BER/DER Parser

A parser for Basic Encoding Rules (BER [X.690]) and Distinguished Encoding Rules(DER [X.690]), implemented with the nom parser combinator framework.

It is written in pure Rust, fast, and makes extensive use of zero-copy. A lot of care is taken to ensure security and safety of this crate, including design (recursion limit, defensive programming), tests, and fuzzing. It also aims to be panic-free.

The code is available on Github and is part of the Rusticata project.

DER parser design

There are two different approaches for parsing DER objects: reading the objects recursively as long as the tags are known, or specifying a description of the expected objects (generally from the ASN.1 description).

The first parsing method can be done using the parse_ber and parse_der methods. It is useful when decoding an arbitrary DER object. However, it cannot fully parse all objects, especially those containing IMPLICIT, OPTIONAL, or DEFINED BY items.

use der_parser::parse_der;

let bytes = [ 0x30, 0x0a,
              0x02, 0x03, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01,
              0x02, 0x03, 0x01, 0x00, 0x00,
];

let parsed = parse_der(&bytes);

The second (and preferred) parsing method is to specify the expected objects recursively. The following macros can be used: parse_der_sequence_defined and similar functions, parse_der_struct, etc.

For example, to read a sequence containing two integers:

use der_parser::ber::*;
use der_parser::error::BerResult;

fn localparse_seq(i:&[u8]) -> BerResult {
    parse_der_sequence_defined!(i,
        parse_ber_integer >>
        parse_ber_integer
    )
}

let bytes = [ 0x30, 0x0a,
              0x02, 0x03, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01,
              0x02, 0x03, 0x01, 0x00, 0x00,
];
let parsed = localparse_seq(&bytes);

All functions return a BerResult object: the parsed BerObject, an Incomplete value, or an error.

Note that this type is also a Result, so usual functions (map, unwrap etc.) are available.

Notes

BER/DER Integers

DER integers can be of any size, so it is not possible to store them as simple integers (they are stored as raw bytes).

To get a simple value, use BerObject::as_u32 (knowning that this method will return an error if the integer is too large), BerObject::as_u64, or use the bigint feature of this crate and use BerObject::as_bigint.

use der_parser::ber::*;
use der_parser::error::BerResult;

let data = &[0x02, 0x03, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01];

let (_, object) = parse_ber_integer(data).expect("parsing failed");
assert_eq!(object.as_u64(), Ok(65537));

Access to the raw value is possible using the as_slice method.

Misc Notes

• The DER constraints are verified if using parse_der.
• BerObject and DerObject are the same objects (type alias). The only difference is the verification of constraints during parsing.

Serialization

Support for encoding BER/DER objects is currently being tested and can be used by activating the serialize feature. Note that current status is experimental.

See the ber_encode_* functions in the ber module, and BerObject::to_vec

References

• [X.680] Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1): Specification of basic notation.
• [X.690] ASN.1 encoding rules: Specification of Basic Encoding Rules (BER), Canonical Encoding Rules (CER) and Distinguished Encoding Rules (DER).

Changes

See CHANGELOG.md, and UPGRADING.md for instructions for upgrading major versions.

License

Licensed under either of

• Apache License, Version 2.0 (LICENSE-APACHE or http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
• MIT license (LICENSE-MIT or http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)

at your option.

Contribution

Unless you explicitly state otherwise, any contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in the work by you, as defined in the Apache-2.0 license, shall be dual licensed as above, without any additional terms or conditions.