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X509Extension Class

Represents an X509 extension.

Namespace:  System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates
Assembly:  System (in System.dll)
public class X509Extension : AsnEncodedData

The X509Extension type exposes the following members.

  Name Description
Protected method X509Extension() Initializes a new instance of the X509Extension class.
Public method X509Extension(AsnEncodedData, Boolean) Initializes a new instance of the X509Extension class.
Public method X509Extension(Oid, Byte[], Boolean) Initializes a new instance of the X509Extension class.
Public method X509Extension(String, Byte[], Boolean) Initializes a new instance of the X509Extension class.
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  Name Description
Public property Critical Gets a Boolean value indicating whether the extension is critical.
Public property Oid Gets or sets the Oid value for an AsnEncodedData object. (Inherited from AsnEncodedData.)
Public property RawData Gets or sets the Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1)-encoded data represented in a byte array. (Inherited from AsnEncodedData.)
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  Name Description
Public method CopyFrom Copies the extension properties of the specified AsnEncodedData object. (Overrides AsnEncodedData.CopyFrom(AsnEncodedData).)
Public method Equals(Object) Determines whether the specified Object is equal to the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
Protected method Finalize Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before it is reclaimed by garbage collection. (Inherited from Object.)
Public method Format Returns a formatted version of the Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1)-encoded data as a string. (Inherited from AsnEncodedData.)
Public method GetHashCode Serves as a hash function for a particular type. (Inherited from Object.)
Public method GetType Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.)
Protected method MemberwiseClone Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
Public method ToString Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object.)
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X509 extensions are dynamic, extended properties that can be added to an X509 certificate and changed. The X509Extension class can be used to create extensions that are associated with a certificate but are not part of a certificate as issued by a certification authority (CA).

In its most basic form, an X509 extension has an object identifier (OID), a Boolean value describing whether the extension is considered critical or not, and ASN-encoded data. Custom extensions can be registered in a CryptoConfig file.

The.NET Framework includes implementations of several common X509 extensions:

The following code example demonstrates using the X509Extension class.


using System;
using System.Security.Cryptography;
using System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates;

public class CertSelect
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        try
        {
            X509Store store = new X509Store("MY", StoreLocation.CurrentUser);
            store.Open(OpenFlags.ReadOnly | OpenFlags.OpenExistingOnly);

            X509Certificate2Collection collection = (X509Certificate2Collection)store.Certificates;
            for (int i = 0; i < collection.Count; i++)
            {
                foreach (X509Extension extension in collection[i].Extensions)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine(extension.Oid.FriendlyName + "(" + extension.Oid.Value + ")");


                    if (extension.Oid.FriendlyName == "Key Usage")
                    {
                        X509KeyUsageExtension ext = (X509KeyUsageExtension)extension;
                        Console.WriteLine(ext.KeyUsages);
                    }

                    if (extension.Oid.FriendlyName == "Basic Constraints")
                    {
                        X509BasicConstraintsExtension ext = (X509BasicConstraintsExtension)extension;
                        Console.WriteLine(ext.CertificateAuthority);
                        Console.WriteLine(ext.HasPathLengthConstraint);
                        Console.WriteLine(ext.PathLengthConstraint);
                    }

                    if (extension.Oid.FriendlyName == "Subject Key Identifier")
                    {
                        X509SubjectKeyIdentifierExtension ext = (X509SubjectKeyIdentifierExtension)extension;
                        Console.WriteLine(ext.SubjectKeyIdentifier);
                    }

                    if (extension.Oid.FriendlyName == "Enhanced Key Usage")
                    {
                        X509EnhancedKeyUsageExtension ext = (X509EnhancedKeyUsageExtension)extension;
                        OidCollection oids = ext.EnhancedKeyUsages;
                        foreach (Oid oid in oids)
                        {
                            Console.WriteLine(oid.FriendlyName + "(" + oid.Value + ")");
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
            store.Close();
        }
        catch (CryptographicException)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Information could not be written out for this certificate.");
        }
    }
}


.NET Framework

Supported in: 4, 3.5, 3.0, 2.0

.NET Framework Client Profile

Supported in: 4, 3.5 SP1

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