Electronic Signatures and Trust Infrastructures (ESI); JAdES digital signatures; Part 1: Building blocks and JAdES baseline signatures

Note

ETSI technical specification, part 1, describing the building blocks of JAdES signatures (JSON format) and their baseline profiles (version 1.2.1).

Summary

Purpose

Technical specification ETSI TS 119 182-1 (version 1.2.1, July 2024) defines JAdES, an advanced electronic signature format in JSON, built on the JSON Web Signatures (JWS) of RFC 7515 ETSI TS 119 182-1 V1.2.1, § 1 Scope ETSI TS 119 182-1 V1.2.1, History RFC 7515. Its scope begins as follows:

It adds to JWS header parameters that offer the same functions as CAdES and XAdES, including long-term validity; the procedures for creation, augmentation and validation are outside its scope ETSI TS 119 182-1 V1.2.1, § 1 Scope.

Who it applies to

• Member States that require an advanced electronic signature or seal, or one based on a qualified certificate, to use an online service offered by, or on behalf of, a public sector body: they recognise the formats of Annex I to Implementing Regulation 2026/248, including adapted JAdES Art. 27(1) Art. 27(2) Art. 37(1) Art. 37(2) Art. 1(1) Art. 3(1) Annex I.
• Providers of qualified electronic ledgers, to establish the origin of the records List of technical specifications and reference standards for qualified distributed electronic ledgers.
• The signature creation applications of wallets, for which JAdES is an optional format Annex IV.

Key points

• Header parameters: the standard specifies the use of the parameters of RFC 7515, 7797 and 7519, and creates new ones, signed or unsigned ETSI TS 119 182-1 V1.2.1, § 5 Header parameters semantics and syntax.
• Serialization: compact or JSON; a signature that contains an unprotected header can only be serialized in JSON ETSI TS 119 182-1 V1.2.1, § 4 General Requirements.
• Four baseline levels: B-B, B-T (token proving that the signature existed at a given time), B-LT (validation data included) and B-LTA (time stamps that allow validation long afterwards) ETSI TS 119 182-1 V1.2.1, § 6.1 Signature levels.
• x5c parameter (X.509 certificate chain): the standard makes it a signed parameter ETSI TS 119 182-1 V1.2.1, § 5.1.8 The x5c (X.509 Certificate Chain) header parameter.

What the acts apply, and how

• Implementing Regulation 2026/248: Member States that require an advanced electronic signature or seal (or one based on a qualified certificate) recognise those that comply with the specifications of Annex I; these paragraphs apply from 23 February 2027 Art. 1(1) Art. 3(1) Art. 6. Annex I names TS 119 182-1 version 1.2.1 and replaces its clause 5.1.8: the x5c parameter must be present, as a signed or unsigned parameter Annex I.
• Implementing Regulation 2025/2531 (qualified electronic ledgers): under requirement REQ-7.5-03 of adapted ETSI EN 319 401 version 3.1.1, providers establish the origin of the records by means of advanced signatures or seals based on qualified certificates, created by the users of the service according to CAdES, XAdES or JAdES version 1.2.1, with the same adaptation of clause 5.1.8 List of technical specifications and reference standards for qualified distributed electronic ledgers ETSI EN 319 401 V3.1.1. An electronic ledger is presumed to comply with the requirements laid down in paragraph 1 of the article cited where it complies with the standards, specifications and procedures referred to in paragraph 3 Art. 45l(2).
• Implementing Regulation 2024/2979: Annex IV lists JAdES version 1.2.1 among the optional formats, for signatures in JSON format; signature creation applications produce at least the mandatory format, PAdES Annex IV Art. 12(2). In addition, Annex Ib requires wallet instance attestations and key attestations to be JWT tokens signed or sealed by the wallet provider by means of a compact JAdES baseline B signature, without naming a standard Annex Ib. Wallet providers ensure that their wallet unit attestations comply with that annex Art. 6(2).
• Implementing Regulation 2025/2527 (qualified certificates for website authentication), applicable from 6 January 2027: it refers to ETSI TS 119 411-5 version 2.1.1 List of reference standards for qualified certificates for website authentication Art. 2. In that specification, the binding between a 2-QWAC certificate and the TLS certificates of a website is a JAdES signature according to TS 119 182-1, cited without a version, in compact serialization ETSI TS 119 411-5 V2.1.1, Annex B (normative): TLS Certificate Binding Profile ETSI TS 119 411-5 V2.1.1, § 2.1 Normative references.
• Implementing Regulation 2025/2162: for the recording in a qualified electronic ledger, Annex II cited ETSI EN 319 182-1; the corrigendum published in the Official Journal corrects it to ETSI TS 119 182-1, without a version Annex II Corrigendum R(01) — Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2162. Conformity assessment schemes indicate the year and version number of the standards Art. 6(3).

Important clauses

• ETSI TS 119 182-1 V1.2.1, § 1 Scope: scope.
• ETSI TS 119 182-1 V1.2.1, § 5 Header parameters semantics and syntax: header parameters.
• ETSI TS 119 182-1 V1.2.1, § 5.1.8 The x5c (X.509 Certificate Chain) header parameter: clause 5.1.8, adapted by Implementing Regulations 2026/248 and 2025/2531.
• ETSI TS 119 182-1 V1.2.1, § 6 JAdES baseline signatures: baseline signatures.

Links

• Neighbouring standards: CAdES ETSI EN 319 122-1 V1.3.1, XAdES ETSI EN 319 132-1 V1.3.1, PAdES ETSI EN 319 142-1 V1.2.1.
• Related standards: RFC 7515 RFC 7515, RFC 7519 RFC 7519.
• Learning path: step 4, trust services.

ETSI standard: the site reproduces only short extracts; the full text is available from ETSI ETSI TS 119 182-1 V1.2.1. Written by Asphalia.