asn1js

What is asn1js?

asn1js is an npm package that provides tools for parsing and manipulating ASN.1 (Abstract Syntax Notation One) data. ASN.1 is a standard and notation that is used in telecommunications and computer networking for representing, encoding, transmitting, and decoding data.

What are asn1js's main functionalities?

Parsing ASN.1 encoded data

This feature allows you to parse ASN.1 encoded data. The code sample demonstrates how to use asn1js to parse a buffer containing ASN.1 encoded data.

const asn1js = require('asn1js');
const ArrayBuffer = require('pvutils').ArrayBuffer;
const buffer = new ArrayBuffer( /* some ASN.1 encoded buffer */ );
const asn1 = asn1js.fromBER(buffer);
console.log(asn1.result);

Creating ASN.1 structures

This feature enables the creation of ASN.1 structures such as integers. The code sample shows how to create an ASN.1 Integer object.

const asn1js = require('asn1js');
const Integer = asn1js.Integer;
const asn1Integer = new Integer({ value: 123 });
console.log(asn1Integer);

Other packages similar to asn1js

asn1

The 'asn1' package offers ASN.1 parsing and encoding functionalities similar to asn1js. It has a slightly different API and may be preferred in cases where integration with other Node.js specific libraries is required.

README

ASN1js

Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1) is a standard and notation that describes rules and structures for representing, encoding, transmitting, and decoding data in telecommunications and computer networking. ASN1js is a pure JavaScript library implementing this standard. ASN.1 is the basis of all X.509 related data structures and numerous other protocols used on the web.

Introduction

ASN1js is the first library for BER encoding/decoding in Javascript designed for browser use. BER is the basic encoding rules for ASN.1 that all others are based on, DER is the encoding rules used by PKI applications - it is a subset of BER. The ASN1js library was tested against freely available ASN.1:2008 test suite, with some limitations related to JavaScript language.

Features of the library

• ASN1js is a "base layer" for full-featured JS library PKIjs, which is using Web Cryptography API and has all classes, neccessary to work with PKI-related data;
• Fully object-oriented library. Inhiritence is using everywhere inside the lib;
• Working with HTML5 data objects (ArrayBuffer, Uint8Array etc.);
• Working with all ASN.1:2008 types;
• Working with BER encoded data;
• All types inside the library constantly stores information about all ASN.1 sub blocks (tag block, length block or value block);
• User may have access to any byte inside any ASN.1 sub-block;
• Any sub-block may have unlimited length, as it described in ASN.1 standard (even "tag block");
• Ability to work with ASN.1 string date types (intcluding all "international" strings like UniversalString, BMPString, UTF8String) by passing native JavaScript strings into constuctors. And vice versa - all initially parsed data of ASN.1 string types right after decoding automatically converts into native JavaScript strings;
• Same with ASN.1 date-time types: for major types like UTCTime and GeneralizedTime there are automatic convertion between "JS date type - ASN.1 date-time type" + vice versa;
• Same with ASN.1 OBJECT-IDENTIFIER (OID) data-type: you can initialize OID by JavaScript string and can get string representation via calling "oid.value_block.toString()";
• Working with "easy-to-understand" ASN.1 schemas (pre-defined or built by user);
• Has special types to work with ASN.1 schemas:
  • ANY
  • CHOICE
  • REPEATED
• User can name any block inside ASN.1 schema and easily get information by name;
• Ability to parse internal data inside a primitively encoded data types and automatically validate it against special schema;
• All types inside library are dynamic;
• All types can be initialized in static or dynamic ways.

Examples

    // #region How to create new ASN. structures 
    var sequence = new org.pkijs.asn1.SEQUENCE();
    sequence.value_block.value.push(new org.pkijs.asn1.INTEGER({ value: 1 }));

    var sequence_buffer = sequence.toBER(false); // Encode current sequence to BER (in ArrayBuffer)
    var current_size = sequence_buffer.byteLength;

    var integer_data = new ArrayBuffer(8);
    var integer_view = new Uint8Array(integer_data);
    integer_view[0] = 0x01;
    integer_view[1] = 0x01;
    integer_view[2] = 0x01;
    integer_view[3] = 0x01;
    integer_view[4] = 0x01;
    integer_view[5] = 0x01;
    integer_view[6] = 0x01;
    integer_view[7] = 0x01;

    sequence.value_block.value.push(new org.pkijs.asn1.INTEGER({
        is_hex_only: true,
        value_hex: integer_data
    })); // Put too long for decoding INTEGER value

    sequence_buffer = sequence.toBER(false);
    current_size = sequence_buffer.byteLength;
    // #endregion 

