How to read MIFARE DesFire EV1 iwth ISO ADPU/PCSC?

[Markus Wolters]

Hi,

I'm quite new to PCSC, so I'm a little lost right now. I've managed to read out a Mifare Classic card using PCSC with ISO ADPU commands. Now I'm in the need of adding Mifare DESFire EV1 cards with AES key. I have the key, the application id, file id and what to read. Can I accomplish that with any publically available documentation? I always read that the DESFire support ISO ADPUs command. I've managed to read out the card using the reader's software (FEIG CPR40.30) but I need to access the reader via PCSC to allow different vendors.

Any help is very much appreciated!
Markus

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[TapLinx Support]

Hi Markus,

You can read the MIFARE DESFire via PC/SC reader. But in most cases you need to consider different reader manufacturers. This depend of different implementation of PC/SC driver library. It could be that the MIFARE DESFire commands are wrapped inside of other APDU commands and the kind of wrapping is different from one reader manufacturer to another.

The TapLinx team

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[Markus Wolters]

Hi!

Thanks for the quick reply. So, where's then the advantage of using PCSC if I still need vendor specific wrappings? Also, where can I get some code? I only managed to read out Classic cards. I don't find any documents about how to authenticate and read blocks out of DesFire cards using ISO commands. According to the manufacturers, DESFire supports ISO command as long as it comes to standard operations.

Thanks,
Markus

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[TapLinx Support]

Hi Markus,

If you use ISO7816-4 compliant commands with the MIFARE DESFire, you should be independent of the reader manufacturer. You will find the available commands in the public DESFire datasheet:

http://www.nxp.com/docs/en/data-sheet/MF3ICDX21_41_81_SDS.pdf

The TapLinx team

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[Markus Wolters]

Hi!

I think we're getting closer! Is there any other document where it says how those commands are used? Like, when I have the AES key, which command do I need? Internal or external Authenticate? And do I need to select the Application before or after the auth? And do I have to encrypt/decrypt anything?

Thanks!!

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[TapLinx Support]

Hi Markus,

ISO7816 is an industry standard and you will find a lot documents, if you try to google. You find in the public datasheet (link in previous post) which commands are supported by the MIFARE DESFire EV1. How the commands are used, you will find it in the ISO specs and documents. Take “ISO 7816-4: Interindustry Commands for Interchange” as key words.

You should know, the MIFARE DESFire EV1 also accepts so called “native commands”. But the datasheet for native commands is NDA classified. For getting a NDA, we need the legal address of a company or a university. So, hobby enthusiasts cannot get a NDA from NXP, sorry.

The TapLinx team

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[Markus Wolters]

Hi!

Thanks. In fact, I'm researching this in favor for a commercial project, so please tell me to whom I need to send my company details to sign a NDA to receive any further documents to be able to finish this job.

Thanks!
Markus

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[TapLinx Support]

Hi Markus,

You can send it to my address: taplinx@nxp.com.

I will hand-over your request.

The TapLinx team

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[Markus Wolters]

Dear guys,

I now got access to all documents of NXP, thank you for that. However, I still don't get over a specific problem and I don't find any docs about it: With Mifare Classic the key (Key Type A or B) is part of the request data of the ISO Authenticate command. However, all examples for authenticating against Desfire show only commands using a "key index". But how the heck do I get the key into the reader? I miss a command like "Load key ABC into reader at index N".

Thanks!

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[TapLinx Support]

Dear Markus,

Sorry, but you will not find a NXP document which explain how to load a key into the reader! This is up to reader manufacturers. Please refer the user manual of the specific reader. In this manual you will also find the APDU format you must use for the communication. In the case you communicate with a NFC reader IC directly, you need the datasheet of this device.

The TapLinx team

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