If you are trying to read a PKCS#1 RSA public key you run into trouble, because openssl wants the public key in X.509 style.
The PKCS#1 RSA public key
-----BEGIN RSA PUBLIC KEY-----
MIIBCgKCAQEAgYxTW5Yj+5QiQtlPMnS9kqQ/HVp+T2KtmvShe68cm8luR7Dampmb
[...]
cbn6n2FsV91BlEnrAKq65PGJxcwcH5+aJwIDAQAB
-----END RSA PUBLIC KEY-----
.. is not readable while the X.509 style public key
-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
MIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8AMIIBCgKCAQEAgYxTW5Yj+5QiQtlPMnS9
[..]
JwIDAQAB
-----END PUBLIC KEY-----
is. You can use an easy (and dirty) work around to read the PKCS#1 RSA anyway. The first few bytes of the X.509 style public key contain header information and can shamelessly be copied.
In other words: Delete everything after the first 32 bytes from the above X.509 key (starting behind Q8A) and attach your PKCS#1 data, reformat to 64 bytes length and use it with openssl.
Please note: The above example only works for 2048 bit length.
Like I said - it's kind of dirty - but hey - if you're as desperate as I was.
Michaela
