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SSH HSM Public Key Authentication

Demonstrates SSH public-key authentication using a private key stored on an HSM — a USB token or smart card — accessed through PKCS#11. A session is opened with the vendor's driver, the key handles are located, and an SshKey object is bound to them with UsePkcs11.

Background: The point of an HSM is that the private key is generated on the device and cannot be exported: the signing operation happens on the hardware, so the key material never reaches your application's memory or disk. Even a fully compromised host cannot yield a copy of the key. PKCS#11 is the vendor-neutral interface to such devices, which is why the driver path and the object-finding template are the only vendor-specific parts of this example.

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Local $bSuccess = False

;  This example requires the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
;  See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

;  Demonstrates SSH public-key authentication using a private key stored on an HSM (a USB token
;  or smart card) accessed through PKCS#11.
;  
;  Note: Chilkat's PKCS#11 implementation runs on Windows, Linux, macOS, and other supported
;  operating systems.

$oPkcs11 = ObjCreate("Chilkat.Pkcs11")

;  The PKCS#11 driver supplied by your HSM vendor: a .dll on Windows, a .so on Linux, or a
;  .dylib on macOS.
$oPkcs11.SharedLibPath = "C:/Program Files (x86)/Gemalto/IDGo 800 PKCS#11/IDPrimePKCS1164.dll"

;  The PIN should come from a secure source rather than being hard-coded.
Local $sPin = "0000"

;  Normal user = 1
Local $iUserType = 1

$bSuccess = $oPkcs11.QuickSession($iUserType,$sPin)
If ($bSuccess = False) Then
    ConsoleWrite($oPkcs11.LastErrorText & @CRLF)
    Exit
EndIf

;  Describe the private key object to be located on the HSM.
$oJson = ObjCreate("Chilkat.JsonObject")
$oJson.UpdateString("class","private_key")
$oJson.UpdateString("label","MySshKey")

Local $iPriv_handle = $oPkcs11.FindObject($oJson)
If ($iPriv_handle = 0) Then
    ConsoleWrite($oPkcs11.LastErrorText & @CRLF)
    Exit
EndIf

;  Find the corresponding public key by changing the class in the same template.
$oJson.UpdateString("class","public_key")

Local $iPub_handle = $oPkcs11.FindObject($oJson)
If ($iPub_handle = 0) Then
    ConsoleWrite($oPkcs11.LastErrorText & @CRLF)
    Exit
EndIf

;  Create an SSH key object that uses the HSM handles.  The key type may be "rsa" or "ec".
$oKey = ObjCreate("Chilkat.SshKey")
Local $sKeyType = "rsa"
$bSuccess = $oKey.UsePkcs11($oPkcs11,$iPriv_handle,$iPub_handle,$sKeyType)
If ($bSuccess = False) Then
    ConsoleWrite($oKey.LastErrorText & @CRLF)
    Exit
EndIf

$oSsh = ObjCreate("Chilkat.Ssh")

Local $iPort = 22
$bSuccess = $oSsh.Connect("ssh.example.com",$iPort)
If ($bSuccess = False) Then
    ConsoleWrite($oSsh.LastErrorText & @CRLF)
    Exit
EndIf

;  The corresponding public key must already be installed on the SSH server for the account.
;  The signing operation happens on the HSM -- the private key never leaves the device.
$bSuccess = $oSsh.AuthenticatePk("mySshLogin",$oKey)
If ($bSuccess = False) Then
    ConsoleWrite($oSsh.LastErrorText & @CRLF)
    Exit
EndIf

ConsoleWrite("Public-key authentication successful." & @CRLF)

$oSsh.Disconnect 

$oPkcs11.Logout()
$oPkcs11.CloseSession()