CAC Client Application Authentication in Python

Question

I am building a python application to pull data from a website. The application has to authenticate(HTTPS/SSL) with a CAC card and pin in order to make requests.

Am I correct in my assumptions that you can't retrieve the private key from a CAC card, and am therefore stuck using a PKCS #11 Wrapper like PyKCS?

Any tips or resources for going about this?

Answer 1

Authentication and signature keys are usually generated on the card and are not extractable, unlike encryption keys which can/should be escrowed somewhere.

See Need help using M2Crypto.Engine to access USB Token for an example with M2Crypto that explains how to use a smart card via PKCS#11 for website access in python.