page.title=Android Keystore System
@jd:body

<div id="qv-wrapper">
  <div id="qv">
    <h2>In this document</h2>
    <ol>
      <li><a href="#SecurityFeatures">Security Features</a></li>
      <li><a href="#WhichShouldIUse">Choosing Between a Keychain or the Android Keystore Provider</a></li>
      <li><a href="#UsingAndroidKeyStore">Using Android Keystore Provider
      </a></li>
      <ol>
        <li><a href="#GeneratingANewPrivateKey">Generating a New Private Key</a></li>
        <li><a href="#WorkingWithKeyStoreEntries">Working with Keystore Entries</a></li>
        <li><a href="#ListingEntries">Listing Entries</a></li>
        <li><a href="#SigningAndVerifyingData">Signing and Verifying Data</a></li>
      </ol>
    </ol>

    <h2>Blog articles</h2>
    <ol>
      <li><a
        href="http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2012/03/unifying-key-store-access-in-ics.html">
          <h4>Unifying Key Store Access in ICS</h4>
      </a></li>
    </ol>
  </div>
</div>

<p>The Android Keystore system lets you store cryptographic keys in a container
  to make it more difficult to extract from the device. Once keys are in the
  keystore, they can be used for cryptographic operations with the key material
  remaining non-exportable. Moreover, it offers facilities to restrict when and
  how keys can be used, such as requiring user authentication for key use or
  restricting encryption keys to be used only in certain block modes. See
  <a href="#SecurityFeatures">Security Features</a> section for more information.</p>

<p>The Keystore system is used by the {@link
  android.security.KeyChain} API as well as the Android
  Keystore provider feature that was introduced in Android 4.3
  (API level 18). This document goes over when and how to use the
  Android Keystore provider.</p>


<h2 id="SecurityFeatures">Security Features</h2>

Android Keystore system protects key material from unauthorized use. Firstly, Android Keystore
mitigates unauthorized use of key material outside of the Android device by preventing extraction of
the key material from application processes and from the Android device as a whole. Secondly,
Android KeyStore mitigates unauthorized use of key material on the Android device by making apps
specify authorized uses of their keys and then enforcing these restrictions.

<h3 id="ExtractionPrevention">Extraction Prevention</h3>

Key material of Android Keystore keys is protected from extraction using two security measures:
<ul>
<li>Key material never enters the application process. When an application performs cryptographic
  operations using an Android Keystore key, behind the scenes plaintext, ciphertext, and messages to
  be signed or verified are fed to a system process which carries out the cryptographic operations.
  If the app's process is compromised, the attacker may be able to use the app's keys but will not
  be able to extract their key material (for example, to be used outside of the Android device).
  </li>
<li>Key material may be bound to the secure hardware (e.g., Trusted Execution Environment (TEE),
  Secure Element (SE)) of the Android device. When this feature is enabled for a key, its key
  material is never exposed outside of secure hardware. If the Android OS is compromised or an
  attacker can read the device's internal storage, the attacker may be able to use any app's Android
  Keystore keys on the Android device, but not extract them from the device. This feature is enabled
  only if the device's secure hardware supports the particular combination of key algorithm, block
  modes, padding schemes, and digests with which the key is authorized to be used. To check whether
  the feature is enabled for a key, obtain a {@link android.security.keystore.KeyInfo} for the key
  and inspect the return value of
  {@link android.security.keystore.KeyInfo#isInsideSecureHardware() KeyInfo.isInsideSecurityHardware()}.
  </li>
</ul>

<h3 id="KeyUseAuthorizations">Key Use Authorizations</h3>

To mitigate unauthorized use of keys on the Android device, Android Keystore lets apps specify
authorized uses of their keys when generating or importing the keys. Once a key is generated or
imported, its authorizations can not be changed. Authorizations are then enforced by the Android
Keystore whenever the key is used.

<p>Supported key use authorizations fall into the following categories:
<ul>
<li><em>cryptography</em>: authorized key algorithm, operations or purposes (encrypt, decrypt, sign,
  verify), padding schemes, block modes, digests with which the key can be used</li>
<li><em>temporal validity interval</em>: interval of time during which the key is authorized for
  use</li>
<li><em>user authentication</em>: the key can only be used if the user has been authenticated
  recently enough. See <a href="#UserAuthentication">Requiring User Authentication For Key Use</a>.
  </li>
</ul>

<p>As an additional security measure, for keys whose key material is inside secure hardware (see
  {@link android.security.keystore.KeyInfo#isInsideSecureHardware() KeyInfo.isInsideSecurityHardware()})
  some key use authorizations may be enforced by secure hardware, depending on the Android device.
  Cryptographic and user authentication authorizations are likely to be enforced by secure hardware.
  Temporal validity interval authorizations are unlikely to be enforced by the secure hardware
  because it normally does not have an independent secure real-time clock.

<p>Whether a key's user authentication authorization is enforced by the secure hardware can be
  queried using
  {@link android.security.keystore.KeyInfo#isUserAuthenticationRequirementEnforcedBySecureHardware() KeyInfo.isUserAuthenticationRequirementEnforcedBySecureHardware()}.

