This project has been developed by the Information Security Group (ISG) from the University of Louvain (ULC). It contains two parts, one is the python pyPassport library that allows everyone to read his passport, and the GUI ePassport Viewer that provides a friendly interface to the API. The tool allows everyone to check whether his passport resists to the attacks known in the literature.

For more information, you can read the paper from the ISG and al. published the in ACM journal: A Survey of Security and Privacy Issues in ePassports.

Here is the complete installation guide for pyPassport and ePassport Viewer on Linux (tested on Ubuntu 18.08 64bit) with an ACR122 using python 2.7.

First you need to download the latest version of ePassportViewer:

sudo apt install git
git clone https://github.com/beaujeant/ePassportViewer.git

Once the repository cloned, you need to install the dependencies:

sudo apt install python
sudo apt install python-setuptools
sudo apt install python-crypto
sudo apt install python-pyasn1
sudo apt install python-pil
sudo apt install python-pyscard

You now can install pypassport:

cd ePassportViewer/pypassport
sudo python setup.py install

Some features of pypassport will only be available with the following additional dependencies:

sudo apt install openssl python-openssl
sudo apt install openjdk-6-jre-headless

First you need to unplug the reader, then install the following resource:

sudo apt install libusb-dev
sudo apt install pcscd

For the ACR122 from acs, you need to unplug the reader, then install the driver available here: https://www.acs.com.hk/en/driver/3/acr122u-usb-nfc-reader/

Here is example if you are on Ubuntu 18.08 64-bit:

cd /tmp/
wget https://www.acs.com.hk/download-driver-unified/10312/ACS-Unified-PKG-Lnx-116-P.zip
unzip ACS-Unified-PKG-Lnx-116-P.zip
cd ACS-Unified-PKG-Lnx-116-P/acsccid_linux_bin-1.1.6/ubuntu/bionic/
sudo dpkg -i libacsccid1_1.1.6-1~ubuntu18.04.1_amd64.deb

Once installed, you need to unload the pn533:

sudo rm -r /lib/modules/*/kernel/drivers/nfc/pn533

Now you should be able to use your reader. You can connect your reader and test if the driver has been properly installed with the following command:

sudo service pcscd stop
sudo pcscd -f -d
# "Ctrl + C" to quit

When placing your passport on the reader, you should see something similar to:

00001241 eventhandler.c:404:EHStatusHandlerThread() powerState: POWER_STATE_POWERED
00000010 eventhandler.c:421:EHStatusHandlerThread() Card inserted into ACS ACR122U 00 00
00000008 Card ATR: 12 23 34 45 56 67 78 89 90 01 12 23 34 45 56 67 78 89 90 01

ePassportViewer needs the following dependencies:

sudo apt install python-tk
sudo apt install python-imaging-tk

Once installed you can run pcscd service and start ePassportViewer:

sudo service pcscd start
cd ePassportViewer
python ePassportViewer.py

Some features of ePassportViewer will only be available with the following additional dependency:

sudo apt install libjpeg62
sudo apt install python-reportlab

If you have the following error message:

'Failure to list readers: Service not Available.'.
Please check your passport is on the reader

Close ePassportViewer and run the following command:

sudo service pcscd restart