Unwrapping data encryption keys with root keys
You can unwrap a data encryption key (DEK)A cryptographic key used to encrypt data that is stored in an application. to access the contents by using the IBM Cloud® Hyper Protect Crypto Services key management service API, if you are a privileged user. Unwrapping a DEK decrypts and checks the integrity of the contents, returning the original key material to your IBM Cloud data service.
To learn how key wrapping helps you control the security of at-rest data in the cloud, see Envelope encryption.
Unwrapping keys by using the API
After you make a wrap call to the service, you can unwrap a specified data encryption key (DEK) to access the contents by making a POST call to the following endpoint.
https://<instance_ID>.api.<region>.hs-crypto.appdomain.cloud/api/v2/keys/<key_ID>/actions/unwrap
Root keys that contain the same key material can unwrap the same data encryption key (WDEK).
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Retrieve your service and authentication credentials to work with keys in the service.
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Copy the ID of the root keyA symmetric wrapping key that is used for encrypting and decrypting other keys that are stored in a data service. that you used to perform the initial wrap request.
You can retrieve the ID for a key by making a
GET /v2/keysrequest, or by viewing your keys in the UI. -
Copy the
ciphertextvalue that was returned during the initial wrap request. -
Run the following cURL command to decrypt and authenticate the key material.
curl -X POST \ 'https://<instance_ID>.api.<region>.hs-crypto.appdomain.cloud/api/v2/keys/<key_ID>?action=unwrap' \ -H 'accept: application/vnd.ibm.kms.key_action+json' \ -H 'authorization: Bearer <IAM_token>' \ -H 'bluemix-instance: <instance_ID>' \ -H 'content-type: application/vnd.ibm.kms.key_action+json' \ -H 'x-kms-key-ring: <key_ring_ID>' \ -H 'correlation-id: <correlation_ID>' \ -d '{ "ciphertext": "<encrypted_data_key>" }'Replace the variables in the example request according to the following table.
Describes the variables needed to unwrap keys in Hyper Protect Crypto Services Variable Description regionRequired. The region abbreviation, such as us-southorau-syd, that represents the geographic area where your Hyper Protect Crypto Services service instance resides. For more information, see Regional service endpoints.portRequired. The port number of the API endpoint. key_IDRequired. The unique identifier for the root key that you used for the initial wrap request. IAM_tokenRequired. Your IBM Cloud access token. Include the full contents of the IAMtoken, including the Bearer value, in the cURL request. For more information, see Retrieving an access token.instance_IDRequired. The unique identifier that is assigned to yourHyper Protect Crypto Services service instance. For more information, see Retrieving an instance ID. key_ring_IDOptional. The unique identifier of the key ring that the key belongs to. If unspecified, Hyper Protect Crypto Services searches for the key in every key ring that is associated with the specified instance. It is suggested to specify the key ring ID for a more optimized request. Note: The key ring ID of keys that are created without an
x-kms-key-ringheader is: default. For more information, see Managing key rings.correlation_IDOptional. The unique identifier that is used to track and correlate transactions. encrypted_data_keyThe ciphertextvalue that was returned during a wrap operation.The original key material is returned in the response entity-body. The response body also contains the ID of the key version that was used to unwrap the supplied ciphertext. The following JSON object shows a sample returned value.
{ "plaintext": "Rm91ciBzY29yZSBhbmQgc2V2ZW4geWVhcnMgYWdv", "keyVersion": { "id": "02fd6835-6001-4482-a892-13bd2085f75d" } }If Hyper Protect Crypto Services detects that you rotated the root key that is used to unwrap and access your data, the service also returns a newly wrapped data encryption key (
ciphertext) in the unwrap response body. The latest key version (rewrappedKeyVersion) that is associated with the newciphertextis also returned. Store and use the newciphertextvalue for future envelope encryption operations so that your data is protected by the latest root key.
Decoding your key material
When you unwrap a data encryption key, the key material is returned in base64 encoding. You need to decode the key before you encrypt it.
Using OpenSSL to decode key material
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Download and install OpenSSL.
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Base64 encode your key material string by running the following command:
$ openssl base64 -d -in <infile> -out <outfile>Replace the variables in the example request according to the following table.
Describes the variables needed to decode your key material Variable Description infileThe name of the file where your base64 encoded key material string resides. outfileThe name of the file where your decoded key material is outputted after the command is run. If you want to output the decoded material in the command line directly rather than a file, run command
openssl enc -base64 -d <<< '<key_material_string>', where key_material_string is the returned plain text from your unwrap request.