WinVerifyTrustEx function (wintrust.h)

The WinVerifyTrustEx function performs a trust verification action on a specified object and takes a pointer to a WINTRUST_DATA structure. The function passes the inquiry to a trust provider, if one exists, that supports the action identifier.

For certificate verification, use the CertGetCertificateChain and CertVerifyCertificateChainPolicy functions.

Syntax

long WinVerifyTrustEx(
  [in] HWND          hwnd,
  [in] GUID          *pgActionID,
  [in] WINTRUST_DATA *pWinTrustData
);

Parameters

[in] hwnd

Optional handle to a caller window. A trust provider can use this value to determine whether it can interact with the user. However, trust providers typically perform verification actions without input from the user.

This parameter can be one of the following values.

Value Meaning
INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE
There is no interactive user. The trust provider performs the verification action without the user's assistance.
Zero
The trust provider can use the interactive desktop to display its user interface.
A valid window handle
A trust provider can treat any value other than INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE or zero as a valid window handle that it can use to interact with the user.

[in] pgActionID

A pointer to a GUID structure that identifies an action and the trust provider that supports that action. This value indicates the type of verification action to be performed on the structure pointed to by pWinTrustData.

The WinTrust service is designed to work with trust providers implemented by third parties. Each trust provider provides its own unique set of action identifiers. For information about the action identifiers supported by a trust provider, see the documentation for that trust provider.

For example, Microsoft provides a Software Publisher Trust Provider that can establish the trustworthiness of software being downloaded from the Internet or some other public network. The Software Publisher Trust Provider supports the following action identifiers. These constants are defined in Softpub.h.

Value Meaning
DRIVER_ACTION_VERIFY
Verify the authenticity of a Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) signed driver. This is an Authenticode add-on policy provider.
HTTPSPROV_ACTION
Verify an SSL/TLS connection through Internet Explorer.
OFFICESIGN_ACTION_VERIFY
This Action ID is not supported. Verify the authenticity of a structured storage file by using the Microsoft Office Authenticode add-on policy provider.

Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP:  This Action ID is supported.

WINTRUST_ACTION_GENERIC_CERT_VERIFY
Verify a certificate chain only. This is only valid when passing in a certificate context in the WinVerifyTrust input structures.
Note  We do not recommend using this function to perform certificate verification. To perform certificate verification, use the CertGetCertificateChain and CertVerifyCertificateChainPolicy functions.
 
WINTRUST_ACTION_GENERIC_CHAIN_VERIFY
Verify certificate chains created from any object type. A callback is provided to implement the final chain policy by using the chain context for each signer and counter signer.
WINTRUST_ACTION_GENERIC_VERIFY_V2
Verify a file or object using the Authenticode policy provider.
WINTRUST_ACTION_TRUSTPROVIDER_TEST
Write the CRYPT_PROVIDER_DATA structure to a file after calling the Authenticode policy provider.

[in] pWinTrustData

A pointer to a WINTRUST_DATA structure that contains information that the trust provider needs to process the specified action identifier. Typically, the structure includes information that identifies the object that the trust provider must evaluate.

The format of the structure depends on the action identifier. For information about the data required for a specific action identifier, see the documentation for the trust provider that supports that action.

Return value

Note, while the return type is declared as HRESULT this API returns Win32 error codes, do not use SUCCEEDED() or FAILED() to test the result.

If the trust provider verifies that the subject is trusted for the specified action, the return value is ERROR_SUCCESS. Otherwise, the function returns a status code from the trust provider.

For example, a trust provider might indicate that the subject is not trusted, or is trusted but with limitations or warnings. The return value can be a trust provider–specific value described in the documentation for an individual trust provider, or it can be one of the following error codes.

Return code Description
TRUST_E_SUBJECT_NOT_TRUSTED
The subject failed the specified verification action. Most trust providers return a more detailed error code that describes the reason for the failure.
Note  

The TRUST_E_SUBJECT_NOT_TRUSTED return code may be returned depending on the value of the EnableCertPaddingCheck registry key under HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Cryptography\Wintrust\Config. If EnableCertPaddingCheck is set to "1", then an additional check is performed to verify that the WIN_CERTIFICATE structure does not contain extraneous information. The check validates that there is no non-zero data beyond the PKCS #7 structure. The EnableCertPaddingCheck key will be set to "1" by default on June 10, 2014. For more information, please refer to the following security advisory: http://technet.microsoft.com/security/advisory/2915720#section1.

 
TRUST_E_PROVIDER_UNKNOWN
The trust provider is not recognized on this system.
TRUST_E_ACTION_UNKNOWN
The trust provider does not support the specified action.
TRUST_E_SUBJECT_FORM_UNKNOWN
The trust provider does not support the form specified for the subject.

Requirements

Requirement Value
Minimum supported client Windows XP [desktop apps only]
Minimum supported server Windows Server 2003 [desktop apps only]
Target Platform Windows
Header wintrust.h
Library Wintrust.lib
DLL Wintrust.dll