Aleksey Sanin has released version 0.0.9 of the
XML Security Library (xmlsec),
an open-source libxml- and OpenSSL-based implementation
of the joint IETF/W3C XML Signature (dsig) and W3C
XML Encryption (xenc)
specifications. This release fixes some major
bugs found in the 0.0.8 release.
Along with fixing all bugs found in the 0.0.8
release, this xmlsec release provides all the
features added in xmlsec 0.0.8, including:
-
new error reporting system
-
XPointer transform support
-
major enveloped and XPath transforms
performance improvements
-
updated XPath 2 Filter implementation to
reflect the latest W3C specifications
-
new documentation (man pages, an
automatically generated API Reference
Manual, and a FAQ)
XML Signature and XML Encryption are important
as a means for digitally signing and
encrypting/decrypting documents: contracts,
documents used in electronic commerce, or
messages of any kind whose internal integrity and
authenticy it might be important to verify.
It's especially important to note that XML
Signature and XML Encryption provide a means for
digitally signing and encrypting/decrypting portions of
documents as well as entire documents. This
"granular" security enables different parts of a
document to be signed/encrypted with different
keys. So, for example, a document can be
distributed to multiple recipients but signed and
encrypted in such a way that the recipients are
able to decrypt and view only specific parts of
the document.
For its support for Canonical XML and Exclusive Canonical XML,
which both XML Signature and XML Encryption
depend on, the XML Security Library relies on
libxml.
Along with providing the actual XML Security
library files (C libraries) designed to be used
by other applications, the distribution also
includes a command-line tool, xmlsec, for signing and
encrypting documents.
The XML Security Library download page provides links
to the source distribution as well
as to Red Hat RPMs (xmlsec and xmlsec-devel), Windows binaries, and
unofficial Debian packages.