SIGNVER(1)

📦
version 3.131.0 · 7 versions
, in fedora 43, fedora 44

💖 SIGNVER(1) — like, the signver page from the NSS Security Tools bestie collection ✨

okay so real talk, this is the manual for signver, one of the NSS Security Tools, and she's here to check signatures for you. let's get into it 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

signver — verify a detached PKCS#7 signature for a file. that's the whole vibe. 💅

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

signtool -A | -V  -d directory [-a] [-i input_file] [-o output_file]
         [-s signature_file] [-v]

(yes bestie, the synopsis literally says signtool, not signver — i don't make the rules, i just report them 💀)

🦋 STATUS 🦋

sooo this documentation is still work in progress. like, it's giving "we'll finish it later". if you wanna contribute to the initial review, it's all happening in Mozilla NSS bug 836477[1] 🌈

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

The Signature Verification Tool, signver, is a simple command-line utility that unpacks a base-64-encoded PKCS#7 signed object and verifies the digital signature using standard cryptographic techniques. no cap, that's the job.

and as if that wasn't enough? she can also display the contents of the signed object. main character energy fr fr 👑

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

  • -A — displays all of the information in the PKCS#7 signature. the whole thing. every crumb. 🍓
  • -V — verifies the digital signature. this is the one you came for, bestie.
  • -d directory — specify the database directory which contains the certificates and keys.
    • signver supports SQLite databases (cert9.db, key4.db, and pkcs11.txt). 🗄️
  • -a — sets that the given signature file is in ASCII format.
  • -i input_file — gives the input file for the object with signed data.
  • -o output_file — gives the output file to which to write the results.
  • -s signature_file — gives the input file for the digital signature.
  • -v — enables verbose output. she's chatty and we love that for her 💬

🔥 EXTENDED EXAMPLES 🔥

💫 Verifying a Signature 💫

the -V option verifies that the signature in a given signature file is valid when used to sign the given object (from the input file). iconic behaviour honestly.

signver -V -s signature_file -i signed_file -d /home/my/sharednssdb

signatureValid=yes

that signatureValid=yes? that's the serotonin. 🌈

💫 Printing Signature Data 💫

the -A option prints all of the information contained in a signature file. and if you use the -o option, it prints the signature file information to the given output file rather than stdout. choices, bestie, we love choices ✨

signver -A -s signature_file -o output_file

👑 NSS DATABASE TYPES 👑

okay history lesson time, sit down, grab a snack 🍓

NSS originally used BerkeleyDB databases to store security information. the last versions of these legacy databases are:

  • cert8.db for certificates
  • key3.db for keys
  • secmod.db for PKCS #11 module information

but BerkeleyDB has performance limitations, though, which prevent it from being easily used by multiple applications simultaneously. it's giving "can't share, won't share" 😭

NSS has some flexibility that allows applications to use their own, independent database engine while keeping a shared database and working around the access issues. still, NSS requires more flexibility to provide a truly shared security database.

so in 2009, NSS introduced a new set of databases that are SQLite databases rather than BerkleyDB. these new databases provide more accessibility and performance:

  • cert9.db for certificates
  • key4.db for keys
  • pkcs11.txt, which is listing of all of the PKCS #11 modules contained in a new subdirectory in the security databases directory

because the SQLite databases are designed to be shared, these are the shared database type. the shared database type is preferred; the legacy format is included for backward compatibility. 💅

by default, the tools (certutil, pk12util, modutil) assume that the given security databases use the SQLite type.

for an engineering draft on the changes in the shared NSS databases, see the NSS project wiki:

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

  • signtool (1)

the NSS wiki has information on the new database design and how to configure applications to use it. 🧚

  • Setting up the shared NSS database

https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB_Howto

  • Engineering and technical information about the shared NSS database

https://wiki.mozilla.org/NSS_Shared_DB

⭐ ADDITIONAL RESOURCES ⭐

for information about NSS and other tools related to NSS (like JSS), check out the NSS project wiki at http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/. the NSS site relates directly to NSS code changes and releases.

Mailing lists: https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-crypto

IRC: Freenode at #dogtag-pki

💖 AUTHORS 💖

the NSS tools were written and maintained by developers with Netscape, Red Hat, Sun, Oracle, Mozilla, and Google. legends only. 👑

Authors: Elio Maldonado <emaldona@redhat.com>, Deon Lackey <dlackey@redhat.com>.

🎀 LICENSE 🎀

Licensed under the Mozilla Public License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.

🙈 NOTES 🙈

  1. Mozilla NSS bug 836477 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=836477
⚠️ reminder bestie: this doc is still work in progress, so if something's missing, that's a known vibe, not you being confused. 🫶

and that's the whole page, no cap 💅 this came to you from nss-tools, dated 15 October 2026 — periodt. go verify something, you ate. ✨🦋💖

📦 where this page comes from