JSON Web Key¶

A JSON Web Key (JWK) is a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) data structure that represents a cryptographic key (via RFC7517).

OctKey¶

An OctKey is a symmetric key defined in RFC7518 section 6.4.

Create an “oct” key¶

You can generate an OctKey with the OctKey.generate_key() method:

from joserfc.jwk import OctKey

key_size = 256  # in bit size, 256 equals 32 bytes
key = OctKey.generate_key(key_size)

Import an “oct” key¶

You can import an OctKey from string, bytes and a JWK (in dict).

from joserfc.jwk import OctKey

OctKey.import_key("a-random-string-as-key")
OctKey.import_key(b"a-random-bytes-as-key")
OctKey.import_key({
  "kty": "oct",
  "k": "Zm9v",
})

When importing a key, you can add extra parameters into a key:

>>> from joserfc.jwk import OctKey
>>> key = OctKey.import_key("foo", {"use": "sig"})
>>> key.as_dict()
{'k': 'Zm9v', 'use': 'sig', 'kty': 'oct'}

RSAKey¶

An RSAKey is an asymmetric key defined in RFC7518 section 6.3. It represents RSA keys.

Generate an “RSA” key¶

You can generate an “EC” key with a given key size (in bit):

from joserfc.jwk import RSAKey

key_size = 2048
key = RSAKey.generate_key(key_size)

Import an “RSA” key¶

You can import an RSAKey from string, bytes and a JWK (in dict).

from joserfc.jwk import RSAKey

pem_file = """
-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----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-----END PUBLIC KEY-----
"""

RSAKey.import_key(pem_file)
RSAKey.import_key({
    "kty": "RSA",
    "kid": "[email protected]",
    "use": "sig",
    "n": "n4EPtAOCc9AlkeQHPzHSt...",
    "e": "AQAB",
    "d": "bWUC9B-...",
    "q": "uKE2dh-...",
    "dp": "B8PV...",
    "dq": "CLDm...",
    "qi": "3PiFU4..."
})

ECKey¶

An ECKey is an asymmetric key defined in RFC7518 section 6.2. It represents Elliptic Curve [DSS] keys.

Generate an “EC” key¶

You can generate an “EC” key with the given curve:

from joserfc.jwk import ECKey

key = ECKey.generate_key("P-256")

The “crv” values that ECKey supports:

P-256 via RFC7518
P-384 via RFC7518
P-521 via RFC7518
secp256k1 via RFC8812

Hint

It is P-521, not P-512, it is not a typo.

Import an “EC” key¶

You can import an ECKey from string, bytes and a JWK (in dict).

from joserfc.jwk import ECKey

pem_file = """
-----BEGIN EC PRIVATE KEY-----
MHcCAQEEIBnRS4Tf1PY6Jb7QOwAM7OWUOMJTBenEWRvGBCGgctBfoAoGCCqGSM49
AwEHoUQDQgAE3r15c+Yd+0GXKysfWtwkqF7k12ylNE9LdfRP4TfkUcJSQXyGQjcx
U8E81rOHjo+9xv2e64n4X6pC3yuP+pX4eA==
-----END EC PRIVATE KEY-----
"""

ECKey.import_key(pem_file)
ECKey.import_key({
    "kty": "EC",
    "crv": "P-256",
    "x": "WKn-ZIGevcwGIyyrzFoZNBdaq9_TsqzGl96oc0CWuis",
    "y": "y77t-RvAHRKTsSGdIYUfweuOvwrvDD-Q3Hv5J0fSKbE",
    "d": "Hndv7ZZjs_ke8o9zXYo3iq-Yr8SewI5vrqd0pAvEPqg"
})

OKPKey¶

An OKPKey is an asymmetric key defined in RFC8037 CFRG Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) and Signatures in JSON Object Signing and Encryption (JOSE).

Generate an “OKP” key¶

You can generate an “OKP” key with the given curve:

from joserfc.jwk import OKPKey

key = OKPKey.generate_key("Ed25519")

OKPKey accepts “crv” values of Ed25519, Ed448, X25519, and X448.

Import an “OKP” key¶

You can import an OKPKey from string, bytes and a JWK (in dict).

from joserfc.jwk import OKPKey

pem_file = """
-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----
MEcCAQAwBQYDK2VxBDsEOaVsPKMXOBfq9aHlDEaMlBY+FR63hwrINHa2X74uHXUr
3/VXE8eMhrr8stXn41CQKqVmFEeL5Uj5Gg==
-----END PRIVATE KEY-----
"""

OKPKey.import_key(pem_file)
OKPKey.import_key({
    "kty": "OKP",
    "crv": "Ed25519",
    "x": "t-nFRaxyM5DZcpg5lxiEeJcZpMRB8JgcKaQC0HRefXU",
    "d": "gUF17HCe-pbN7Ej2rDSXl-e7uSj7rQW5u2dNu0KINP0",
    "kid": "5V_IcL-iX5IbaNz9vg0CjXtWLZiJ94-ESnHI-HN1L2Y"
})

Key Set¶

A JWK Set is a JSON object that represents a set of JWKs. An example of a JWK Set:

{"keys": [
    {
        "kty":"EC",
        "crv":"P-256",
        "x":"MKBCTNIcKUSDii11ySs3526iDZ8AiTo7Tu6KPAqv7D4",
        "y":"4Etl6SRW2YiLUrN5vfvVHuhp7x8PxltmWWlbbM4IFyM",
        "use":"enc",
        "kid":"1"
    },
    {
        "kty":"RSA",
        "n": "0vx7agoebGcQSuuPiLJXZptN9nndrQmbXEps2aiAFbWhM78LhWx...",
        "e":"AQAB",
        "alg":"RS256",
        "kid":"2011-04-29"
    }
]}

