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RSAParameters Structure

.NET Framework 4

Other Versions

Represents the standard parameters for the RSA algorithm.

Namespace: System.Security.Cryptography
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

Syntax

C++

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[SerializableAttribute]
[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
public struct RSAParameters

The RSAParameters type exposes the following members.

Methods

	Name	Description
	Equals	Indicates whether this instance and a specified object are equal. (Inherited from ValueType.)
	Finalize	Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before it is reclaimed by garbage collection. (Inherited from Object.)
	GetHashCode	Returns the hash code for this instance. (Inherited from ValueType.)
	GetType	Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.)
	MemberwiseClone	Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
	ToString	Returns the fully qualified type name of this instance. (Inherited from ValueType.)

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Fields

	Name	Description
	D	Represents the D parameter for the RSA algorithm.
	DP	Represents the DP parameter for the RSA algorithm.
	DQ	Represents the DQ parameter for the RSA algorithm.
	Exponent	Represents the Exponent parameter for the RSA algorithm.
	InverseQ	Represents the InverseQ parameter for the RSA algorithm.
	Modulus	Represents the Modulus parameter for the RSA algorithm.
	P	Represents the P parameter for the RSA algorithm.
	Q	Represents the Q parameter for the RSA algorithm.

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Remarks

The RSA class exposes an ExportParameters method that enables you to retrieve the raw RSA key in the form of an RSAParameters structure. Understanding the contents of this structure requires familiarity with how the RSA algorithm works. The next section discusses the algorithm briefly.

RSA Algorithm

To generate a key pair, you start by creating two large prime numbers named p and q. These numbers are multiplied and the result is called n. Because p and q are both prime numbers, the only factors of n are 1, p, q, and n.

If we consider only numbers that are less than n, the count of numbers that are relatively prime to n, that is, have no factors in common with n, equals (p - 1)(q - 1).

Now you choose a number e, which is relatively prime to the value you calculated. The public key is now represented as {e, n}.

To create the private key, you must calculate d, which is a number such that (d)(e) mod (p - 1)(q - 1) = 1. In accordance with the Euclidean algorithm, the private key is now {d, n}.

Encryption of plaintext m to ciphertext c is defined as c = (m ^ e) mod n. Decryption would then be defined as m = (c ^ d) mod n.

Summary of Fields

Section A.1.2 of the PKCS #1: RSA Cryptography Standard on the RSA Laboratories Web site defines a format for RSA private keys.

The following table summarizes the fields of the RSAParameters structure. The third column provides the corresponding field in section A.1.2 of PKCS #1: RSA Cryptography Standard.

RSAParameters field	Contains	Corresponding PKCS #1 field
D	d, the private exponent	privateExponent
DP	d mod (p - 1)	exponent1
DQ	d mod (q - 1)	exponent2
Exponent	e, the public exponent	publicExponent
InverseQ	(InverseQ)(q) = 1 mod p	coefficient
Modulus	n	modulus
P	p	prime1
Q	q	prime2

The security of RSA derives from the fact that, given the public key { e, n }, it is computationally infeasible to calculate d, either directly or by factoring n into p and q. Therefore, any part of the key related to d, p, or q must be kept secret. If you call

ExportParameters and ask for only the public key information, this is why you will receive only Exponent and Modulus. The other fields are available only if you have access to the private key, and you request it.

RSAParameters is not encrypted in any way, so you must be careful when you use it with the private key information. In fact, none of the fields that contain private key information can be serialized. If you try to serialize an RSAParameters structure with a remoting call or by using one of the serializers, you will receive only public key information. If you want to pass private key information, you will have to manually send that data. In all cases, if anyone can derive the parameters, the key that you transmit becomes useless.

Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 4, 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0

.NET Framework Client Profile

Supported in: 4, 3.5 SP1

Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or later, Windows XP SP3, Windows XP SP2 x64 Edition, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core supported with SP1 or later), Windows Server 2003 SP2

The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Thread Safety

Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

Reference

System.Security.Cryptography Namespace

Other Resources

Cryptographic Services

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FAQ

Chinese Remainder Algorithm

It may be helpful to note that the properties of the RSAParameters struct, and the math in this article, are based on the Chinese Remainder Algorithm as shown in this Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSA#Using_the_Chinese_remainder_algorithm

History

9/8/2011
theBoringCoder at work

Private Exponent Formula Error

"To create the private key, you must calculate d, which is a number such that (d)(e) mod n = 1."

I believe this should be (d)(e) mod (p-1)(q-1) = 1

History

6/30/2010
Steve Thiakos