How to Load RSA Private Key From File

Question

I am working on a test harness for a SAML 1.1 Assertion Consumer Service. The test must generate a signed SAMLResponse and submit it to the ACS encoded in Base64. The ACS must be able to verify the signed message using the X509 public cert.

I am able to build the SAMLResponse, adding the necessary assertions, etc. But when I try to sign the object I am running into problems. Here is a snippet of my current code:

String certPath = "mycert.pem"; File pubCertFile = new File(certPath); BufferedInputStream bis = null; try {     bis = new BufferedInputStream(new FileInputStream(pubCertFile)); } catch(FileNotFoundException e) {     throw new Exception("Could not locate certfile at '" + certPath + "'", e); } CertificateFactory certFact = null; Certificate cert = null; try {     certFact = CertificateFactory.getInstance("X.509");     cert = certFact.generateCertificate(bis); } catch(CertificateException e) {     throw new Exception("Could not instantiate cert", e); } bis.close(); ArrayList<Certificate> certs = new ArrayList<Certificate>(); certs.add(cert);  String keyPath = "mykey.pem"; File privKeyFile = new File(keyPath); try {     bis = new BufferedInputStream(new FileInputStream(privKeyFile)); } catch(FileNotFoundException e) {     throw new Exception("Could not locate keyfile at '" + keyPath + "'", e); } byte[] privKeyBytes = new byte[(int)privKeyFile.length()]; bis.read(privKeyBytes); bis.close(); KeyFactory keyFactory = KeyFactory.getInstance("RSA"); KeySpec ks = new PKCS8EncodedKeySpec(privKeyBytes); RSAPrivateKey privKey = (RSAPrivateKey) keyFactory.generatePrivate(ks);  samlResponse.sign(Signature.getInstance("SHA1withRSA").toString(), privKey, certs); 

The error occurs on the second-to-last line. I see the following in the console:

java.security.spec.InvalidKeySpecException: java.security.InvalidKeyException: invalid key format 

Though not customary or secure, but for sake of this thread, I am providing the public cert and private key that I am using. I of course will re-create new ones once the problem is solved. :)

aj@mmdev0:~/$ cat mykey.pem -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY----- MIICXgIBAAKBgQDnbcLSlDFaDMhalcmQgclTFobpkHQHJtxMVGRlbv7zknttAVbY 1jzGjJ6HVupndzDxA9tbiMjQujmGlS/8g5IEbVsR9o6dmcmbvujtEZ2rHZ82tMYP VAt2IoS/W/q2Rr1cAZ/zTKEmh0ZZjzCZFueLfrYPm3am5JLcXgVtbKwybQIDAQAB AoGBAJ441oettYgBUUFNQv8/HGtn7Vjl38277cVptTH8DuZr8WJ3Fe8tmWONZBzX eW6/eIBuyJvuCo1ZpFa0zJfxQ/Ph6QlQwdN50GNfh9RzSS6lDdfy8BRhc27sypXS L6c5ljB6ql+pp3DdxFhJMOs3ZmBJdeyWe7uFrkngtnM1nxZBAkEA+1hbV1Q305wa u8YMF1SlNIAfgLJ7buD43SEXle0egz405PFG8f8yDmvROwDiRceILGVrRbInd7Cb dvJKr34WOQJBAOu2+reG44rNuiXeGX1MYg6TlWYyABm7PrTrhPZkedodOQB8p7zD AqtDSK7RnDCoThndPW6kdNAeB+kG4ug5XdUCQHRDU8UajNRSkj8nhjJIkj6twWS7 qsMIR7Wp+An+7C1TWg5I2UNZg2MOVnNPnlseyAuZQjy0AvOnetJTk16IGWkCQQCL FUbOr8rnhgiGe4yywDVDwJVw3aPtiuyvOCEWeabkqkWOIf+fg7m5cFQcwxXUKBsd a8vp0yQSAQZN24Bb4i2ZAkEA8xGJFlFDY9HREWZnDey5STgbUeT1wYkyKcDsUrp1 kR/3BliGqSIfje+mSKDIZqaP+gai/8bIABYAsDP/t6+cuA== -----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----  aj@mmdev0:~/$ cat mycert.pem -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- MIID7zCCA1igAwIBAgIJAKrURaAaD6ulMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBBQUAMIGsMQswCQYD VQQGEwJVUzERMA8GA1UECBMISWxsaW5vaXMxEDAOBgNVBAcTB0NoaWNhZ28xHDAa BgNVBAoTE0hvc3R3YXkgQ29ycG9yYXRpb24xITAfBgNVBAsTGFJlc2VhcmNoIGFu ZCBEZXZlbG9wbWVudDEYMBYGA1UEAxMPd3d3Lmhvc3R3YXkuY29tMR0wGwYJKoZI hvcNAQkBFg5hakBob3N0d2F5LmNvbTAeFw0xMDA3MTQwMjMyMDhaFw0xMTA3MTQw MjMyMDhaMIGsMQswCQYDVQQGEwJVUzERMA8GA1UECBMISWxsaW5vaXMxEDAOBgNV BAcTB0NoaWNhZ28xHDAaBgNVBAoTE0hvc3R3YXkgQ29ycG9yYXRpb24xITAfBgNV BAsTGFJlc2VhcmNoIGFuZCBEZXZlbG9wbWVudDEYMBYGA1UEAxMPd3d3Lmhvc3R3 YXkuY29tMR0wGwYJKoZIhvcNAQkBFg5hakBob3N0d2F5LmNvbTCBnzANBgkqhkiG 9w0BAQEFAAOBjQAwgYkCgYEA523C0pQxWgzIWpXJkIHJUxaG6ZB0BybcTFRkZW7+ 85J7bQFW2NY8xoyeh1bqZ3cw8QPbW4jI0Lo5hpUv/IOSBG1bEfaOnZnJm77o7RGd qx2fNrTGD1QLdiKEv1v6tka9XAGf80yhJodGWY8wmRbni362D5t2puSS3F4FbWys Mm0CAwEAAaOCARUwggERMB0GA1UdDgQWBBQI/4Inzs6OH5IquItuKhIrhPb24zCB 4QYDVR0jBIHZMIHWgBQI/4Inzs6OH5IquItuKhIrhPb246GBsqSBrzCBrDELMAkG A1UEBhMCVVMxETAPBgNVBAgTCElsbGlub2lzMRAwDgYDVQQHEwdDaGljYWdvMRww GgYDVQQKExNIb3N0d2F5IENvcnBvcmF0aW9uMSEwHwYDVQQLExhSZXNlYXJjaCBh bmQgRGV2ZWxvcG1lbnQxGDAWBgNVBAMTD3d3dy5ob3N0d2F5LmNvbTEdMBsGCSqG SIb3DQEJARYOYWpAaG9zdHdheS5jb22CCQCq1EWgGg+rpTAMBgNVHRMEBTADAQH/ MA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBBQUAA4GBAA388zZp6UNryC/6o44hj7wTBQdzFFM5cs3B668A ylAnnal+J8RMIeCHoMF4S7yFQtYdOiWeScgw3c7KXrhJK1X7fU3I+eb1t3Yp1cTI htyzw14AoiICFalmlVgTCsn3+uh6AXP02PTkR8osdEpUOlWap4uzSKYNKc7tLOFd 4CkM -----END CERTIFICATE----- 

Thanks!

Answer 1

You need to convert your private key to PKCS8 format using following command:

openssl pkcs8 -topk8 -inform PEM -outform DER -in private_key_file  -nocrypt > pkcs8_key 

After this your java program can read it.