ECDSA Signature in Javacard

Question

I'm implementing the signing code using ECDSA in Javacard.

My code outputs 0x0003(NO_SUCH_ALGORITHM) in exception part which means this card does not support the algorithm. I don't understand that because my vendor told me that it supports ECC. I concluded I don't know how to sign with ECDSA and I want to know that.

Here is my full source code

package MyECDSA;

import javacard.framework.*;
import javacard.security.*;
import javacardx.crypto.*;

public class MyECDSA extends Applet{

private byte[] PLAINTEXT ;
private ECPrivateKey            objECDSAPriKey=null;    // Object for ECDSA Private Key
private ECPublicKey             objECDSAPubKey=null;    // Object for ECDSA Public Key
private KeyPair                 objECDSAKeyPair=null;   // Object for ECDSA Key Pair
private Signature               objECDSASign=null;      // Object for ECDSA Signature

final static short  BAS     =  0;

public static void install(byte[] bArray, short bOffset, byte bLength){
    new MyECDSA(bArray, bOffset, bLength);
}

private MyECDSA(byte bArray[], short bOffset, byte bLength){    

    PLAINTEXT       = new byte[0x100] ;         // Data file

    Util.arrayFillNonAtomic(PLAINTEXT,  BAS, (short)0x100, (byte)0);

    register();
}

//======================================================================================
public void process(APDU apdu){
    byte buf[] = apdu.getBuffer();

    switch(buf[1])
    {
        //--------------------------------------------------------
        case (byte)0xA4:                    break;  

        case (byte)0x46:
            // Create ECDSA Keys and Pair
            try {
                // <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Here is the problem >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
                objECDSAKeyPair = new KeyPair(KeyPair.ALG_EC_FP, KeyBuilder.LENGTH_EC_FP_192);
                //objECDSAKeyPair = new KeyPair(KeyPair.ALG_EC_F2M, KeyBuilder.LENGTH_EC_F2M_193);          
            }
            catch(CryptoException c)
            {    
                short reason = c.getReason();   
                ISOException.throwIt(reason);
            }
            ISOException.throwIt((short)0x9999);        // for check

            // Generate Key pair
            objECDSAKeyPair.genKeyPair();

            // Create Signature Object
            objECDSASign = Signature.getInstance(Signature.ALG_ECDSA_SHA, false);

            objECDSAPriKey = (ECPrivateKey)objECDSAKeyPair.getPrivate();
            objECDSAPubKey = (ECPublicKey)objECDSAKeyPair.getPublic();  

        break;

        case (byte)0x2E:                        
            short       Le              = apdu.setOutgoing();   
            short   sSignLen=0 ;

            // Init with Private Key
            objECDSASign.init(objECDSAPriKey, Signature.MODE_SIGN);

            // Sign Data
            sSignLen = objECDSASign.sign(PLAINTEXT, BAS, Le, buf, BAS);

            apdu.setOutgoingLength(sSignLen);
            apdu.sendBytes(BAS, sSignLen);

        break;      
        //--------------------------------------------------------
        default:
            ISOException.throwIt(ISO7816.SW_INS_NOT_SUPPORTED);
    }

    return; 
}

}

And APDU Command is as follows

[  Card  ] <==  00A4040007D4106509900090
[  Card  ] ==>  9000

[  Card  ] <==  0046000000
[  Card  ] ==>  0003

My Development Environment is as follows.

OS : Windows 7
JCDK Ver 2.2.1
JDK Ver 1.4.2
Chip : NXP
Terminal : ACR122 NFC Contactless Smart Card Reader

I've changed my code to set domain parameters. But the card still outputs the same result(0x0003). Here is my full source code.

package MyECDSA;

import javacard.framework.*;
import javacard.security.*;
import javacardx.crypto.*;

public class MyECDSA extends Applet{

private byte[] PLAINTEXT ;
private ECPrivateKey            objECDSAPriKey=null;    // Object for ECDSA Private Key
private ECPublicKey             objECDSAPubKey=null;    // Object for ECDSA Public Key
private KeyPair                 objECDSAKeyPair=null;   // Object for ECDSA Key Pair
private Signature               objECDSASign=null;      // Object for ECDSA Signature

final static short  BAS     =  0;

final static byte[] SecP192r1_P = {     // 24
    (byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,
    (byte)0xFE,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,
    (byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF};
final static byte[] SecP192r1_A = {     // 24
    (byte)0xFC,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,
    (byte)0xFE,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,
    (byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF};
final static byte[] SecP192r1_B = {     // 24
  (byte)0xB1,(byte)0xB9,(byte)0x46,(byte)0xC1,(byte)0xEC,(byte)0xDE,(byte)0xB8,(byte)0xFE,
  (byte)0x49,(byte)0x30,(byte)0x24,(byte)0x72,(byte)0xAB,(byte)0xE9,(byte)0xA7,(byte)0x0F,
  (byte)0xE7,(byte)0x80,(byte)0x9C,(byte)0xE5,(byte)0x19,(byte)0x05,(byte)0x21,(byte)0x64};
final static byte[] SecP192r1_S = {     // 20
  (byte)0xD5,(byte)0x96,(byte)0x21,(byte)0xE1,(byte)0xEA,(byte)0x20,(byte)0x81,(byte)0xD3,
  (byte)0x28,(byte)0x95,(byte)0x57,(byte)0xED,(byte)0x64,(byte)0x2F,(byte)0x42,(byte)0xC8,
  (byte)0x6F,(byte)0xAE,(byte)0x45,(byte)0x30};
final static byte[] SecP192r1_G = {     // 25
  (byte)0x12,(byte)0x10,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0x82,(byte)0xFD,(byte)0x0A,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xF4,
  (byte)0x00,(byte)0x88,(byte)0xA1,(byte)0x43,(byte)0xEB,(byte)0x20,(byte)0xBF,(byte)0x7C,
  (byte)0xF6,(byte)0x90,(byte)0x30,(byte)0xB0,(byte)0x0E,(byte)0xA8,(byte)0x8D,(byte)0x18,(byte)0x03};
final static byte[] SecP192r1_N = {     // 24
  (byte)0x31,(byte)0x28,(byte)0xD2,(byte)0xB4,(byte)0xB1,(byte)0xC9,(byte)0x6B,(byte)0x14,
  (byte)0x36,(byte)0xF8,(byte)0xDE,(byte)0x99,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,
  (byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF,(byte)0xFF};
final static short  SecP192r1_H =  1;

