and encrypted interoperability testing between the PKCS #11 and
Fortezza CTILs.  We also performed signed interoperability testing between
the PKCS #11 and Crypto++ CTILs using DSA.  

4) Enhanced SFL and LIBCERT, so LIBCERT can be used independently of SFL
(i.e. without SFL source code).  

5) Corrected bugs in Fortezza and SPEX/ CTILs.  

6) Corrected bugs in Enhanced SNACC ASN.1 Library that caused BIT STRINGs
and DEFAULT values to be improperly ASN.1 encoded using the Distinguished
Encoding Rules

7) Performed regression testing to ensure that aforementioned enhancements
did 
not break existing SFL functionality.

We also delivered updated SFL Application Programming Interface (API) and
CTIL API documents. 

We are still in the process of enhancing and testing the SFL.  Future
releases 
will include: additional PKCS #11 CTIL testing; additional SPEX/ CTIL
testing; finish CertificateBuilder command line utility; enhancing
CertificateBuilder to support creation of Attribute Certificates; add MIME
support for test drivers; add "Certificate Management 
Messages over CMS" ASN.1 encode/decode functions; add enhanced test
routines; 
bug fixes; support for other crypto APIs (possible); and support for other
operating systems. 

The SFL is developed to maximize portability to 32-bit operating 
systems.  In addition to testing on MS Windows, Linux and Solaris 2.7, we
plan to port 
the SFL to the following operating systems: HP/UX 11, IBM AIX 3.2 
(possibly), SCO 5.0 (possibly) and Macintosh (possibly).

The following SFL files are available from the Fortezza Developer's S/MIME
Page:

1) SFL Documents: Fact Sheet, Software Design Description, API, CTIL API,
Software Test Description, Implementers Guide, Overview Briefing and Public
License.
     
2) smimeR1.8.tar.gz:  Source code, MS Windows NT/95/98/2000 project files
and Unix makefiles for SFL Hi-Level library.

3) snacc13r4rn.tar.gz: Source code, MS Windows NT/95/98/2000 project files
and Unix makefiles for v1.3 R4 Enhanced SNACC ASN.1 Compiler and Library.
Source code is compilable for Linux, Solaris 2.7 and MS Windows
NT/95/98/2000 that has been enhanced by GGS to implement the Distinguished
Encoding Rules.  This file includes a sample test project demonstrating the
use of the SNACC classes.

4) smCTIR1.8.tar.gz:  Source code, MS Windows NT/95/98/2000 project files
and Unix makefiles for the following CTILs: Test (no crypto), Crypto++,
BSAFE, Fortezza, SPEX/ and PKCS #11. 

5) smLibCR1.8.tar.gz: Source code, MS Windows NT/95/98/2000 project files
and Unix makefiles for the LIBCERT library that provides ASN.1 and
certificate processing services used by the SFL, ACL and CML.

6) smTest1.8.tar.gz: Source code, MS Windows NT/95/98/2000 project files and
Unix makefiles for test drivers used to test the SFL.  This file also
includes sample CMS/ESS test data and test X.509 Certificates.  This file
also includes test utilities to create X.509 Certificates that each include
a D-H, DSA or RSA public key.  

7) csmime.mdl contains SFL Class diagrams created using Microsoft
Visual Modeler (comes with MS Visual Studio 6.0, Enterprise Tools).
The file can also be viewed using Rational Rose C++ Demo 4.0
45 day evaluation copy which can be obtained from
<http://www.rational.com/uml/resources/practice_uml/index.jtmpl>.
Not all classes are documented in the MDL file at this time.

All source code for the SFL is being provided at no cost and with no 
financial limitations regarding its use and distribution. 
Organizations can use the SFL without paying any royalties or 
licensing fees.  GGS is developing the SFL under contract to the U.S. 
Government.  The U.S. Government is furnishing the SFL source code at no 
cost to the vendor subject to the conditions of the "SFL Public 
License" available from the Fortezza Developer's S/MIME Page.

On 14 January 2000, the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of 
Export Administration published a new regulation implementing an update to
the U.S. Government's encryption export policy 
<http://www.bxa.doc.gov/Encryption/Default.htm>.  In accordance with the 
revisions to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) of 14 Jan 2000,
the downloading of the SFL source code is not password controlled.

The SFL is composed of a high-level library that performs generic CMS 
and ESS processing independent of the crypto algorithms used to 
protect a specific object.  The SFL high-level library makes calls to 
an algorithm-independent CTIL API.  The underlying, external crypto
token libraries are not distributed as part of the SFL 
source code. The application developer must independently obtain these 
libraries and then link them with the SFL.  For example, the SFL can be 
used with the freeware Crypto++ library to obtain 3DES, D-H, RSA and DSA.
To use the SFL with Crypto++ the vendor must download the Crypto++ freeware 
library from the Crypto++ Web Page
<http://www.eskimo.com/~weidai/cryptlib.html>
and then compile it with the GGS-developed Crypto++ CTIL source code.  
 
The Internet Mail Consortium (IMC) has established an SFL web page
<http://www.imc.org/imc-sfl>.  The IMC has also established an SFL
mail list which is used to: distribute information regarding SFL
releases; discuss SFL-related issues; and provide a means for SFL
users to provide feedback, comments, bug reports, etc.  Subscription
information for the imc-sfl mailing list is at the IMC web site
listed above.

All comments regarding the SFL source code and documents are welcome.  This
SFL release announcement was sent to several mail lists, but please send all
messages regarding the SFL to the imc-sfl mail list ONLY.  Please do not
send messages regarding the SFL to any of the IETF mail lists.  We will
respond to all messages sent to the imc-sfl mail list.

===========================================
John Pawling, john(_dot_)pawling(_at_)getronicsgov(_dot_)com
Getronics Government Solutions, LLC
===========================================

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