X.509 Certificate Decoder

Inspect a public certificate or full chain without uploading it. Decode identity, validity, hostnames, keys, fingerprints, extensions, and byte-level ASN.1 evidence directly in this browser.

  • PEM, Base64, hex, and binary DER
  • Whole-chain navigation
  • Local processing only
  • No trust claims without verification

Certificate input

Paste one or more BEGIN CERTIFICATE blocks. Press Ctrl/Command + Enter to decode. Private keys and CSRs are rejected.
Checks DNS/IP Subject Alternative Names. Wildcards cover exactly one label.

Drop up to 16 certificate files here. Total input is limited to 2 MiB to keep parsing responsive.

Private by design: parsing and fingerprints stay in this tab. The decoder makes no network request.

How to read the result

Start with SAN, not Common Name

Modern TLS clients use Subject Alternative Names for hostname coverage. The optional hostname test follows exact-name and one-label wildcard rules.

Validity is only one check

A current date window does not establish trust. A client must also build a trusted chain, verify signatures, and consider revocation and policy.

Compare SHA-256 fingerprints

Matching full-certificate fingerprints prove two files contain identical DER bytes. A fingerprint alone does not make a certificate trusted.

Read critical extensions carefully

A validator must understand every critical extension. Unknown critical entries are flagged while their original bytes remain available for investigation.