How to Generate Unique Public and Private Key via RSA

Question

I am building a custom shopping cart where CC numbers and Exp date will be stored in a database until processing (then deleted). I need to encrypt this data (obviously).

I want to use the RSACryptoServiceProvider class.

Here is my code to create my keys.

public static void AssignNewKey(){
    const int PROVIDER_RSA_FULL = 1;
    const string CONTAINER_NAME = "KeyContainer";
    CspParameters cspParams;
    cspParams = new CspParameters(PROVIDER_RSA_FULL);
    cspParams.KeyContainerName = CONTAINER_NAME;
    cspParams.Flags = CspProviderFlags.UseMachineKeyStore;
    cspParams.ProviderName = "Microsoft Strong Cryptographic Provider";
    rsa = new RSACryptoServiceProvider(cspParams);

    string publicPrivateKeyXML = rsa.ToXmlString(true);
    string publicOnlyKeyXML = rsa.ToXmlString(false);
    // do stuff with keys...
}

Now the plan is to store the private key xml on a USB drive attached to the managers key chain.

Whenever a manager leaves the company I want to be able to generate new public and private keys (and re-encrypt all currently stored CC numbers with the new public key).

My problem is that the keys generated by this code are always the same. How would I generate a unique set of keys every time?

UPDATE. My test code is below.:
note: the "privatekey" parameter here is the original private key. In order for the keys to be changed I need to verify that the private key is valid.

In Default.aspx.cs

public void DownloadNewPrivateKey_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(fileUpload.FileContent);
    string privateKey = reader.ReadToEnd();
    Response.Clear();
    Response.ContentType = "text/xml";
    Response.End();
    Response.Write(ChangeKeysAndReturnNewPrivateKey(privateKey));
}

In Crytpography.cs:

public static privateKey;
public static publicKey;
public static RSACryptoServiceProvider rsa;

public static string ChangeKeysAndReturnNewPrivateKey(string _privatekey)
{

    string testData = "TestData";
    string testSalt = "salt";
    // encrypt the test data using the exisiting public key...
    string encryptedTestData = EncryptData(testData, testSalt);
    try
    {
        // try to decrypt the test data using the _privatekey provided by user...
        string decryptTestData = DecryptData(encryptedTestData, _privatekey, testSalt);
        // if the data is successfully decrypted assign new keys...
        if (decryptTestData == testData)
        {
            AssignNewKey();
            // "AssignNewKey()" should set "privateKey" to the newly created private key...
            return privateKey;
        }
        else
        {
            return string.Empty;
        }
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        return string.Empty;
    }
}
public static void AssignParameter(){
    const int PROVIDER_RSA_FULL = 1;
    const string CONTAINER_NAME = "KeyContainer";
    CspParameters cspParams;
    cspParams = new CspParameters(PROVIDER_RSA_FULL);
    cspParams.KeyContainerName = CONTAINER_NAME;
    cspParams.Flags = CspProviderFlags.UseMachineKeyStore;
    cspParams.ProviderName = "Microsoft Strong Cryptographic Provider";
    rsa = new RSACryptoServiceProvider(cspParams);
}
public static void AssignNewKey()
{
    AssignParameter();

    using (SqlConnection myConn = new SqlConnection(Utilities.ConnectionString))
    {
        SqlCommand myCmd = myConn.CreateCommand();

        string publicPrivateKeyXML = rsa.ToXmlString(true);
        privateKey = publicPrivateKeyXML; // sets the public variable privateKey to the new private key.

        string publicOnlyKeyXML = rsa.ToXmlString(false);
        publicKey = publicOnlyKeyXML; // sets the public variable publicKey to the new public key.

        myCmd.CommandText = "UPDATE Settings SET PublicKey = @PublicKey";
        myCmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@PublicKey", publicOnlyKeyXML);
        myConn.Open();

        myComm.ExecuteScalar();
    }
}
public static string EncryptData(string data2Encrypt, string salt)
{
    AssignParameter();

    using (SqlConnection myConn = new SqlConnection(Utilities.ConnectionString))
    {
        SqlCommand myCmd = myConn.CreateCommand();

        myCmd.CommandText = "SELECT TOP 1 PublicKey FROM Settings";

        myConn.Open();

        using (SqlDataReader sdr = myCmd.ExecuteReader())
        {
            if (sdr.HasRows)
            {
                DataTable dt = new DataTable();
                dt.Load(sdr);
                rsa.FromXmlString(dt.Rows[0]["PublicKey"].ToString());
            }
        }
    }

