2 unstable releases

0.2.0	Jan 3, 2026
0.1.0	Dec 15, 2025

#1067 in Cryptography

BSD-2-Clause

290KB
6K SLoC

ifd-jcecard

A PC/SC IFD (Interface Device) handler that provides a virtual OpenPGP and PIV smart card for testing and development.

Overview

This crate provides a PC/SC driver with an embedded virtual smart card implementation. It allows pcscd (PC/SC Smart Card Daemon) to expose a virtual smart card that implements both OpenPGP card 3.4 and PIV (NIST SP 800-73-4) specifications. Applications like GnuPG, OpenSC, and yubico-piv-tool can interact with this virtual card just like a physical hardware token.

How it Works

┌─────────────────┐     ┌─────────┐     ┌──────────────────────────────────┐
│ Application     │     │ pcscd   │     │ ifd-jcecard (this crate)         │
│ (gpg, piv-tool) │────▶│         │────▶│ ┌────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  │
└─────────────────┘     └─────────┘     │ │  OpenPGP   │  │     PIV     │  │
                                        │ │  Applet    │  │   Applet    │  │
                                        │ └────────────┘  └─────────────┘  │
                                        └──────────────────────────────────┘

Application sends PC/SC commands (e.g., gpg --card-status)
pcscd routes commands to the IFD handler
ifd-jcecard processes APDUs using the embedded virtual card
Responses flow back through the same path

The virtual card implementation is fully embedded in the shared library - no external server is needed.

Features

OpenPGP Card 3.4: Sign, decrypt, authenticate with RSA 2048/4096, Ed25519, X25519, NIST P-256/P-384
PIV (NIST SP 800-73-4): PIV Authentication, Digital Signature, Key Management, Card Authentication slots
Key Generation: Generate keys on-card or import existing keys
Persistent Storage: Card state persisted to ~/.jcecard/card_state.json
No External Dependencies: Everything runs inside the shared library

Supported Algorithms

OpenPGP Key Slot	Algorithms
Signature (1)	RSA 2048/4096, Ed25519, ECDSA P-256/P-384
Decryption (2)	RSA 2048/4096, X25519, ECDH P-256/P-384
Authentication (3)	RSA 2048/4096, Ed25519, ECDSA P-256/P-384

PIV Key Slot	Algorithms
9A (PIV Authentication)	RSA 2048, ECDSA P-256/P-384
9C (Digital Signature)	RSA 2048, ECDSA P-256/P-384
9D (Key Management)	RSA 2048, ECDH P-256/P-384
9E (Card Authentication)	RSA 2048, ECDSA P-256/P-384

Installation

From Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/kushaldas/jcecard.git
cd jcecard/ifd-jcecard

# Build
cargo build --release

# Install (requires sudo)
just install-ifd

Manual Installation

The IFD handler needs to be installed to system directories:

Copy libifd_jcecard.so to /usr/lib/pcsc/drivers/ifd-jcecard.bundle/Contents/Linux/
Copy Info.plist to /usr/lib/pcsc/drivers/ifd-jcecard.bundle/Contents/
Copy reader configuration to /etc/reader.conf.d/jcecard
Restart pcscd: sudo systemctl restart pcscd

Usage

Install the IFD handler (see above)
Restart pcscd to load the driver:
```
sudo systemctl restart pcscd
```
Verify the virtual reader is available:
```
pcsc_scan
```

Use with your favorite smart card application:

gpg --card-status
yubico-piv-tool -a status

Default Credentials

OpenPGP User PIN (PW1): 123456
OpenPGP Admin PIN (PW3): 12345678
PIV PIN: 123456
PIV PUK: 12345678
PIV Management Key: 010203040506070801020304050607080102030405060708

Requirements

Linux with pcscd installed (sudo apt install pcscd libpcsclite-dev)
Rust toolchain for building from source

Development

# Run Rust unit tests
cargo test

# Build in debug mode
cargo build

# Run clippy lints
cargo clippy

johnnycanencrypt - OpenPGP library for Rust/Python
talktosc - Smart card communication library (patterns used here)

License

BSD-2-Clause License - see LICENSE for details.

Dependencies

~9–22MB
~284K SLoC