How to load the RSA public key from file in C#

Question

I need to load the following RSA public key from a file for use with the RSACryptoServiceProvider class. How can I do this?

-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX/syEKqEkMtQL0+d
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX+izR
KbGMRtur2TYklnyVkjeeHfAggo8vWQmWesnOG55vQYHbOOFoJbk0EkwEr5R/PbKm
byXPPN8zwnS5/XXXXXXXXXXXX
-----END PUBLIC KEY-----

---

This code works with my pub key: http://www.jensign.com/opensslkey/

Here is the code I am using

        static string RSA(string input)
        {
            RSACryptoServiceProvider rsa = DecodeX509PublicKey(Convert.FromBase64String(GetKey()));

            return (Convert.ToBase64String(rsa.Encrypt(Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(input), false)));
        }

        static string GetKey()
        {
            return File.ReadAllText("master.pub").Replace("-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----", "").Replace("-----END PUBLIC KEY-----", "");
            //.Replace("\n", "");
        }

        private static bool CompareBytearrays(byte[] a, byte[] b)
        {
            if (a.Length != b.Length)
                return false;
            int i = 0;
            foreach (byte c in a)
            {
                if (c != b[i])
                    return false;
                i++;
            }
            return true;
        }

        public static RSACryptoServiceProvider DecodeX509PublicKey(byte[] x509key)
        {
            // encoded OID sequence for  PKCS #1 rsaEncryption szOID_RSA_RSA = "1.2.840.113549.1.1.1"
            byte[] SeqOID = { 0x30, 0x0D, 0x06, 0x09, 0x2A, 0x86, 0x48, 0x86, 0xF7, 0x0D, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x05, 0x00 };
            byte[] seq = new byte[15];
            // ---------  Set up stream to read the asn.1 encoded SubjectPublicKeyInfo blob  ------
            MemoryStream mem = new MemoryStream(x509key);
            BinaryReader binr = new BinaryReader(mem);    //wrap Memory Stream with BinaryReader for easy reading
            byte bt = 0;
            ushort twobytes = 0;

            try
            {

                twobytes = binr.ReadUInt16();
                if (twobytes == 0x8130) //data read as little endian order (actual data order for Sequence is 30 81)
                    binr.ReadByte();    //advance 1 byte
                else if (twobytes == 0x8230)
                    binr.ReadInt16();   //advance 2 bytes
                else
                    return null;

                seq = binr.ReadBytes(15);       //read the Sequence OID
                if (!CompareBytearrays(seq, SeqOID))    //make sure Sequence for OID is correct
                    return null;

                twobytes = binr.ReadUInt16();
                if (twobytes == 0x8103) //data read as little endian order (actual data order for Bit String is 03 81)
                    binr.ReadByte();    //advance 1 byte
                else if (twobytes == 0x8203)
                    binr.ReadInt16();   //advance 2 bytes
                else
                    return null;

                bt = binr.ReadByte();
                if (bt != 0x00)     //expect null byte next
                    return null;

                twobytes = binr.ReadUInt16();
                if (twobytes == 0x8130) //data read as little endian order (actual data order for Sequence is 30 81)
                    binr.ReadByte();    //advance 1 byte
                else if (twobytes == 0x8230)
                    binr.ReadInt16();   //advance 2 bytes
                else
                    return null;

                twobytes = binr.ReadUInt16();
                byte lowbyte = 0x00;
                byte highbyte = 0x00;

                if (twobytes == 0x8102) //data read as little endian order (actual data order for Integer is 02 81)
                    lowbyte = binr.ReadByte();  // read next bytes which is bytes in modulus
                else if (twobytes == 0x8202)
                {
                    highbyte = binr.ReadByte(); //advance 2 bytes
                    lowbyte = binr.ReadByte();
                }
                else
                    return null;
                byte[] modint = { lowbyte, highbyte, 0x00, 0x00 };   //reverse byte order since asn.1 key uses big endian order
                int modsize = BitConverter.ToInt32(modint, 0);

                byte firstbyte = binr.ReadByte();
                binr.BaseStream.Seek(-1, SeekOrigin.Current);

                if (firstbyte == 0x00)
                {   //if first byte (highest order) of modulus is zero, don't include it
                    binr.ReadByte();    //skip this null byte
                    modsize -= 1;   //reduce modulus buffer size by 1
                }

                byte[] modulus = binr.ReadBytes(modsize);   //read the modulus bytes

                if (binr.ReadByte() != 0x02)            //expect an Integer for the exponent data
                    return null;
                int expbytes = (int)binr.ReadByte();        // should only need one byte for actual exponent data (for all useful values)
                byte[] exponent = binr.ReadBytes(expbytes);

