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X509Extension Class

Represents an X509 extension.

Namespace:  System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates
Assembly:  System (in System.dll)

'Declaration
Public Class X509Extension _
	Inherits AsnEncodedData
'Usage
Dim instance As X509Extension

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.

Imports System
Imports System.Security.Cryptography
Imports System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates



Module CertSelect

    Sub Main()
        Try 
            Dim store As New X509Store("MY", StoreLocation.CurrentUser)
            store.Open(OpenFlags.ReadOnly Or OpenFlags.OpenExistingOnly)

            Dim collection As X509Certificate2Collection = CType(store.Certificates, X509Certificate2Collection)
            Dim i As Integer 
            For i = 0 To collection.Count
                Dim extension As X509Extension
                For Each extension In collection(i).Extensions
                    Console.WriteLine(extension.Oid.FriendlyName + "(" + extension.Oid.Value + ")")


                    If extension.Oid.FriendlyName = "Key Usage" Then 
                        Dim ext As X509KeyUsageExtension = CType(extension, X509KeyUsageExtension)
                        Console.WriteLine(ext.KeyUsages)
                    End If 

                    If extension.Oid.FriendlyName = "Basic Constraints" Then 
                        Dim ext As X509BasicConstraintsExtension = CType(extension, X509BasicConstraintsExtension)
                        Console.WriteLine(ext.CertificateAuthority)
                        Console.WriteLine(ext.HasPathLengthConstraint)
                        Console.WriteLine(ext.PathLengthConstraint)
                    End If 

                    If extension.Oid.FriendlyName = "Subject Key Identifier" Then 
                        Dim ext As X509SubjectKeyIdentifierExtension = CType(extension, X509SubjectKeyIdentifierExtension)
                        Console.WriteLine(ext.SubjectKeyIdentifier)
                    End If 

                    If extension.Oid.FriendlyName = "Enhanced Key Usage" Then 
                        Dim ext As X509EnhancedKeyUsageExtension = CType(extension, X509EnhancedKeyUsageExtension)
                        Dim oids As OidCollection = ext.EnhancedKeyUsages
                        Dim oid As Oid
                        For Each oid In oids
                            Console.WriteLine(oid.FriendlyName + "(" + oid.Value + ")")
                        Next oid
                    End If 
                Next extension
            Next i
            store.Close()
        Catch
            Console.WriteLine("Information could not be written out for this certificate.")
        End Try 

    End Sub 
End Module

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

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98

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

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0
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