macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install libtasn1local Homebrew formula metadata
MacPortsverified · 94%
sudo port install libtasn1MacPorts ports tree · devel/libtasn1/Portfile · source: api.github.com
brew
Install libtasn1 with Homebrew, apk, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper
ASN.1 structure parser library. Version 4.21.0 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%
sudo apk add libtasn1Alpine Linux edge package indexes · libtasn1 · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org
Fedora dnfverified · 92%
sudo dnf install libtasn1Fedora Rawhide package metadata · libtasn1 · source: dl.fedoraproject.org
Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#libtasn1nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/li/libtasn1/package.nix · source: api.github.com
Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%
sudo pacman -S libtasn1Arch Linux sync databases · libtasn1 · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com
openSUSE zypperverified · 92%
sudo zypper install libtasn1-6openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · libtasn1-6 · source: download.opensuse.org
overview
Package summary
ASN.1 structure parser library
Project links
Commands and aliases
- asn1Coding
- asn1Decoding
- asn1Parser
history
Project history and usage
GNU Libtasn1 is a small ASN.1 and DER library used in security-sensitive C software. It matters to package managers because it sits under TLS, PKCS#11, certificate, and identity stacks while trying to stay portable and dependency-light.
Project history
The GNU project page says Libtasn1 was originally written by Fabio Fiorina and later maintained as a GNU package. The NEWS file records an initial 0.1.0 release, a 0.1.1 rename to libtasn1 with LGPL licensing, and a 3.0 release on October 28, 2012 that hid internal structures and normalized type names.
The manual defines the package as a library for Abstract Syntax Notation One and Distinguished Encoding Rules manipulation. It emphasizes online ASN.1 structure management without C code generation, optional offline C array generation, DER support, no global state, thread safety, and portability across Unix-like systems and Windows.
Adoption history
GNU identifies Libtasn1 as the ASN.1 library used by GnuTLS, p11-kit, and other packages. That dependency path made it part of distribution base layers for TLS and certificate-processing stacks, which explains broad packaging across Alpine, Homebrew, Fedora, MacPorts, Nix, Arch, and openSUSE in the input metadata.
The project also reflects modern distro maintenance pressure: the NEWS file includes repeated hardening and fuzzing-related fixes, oss-fuzz references, reproducible tarball work in 4.20.0, and a security fix for CVE-2025-13151 in 4.21.0.
How it is used
Applications use the library to parse ASN.1 definitions, build ASN.1 structures, and encode or decode DER data. The command-line tools asn1Parser, asn1Coding, and asn1Decoding expose those workflows for generating C arrays, encoding assignment files, and decoding binary DER input.
Its common role is not as an end-user utility but as a low-level dependency for software that needs strict certificate, key, or protocol data handling.
Why package nerds care
Libtasn1 is a classic small security dependency: boring when it works, very visible when it has a parser bug. Package maintainers care about it because ABI stability, fuzzing fixes, CVEs, and reproducible source archives ripple into TLS and authentication stacks.
Its GNU packaging also gives distributions familiar release signing, mailing lists, manuals, Autotools build machinery, and a GitLab development home.
Timeline
- 2002: The NEWS file copyright range begins for GNU Libtasn1.
- 0.1.0: Initial release.
- 0.1.1: The project is renamed to libtasn1 and relicensed under the GNU Lesser GPL.
- 2012: Release 3.0 hides internal structures and renames public types for consistency.
- 2014: Release 4.0 adds DER decoding improvements and new APIs.
- 2019: Release 4.15.0 switches to semantic versioning.
- 2025: Release 4.20.0 adds reproducible release tarballs.
- 2026: Release 4.21.0 fixes CVE-2025-13151 and renames NEWS to NEWS.md.
Related projects
- GnuTLS and p11-kit are explicitly named GNU-page consumers of Libtasn1. ASN.1 and DER standards, X.509 certificate tooling, and PKCS-related libraries are adjacent parts of the same packaging ecosystem.
Sources
security posture
Risk level: green
library-like package without higher-risk signals.
Risk classifier
green risk · low confidence · appliance
Why
- library-like package without higher-risk signals
Signals
- metadata:library-like
Install behavior
- No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
- Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
asn1Coding | cli | global executable | |
asn1Decoding | cli | global executable | |
asn1Parser | cli | global executable |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-07-08
manager version4.21.0
manager updated
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected
https://www.gnu.org/software/libtasn1/
- infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence
- infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://www.gnu.org/software/libtasn1/none confidence
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:libtasn1 |
|---|---|
| Version | 4.21.0 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Package manager page | https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/libtasn1 |
| Homepage | https://www.gnu.org/software/libtasn1/ |
| Repository | https://gitlab.com/gnutls/libtasn1 |
| Upstream docs | https://www.gnu.org/software/libtasn1 |
| License | LGPL-2.1-or-later |
| Source archive | https://ftpmirror.gnu.org/gnu/libtasn1/libtasn1-4.21.0.tar.gz |
| Bottle | available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux) |
| Homebrew post-install | not defined |
| Service | none declared |
registry facts
Source database details
| Source Database | Homebrew formula API |
|---|---|
| Tap | homebrew/core |
| Full Name | libtasn1 |
| Aliases |
|
| Version Scheme | 0 |
| Revision | 0 |
| Bottle Stable Root URL | https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core |
| Deprecated | no |
| Disabled | no |
| Keg Only | no |
| URL Keys |
|
source database matches
Other package-manager records
Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.