                // ------- create RSACryptoServiceProvider instance and initialize with public key -----
                RSACryptoServiceProvider RSA = new RSACryptoServiceProvider();
                RSAParameters RSAKeyInfo = new RSAParameters();
                RSAKeyInfo.Modulus = modulus;
                RSAKeyInfo.Exponent = exponent;
                RSA.ImportParameters(RSAKeyInfo);
                return RSA;
            }
            catch (Exception)
            {
                return null;
            }

            finally { binr.Close(); }

        }

Just call the 'RSA' method with the text you want to encrypt and you're done.

Answer 1

If you're talking about an X509 certificate:

FileStream fs = new FileStream("your_cert_file.crt", FileMode.Open);
byte[] certBytes = new byte[fs.Length];
fs.Read(certBytes, 0, (Int32)fs.Length);
fs.Close();
System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509Certificate x509cert = 
    new X509Certificate(certBytes);
Console.WriteLine(x509cert.GetPublicKey());
Console.WriteLine(x509cert.GetPublicKeyString());

EDITED after the comment of @hkproj done in "7/16/2012 15:04:58 Z":

Looking around here I found "Reading PEM RSA Public Key Only using Bouncy Castle". I guess what you want is this:

using (StreamReader reader = File.OpenText(@"c:\RSA.txt"))
{
    Org.BouncyCastle.OpenSsl.PemReader pr = 
        new Org.BouncyCastle.OpenSsl.PemReader(reader);
    Org.BouncyCastle.Utilities.IO.Pem.PemObject po = pr.ReadPemObject();

    Console.WriteLine("PemObject, Type: " + po.Type);
    Console.WriteLine("PemObject, Length: " + po.Content.Length);
}

However, with your file I get an error: System.IO.IOException : base64 data appears to be truncated.

So changing your file to something like:

-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX/syEKqEkMtQL0+d
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX+izR
KbGMRtur2TYklnyVkjeeHfAggo8vWQmWesnOG55vQYHbOOFoJbk0EkwEr5R/PbKm
byXPPN8zwnS5/XXXXXXXXXXXXZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
-----END PUBLIC KEY-----

The result is:

PemObject, Type: PUBLIC KEY
PemObject, Length: 192

Answer 2

You can get RSACryptoServiceProvider from pem file using the following class (GetRSAProviderFromPemFile method). Copyright (c) 2000 JavaScience Consulting, Michel Gallant

Usage:

RSACryptoServiceProvider provider = PemKeyUtils.GetRSAProviderFromPemFile(  @"public_key.pem" );


public class PemKeyUtils
{
    const String pemprivheader = "-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----";
    const String pemprivfooter = "-----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----";
    const String pempubheader = "-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----";
    const String pempubfooter = "-----END PUBLIC KEY-----";
    const String pemp8header = "-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----";
    const String pemp8footer = "-----END PRIVATE KEY-----";
    const String pemp8encheader = "-----BEGIN ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY-----";
    const String pemp8encfooter = "-----END ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY-----";

    static bool verbose = false;

    public static RSACryptoServiceProvider GetRSAProviderFromPemFile( String pemfile )
    {
        bool isPrivateKeyFile = true;
        string pemstr = File.ReadAllText( pemfile ).Trim();
        if (pemstr.StartsWith( pempubheader ) && pemstr.EndsWith( pempubfooter ))
            isPrivateKeyFile = false;

        byte[] pemkey;
        if (isPrivateKeyFile)
            pemkey = DecodeOpenSSLPrivateKey( pemstr );
        else
            pemkey = DecodeOpenSSLPublicKey( pemstr );

        if (pemkey == null)
            return null;

        if (isPrivateKeyFile)
            return DecodeRSAPrivateKey( pemkey );
        else
            return DecodeX509PublicKey( pemkey );

    }



    //--------   Get the binary RSA PUBLIC key   --------
    static byte[] DecodeOpenSSLPublicKey( String instr )
    {
        const String pempubheader = "-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----";
        const String pempubfooter = "-----END PUBLIC KEY-----";
        String pemstr = instr.Trim();
        byte[] binkey;
        if (!pemstr.StartsWith( pempubheader ) || !pemstr.EndsWith( pempubfooter ))
            return null;
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder( pemstr );
        sb.Replace( pempubheader, "" );  //remove headers/footers, if present
        sb.Replace( pempubfooter, "" );

