View Smart Card Drivers and Crypto in Regedit

The Windows Registry stores configuration details, driver associations, and provider mappings for smart cards and cryptographic modules across several dedicated keys. By navigating the Windows Registry Editor (regedit), administrators and developers can identify registered smart card minidrivers, Answer-to-Reset (ATR) strings, legacy Cryptographic Service Providers (CSPs), and modern Cryptography Next Generation (CNG) Key Storage Providers (KSPs).

Smart Card Database and Minidrivers

The primary subsystem for smart cards in Windows is known as “Calais.” The registry key managing recognized smart cards and their associated minidrivers or driver DLLs is located at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Cryptography\Calais\SmartCards

Under this key, each subkey represents a specific smart card model recognized by the operating system. When you select a card’s subkey, you can inspect the following values: * 80000001: Specifies the name of the smart card minidriver DLL used by the card module framework (e.g., msclmd.dll). * ATR: The binary Answer-to-Reset string used to detect and match the physical card to its software profile. * ATRMask: The binary mask applied to the ATR to identify the card model. * Crypto Provider: The default legacy CSP associated with the card (if applicable).

Smart Card Readers

To check active and historically configured smart card reader devices, inspect:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Cryptography\Calais\Readers

This key contains subkeys for each reader detected by the smart card resource manager service (SCardSvr).

Cryptographic Service Providers (CSPs)

Legacy cryptographic modules that interface with smart cards (such as the Microsoft Base Smart Card Crypto Provider) are registered under:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Cryptography\Defaults\Provider

For 32-bit applications running on a 64-bit Windows installation, inspect the corresponding WOW64 node:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Cryptography\Defaults\Provider

Within each provider subkey, the Image Path string value points to the binary driver or DLL responsible for the cryptographic operations.

CNG Key Storage Providers (KSPs)

Modern Windows cryptography uses Cryptography Next Generation (CNG). Hardware and software KSPs that handle smart cards and security tokens are cataloged at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Cryptography\Providers

Selecting a provider (such as Microsoft Smart Card Key Storage Provider) reveals its binary registration parameters, configuration interfaces, and associated class identifiers (CLSIDs).