<h2 id="WhichShouldIUse">Choosing Between a Keychain or the
Android Keystore Provider</h2>

<p>Use the {@link android.security.KeyChain} API when you want
  system-wide credentials. When an app requests the use of any credential
  through the {@link android.security.KeyChain} API, users get to
  choose, through a system-provided UI, which of the installed credentials
  an app can access. This allows several apps to use the
  same set of credentials with user consent.</p>

<p>Use the Android Keystore provider to let an individual app store its own
  credentials that only the app itself can access.
  This provides a way for apps to manage credentials that are usable
  only by itself while providing the same security benefits that the
  {@link android.security.KeyChain} API provides for system-wide
  credentials. This method requires no user interaction to select the credentials.</p>

<h2 id="UsingAndroidKeyStore">Using Android Keystore Provider</h2>

<p>
To use this feature, you use the standard {@link java.security.KeyStore}
and {@link java.security.KeyPairGenerator} or
{@link javax.crypto.KeyGenerator} classes along with the
{@code AndroidKeyStore} provider introduced in Android 4.3 (API level 18).</p>

<p>{@code AndroidKeyStore} is registered as a {@link
  java.security.KeyStore} type for use with the {@link
  java.security.KeyStore#getInstance(String) KeyStore.getInstance(type)}
  method and as a provider for use with the {@link
  java.security.KeyPairGenerator#getInstance(String, String)
  KeyPairGenerator.getInstance(algorithm, provider)} and {@link
  javax.crypto.KeyGenerator#getInstance(String, String)
  KeyGenerator.getInstance(algorithm, provider)} methods.</p>

<h3 id="GeneratingANewPrivateKey">Generating a New Private Key</h3>

<p>Generating a new {@link java.security.PrivateKey} requires that
  you also specify the initial X.509 attributes that the self-signed
  certificate will have. You can replace the certificate at a later
  time with a certificate signed by a Certificate Authority.</p>

<p>To generate the key, use a {@link java.security.KeyPairGenerator}
  with {@link android.security.KeyPairGeneratorSpec}:</p>

{@sample development/samples/ApiDemos/src/com/example/android/apis/security/KeyStoreUsage.java generate}

<h3 id="GeneratingANewSecretKey">Generating a New Secret Key</h3>

<p>To generate the key, use a {@link javax.crypto.KeyGenerator} with
  {@link android.security.keystore.KeyGenParameterSpec}.

<h3 id="WorkingWithKeyStoreEntries">Working with Keystore Entries</h3>

<p>Using the {@code AndroidKeyStore} provider takes place through
  all the standard {@link java.security.KeyStore} APIs.</p>

<h4 id="ListingEntries">Listing Entries</h4>

<p>List entries in the keystore by calling the {@link
  java.security.KeyStore#aliases()} method:</p>

{@sample development/samples/ApiDemos/src/com/example/android/apis/security/KeyStoreUsage.java list}

<h4 id="SigningAndVerifyingData">Signing and Verifying Data</h4>

<p>Sign data by fetching the {@link
  java.security.KeyStore.Entry} from the keystore and using the
  {@link java.security.Signature} APIs, such as {@link
  java.security.Signature#sign()}:</p>

{@sample development/samples/ApiDemos/src/com/example/android/apis/security/KeyStoreUsage.java sign}

<p>Similarly, verify data with the {@link java.security.Signature#verify(byte[])} method:</p>

{@sample development/samples/ApiDemos/src/com/example/android/apis/security/KeyStoreUsage.java verify}

<h3 id="UserAuthentication">Requiring User Authentication For Key Use</h3>

<p>When generating or importing a key into the {@code AndroidKeyStore} you can specify that the key
can only be used if user has been authenticated. The user is authenticated using a subset of their
secure lock screen credentials. This is a security measure which makes it possible to generate
cryptographic assertions about the user having been authenticated.

<p>When a key is configured to require user authentication, it is also configured to operate in one
of the two modes:
<ul>
<li>User authentication is valid for a duration of time. All keys in this mode are authorized
  for use as soon as the user unlocks the secure lock screen or confirms their secure lock screen
  credentials using the {@link android.app.KeyguardManager#createConfirmDeviceCredentialIntent(CharSequence, CharSequence) KeyguardManager.createConfirmDeviceCredentialIntent}
  flow. Each key specifies for how long the authorization remains valid for that key. Such keys
  can only be generated or imported if the secure lock screen is enabled (see {@link android.app.KeyguardManager#isDeviceSecure() KeyguardManager.isDeviceSecure()}).
  These keys become permanently invalidated once the secure lock screen is disabled or forcibly
  reset (e.g. by a Device Admin).</li>
<li>User authentication is required for every use of the key. In this mode, a specific operation
  involving a specific key is authorized by the user. Currently, the only means of such
  authorization is fingerprint authentication: {@link android.hardware.fingerprint.FingerprintManager#authenticate(CryptoObject, CancellationSignal, int, AuthenticationCallback, Handler) FingerprintManager.authenticate}.
  Such keys can only be generated or imported if at least one fingerprint is enrolled (see {@link android.hardware.fingerprint.FingerprintManager#hasEnrolledFingerprints() FingerprintManager.hasEnrolledFingerprints}).
  These keys become permanently invalidated once all fingerprints are unenrolled.</li>
</ul>