        String pubstr = sb.ToString().Trim();   //get string after removing leading/trailing whitespace

        try
        {
            binkey = Convert.FromBase64String( pubstr );
        }
        catch (System.FormatException)
        {       //if can't b64 decode, data is not valid
            return null;
        }
        return binkey;
    }

    static RSACryptoServiceProvider DecodeX509PublicKey(byte[] x509Key)
    {
        // encoded OID sequence for  PKCS #1 rsaEncryption szOID_RSA_RSA = "1.2.840.113549.1.1.1"
        byte[] seqOid = { 0x30, 0x0D, 0x06, 0x09, 0x2A, 0x86, 0x48, 0x86, 0xF7, 0x0D, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x05, 0x00 };
        // ---------  Set up stream to read the asn.1 encoded SubjectPublicKeyInfo blob  ------
        using (var mem = new MemoryStream(x509Key))
        {
            using (var binr = new BinaryReader(mem))    //wrap Memory Stream with BinaryReader for easy reading
            {
                try
                {
                    var twobytes = binr.ReadUInt16();
                    switch (twobytes)
                    {
                        case 0x8130:
                            binr.ReadByte();    //advance 1 byte
                            break;
                        case 0x8230:
                            binr.ReadInt16();   //advance 2 bytes
                            break;
                        default:
                            return null;
                    }

                    var seq = binr.ReadBytes(15);
                    if (!CompareBytearrays(seq, seqOid))  //make sure Sequence for OID is correct
                        return null;

                    twobytes = binr.ReadUInt16();
                    if (twobytes == 0x8103) //data read as little endian order (actual data order for Bit String is 03 81)
                        binr.ReadByte();    //advance 1 byte
                    else if (twobytes == 0x8203)
                        binr.ReadInt16();   //advance 2 bytes
                    else
                        return null;

                    var bt = binr.ReadByte();
                    if (bt != 0x00)     //expect null byte next
                        return null;

                    twobytes = binr.ReadUInt16();
                    if (twobytes == 0x8130) //data read as little endian order (actual data order for Sequence is 30 81)
                        binr.ReadByte();    //advance 1 byte
                    else if (twobytes == 0x8230)
                        binr.ReadInt16();   //advance 2 bytes
                    else
                        return null;

                    twobytes = binr.ReadUInt16();
                    byte lowbyte = 0x00;
                    byte highbyte = 0x00;

                    if (twobytes == 0x8102) //data read as little endian order (actual data order for Integer is 02 81)
                        lowbyte = binr.ReadByte();  // read next bytes which is bytes in modulus
                    else if (twobytes == 0x8202)
                    {
                        highbyte = binr.ReadByte(); //advance 2 bytes
                        lowbyte = binr.ReadByte();
                    }
                    else
                        return null;
                    byte[] modint = { lowbyte, highbyte, 0x00, 0x00 };   //reverse byte order since asn.1 key uses big endian order
                    int modsize = BitConverter.ToInt32(modint, 0);

                    byte firstbyte = binr.ReadByte();
                    binr.BaseStream.Seek(-1, SeekOrigin.Current);

                    if (firstbyte == 0x00)
                    {   //if first byte (highest order) of modulus is zero, don't include it
                        binr.ReadByte();    //skip this null byte
                        modsize -= 1;   //reduce modulus buffer size by 1
                    }

                    byte[] modulus = binr.ReadBytes(modsize); //read the modulus bytes

                    if (binr.ReadByte() != 0x02)            //expect an Integer for the exponent data
                        return null;
                    int expbytes = binr.ReadByte();        // should only need one byte for actual exponent data (for all useful values)
                    byte[] exponent = binr.ReadBytes(expbytes);

                    // We don't really need to print anything but if we insist to...
                    //showBytes("\nExponent", exponent);
                    //showBytes("\nModulus", modulus);

                    // ------- create RSACryptoServiceProvider instance and initialize with public key -----
                    RSACryptoServiceProvider rsa = new RSACryptoServiceProvider();
                    RSAParameters rsaKeyInfo = new RSAParameters
                    {
                        Modulus = modulus,
                        Exponent = exponent
                    };
                    rsa.ImportParameters(rsaKeyInfo);
                    return rsa;
                }
                catch (Exception)
                {
                    return null;
                }
            }
        }
    }

