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[Bug]: step certificate inspect on a p12 or pfx file results in error "invalid PEM block" #1573
Description
Steps to Reproduce
step certificate p12 cert.p12 certs/root_ca.crt secrets/root_ca_key
Your Environment
OS - Debian 13.3
step-ca Version - Smallstep CA/0.29.0 (linux/amd64)
Expected Behavior
Information in the certificate file
Actual Behavior
"contains an invalid PEM block"
Additional Context
created p12/pfx with "step certificate p12 certificate.p12 certs/root_ca.crt secrets/root_ca_key"
Contributing
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Activity
hslatman commentedon Mar 10, 2026
Hey @YANSA23, at the moment this is expected behavior.
step certificate inspectis meant for file formats that are known to contain only certificate (bundles), whereas a.p12can contain a private key, as well as other types of objects, such as encrypted blobs. We're open to suggestions and contributions to handle this use case in a user-friendly, but correct manner.