Nix95%
libtasn1
nix profile install nixpkgs#libtasn1- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libtasn1
apk95%
libtasn1 4.21.0-r0
The ASN.1 library used in GNUTLS
https://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/
sudo apk add libtasn1- License: LGPL-2.1-or-later
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: libtasn1
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libtasn1
apk95%
libtasn1-dev 4.21.0-r0
The ASN.1 library used in GNUTLS (development files)
https://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/
sudo apk add libtasn1-dev- License: LGPL-2.1-or-later
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: libtasn1
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libtasn1
apk95%
libtasn1-doc 4.21.0-r0
The ASN.1 library used in GNUTLS (documentation)
https://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/
sudo apk add libtasn1-doc- License: LGPL-2.1-or-later
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: libtasn1
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libtasn1
apk95%
libtasn1-progs 4.21.0-r0
The ASN.1 library used in GNUTLS (utilities)
https://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/
sudo apk add libtasn1-progs- License: GPL-3.0-only
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: libtasn1
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libtasn1
dnf95%
libtasn1 4.21.0-1.fc45
The ASN.1 library used in GNUTLS
https://www.gnu.org/software/libtasn1/
sudo dnf install libtasn1- License: GPL-3.0-or-later AND LGPL-2.1-or-later
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: i686
- Source Package: libtasn1
- 2 dependencies
- 3 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libtasn1
dnf95%
libtasn1-devel 4.21.0-1.fc45
Files for development of applications which will use libtasn1
https://www.gnu.org/software/libtasn1/
sudo dnf install libtasn1-devel- License: GPL-3.0-or-later AND LGPL-2.1-or-later
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: i686
- Source Package: libtasn1
- 5 dependencies
- 2 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libtasn1
dnf95%
libtasn1-tools 4.21.0-1.fc45
Some ASN.1 tools
https://www.gnu.org/software/libtasn1/
sudo dnf install libtasn1-tools- License: GPL-3.0-or-later
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: libtasn1
- 4 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libtasn1
pacman95%
libtasn1 4.21.0-1
The ASN.1 library used in GNUTLS
https://www.gnu.org/software/libtasn1/
sudo pacman -S libtasn1- License: GPL-3.0-or-later AND LGPL-2.1-or-later AND GFDL-1.3-or-later
- Architecture: x86_64
- 1 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libtasn1
zypper95%
libtasn1-6 4.21.0-1.3
ASN.1 parsing library
https://www.gnu.org/software/libtasn1/
sudo zypper install libtasn1-6- License: LGPL-2.1-or-later
- Category: System/Libraries
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: libtasn1
- 2 dependencies
- 2 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libtasn1
zypper95%
libtasn1-6-32bit 4.21.0-1.3
ASN.1 parsing library
https://www.gnu.org/software/libtasn1/
sudo zypper install libtasn1-6-32bit- License: LGPL-2.1-or-later
- Category: System/Libraries
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: libtasn1
- 2 dependencies
- 2 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libtasn1
zypper95%
libtasn1-devel 4.21.0-1.3
Development files for the ASN.1 parsing library
https://www.gnu.org/software/libtasn1/
sudo zypper install libtasn1-devel- License: GFDL-1.3-or-later AND LGPL-2.1-or-later
- Category: Development/Libraries/C and C++
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: libtasn1
- 2 dependencies
- 2 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libtasn1
zypper95%
libtasn1-devel-32bit 4.21.0-1.3
Development files for the ASN.1 parsing library
https://www.gnu.org/software/libtasn1/
sudo zypper install libtasn1-devel-32bit- License: GFDL-1.3-or-later AND LGPL-2.1-or-later
- Category: Development/Libraries/C and C++
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: libtasn1
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libtasn1
zypper95%
libtasn1-tools 4.21.0-1.3
ASN.1 parsing tools
https://www.gnu.org/software/libtasn1/
sudo zypper install libtasn1-tools- License: GFDL-1.3-or-later AND GPL-3.0-or-later
- Category: Productivity/Networking/Diagnostic
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: libtasn1
- 2 dependencies
- 2 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libtasn1
MacPorts95%
libtasn1
sudo port install libtasn1- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libtasn1
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- Nucleus package database
- av.db category and tag curation
- cross-ecosystem install command graph
- curated package history
- external package-manager database matches
- package relationship graph
- package version freshness
- package-page enrichment