PCSC sample in Objective-C

Ludovic Rousseau

2015-09-25 14:27

To continue the list of PC/SC wrappers initiated in 2010 with "PC/SC sample in different languages" I now present a sample in Objective-C using the Apple Crypto Token Kit API.

Crypto Token Kit API

In Yosemite (Mac OS X 10.10) Apple introduced a new API to access smart cards. See OS X Yosemite and smart cards status.
This API is not a wrapper above PC/SC. It is the native API to be used on Mac OS X. You do not need to install it, it comes with the OS.

Source code

Create a new Cocoa application in Xcode. You need to enable the App Sandbox and add/set the com.apple.security.smartcard entitlement to yes.

My sample HellloWorld application does not use Cocoa. It is a text only application.

#import <CryptoTokenKit/CryptoTokenKit.h>

int main(int argc, const char * argv[])
{
    TKSmartCardSlotManager * mngr;
    mngr = [TKSmartCardSlotManager defaultManager];
    
    // Use the first reader/slot found
    NSString *slotName = (NSString *)mngr.slotNames[0];
    NSLog(@"slotName: %@", slotName);
    
    // connect to the slot
    [mngr getSlotWithName:slotName reply:^(TKSmartCardSlot *slot)
     {
         // connect to the card
         TKSmartCard *card = [slot makeSmartCard];
         if (card)
         {
             // begin a session
             [card beginSessionWithReply:^(BOOL success, NSError *error)
              {
                  if (success)
                  {
                      // send 1st APDU
                      uint8_t aid[] = {0xA0, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x62, 0x03, 0x01, 0x0C, 0x06, 0x01};
                      NSData *data = [NSData dataWithBytes: aid length: sizeof aid];
                      [card sendIns:0xA4 p1:0x04 p2:0x00 data:data le:nil
                              reply:^(NSData *replyData, UInt16 sw, NSError *error)
                       {
                           if (error)
                           {
                               NSLog(@"sendIns error: %@", error);
                           }
                           else
                           {
                               NSLog(@"Response: %@ 0x%04X", replyData, sw);

                               // send 2nd APDU
                               NSData *data = [NSData dataWithBytes: nil length: 0];
                               [card sendIns:0x00 p1:0x00 p2:0x00 data:data le:@200
                                       reply:^(NSData *replyData, UInt16 sw, NSError *error)
                                {
                                    if (error)
                                    {
                                        NSLog(@"sendIns error: %@", error);
                                    }
                                    else
                                    {
                                        NSLog(@"Response: %@ 0x%04X", replyData, sw);
                                        NSString *newString = [[NSString alloc] initWithData:replyData encoding:NSASCIIStringEncoding];
                                        NSLog(@"%@", newString);
                                    }
                                }];
                           }
                       }];
                  }
                  else
                  {
                      NSLog(@"Session error: %@", error);
                  }
              }];
         } else
         {
             NSLog(@"No card found");
         }
     }];
    
    // wait for the asynchronous blocks to finish
    sleep(1);
    
    return 0;
}

Output

2015-09-25 14:24:19.552 HelloWorld[1578:141676] slotName: Gemalto PC Twin Reader
2015-09-25 14:24:19.668 HelloWorld[1578:141740] Response: <> 0x9000
2015-09-25 14:24:19.681 HelloWorld[1578:141740] Response: <48656c6c 6f20776f 726c6421> 0x9000
2015-09-25 14:24:19.681 HelloWorld[1578:141740] Hello world!

Comments

The method SendIns is asynchronous. The result is executed in a block. It is similar to a callback in the JavaScript example PCSC sample in JavaScript (Node.js).

With the method SendIns you do not specify the class byte. If needed you can use the lower level transmitRequest method instead.

The method SendIns takes a parameter that contains the data sent to the card. I get a compiler warning if I use nil to indicate that I have no data to transmit. I have to create a NSData structure of 0 bytes and use it as argument. It is perfectly valid to send no data and the API should allow a simpler code.

My code is a very simple example. The code does not explicitly wait for the asynchronous blocks to finish. I use sleep(1) instead. Without this delay the main function would return before the asynchronous blocks are executed.

Conclusion

I have seen very few source codes using this new Crypto Token Kit API one year after it is available.
The only API documentation I found is comments contained in the .h header files with no sample code. That does not help.

Maybe the situation will evolve with El Capitan (Mac OS X 10.11) that should be available in the next few days.

[UPDATE 26 Sept 2015]

It is in fact possible to specify the class byte CLA of an APDU. This byte is stored in the cla property of the TKSmartCard class. The default value is 0x00.