Create a key set¶

You can create a key set with a given set of keys:

from joserfc.jwk import KeySet

key_set = KeySet([rsa_key1, rsa_key2, ec_key1])

Or, you can generate a key set for a certain “kty”:

key_set = KeySet.generate_key_set("EC", "P-256", count=4)

Import a key set¶

An example about importing JWKS from a local file:

import json

with open("your-jwks.json") as f:
    data = json.load(f)
    key_set = KeySet.import_key_set(data)

An example about importing JWKS from a URL:

import requests

resp = requests.get("https://example.com/jwks.json")
key_set = KeySet.import_key_set(resp.json())

Key methods¶

`thumbprint`¶

Call this method will generate the thumbprint with algorithm defined in RFC7638.

>>> from joserfc.jwk import OctKey
>>> key = OctKey.import_key("foo")
>>> key.thumbprint()
'8-e-qGDS2nDpfZzOPtD8Sb7NkifUbw70MeqOKIqyaRw'

`ensure_kid`¶

Call this method to make sure the key contains a kid. If the key has no kid, generate one with the above .thumbprint method.

>>> from joserfc.jwk import OctKey
>>> key = OctKey.import_key("foo")
>>> key.kid
None
>>> key.ensure_kid()
>>> key.kid
'8-e-qGDS2nDpfZzOPtD8Sb7NkifUbw70MeqOKIqyaRw'

`as_dict`¶

Dump a key or key set into dict format, which can be used to convert to JSON:

data = key.as_dict(private=False)  # dump as a public key
# data = key.as_dict(private=True)  # dump as a private key
with open("my-key.json", "w") as f:
    json.dump(data, f)

`as_pem`¶

Dump an asymmetric key into PEM format (in bytes):

# text = key.as_pem(public=True)  # dump as a public key
text: bytes = key.as_pem(private=True)  # dump as a private key

with open("my-key.pem", "w") as f:
    f.write(text)

`as_der`¶

Dump an asymmetric key into DER format (in bytes):

# text = key.as_der(public=True)  # dump as a public key
text: bytes = key.as_der(private=True)  # dump as a private key

with open("my-key.der", "w") as f:
    f.write(text)

`JWKRegistry`¶

The JWKRegistry class serves as a registry for storing all the supported key types in the joserfc library. While developers typically use specific key types such as RSAKey or ECKey, this registry offers a means to dynamically import and generate keys.

Import keys¶

The JWKRegistry.import_key() can choose the correct key type automatically when importing a JWK in dict:

data = {"kty": "oct", "k": "..."}
key = JWKRegistry.import_key(data)  # returns a OctKey

data = {"kty": "RSA", ...}
key = JWKRegistry.import_key(data)  # returns a RSAKey

data = {"kty": "EC", ...}
key = JWKRegistry.import_key(data)  # returns a ECKey

data = {"kty": "OKP", ...}
key = JWKRegistry.import_key(data)  # returns a OKPKey

If the key is in bytes or string, not dict, developers SHOULD specify the key type manually:

data = b"---- BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY ----\n..."
key = JWKRegistry.import_key(data, "RSA")

Generate keys¶

The JWKRegistry.generate_key() can generate a key with all the supported key types. For oct and RSA the parameters in this method:

# (key_type: str, size: int, parameters: Optional[dict], private: bool=True)
key = JWKRegistry.generate_key("oct", 256)
key = JWKRegistry.generate_key("RSA", 2048, {"use": "sig"})

For EC and OKP keys, the parameters are:

# (key_type: str, crv: str, parameters: Optional[dict], private: bool=True)
key = JWKRegistry.generate_key("EC", "P-256")
key = JWKRegistry.generate_key("OKP", "Ed25519")

Options¶

The import_key and generate_key methods available in OctKey, RSAKey, ECKey, OKPKey, and JWKRegistry classes have an optional parameters parameter. This parameters allows you to provide a dict that includes additional key parameters to be included in the JWK.

Some of the standard (registered) header fields are:

kty: Key Type, it is automatically added
use: Public Key Use, “sig” or “enc”
key_ops: Key Operations, allowed operations of this key
alg: Algorithm, allowed algorithm of this key
kid: Key ID, a string of the key ID

When using import_key and generate_key, developers can pass the extra key parameters:

parameters = {"use": "sig", "alg": "RS256", "key_ops": ["verify"]}
RSAKey.import_key(data, parameters=parameters)

The above RSAKey then can only be used for JWS with alg of RS256, and it can only be used for deserialization (verify).

JSON Web Key¶

OctKey¶

Create an “oct” key¶

Import an “oct” key¶

RSAKey¶

Generate an “RSA” key¶

Import an “RSA” key¶

ECKey¶

Generate an “EC” key¶

Import an “EC” key¶

OKPKey¶

Generate an “OKP” key¶

Import an “OKP” key¶

Key Set¶

Create a key set¶

Import a key set¶

Key methods¶

thumbprint¶

ensure_kid¶

as_dict¶

as_pem¶

as_der¶

JWKRegistry¶

Import keys¶

Generate keys¶

Options¶

`thumbprint`¶

`ensure_kid`¶

`as_dict`¶

`as_pem`¶

`as_der`¶

`JWKRegistry`¶