    //------- Parses binary ans.1 RSA private key; returns RSACryptoServiceProvider  ---
    static RSACryptoServiceProvider DecodeRSAPrivateKey( byte[] privkey )
    {
        byte[] MODULUS, E, D, P, Q, DP, DQ, IQ;

        // ---------  Set up stream to decode the asn.1 encoded RSA private key  ------
        MemoryStream mem = new MemoryStream( privkey );
        BinaryReader binr = new BinaryReader( mem );    //wrap Memory Stream with BinaryReader for easy reading
        byte bt = 0;
        ushort twobytes = 0;
        int elems = 0;
        try
        {
            twobytes = binr.ReadUInt16();
            if (twobytes == 0x8130) //data read as little endian order (actual data order for Sequence is 30 81)
                binr.ReadByte();    //advance 1 byte
            else if (twobytes == 0x8230)
                binr.ReadInt16();   //advance 2 bytes
            else
                return null;

            twobytes = binr.ReadUInt16();
            if (twobytes != 0x0102) //version number
                return null;
            bt = binr.ReadByte();
            if (bt != 0x00)
                return null;


            //------  all private key components are Integer sequences ----
            elems = GetIntegerSize( binr );
            MODULUS = binr.ReadBytes( elems );

            elems = GetIntegerSize( binr );
            E = binr.ReadBytes( elems );

            elems = GetIntegerSize( binr );
            D = binr.ReadBytes( elems );

            elems = GetIntegerSize( binr );
            P = binr.ReadBytes( elems );

            elems = GetIntegerSize( binr );
            Q = binr.ReadBytes( elems );

            elems = GetIntegerSize( binr );
            DP = binr.ReadBytes( elems );

            elems = GetIntegerSize( binr );
            DQ = binr.ReadBytes( elems );

            elems = GetIntegerSize( binr );
            IQ = binr.ReadBytes( elems );

            Console.WriteLine( "showing components .." );
            if (verbose)
            {
                showBytes( "\nModulus", MODULUS );
                showBytes( "\nExponent", E );
                showBytes( "\nD", D );
                showBytes( "\nP", P );
                showBytes( "\nQ", Q );
                showBytes( "\nDP", DP );
                showBytes( "\nDQ", DQ );
                showBytes( "\nIQ", IQ );
            }

            // ------- create RSACryptoServiceProvider instance and initialize with public key -----
            RSACryptoServiceProvider RSA = new RSACryptoServiceProvider();
            RSAParameters RSAparams = new RSAParameters();
            RSAparams.Modulus = MODULUS;
            RSAparams.Exponent = E;
            RSAparams.D = D;
            RSAparams.P = P;
            RSAparams.Q = Q;
            RSAparams.DP = DP;
            RSAparams.DQ = DQ;
            RSAparams.InverseQ = IQ;
            RSA.ImportParameters( RSAparams );
            return RSA;
        }
        catch (Exception)
        {
            return null;
        }
        finally { binr.Close(); }
    }

    private static int GetIntegerSize( BinaryReader binr )
    {
        byte bt = 0;
        byte lowbyte = 0x00;
        byte highbyte = 0x00;
        int count = 0;
        bt = binr.ReadByte();
        if (bt != 0x02)     //expect integer
            return 0;
        bt = binr.ReadByte();

        if (bt == 0x81)
            count = binr.ReadByte();    // data size in next byte
        else
            if (bt == 0x82)
            {
                highbyte = binr.ReadByte(); // data size in next 2 bytes
                lowbyte = binr.ReadByte();
                byte[] modint = { lowbyte, highbyte, 0x00, 0x00 };
                count = BitConverter.ToInt32( modint, 0 );
            }
            else
            {
                count = bt;     // we already have the data size
            }



        while (binr.ReadByte() == 0x00)
        {   //remove high order zeros in data
            count -= 1;
        }
        binr.BaseStream.Seek( -1, SeekOrigin.Current );     //last ReadByte wasn't a removed zero, so back up a byte
        return count;
    }

    //-----  Get the binary RSA PRIVATE key, decrypting if necessary ----
    static byte[] DecodeOpenSSLPrivateKey( String instr )
    {
        const String pemprivheader = "-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----";
        const String pemprivfooter = "-----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----";
        String pemstr = instr.Trim();
        byte[] binkey;
        if (!pemstr.StartsWith( pemprivheader ) || !pemstr.EndsWith( pemprivfooter ))
            return null;

        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder( pemstr );
        sb.Replace( pemprivheader, "" );  //remove headers/footers, if present
        sb.Replace( pemprivfooter, "" );

