xml-sec

XML Security in pure Rust, built to replace libxmlsec1.

No C dependencies. No cmake. No system libraries. Just cargo add xml-sec.

Warning

Early-stage pre-release. The API is unstable, XMLDSig/XMLEnc coverage is still incomplete, and this crate should not yet be used in production.

Features

• C14N — XML Canonicalization (inclusive + exclusive, W3C compliant)
• XMLDSig — XML Digital Signatures (verify and signing pipelines, X.509 KeyInfo, and xmlsec1 CLI interoperability)
• XMLEnc — XML Encryption encrypt/decrypt pipelines (direct, RSA-OAEP, and AES-KW keys)
• X.509 — Certificate-based key extraction and validation

Why?

libxmlsec1 is the established XML Security implementation, but its native dependency stack adds libxml2, a crypto backend, platform packages, and cross-compilation work to every deployment.

xml-sec rebuilds that functionality on memory-safe Rust foundations: roxmltree for parsing, quick-xml for writing, RustCrypto for cryptography, and x509-parser for certificates. One Cargo dependency, no system XML or crypto libraries.

Status

Pre-release. API is unstable. Not ready for production use.

Currently implemented (core paths):

• C14N 1.0, C14N 1.1, and Exclusive C14N
• XMLDSig parsing, same-document URI dereference, enveloped/C14N/Base64/XPath 1.0/XPath Filter 2.0 transform chains, and digest verification
• XMLDSig full verify pipeline (SignedInfo canonicalization + SignatureValue verification)
• XMLDSig template signing pipeline (DigestValue fill + SignedInfo canonicalization + SignatureValue fill), including enveloped SAML Response templates
• XMLDSig signing KeyInfo writer for embedded X.509 certificates
• Built-in verification-key resolution from embedded X.509/DER/KeyValue sources and configured KeyName, X.509 subject, issuer/serial, SKI, or digest selectors
• RSA PKCS#1 v1.5 verification helpers for SHA-1 / SHA-256 / SHA-384 / SHA-512
• ECDSA verification helpers for P-256/SHA-256 and P-384/SHA-384
• RSA PKCS#1 v1.5 and ECDSA P-256/P-384 signing from PKCS#8 private keys
• Opt-in X.509 certificate-chain validation with explicit trust anchors, validity checks, CA constraints, and CRLs
• XMLEnc AES-128/256-CBC and AES-128/256-GCM encryption/decryption with direct keys, RSA-OAEP key transport, AES-128/256-KW, multiple recipients, and Element/Content document replacement

Still in progress:

• XMLDSig DSA, HMAC, and RSA-PSS signature algorithms
• Complete XMLDSig and XMLEnc conformance-suite classification
• Production hardening, fuzzing, benchmarks, and API stabilization

XMLDSig Usage

examples/sign.rs builds an enveloped RSA-SHA256 signature and examples/verify.rs verifies it through the embedded X.509 certificate:

cargo run --example sign --all-features > signed.xml
cargo run --example verify --all-features -- signed.xml

See XML Digital Signatures for supported algorithms, transform semantics, key-resolution policy, and validation failure handling.

XMLEnc Usage

Enable the xmlenc feature. EncryptedDataBuilder supports direct symmetric keys, RSA-OAEP recipients, AES Key Wrap recipients, and Element/Content document replacement:

use xml_sec::xmlenc::{DataEncryptionAlgorithm, EncryptedDataBuilder};

fn example() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let key = [0x42_u8; 16];
    let encrypted_data = EncryptedDataBuilder::new(DataEncryptionAlgorithm::Aes128Gcm)
        .direct_key(key)
        .direct_key_name("application-content-key")
        .encrypt_xml("<secret>value</secret>")?;

    assert!(encrypted_data.encrypted_data_xml.contains("EncryptedData"));
    Ok(())
}

See XML Encryption for reciprocal decryption, recipient transport, document replacement, input bounds, and parser security policy.

Current toolchain target: latest stable Rust. Current MSRV: Rust 1.92.

Specifications

Spec	Status
Canonical XML 1.0	Implemented; full-document and document-subset vectors
Canonical XML 1.1	Implemented; xml:id and xml:base subset rules
Exclusive C14N	Implemented; InclusiveNamespaces PrefixList support
XMLDSig	Core sign/verify pipelines implemented; additional algorithms and conformance coverage in progress
XMLEnc	Core AES-CBC/GCM encrypt/decrypt with RSA-OAEP and AES-KW implemented; broader conformance coverage in progress

License

Apache-2.0

Support the Project

If xml-sec is useful in your stack, you can help fund continued implementation and maintenance.

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