diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index a306201eea..06987cc783 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ Features
    * Added option parsing for host and port selection to
      ssl_client2
    * Added support for GeneralizedTime in X509 parsing
+   * Added cert_app program to allow easy reading and
+     printing of X509 certificates from file or SSL
+	 connection.
 
 Changes
    * Added const correctness for main code base
diff --git a/programs/CMakeLists.txt b/programs/CMakeLists.txt
index a11929a2a3..f73b645b3d 100644
--- a/programs/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/programs/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -3,3 +3,4 @@ add_subdirectory(hash)
 add_subdirectory(pkey)
 add_subdirectory(ssl)
 add_subdirectory(test)
+add_subdirectory(x509)
diff --git a/programs/Makefile b/programs/Makefile
index 8f3894ef1a..0e467e6982 100644
--- a/programs/Makefile
+++ b/programs/Makefile
@@ -7,15 +7,15 @@ OFLAGS	= -O
 LDFLAGS	= -L../library -lpolarssl
 
 APPS =	aes/aescrypt2		hash/hello		\
-	hash/md5sum		hash/sha1sum		\
+	hash/md5sum			hash/sha1sum		\
 	hash/sha2sum		pkey/dh_client		\
 	pkey/dh_genprime	pkey/dh_server		\
 	pkey/mpi_demo		pkey/rsa_genkey		\
 	pkey/rsa_sign		pkey/rsa_verify		\
 	ssl/ssl_client1		ssl/ssl_client2		\
 	ssl/ssl_server		test/ssl_cert_test	\
-	test/benchmark					\
-	test/selftest		test/ssl_test
+	test/benchmark		test/selftest		\
+	test/ssl_test		x509/cert_app
 
 .SILENT:
 
@@ -97,6 +97,10 @@ test/ssl_test: test/ssl_test.c ../library/libpolarssl.a
 	echo   "  CC    test/ssl_test.c"
 	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(OFLAGS) test/ssl_test.c    $(LDFLAGS) -o $@
 
+x509/cert_app: x509/cert_app.c ../library/libpolarssl.a
+	echo   "  CC    x509/cert_app.c"
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(OFLAGS) x509/cert_app.c    $(LDFLAGS) -o $@
+
 clean:
 	rm -f $(APPS)
 