//======================================================================================
public static void install(byte[] bArray, short bOffset, byte bLength){
    new MyECDSA(bArray, bOffset, bLength);
}

private MyECDSA(byte bArray[], short bOffset, byte bLength){    

    PLAINTEXT       = new byte[0x100] ;         // Data file

    Util.arrayFillNonAtomic(PLAINTEXT,  BAS, (short)0x100, (byte)0);

    register();
}

//======================================================================================
public void process(APDU apdu){
    byte buf[] = apdu.getBuffer();

    switch(buf[1])
    {
        //--------------------------------------------------------
        case (byte)0xA4:                    break;  

        case (byte)0x46:

            // Create ECDSA Keys and Pair
            try {
        // <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Here is the problem >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
                objECDSAPriKey = (ECPrivateKey)KeyBuilder.buildKey(KeyBuilder.TYPE_EC_FP_PRIVATE, KeyBuilder.LENGTH_EC_FP_192, false);
                ISOException.throwIt((short)0x8888);        // for check
                objECDSAPubKey = (ECPublicKey)KeyBuilder.buildKey(KeyBuilder.TYPE_EC_FP_PUBLIC,  KeyBuilder.LENGTH_EC_FP_192, false);

                // set EC Domain Parameters
                objECDSAPubKey.setFieldFP(SecP192r1_P, BAS, (short)24);
                objECDSAPubKey.setA(SecP192r1_A, BAS, (short)24);
                objECDSAPubKey.setB(SecP192r1_B, BAS, (short)24);
                objECDSAPubKey.setG(SecP192r1_G, BAS, (short)25);
                objECDSAPubKey.setK(SecP192r1_H);
                objECDSAPubKey.setR(SecP192r1_N, BAS, (short)24);

                objECDSAKeyPair = new KeyPair(KeyPair.ALG_EC_FP, KeyBuilder.LENGTH_EC_FP_192);
            }
          catch(CryptoException c)
          {    
            short reason = c.getReason();   
            ISOException.throwIt(reason);       // for check
          }

            // On-Card Key Generation Process
            objECDSAKeyPair.genKeyPair();

            // Obtain Key References
            objECDSAPriKey = (ECPrivateKey)objECDSAKeyPair.getPrivate();
            objECDSAPubKey = (ECPublicKey)objECDSAKeyPair.getPublic();  

            // Create Signature Object
            objECDSASign = Signature.getInstance(Signature.ALG_ECDSA_SHA, false);

        break;

        case (byte)0x2E:                        
            short       Le              = apdu.setOutgoing();   
            short   sSignLen=0 ;

            // Init with Private Key
            objECDSASign.init(objECDSAPriKey, Signature.MODE_SIGN);

            // Sign Data
            sSignLen = objECDSASign.sign(PLAINTEXT, BAS, Le, buf, BAS);

            apdu.setOutgoingLength(sSignLen);
            apdu.sendBytes(BAS, sSignLen);

        break;      
        //--------------------------------------------------------
        default:
            ISOException.throwIt(ISO7816.SW_INS_NOT_SUPPORTED);
    }

    return; 
}

}

What's your issue/What part do you not understand? If you are having problems, please specify the specific problems. If you want someome to take a look at your code to give opinions, post it here: http://codereview.stackexchange.com — Vince, Jun 28 '14 at 14:45
Besides the problem with the EC support: note that your parameters are not of the correct size. You seem to be mixing 224 and 192 parameters, and the point G should I think be an uncompressed point of about twice the key size, starting with `04`, — Maarten Bodewes, Jul 02 '14 at 15:13
@owlstead Now, I'm co-work with vendor about ECC. It seems that there is some problem in the card. Thanks, anyway. — user2642459, Jul 04 '14 at 07:05

Maarten Bodewes · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-16T09:04:21.420

There are no default EC domain parameters in Java Card. It is required to create the KeyPair using an ECPublicKey and a ECPrivateKey for which the domain parameters are set (so the point W and secret S may be kept empty). After that it is possible to call genKeyPair(), at least if the card has support for F(2m) or F(p) Elliptic Curve cryptography and the key size that is specified.

ADDED

Note that NXP JCOP chips may require these parameters set for the public and the private key. The parameters should have either the key size (for separate values) or an uncompressed Elliptic Curve point. The value of G in the question seems to be a compressed point. Only the cofactor (for setH) should just have the value 1.

Note that only the chips with an asymmetric coprocessor may support elliptic curves; not all cards are created / configured equally. Contact your vendor for details.

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 30 '14 at 21:45

If an attempt to create instance of the particular algorithm (KeyPair.ALG_EC_FP & KeyBuilder.LENGTH_EC_FP_192 in your case) fails with NO_SUCH_ALGORITHM, it is either not supported by your card completely (e.g., old hardware) or disabled.

Project JCAlgTester allows you to obtain complete list of the supported algorithms for your particular card. Database of results for multiple different cards is also available (but is better to check your particular card directly by uploading JCAlgTester applet).

ECDSA Signature in Javacard

2 Answers2

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