        String pvkstr = sb.ToString().Trim();   //get string after removing leading/trailing whitespace

        try
        {        // if there are no PEM encryption info lines, this is an UNencrypted PEM private key
            binkey = Convert.FromBase64String( pvkstr );
            return binkey;
        }
        catch (System.FormatException)
        {       //if can't b64 decode, it must be an encrypted private key
            //Console.WriteLine("Not an unencrypted OpenSSL PEM private key");  
        }

        StringReader str = new StringReader( pvkstr );

        //-------- read PEM encryption info. lines and extract salt -----
        if (!str.ReadLine().StartsWith( "Proc-Type: 4,ENCRYPTED" ))
            return null;
        String saltline = str.ReadLine();
        if (!saltline.StartsWith( "DEK-Info: DES-EDE3-CBC," ))
            return null;
        String saltstr = saltline.Substring( saltline.IndexOf( "," ) + 1 ).Trim();
        byte[] salt = new byte[saltstr.Length / 2];
        for (int i = 0; i < salt.Length; i++)
            salt[i] = Convert.ToByte( saltstr.Substring( i * 2, 2 ), 16 );
        if (!(str.ReadLine() == ""))
            return null;

        //------ remaining b64 data is encrypted RSA key ----
        String encryptedstr = str.ReadToEnd();

        try
        {   //should have b64 encrypted RSA key now
            binkey = Convert.FromBase64String( encryptedstr );
        }
        catch (System.FormatException)
        {  // bad b64 data.
            return null;
        }

        //------ Get the 3DES 24 byte key using PDK used by OpenSSL ----

        SecureString despswd = GetSecPswd( "Enter password to derive 3DES key==>" );
        //Console.Write("\nEnter password to derive 3DES key: ");
        //String pswd = Console.ReadLine();
        byte[] deskey = GetOpenSSL3deskey( salt, despswd, 1, 2 );    // count=1 (for OpenSSL implementation); 2 iterations to get at least 24 bytes
        if (deskey == null)
            return null;
        //showBytes("3DES key", deskey) ;

        //------ Decrypt the encrypted 3des-encrypted RSA private key ------
        byte[] rsakey = DecryptKey( binkey, deskey, salt ); //OpenSSL uses salt value in PEM header also as 3DES IV
        if (rsakey != null)
            return rsakey;  //we have a decrypted RSA private key
        else
        {
            Console.WriteLine( "Failed to decrypt RSA private key; probably wrong password." );
            return null;
        }
    }


    // ----- Decrypt the 3DES encrypted RSA private key ----------

    static byte[] DecryptKey( byte[] cipherData, byte[] desKey, byte[] IV )
    {
        MemoryStream memst = new MemoryStream();
        TripleDES alg = TripleDES.Create();
        alg.Key = desKey;
        alg.IV = IV;
        try
        {
            CryptoStream cs = new CryptoStream( memst, alg.CreateDecryptor(), CryptoStreamMode.Write );
            cs.Write( cipherData, 0, cipherData.Length );
            cs.Close();
        }
        catch (Exception exc)
        {
            Console.WriteLine( exc.Message );
            return null;
        }
        byte[] decryptedData = memst.ToArray();
        return decryptedData;
    }

    //-----   OpenSSL PBKD uses only one hash cycle (count); miter is number of iterations required to build sufficient bytes ---
    static byte[] GetOpenSSL3deskey( byte[] salt, SecureString secpswd, int count, int miter )
    {
        IntPtr unmanagedPswd = IntPtr.Zero;
        int HASHLENGTH = 16;    //MD5 bytes
        byte[] keymaterial = new byte[HASHLENGTH * miter];     //to store contatenated Mi hashed results


        byte[] psbytes = new byte[secpswd.Length];
        unmanagedPswd = Marshal.SecureStringToGlobalAllocAnsi( secpswd );
        Marshal.Copy( unmanagedPswd, psbytes, 0, psbytes.Length );
        Marshal.ZeroFreeGlobalAllocAnsi( unmanagedPswd );

        //UTF8Encoding utf8 = new UTF8Encoding();
        //byte[] psbytes = utf8.GetBytes(pswd);

        // --- contatenate salt and pswd bytes into fixed data array ---
        byte[] data00 = new byte[psbytes.Length + salt.Length];
        Array.Copy( psbytes, data00, psbytes.Length );      //copy the pswd bytes
        Array.Copy( salt, 0, data00, psbytes.Length, salt.Length ); //concatenate the salt bytes