    // #region How to create new ASN.1 structures by calling constuctors with parameters 
    var sequence2 = new org.pkijs.asn1.SEQUENCE({
        value: [
            new org.pkijs.asn1.INTEGER({ value: 1 }),
            new org.pkijs.asn1.INTEGER({
                is_hex_only: true,
                value_hex: integer_data
            }),
        ]
    });
    // #endregion 

    // #region How to validate ASN.1 against pre-defined schema 
    var asn1_schema = new org.pkijs.asn1.SEQUENCE({
        name: "block1",
        value: [
            new org.pkijs.asn1.NULL({
                name: "block2"
            }),
            new org.pkijs.asn1.INTEGER({
                name: "block3",
                optional: true // This block is absent inside data, but it's "optional". Hence verification against the schema will be passed.
            })
        ]
    });
    // #endregion

    var variant1 = org.pkijs.verifySchema(encoded_sequence, asn1_schema); // Verify schema together with decoding of raw data
    var variant1_verified = variant1.verified;
    var variant1_result = variant1.result; // Verified decoded data with all block names inside

    // #region How to use "internal schemas" for primitevely encoded data types 
    var primitive_octetstring = new org.pkijs.asn1.OCTETSTRING({ value_hex: encoded_sequence }); // Create a primitively encoded OCTETSTRING where internal data is an encoded SEQUENCE

    var asn1_schema_internal = new org.pkijs.asn1.OCTETSTRING({
        name: "outer_block",
        primitive_schema: new org.pkijs.asn1.SEQUENCE({
            name: "block1",
            value: [
                    new org.pkijs.asn1.NULL({
                        name: "block2"
                    })
            ]
        })
    });

    var variant6 = org.pkijs.compareSchema(primitive_octetstring, primitive_octetstring, asn1_schema_internal);
    var variant6_verified = variant4.verified;
    var variant6_block1_tag_num = variant6.result.block1.id_block.tag_number;
    var variant6_block2_tag_num = variant6.result.block2.id_block.tag_number;
    // #endregion 

More examples could be found in "examples" directory or inside PKIjs library.

Related source code

• C++ ASN1:2008 BER coder/decoder - the "father" of ASN1js project;
• Freely available ASN.1:2008 test suite - the suite which can help you to validate (and better understand) any ASN.1 coder/decoder;

Suitability

At this time this library should be considered suitable for research and experimentation, futher code and security review is needed before utilization in a production application.

How to use ASN1js and PKIjs with Node.js

**!!! WARNING !!! ** Currently there is no "polyfill" of WebCrypto in Node.js. Thus you will not be able to use signature / verification features of PKIjs in Node.js programs.

In order to use PKIjs you will also need ASN1js plus node.extend package.

    var merge = require("node.extend");

    var common = require("asn1js/org/pkijs/common");
    var _asn1js = require("asn1js");
    var _pkijs = require("pkijs");
    var _x509schema = require("pkijs/org/pkijs/x509_schema");

    // #region Merging function/object declarations for ASN1js and PKIjs 
    var asn1js = merge(true, _asn1js, common);

    var x509schema = merge(true, _x509schema, asn1js);

    var pkijs_1 = merge(true, _pkijs, asn1js);
    var pkijs = merge(true, pkijs_1, x509schema);
    // #endregion 

After that you will ba able to use ASN1js and PKIjs via common way:

        // #region Decode and parse X.509 cert 
        var asn1 = pkijs.org.pkijs.fromBER(certBuffer);
        var cert;
        try
        {
            cert = new pkijs.org.pkijs.simpl.CERT({ schema: asn1.result });
        }
        catch(ex)
        {
            return;
        }
        // #endregion 

License

Copyright (c) 2014, GMO GlobalSign Copyright (c) 2015, Peculiar Ventures All rights reserved.

Author 2014-2015, Yury Strozhevsky.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.

2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

3. Neither the name of the copyright holder nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.