Key Certification

Overview

How to use it? Instructions can be found here.
The key certification option is useful for a basic key validity check and to verify whether a PKey2009 key has been generated. Note that a valid certification does not guarantee the key can be activated.
This option works for Windows Vista / Office 2010 and later versions.
In short, if certification shows failed, it means the key cannot be activated by any means (although there are some rare exceptions). If certification shows valid, it means the key is valid and not blocked (this does not necessarily mean the key can be activated).
This option does not consume an activation slot to check.

How does it work?

A SOAP request is sent to Microsoft's SLCertifyProduct endpoint at:

https://activation.sls.microsoft.com/slpkc/SLCertifyProduct.asmx

The request includes three pieces of information:

The product key
The algorithm type (msft:rm/algorithm/pkey/2005 or msft:rm/algorithm/pkey/2009)
The ActConfigId (obtained from PidGenX during key checking)

Microsoft's server responds with either:

A valid PKC (Product Key Certificate) token, meaning the key is certified and not blocked.
A SOAP fault containing an HRESULT error code and a message, meaning the key failed certification.

Since this is purely a certification check and not an activation attempt, no activation slot is consumed.

Sample request

POST https://activation.sls.microsoft.com/slpkc/SLCertifyProduct.asmx HTTP/1.1
Host: activation.sls.microsoft.com
Connection: close
Content-Type: text/xml; charset=utf-8
User-Agent: SLSSoapClient
SOAPAction: http://microsoft.com/SL/ProductCertificationService/IssueToken
Content-Length: 1147

Body:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:soapenc="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/">
  <soap:Body>
    <RequestSecurityToken xmlns="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2004/04/security/trust">
      <TokenType>PKC</TokenType>
      <RequestType>http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2004/04/security/trust/Issue</RequestType>
      <UseKey><Values xsi:nil="true"/></UseKey>
      <Claims>
        <Values xmlns:q1="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2004/04/security/trust" soapenc:arrayType="q1:TokenEntry[3]">
          <TokenEntry><Name>ProductKey</Name><Value>NJCF7-PW8QT-3324D-688JX-2YV66</Value></TokenEntry>
          <TokenEntry><Name>ProductKeyType</Name><Value>msft:rm/algorithm/pkey/2009</Value></TokenEntry>
          <TokenEntry><Name>ProductKeyActConfigId</Name><Value>msft2009:df96023b-dcd9-4be2-afa0-c6c871159ebe&amp;AgAAAJoH2NSFU3D8JA==</Value></TokenEntry>
        </Values>
      </Claims>
    </RequestSecurityToken>
  </soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>

Sample of a valid PKC (Product Key Certificate)

