OPENSSL-VERIFY(1ossl)

📦 version 3.5.0, in opensuse-leap 16.0

💅 openssl-verify — like, the certificate verification command (from the OPENSSL-VERIFY(1ossl) manual, bestie)

okay so real talk: this is the openssl verify page. it checks certificate chains, and ngl it's kind of the main character of trust validation. if a chain has multiple problems, this program attempts to display all of them — not just the first one it trips over. iconic behavior honestly 🫶

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

openssl verify [-help] [-CRLfile filename|uri] [-crl_download]
[-show_chain] [-verbose] [-trusted filename|uri] [-untrusted
filename|uri] [-vfyopt nm:v] [-nameopt option] [-CAfile file]
[-no-CAfile] [-CApath dir] [-no-CApath] [-CAstore uri] [-no-CAstore]
[-engine id] [-allow_proxy_certs] [-attime timestamp] [-no_check_time]
[-check_ss_sig] [-crl_check] [-crl_check_all] [-explicit_policy]
[-extended_crl] [-ignore_critical] [-inhibit_any] [-inhibit_map]
[-partial_chain] [-policy arg] [-policy_check] [-policy_print] [-purpose
purpose] [-suiteB_128] [-suiteB_128_only] [-suiteB_192] [-trusted_first]
[-no_alt_chains] [-use_deltas] [-auth_level num] [-verify_depth num]
[-verify_email email] [-verify_hostname hostname] [-verify_ip ip]
[-verify_name name] [-x509_strict] [-issuer_checks] [-provider name]
[-provider-path path] [-provparam [name:]key=value] [-propquery propq]
[--] [certificate ...]

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

This command verifies certificate chains. periodt. and if a certificate chain has multiple problems, this program attempts to display all of them — so you get the whole tea at once instead of one error at a time 💀

✨ OPTIONS ✨

  • -help — prints out a usage message. the "help me help you" option 💖
  • -CRLfile filename|uri — the file or URI should contain one or more CRLs in PEM or DER format. you can specify this option more than once to include CRLs from multiple sources. stack 'em up 🎀
  • -crl_download — attempts to download CRL information for certificates via their CDP entries. going to get the receipts itself ✨
  • -show_chain — displays information about the certificate chain that has been built (if successful). certificates in the chain that came from the untrusted list will be flagged as "untrusted". lowkey the most fun option here, you get to actually see the chain 👑
  • -verbose — prints extra information about the operations being performed. she's chatty, we love that 💅
  • -trusted filename|uri — a file or URI of (more or less) trusted certificates. see openssl-verification-options(1) for more information on trust settings. this option can be specified more than once to load certificates from multiple sources.
  • -untrusted filename|uri — a file or URI of untrusted certificates to use for chain building. this option can be specified more than once to load certificates from multiple sources. 🦋
  • -vfyopt nm:v — passes options to the signature algorithm during verify operations. names and values of these options are algorithm-specific. iykyk.
  • -nameopt option — specifies how the subject or issuer names are displayed. see openssl-namedisplay-options(1) for details. it's giving "make it pretty" 🌸
  • -engine id — see "Engine Options" in openssl(1). this option is deprecated. 🚨 to load certificates or CRLs that require engine support, specify the -engine option before any of the -trusted, -untrusted or -CRLfile options. order matters, bestie, don't come for me.
  • -CAfile file, -no-CAfile, -CApath dir, -no-CApath, -CAstore uri, -no-CAstore — see "Trusted Certificate Options" in openssl-verification-options(1) for details.
  • -allow_proxy_certs, -attime, -no_check_time, -check_ss_sig, -crl_check, -crl_check_all, -explicit_policy, -extended_crl, -ignore_critical, -inhibit_any, -inhibit_map, -no_alt_chains, -partial_chain, -policy, -policy_check, -policy_print, -purpose, -suiteB_128, -suiteB_128_only, -suiteB_192, -trusted_first, -use_deltas, -auth_level, -verify_depth, -verify_email, -verify_hostname, -verify_ip, -verify_name, -x509_strict -issuer_checks — set various options of certificate chain verification. see "Verification Options" in openssl-verification-options(1) for details. yes that's a whole vibe wall of them, and yes, they all live in that one doc 💀
  • -provider name, -provider-path path, -provparam [name:]key=value, -propquery propq — see "Provider Options" in openssl(1), provider(7), and property(7).
  • -- — indicates the last option. all arguments following this are assumed to be certificate files. this is useful if the first certificate filename begins with a -. lifesaver fr fr 🫶
  • certificate ... — one or more target certificates to verify, one per file. if no certificates are given, this command will attempt to read a single certificate from standard input. no args? she'll just read stdin, she's flexible like that ✨

🩺 DIAGNOSTICS 🩺

so when a verify operation fails the output messages can be somewhat cryptic. not gonna lie to you. the general form of the error message is:

 server.pem: /C=AU/ST=Queensland/O=CryptSoft Pty Ltd/CN=Test CA (1024 bit)
 error 24 at 1 depth lookup:invalid CA certificate

let me break down the anatomy of this little guy 🔍

the first line contains the name of the certificate being verified followed by the subject name of the certificate.

the second line contains the error number and the depth. the depth is the number of the certificate being verified when a problem was detected, starting with zero for the target ("leaf") certificate itself, then 1 for the CA that signed the target certificate, and so on. finally a textual version of the error number is presented.

a list of the error codes and messages can be found in X509_STORE_CTX_get_error(3); the full list is defined in the header file <openssl/x509_vfy.h>.

⚠️ heads up: this command ignores many errors, in order to allow all the problems with a certificate chain to be determined. yes, ignores. it's on purpose. she's collecting all the receipts at once, not stopping at the first one 😭

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

openssl-verification-options(1), openssl-x509(1), ossl_store-file(7)

📜 HISTORY 📜

  • the -show_chain option was added in OpenSSL 1.1.0. ✨
  • the -engine option was deprecated in OpenSSL 3.0. 💀

Copyright 2000-2021 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.

Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (the "License"). You may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at <https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.

and that's the whole page, bestie 🎀 mwah 💋 — this was OPENSSL-VERIFY(1ossl) from OpenSSL 3.5.0, dated 2026-09-25. go verify something and slay 💅🌟

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