brew / rank 3319

Install cfssl with Homebrew, apk, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, scoop

CloudFlare's PKI toolkit. Version 1.6.5 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-27. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#cfssl.

Install command Security notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install cfssl

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%

sudo port install cfssl

MacPorts ports tree · security/cfssl/Portfile · source: api.github.com

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%

sudo apk add cfssl

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · cfssl · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#cfssl

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/cf/cfssl/package.nix · source: api.github.com

Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%

sudo pacman -S cfssl

Arch Linux sync databases · cfssl · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com

Windows

Scoopverified · 92%

scoop install extras/cfssl

Scoop official bucket manifest trees · bucket/cfssl.json · source: api.github.com

overview

Package summary

CloudFlare's PKI toolkit

Project links

Commands and aliases

cfssl
cfssl-bundle
cfssl-certinfo
cfssl-newkey
cfssl-scan
cfssljson
multirootca

history

Project history and usage

CFSSL is Cloudflare's PKI and TLS toolkit. The official README describes it as both a command-line tool and an HTTP API server for signing, verifying, bundling, scanning, and serving certificate-authority workflows.

Project history

Cloudflare introduced CFSSL in July 2014 as an open-source toolkit for TLS and SSL, saying it was used internally for certificate-chain bundling and internal certificate-authority infrastructure. The GitHub repository was created the same month under Cloudflare's organization.

The project is written in Go and ships multiple utilities, including `cfssl`, `cfssljson`, `cfssl-bundle`, `cfssl-certinfo`, `cfssl-newkey`, `cfssl-scan`, `mkbundle`, and `multirootca`. The documentation covers CLI operation, JSON configuration, authentication, an HTTP API, certificate bundling, signing, OCSP, and CA serving.

Adoption history

CFSSL became a durable package because it solves operational PKI tasks that teams need outside a browser or a single web server: generating CSRs and keys, signing certificates, bundling chains, scanning hosts, and exposing CA operations through an API.

The package metadata in this batch shows CFSSL packaged across Homebrew, Alpine, MacPorts, Nix, Arch, and Scoop. Official installation also supports `go install` and prebuilt GitHub release binaries.

How it is used

The `cfssl` command supports subcommands such as sign, bundle, genkey, gencert, serve, version, selfsign, and print-defaults. The README documents default CA credential filenames `ca.pem` and `ca_key.pem` for signing and serving.

The configuration file is a JSON dictionary for signing profiles, OCSP, authentication, and remote servers, but the docs present it as an argument such as `-config config` rather than a fixed path. For that reason, the config-file location is null while the default CA credential filenames are recorded.

Why package nerds care

CFSSL is package-nerd significant because it turns PKI operations that are often hidden inside bespoke scripts into a set of installable Unix-style commands and a documented API server.

It is also a classic Go security-tool package: one upstream repository builds several related executables, package managers expose the main toolkit, and operators can choose between system packages, Homebrew, Scoop, prebuilt release binaries, or `go install`.

Timeline

2014: Cloudflare introduces CFSSL as an open-source PKI toolkit and creates the GitHub repository.
2020: v1.5.0 is published on GitHub releases.
2021: v1.6.0 and v1.6.1 are published on GitHub releases.
2024: v1.6.5 is published on GitHub releases.
2026: The README documents Go 1.20+ as the build requirement and continues to describe CFSSL as Cloudflare's PKI/TLS toolkit.

Related projects

cfssl_trust is referenced by the README as the source for bundle files and platform metadata.
multirootca is shipped by the same repository as a certificate-authority server using multiple signing keys.
Go is the implementation language and installation path documented by the project.

Sources

security posture

Risk level: orange

infrastructure mutation or orchestration signal.

Risk classifier

orange risk · medium confidence · infrastructure

Why

infrastructure mutation or orchestration signal

Signals

text:cloud

Install behavior

No Homebrew bottle metadata was recorded.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

local files

Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.

Credential files

Credential-bearing paths to review before unattended agent runs.

Unix: ca.pemca_key.pem

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`cfssl`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`cfssl-bundle`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`cfssl-certinfo`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`cfssl-newkey`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`cfssl-scan`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`cfssljson`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`multirootca`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.

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 generated2026-08-03

manager version1.6.5

manager updated2026-07-27

local dataunknown

upstreamnot available

latest detectednot detected

okNo freshness warnings were generated.

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:cfssl
Version	1.6.5
Package manager	Homebrew
Homepage	https://cfssl.org/
Repository	https://github.com/cloudflare/cfssl
Last updated	2026-07-27T19:20:58+02:00
Pulse	updated
Bottle	not recorded
Service	none declared

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%

cfssl

nix profile install nixpkgs#cfssl

normalized package name match
Matched by: Cfssl

nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/cf/cfssl/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

apk95%

cfssl 1.6.5-r16

Cloudflare PKI and TLS toolkit

https://cfssl.org/

sudo apk add cfssl

License: BSD-2-Clause
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: cfssl
1 dependencies
1 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Cfssl

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: cfssl from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

pacman95%

cfssl 1.6.5-2

CloudFlare PKI and TLS toolkit

https://cfssl.org/

sudo pacman -S cfssl

License: BSD-2-Clause
Architecture: x86_64
1 dependencies
normalized package name match
Matched by: Cfssl

Arch Linux sync databases · geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com · Arch Linux sync databases: cfssl from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz

MacPorts95%

cfssl

sudo port install cfssl

normalized package name match
Matched by: Cfssl

MacPorts ports tree · api.github.com · MacPorts ports tree: security/cfssl/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

Scoop95%

extras/cfssl

scoop install extras/cfssl

normalized package name match
Matched by: Cfssl

Scoop official bucket manifest trees · api.github.com · Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/cfssl.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Extras/git/trees/master?recursive=1

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.

combined/cfssl.yml

Used sources

Geiger risk classifier
cross-ecosystem install command graph
curated configuration and credential file locations
curated package history
external package-manager database matches
pkg.so package database
pkgdb category and tag curation