    //read plaintext, encrypt it to ciphertext
    byte[] plainbytes = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(data2Encrypt + salt);
    byte[] cipherbytes = rsa.Encrypt(plainbytes, false);
    return Convert.ToBase64String(cipherbytes);
}
public static string DecryptData(string data2Decrypt, string privatekey, string salt)
{
    AssignParameter();

    byte[] getpassword = Convert.FromBase64String(data2Decrypt);

    string publicPrivateKeyXML = privatekey;
    rsa.FromXmlString(publicPrivateKeyXML);

    //read ciphertext, decrypt it to plaintext
    byte[] plain = rsa.Decrypt(getpassword, false);
    string dataAndSalt = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetString(plain);
    return dataAndSalt.Substring(0, dataAndSalt.Length - salt.Length);
}

Answer 1

When you use a code like this:

using (var rsa = new RSACryptoServiceProvider(1024))
{
   // Do something with the key...
   // Encrypt, export, etc.
}

.NET (actually Windows) stores your key in a persistent key container forever. The container is randomly generated by .NET

This means:

1. Any random RSA/DSA key you have EVER generated for the purpose of protecting data, creating custom X.509 certificate, etc. may have been exposed without your awareness in the Windows file system. Accessible by anyone who has access to your account.

2. Your disk is being slowly filled with data. Normally not a big concern but it depends on your application (e.g. it might generates hundreds of keys every minute).

To resolve these issues:

using (var rsa = new RSACryptoServiceProvider(1024))
{
   try
   {
      // Do something with the key...
      // Encrypt, export, etc.
   }
   finally
   {
      rsa.PersistKeyInCsp = false;
   }
}

ALWAYS

Answer 2

The RSACryptoServiceProvider(CspParameters) constructor creates a keypair which is stored in the keystore on the local machine. If you already have a keypair with the specified name, it uses the existing keypair.

It sounds as if you are not interested in having the key stored on the machine.

So use the RSACryptoServiceProvider(Int32) constructor:

public static void AssignNewKey(){
    RSA rsa = new RSACryptoServiceProvider(2048); // Generate a new 2048 bit RSA key

    string publicPrivateKeyXML = rsa.ToXmlString(true);
    string publicOnlyKeyXML = rsa.ToXmlString(false);
    // do stuff with keys...
}

EDIT:

Alternatively try setting the PersistKeyInCsp to false:

public static void AssignNewKey(){
    const int PROVIDER_RSA_FULL = 1;
    const string CONTAINER_NAME = "KeyContainer";
    CspParameters cspParams;
    cspParams = new CspParameters(PROVIDER_RSA_FULL);
    cspParams.KeyContainerName = CONTAINER_NAME;
    cspParams.Flags = CspProviderFlags.UseMachineKeyStore;
    cspParams.ProviderName = "Microsoft Strong Cryptographic Provider";
    rsa = new RSACryptoServiceProvider(cspParams);

    rsa.PersistKeyInCsp = false;

    string publicPrivateKeyXML = rsa.ToXmlString(true);
    string publicOnlyKeyXML = rsa.ToXmlString(false);
    // do stuff with keys...
}

Answer 3

What I ended up doing is create a new KeyContainer name based off of the current DateTime (DateTime.Now.Ticks.ToString()) whenever I need to create a new key and save the container name and public key to the database. Also, whenever I create a new key I would do the following:

public static string ConvertToNewKey(string oldPrivateKey)
{

    // get the current container name from the database...

    rsa.PersistKeyInCsp = false;
    rsa.Clear();
    rsa = null;

    string privateKey = AssignNewKey(true); // create the new public key and container name and write them to the database...

       // re-encrypt existing data to use the new keys and write to database...

    return privateKey;
}
public static string AssignNewKey(bool ReturnPrivateKey){
     string containerName = DateTime.Now.Ticks.ToString();
     // create the new key...
     // saves container name and public key to database...
     // and returns Private Key XML.
}

before creating the new key.