<r:license licenseId="{cf0c64fd-b698-45f5-b90a-0f157bd4d739}" xmlns:r="urn:mpeg:mpeg21:2003:01-REL-R-NS">
	<r:title>XrML 2.1 License - {msft:sl/PKC}</r:title>
	<r:grant>
		<productId licensePartId="productId" xmlns="http://www.microsoft.com/DRM/XrML2/SL/v2">
			<sl:pid Algorithm="msft:rm/algorithm/pkey/2009" xmlns:sl="http://www.microsoft.com/DRM/XrML2/SL/v2">00389-20000-00001-AA983</sl:pid>
			<sl:pkeyHash Algorithm="msft:rm/algorithm/pkey/hash/1.0" xmlns:sl="http://www.microsoft.com/DRM/XrML2/SL/v2">roBrWJ4i7vD7rCIP3OtNb1pQ34kWTrSgH67sa5fWJcA=</sl:pkeyHash>
		</productId>
		<r:possessProperty/>
		<productData licensePartId="productData" xmlns="http://www.microsoft.com/DRM/XrML2/SL/v2">
			<ProductDataNode xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns="http://www.microsoft.com/DRM/XrML2/SL/v2">
				<ProductKeyActivationId>481107918</ProductKeyActivationId>
				<ProductKeyId>3892000000001</ProductKeyId>
				<ProductKeyType>Retail</ProductKeyType>
				<ActConfigId>{df96023b-dcd9-4be2-afa0-c6c871159ebe}</ActConfigId>
			</ProductDataNode>
		</productData>
	</r:grant>
	<r:issuer>
		<Signature xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#">
			<SignedInfo>
				<CanonicalizationMethod Algorithm="http://www.microsoft.com/xrml/lwc14n"/>
				<SignatureMethod Algorithm="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#rsa-sha1"/>
				<Reference>
					<Transforms>
						<Transform Algorithm="urn:mpeg:mpeg21:2003:01-REL-R-NS:licenseTransform"/>
						<Transform Algorithm="http://www.microsoft.com/xrml/lwc14n"/>
					</Transforms>
					<DigestMethod Algorithm="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#sha1"/>
					<DigestValue>TqKzXJFSDUR9IHrzfKP864W71oY=</DigestValue>
				</Reference>
			</SignedInfo>
			<SignatureValue>JoB0Uyo0lg6xyU4PZqIOoCnQAjgqIyeeijqgweG1VMTYrQYNnWhN8lV4kQgcqXDOMQdcd4KyYGMB12vBVf7CxvnI91ySMeQCbCPN5AnY0RH0Vqj8jgU5A/uV52bRAi955kbszuAwrS33IXKV8pFTrHB3j4seUm7KwonRycUmX3GiOtAsM3Yrhb4Dkk8zWEmWde28zy0rGGh8WsU8XuKymUsha0Sgz6qQjnVAPk48eqjPGfHEA/sXeeirupd6U8Wst9eM4QXJZ1TkBvh5iXpgD7xnWKQTSWWhoTk4E0vwiPj1Y6BrKNCJOiUZVYgijAIaTIkSjmGhAxSJ1RNBdXYLYg==</SignatureValue>
			<KeyInfo>
				<KeyValue>
					<RSAKeyValue>
						<Modulus>5LkuKrdkDU70/uHCbMdGM+iuHoieDBdqMkvdSjr/t12g+gF1W/wDw3jJ4wRKBgFNYn+DzoiXQygTQOrGdKquK1MBeLxyw/HK8CYR2LKhkkXMyzbW6hqAGaOtdw8Cs4VOcEUlg+qnFyRakAzcM8GjCVQLFsYxdhnewN4NnprE1zMGmgWpoDw+uFjf8BkWKic9zl8CEn9O655iWK2hbX8w9yh6+8UPpBCmNgcVTGFHpoFiydMhfUQ7d9udp8FIhKunaC7ZdGFnv/500A63UwTwA8HrTTd93BxQmc3hMshhtmLUReGtxF2OKtd+7rPixZ+tZuTemy0j6/JZPwNRJVo3zQ==</Modulus>
						<Exponent>AQAB</Exponent>
					</RSAKeyValue>
				</KeyValue>
			</KeyInfo>
		</Signature>
		<r:details>
			<r:timeOfIssue>2026-06-12T08:58:14Z</r:timeOfIssue>
		</r:details>
	</r:issuer>
	<r:otherInfo>
		<tm:infoTables xmlns:tm="http://www.microsoft.com/DRM/XrML2/TM/v2">
			<tm:infoList tag="#global">
				<tm:infoStr name="licenseType">msft:sl/PKC</tm:infoStr>
				<tm:infoStr name="licenseVersion">2.0</tm:infoStr>
				<tm:infoStr name="licensorUrl">http://licensing.microsoft.com</tm:infoStr>
				<tm:infoStr name="licenseCategory">msft:sl/ISSUANCE</tm:infoStr>
				<tm:infoStr name="issuanceCertificateId">{9e54f6ea-be00-4909-84d0-3cbce8e57e5d}</tm:infoStr>
			</tm:infoList>
		</tm:infoTables>
	</r:otherInfo>
</r:license>

Sample error response

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
	<soap:Body>
		<soap:Fault>
			<faultcode>soap:Server</faultcode>
			<faultstring>SoapException</faultstring>
			<detail>
				<HRESULT>0xC004C00D</HRESULT>
				<Messages>
					<Message>118 (Activation) - [PA Invalid ActConfigId.  ---&gt; Invalid product key unique Id]</Message>
				</Messages>
			</detail>
		</soap:Fault>
	</soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>

Supported products

Windows Vista / Server 2008 and later versions
Office 2010 and later versions

Note: PGS:TB Key Type / ltPIN EULA product keys are not supported.

Key certification results

Certification Result	Error Code	Error Message	Meaning
Valid			A valid PKC (Product Key Certificate) token was received, meaning the key is certified and not blocked (this does not necessarily mean the key can be activated).
Failed	0xC004C003	103 (Activation) - [PA Product key blocked. ---> Product key blocked]	The key is valid (not generated) but cannot be activated by any means (fully blocked keys, GVLK, etc.).
Failed	0xC004C00D	118 (Activation) - [PA Invalid ActConfigId. ---> Invalid product key unique Id]	The product key type is not supported, for example Visual Studio, PGS:TB keys, Office PIN keys, etc.
Failed	0xC004C004	104 (Activation) - [PA Invalid product key. ---> Invalid product key]	The key is either invalid or has been generated. However, in some rare cases this error is incorrectly returned even when a CID can be generated and the supported product can be activated.

Feedback / Troubleshooting

Check here.

Overview​

How does it work?​

Sample request​

Sample of a valid PKC (Product Key Certificate)​

Sample error response​

Supported products​

Key certification results​

Feedback / Troubleshooting​