verify_pefile_signature(9)

👑 verify_pefile_signature(9) 💅

okay so this is a page from the Kernel API Manual, bestie, and it's all about verify_pefile_signature — literally the vibe check for PE binary signatures 🦋

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✨ NAME ✨

verify_pefile_signature — Verify the signature on a PE binary image 🔥

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

int verify_pefile_signature (const void *pebuf , unsigned pelen , struct
key *trusted_keys , enum key_being_used_for usage );

🌸 ARGUMENTS 🌸

• pebuf — Buffer containing the PE binary image. this is the whole entire thing we're checking, no cap 💖
• pelen — Length of the binary image. how many bytes of pebuf we're actually looking at ✨
• trusted_keys — Signing certificate(s) to use as starting points. like, these are the keys we already trust, our little starter pack 🫶
• usage — The use to which the key is being put. iykyk, it tells the kernel what this key is for 👑

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

So what this does is: validate that the certificate chain inside the PKCS#7 message inside the PE binary image intersects keys we already know and trust. intersecting chains, main character energy honestly 🌈

Returns, in order of descending priority — and yes the order MATTERS, like don't @ me:

• -ELIBBAD if the image cannot be parsed, or:
• -EKEYREJECTED if a signature failed to match for which we have a valid key, or:
• 0 if at least one signature chain intersects with the keys in the trust keyring, or:
• -ENODATA if there is no signature present.
• -ENOPKG if a suitable crypto module couldn't be found for a check on a chain.
• -ENOKEY if we couldn't find a match for any of the signature chains in the message.

May also return -ENOMEM. 😭 yeah. memory said no.

bestie heads up: that return list is a priority order, so read it top to bottom before you go assuming anything 💀

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

• Kernel file ./crypto/asymmetric_keys/verify_pefile.c — go read the source, it ate 💅

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and that's the whole page, bestie! 🍓 this one lives in ./crypto/asymmetric_keys and the version/date stamp on it is October 2026 — so yeah, she's from the future, iconic behavior honestly 🧚⭐💖