Example C Program: Duplicating a Session Key

The following example creates a random session key, duplicates the key, sets some additional parameters on the original key, and destroys both the original and the duplicate keys. This example illustrates the use of CryptDuplicateKey and related functions.

This example illustrates the following tasks and CryptoAPI functions:

• Accessing a cryptographic service provider (CSP) using CryptAcquireContext.
• Creating a session key using CryptGenKey.
• Duplicating the key created using CryptDuplicateKey.
• Using CryptSetKeyParam to alter the key generation process in two different ways.
• Filling a buffer with random bytes using CryptGenRandom.
• Destroying the keys using CryptDestroyKey.
• Releasing the CSP with CryptReleaseContext.

This example uses the function MyHandleError. The code for this function is included with the sample. Code for this and other auxiliary functions is also listed under General Purpose Functions.

#pragma comment(lib, "crypt32.lib")

#include <stdio.h>
#include <windows.h>
#include <Wincrypt.h>
#define MY_ENCODING_TYPE  (PKCS_7_ASN_ENCODING | X509_ASN_ENCODING)
void MyHandleError(char *s);

//-------------------------------------------------------------------
// Copyright (C) Microsoft.  All rights reserved.
// Begin main.

void main()
{
//-------------------------------------------------------------------
// Declare and initialize variables.

HCRYPTPROV   hCryptProv;
HCRYPTKEY    hOriginalKey;
HCRYPTKEY    hDuplicateKey;
DWORD        dwMode;
BYTE         pbData[16];

//-------------------------------------------------------------------
// Begin processing.

printf("This program creates a session key and duplicates \n");
printf("that key. Next, parameters are added to the original \n");
printf("key. Finally, both keys are destroyed. \n\n");

//-------------------------------------------------------------------
// Acquire a cryptographic provider context handle.

if(CryptAcquireContext(    
   &hCryptProv,
   NULL,
   NULL,
   PROV_RSA_FULL,
   0)) 
{    
    printf("CryptAcquireContext succeeded. \n");
}
else
{
    MyHandleError("Error during CryptAcquireContext!\n");
}
//-------------------------------------------------------------------
// Generate a key.
if (CryptGenKey(
     hCryptProv, 
     CALG_RC4, 
     0, 
     &hOriginalKey))
{
   printf("Original session key is created. \n");
}
else
{
   MyHandleError("ERROR - CryptGenKey.");
}
//-------------------------------------------------------------------
// Duplicate the key.

if (CryptDuplicateKey(
     hOriginalKey, 
     NULL, 
     0, 
     &hDuplicateKey))
{
   printf("The session key has been duplicated. \n");
}
else
{
   MyHandleError("ERROR - CryptDuplicateKey");
}
//-------------------------------------------------------------------
// Set additional parameters on the original key.
// First, set the cipher mode.

dwMode = CRYPT_MODE_ECB;
if(CryptSetKeyParam(
   hOriginalKey, 
   KP_MODE, 
   (BYTE*)&dwMode, 
   0)) 
{
     printf("Key Parameters set. \n");
}
else
{
     MyHandleError("Error during CryptSetKeyParam.");
}
// Generate a random initialization vector.
if(CryptGenRandom(
   hCryptProv, 
   8, 
   pbData)) 
{
     printf("Random sequence generated. \n");
}
else
{
     MyHandleError("Error during CryptGenRandom.");
}
//-------------------------------------------------------------------
// Set the initialization vector.
if(CryptSetKeyParam(
   hOriginalKey, 
   KP_IV, 
   pbData, 
   0)) 
{
     printf("Parameter set with random sequence as "
         "initialization vector. \n");
}
else
{
     MyHandleError("Error during CryptSetKeyParam.");
}
//-------------------------------------------------------------------
// Clean up.

if (hOriginalKey)
    if (!CryptDestroyKey(hOriginalKey))
        MyHandleError("Failed CryptDestroyKey\n");

if (hDuplicateKey)
    if (!CryptDestroyKey(hDuplicateKey))
            MyHandleError("Failed CryptDestroyKey\n");

if(hCryptProv)
    if (!CryptReleaseContext(hCryptProv, 0))
        MyHandleError("Failed CryptReleaseContext\n");

printf("\nThe program ran to completion without error. \n");

} // End of main.

//-------------------------------------------------------------------
//  This example uses the function MyHandleError, a simple error
//  handling function, to print an error message and exit 
//  the program. 
//  For most applications, replace this function with one 
//  that does more extensive error reporting.

void MyHandleError(char *s)
{
    printf("An error occurred in running the program.\n");
    printf("%s\n",s);
    printf("Error number %x\n.",GetLastError());
    printf("Program terminating.\n");
    exit(1);
}