        // ---- do multi-hashing and contatenate results  D1, D2 ...  into keymaterial bytes ----
        MD5 md5 = new MD5CryptoServiceProvider();
        byte[] result = null;
        byte[] hashtarget = new byte[HASHLENGTH + data00.Length];   //fixed length initial hashtarget

        for (int j = 0; j < miter; j++)
        {
            // ----  Now hash consecutively for count times ------
            if (j == 0)
                result = data00;    //initialize 
            else
            {
                Array.Copy( result, hashtarget, result.Length );
                Array.Copy( data00, 0, hashtarget, result.Length, data00.Length );
                result = hashtarget;
                //Console.WriteLine("Updated new initial hash target:") ;
                //showBytes(result) ;
            }

            for (int i = 0; i < count; i++)
                result = md5.ComputeHash( result );
            Array.Copy( result, 0, keymaterial, j * HASHLENGTH, result.Length );  //contatenate to keymaterial
        }
        //showBytes("Final key material", keymaterial);
        byte[] deskey = new byte[24];
        Array.Copy( keymaterial, deskey, deskey.Length );

        Array.Clear( psbytes, 0, psbytes.Length );
        Array.Clear( data00, 0, data00.Length );
        Array.Clear( result, 0, result.Length );
        Array.Clear( hashtarget, 0, hashtarget.Length );
        Array.Clear( keymaterial, 0, keymaterial.Length );

        return deskey;
    }

    static SecureString GetSecPswd( String prompt )
    {
        SecureString password = new SecureString();

        Console.ForegroundColor = ConsoleColor.Gray;
        Console.Write( prompt );
        Console.ForegroundColor = ConsoleColor.Magenta;

        while (true)
        {
            ConsoleKeyInfo cki = Console.ReadKey( true );
            if (cki.Key == ConsoleKey.Enter)
            {
                Console.ForegroundColor = ConsoleColor.Gray;
                Console.WriteLine();
                return password;
            }
            else if (cki.Key == ConsoleKey.Backspace)
            {
                // remove the last asterisk from the screen...
                if (password.Length > 0)
                {
                    Console.SetCursorPosition( Console.CursorLeft - 1, Console.CursorTop );
                    Console.Write( " " );
                    Console.SetCursorPosition( Console.CursorLeft - 1, Console.CursorTop );
                    password.RemoveAt( password.Length - 1 );
                }
            }
            else if (cki.Key == ConsoleKey.Escape)
            {
                Console.ForegroundColor = ConsoleColor.Gray;
                Console.WriteLine();
                return password;
            }
            else if (Char.IsLetterOrDigit( cki.KeyChar ) || Char.IsSymbol( cki.KeyChar ))
            {
                if (password.Length < 20)
                {
                    password.AppendChar( cki.KeyChar );
                    Console.Write( "*" );
                }
                else
                {
                    Console.Beep();
                }
            }
            else
            {
                Console.Beep();
            }
        }
    }

    static bool CompareBytearrays( byte[] a, byte[] b )
    {
        if (a.Length != b.Length)
            return false;
        int i = 0;
        foreach (byte c in a)
        {
            if (c != b[i])
                return false;
            i++;
        }
        return true;
    }

    static void showBytes( String info, byte[] data )
    {
        Console.WriteLine( "{0}  [{1} bytes]", info, data.Length );
        for (int i = 1; i <= data.Length; i++)
        {
            Console.Write( "{0:X2}  ", data[i - 1] );
            if (i % 16 == 0)
                Console.WriteLine();
        }
        Console.WriteLine( "\n\n" );
    }

}

Answer 3

Are you speaking about certificates stored in file?

If you have an object like:

X509Certificate2 certificate;

you can use following code:

RSACryptoServiceProvider rsaprovider =
                    (RSACryptoServiceProvider)certificate.PublicKey.Key;

and then use the class RSACryptoServiceProvider (see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.security.cryptography.rsacryptoserviceprovider.aspx).

To load an X509Certificate2 use its constructor (see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.security.cryptography.x509certificates.x509certificate2.aspx).

This program works fine for me:

    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        try 
        {
            X509Certificate2 certificate = 
                new X509Certificate2("<PFX Certificate Path", "<Certificate-Password>");
            RSACryptoServiceProvider rsaprovider = (RSACryptoServiceProvider)certificate.PublicKey.Key;
        }
        catch(Exception e)
        {

        }
    }