diff --git a/programs/x509/CMakeLists.txt b/programs/x509/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3078fd5997
--- /dev/null
+++ b/programs/x509/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+add_executable(cert_app cert_app.c)
+target_link_libraries(cert_app polarssl)
diff --git a/programs/x509/cert_app.c b/programs/x509/cert_app.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1df51988ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/programs/x509/cert_app.c
@@ -0,0 +1,279 @@
+/*
+ *  Certificate reading application
+ *
+ *  Copyright (C) 2006-2009, Paul Bakker <polarssl_maintainer at polarssl.org>
+ *  All rights reserved.
+ *
+ *  Joined copyright on original XySSL code with: Christophe Devine
+ *
+ *  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ *  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ *  the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+ *  (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ *  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ *  GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ *  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
+ *  with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+ *  51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ */
+
+#ifndef _CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE
+#define _CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE 1
+#endif
+
+#include <string.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+
+#include "polarssl/havege.h"
+#include "polarssl/net.h"
+#include "polarssl/ssl.h"
+#include "polarssl/x509.h"
+
+#define MODE_NONE               0
+#define MODE_FILE               1
+#define MODE_SSL                2
+
+#define DFL_MODE                MODE_NONE
+#define DFL_FILENAME            "cert.crt"
+#define DFL_SERVER_NAME         "localhost"
+#define DFL_SERVER_PORT         4433
+#define DFL_DEBUG_LEVEL         0
+
+/*
+ * global options
+ */
+struct options
+{
+    int mode;                   /* the mode to run the application in   */
+    char *filename;             /* filename of the certificate file     */
+    char *server_name;          /* hostname of the server (client only) */
+    int server_port;            /* port on which the ssl service runs   */
+    int debug_level;            /* level of debugging                   */
+} opt;
+
+void my_debug( void *ctx, int level, const char *str )
+{
+    if( level < opt.debug_level )
+    {
+        fprintf( (FILE *) ctx, "%s", str );
+        fflush(  (FILE *) ctx  );
+    }
+}
+
+#define USAGE \
+    "\n usage: cert_app param=<>...\n"                  \
+    "\n acceptable parameters:\n"                       \
+    "    mode=file|ssl       default: none\n"          \
+    "    filename=%%s         default: cert.crt\n"      \
+    "    server_name=%%s      default: localhost\n"     \
+    "    server_port=%%d      default: 4433\n"          \
+    "    debug_level=%%d      default: 0 (disabled)\n"  \
+    "\n"
+
+int main( int argc, char *argv[] )
+{
+    int ret = 0, server_fd;
+    unsigned char buf[1024];
+    havege_state hs;
+    ssl_context ssl;
+    ssl_session ssn;
+    x509_cert clicert;
+    rsa_context rsa;
+    int i, j, n;
+    char *p, *q;
+
+    if( argc == 0 )
+    {
+    usage:
+        printf( USAGE );
+        goto exit;
+    }
+
+    opt.mode                = DFL_MODE;
+    opt.filename            = DFL_FILENAME;
+    opt.server_name         = DFL_SERVER_NAME;
+    opt.server_port         = DFL_SERVER_PORT;
+    opt.debug_level         = DFL_DEBUG_LEVEL;
+
+    for( i = 1; i < argc; i++ )
+    {
+        n = strlen( argv[i] );
+
+        for( j = 0; j < n; j++ )
+        {
+            if( argv[i][j] >= 'A' && argv[i][j] <= 'Z' )
+                argv[i][j] |= 0x20;
+        }
+
+        p = argv[i];
+        if( ( q = strchr( p, '=' ) ) == NULL )
+            goto usage;
+        *q++ = '\0';
+
+        if( strcmp( p, "mode" ) == 0 )
+        {
+            if( strcmp( q, "file" ) == 0 )
+                opt.mode = MODE_FILE;
+            else if( strcmp( q, "ssl" ) == 0 )
+                opt.mode = MODE_SSL;
+            else
+                goto usage;
+        }
+        else if( strcmp( p, "filename" ) == 0 )
+            opt.filename = q;
+        else if( strcmp( p, "server_name" ) == 0 )
+            opt.server_name = q;
+        else if( strcmp( p, "server_port" ) == 0 )
+        {
+            opt.server_port = atoi( q );
+            if( opt.server_port < 1 || opt.server_port > 65535 )
+                goto usage;
+        }
+        else if( strcmp( p, "debug_level" ) == 0 )
+        {
+            opt.debug_level = atoi( q );
+            if( opt.debug_level < 0 || opt.debug_level > 65535 )
+                goto usage;
+        }
+        else
+            goto usage;
+    }
+
+    if( opt.mode == MODE_FILE )
+    {
+        x509_cert crt;
+
+        memset( &crt, 0, sizeof( x509_cert ) );
+
+        /*
+         * 1.1. Load the certificate
+         */
+        printf( "\n  . Loading the certificate ..." );
+        fflush( stdout );
+
+        ret = x509parse_crtfile( &crt, opt.filename );
+
+        if( ret != 0 )
+        {
+            printf( " failed\n  !  x509parse_crt returned %d\n\n", ret );
+            x509_free( &crt );
+            goto exit;
+        }
+
+        printf( " ok\n" );
+
+        /*
+         * 1.2 Print the certificate
+         */
+        printf( "  . Peer certificate information    ...\n" );
+        ret = x509parse_cert_info( (char *) buf, sizeof( buf ) - 1, "      ", &crt );
+        if( ret == -1 )
+        {
+            printf( " failed\n  !  x509parse_cert_info returned %d\n\n", ret );
+            x509_free( &crt );
+            goto exit;
+        }
+
+        printf( "%s\n", buf );
+
+        x509_free( &crt );
+    }
+    else if( opt.mode == MODE_SSL )
+    {
+        /*
+         * 1. Initialize the RNG and the session data
+         */
+        havege_init( &hs );
+        memset( &ssn, 0, sizeof( ssl_session ) );
+
+        /*
+         * 2. Start the connection
+         */
+        printf( "  . SSL connection to tcp/%s/%-4d...", opt.server_name,
+                                                        opt.server_port );
+        fflush( stdout );
+
+        if( ( ret = net_connect( &server_fd, opt.server_name,
+                                             opt.server_port ) ) != 0 )
+        {
+            printf( " failed\n  ! net_connect returned %d\n\n", ret );
+            goto exit;
+        }
+
+        /*
+         * 3. Setup stuff
+         */
+        if( ( ret = ssl_init( &ssl ) ) != 0 )
+        {
+            printf( " failed\n  ! ssl_init returned %d\n\n", ret );
+            goto exit;
+        }
+
+        ssl_set_endpoint( &ssl, SSL_IS_CLIENT );
+        ssl_set_authmode( &ssl, SSL_VERIFY_NONE );
+
+        ssl_set_rng( &ssl, havege_rand, &hs );
+        ssl_set_dbg( &ssl, my_debug, stdout );
+        ssl_set_bio( &ssl, net_recv, &server_fd,
+                net_send, &server_fd );
+
+        ssl_set_ciphers( &ssl, ssl_default_ciphers );
+        ssl_set_session( &ssl, 1, 600, &ssn );
+
+        ssl_set_own_cert( &ssl, &clicert, &rsa );
+
+        ssl_set_hostname( &ssl, opt.server_name );
+
+        /*
+         * 4. Handshake
+         */
+        while( ( ret = ssl_handshake( &ssl ) ) != 0 )
+        {
+            if( ret != POLARSSL_ERR_NET_TRY_AGAIN )
+            {
+                printf( " failed\n  ! ssl_handshake returned %d\n\n", ret );
+                goto exit;
+            }
+        }
+
+        printf( " ok\n" );
+
+        /*
+         * 5. Print the certificate
+         */
+        printf( "  . Peer certificate information    ...\n" );
+        ret = x509parse_cert_info( (char *) buf, sizeof( buf ) - 1, "      ", ssl.peer_cert );
+        if( ret == -1 )
+        {
+            printf( " failed\n  !  x509parse_cert_info returned %d\n\n", ret );
+            goto exit;
+        }
+
+        printf( "%s\n", buf );
+
+        ssl_close_notify( &ssl );
+    }
+    else
+        goto usage;
+
+exit:
+
+    net_close( server_fd );
+    x509_free( &clicert );
+    rsa_free( &rsa );
+    ssl_free( &ssl );
+
+    memset( &ssl, 0, sizeof( ssl ) );
+
+#ifdef WIN32
+    printf( "  + Press Enter to exit this program.\n" );
+    fflush( stdout ); getchar();
+#endif
+
+    return( ret );
+}