OPENSSL-VERIFY(1SSL)

📦
version 4.0.3 · 13 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

👑 OPENSSL-VERIFY 💅

okay bestie, welcome to openssl-verify 🎀 — the manual page for the certificate verification command. Sit down, hydrate, and let's get into it ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

openssl-verify — certificate verification command 🦋

✨ 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]
[-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 💖

so basically this command verifies certificate chains. that's the whole vibe check 🔥

and here's the cute part: if a certificate chain has multiple problems, this program attempts to display all of them. not just the first one it trips over — it's thorough like that. not me being obsessed with a CLI tool 💅

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

  • -help — prints out a usage message. you know, the classic "what even are you" button 🫶
  • -CRLfile filename|uri — the file or URI should contain one or more CRLs in PEM or DER format. you can pass this option more than once to pull in CRLs from multiple sources. stack 'em 🌈
  • -crl_download — attempts to download CRL information for certificates via their CDP entries. it's giving "go get it yourself, bestie" 😭
  • -show_chain — displays info about the certificate chain that's been built (if successful). certificates in the chain that came from the untrusted list get flagged as "untrusted". snitch behavior, honestly 🙈
  • -verbose — prints extra information about the operations being performed. she's chatty. we love her 💜
  • -trusted filename|uri — a file or URI of (more or less) trusted certificates. for more deets on trust settings, go see openssl-verification-options(1).

you can specify this option more than once to load certificates from multiple sources ✨

  • -untrusted filename|uri — a file or URI of untrusted certificates to use for chain building. yep, you can specify this one more than once too, to load certs from multiple sources 💅
  • -vfyopt nm:v — passes options to the signature algorithm during verify operations. the names and values of these options are algorithm-specific, so iykyk 🌸
  • -nameopt option — this one specifies how the subject or issuer names get displayed. details live in openssl-namedisplay-options(1) 🦋
  • -CAfile file, -no-CAfile, -CApath dir, -no-CApath, -CAstore uri, -no-CAstore — go read "Trusted Certificate Options" in openssl-verification-options(1) for the 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 — this whole lil crew sets various options of certificate chain verification. see "Verification Options" in openssl-verification-options(1) for the deets 🌈
  • -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. super useful if the first certificate filename begins with a - 💀
  • certificate ... — one or more target certificates to verify, one per file. and if you give it no certificates, this command will attempt to read a single certificate from standard input 🍓
⚠️ okay important heads up bestie: the first parameter that does not begin with a - ends the list of options and starts the list of certificates. so if you place any options after a certificate filename, they will be interpreted not as options but as certificates. it's giving "read the room" 😭

🔍 DIAGNOSTICS 🔍

when a verify operation fails, the output messages can be somewhat cryptic. ngl. 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

so let's decode this masterpiece together 🧚

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> 📖

💀 plot twist: this command ignores many errors, in order to allow all the problems with a certificate chain to be determined. it's collecting receipts, not stopping at the first one 🔥

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

⭐ HISTORY ⭐

  • the -show_chain option was added in OpenSSL 1.1.0 ✨
  • the -engine option was removed in OpenSSL 4.0 🪦 (gone but remembered, periodt)

Copyright 2000-2026 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 💖 this was OPENSSL-VERIFY(1SSL), brought to you from OpenSSL 4.0.3, dated 2026-09-29 🎀 go forth and verify those chains, you absolute icon 👑✨

📦 where this page comes from