9F79

Unprotected Data Envelope 5

Unprotected Data Envelope 5 shares the exact same free-read, not integrity-protected design as its sibling Unprotected Data Envelope 2 (9F76), but sits in a different position in Kernel 2's numbered envelope family: where 9F76 is bracketed by two neighbours (9F75 and 9F77) in the sequence, 9F79 relates only to 9F75, suggesting a more standalone slot rather than a tightly clustered one. What that difference in numbering and relation doesn't change is the operational caution both envelopes deserve equally: because unprotected means exactly what it says, any application reading 9F79 is choosing to trust its content without a cryptographic basis for that trust, which is a legitimate design choice for genuinely low-stakes data but a real liability if a terminal or host implementation ever mistakenly treats it as authenticated. Like 9F76, this is a Mastercard PayPass (Kernel 2) tag, absent by design from other kernels' data models rather than merely missing from a specific card. See EMV Contactless Book C-2.

Interactive decoder

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Binary (3): 0A0B0C

This tag is not a bitmap; the decoder shows a format-based interpretation.

Decoded example

Example value: 0A0B0C

Related tags

Properties

Tag9F79
NameUnprotected Data Envelope 5
FormatBinary
Lengthvariable
SourceCard (ICC)
Templates
BooksEMV Contactless Book C-2

Frequently asked questions

What is EMV tag 9F79?
Unprotected Data Envelope 5 shares the exact same free-read, not integrity-protected design as its sibling Unprotected Data Envelope 2 (9F76), but sits in a different position in Kernel 2's numbered envelope family: where 9F76 is bracketed by two neighbours (9F75 and 9F77) in the sequence, 9F79 relates only to 9F75, suggesting a more standalone slot rather than a tightly clustered one. What that difference in numbering and relation doesn't change is the operational caution both envelopes deserve equally: because unprotected means exactly what it says, any application reading 9F79 is choosing to trust its content without a cryptographic basis for that trust, which is a legitimate design choice for genuinely low-stakes data but a real liability if a terminal or host implementation ever mistakenly treats it as authenticated. Like 9F76, this is a Mastercard PayPass (Kernel 2) tag, absent by design from other kernels' data models rather than merely missing from a specific card. See EMV Contactless Book C-2.
What format and length does EMV tag 9F79 use?
Tag 9F79 uses the Binary format and is normally variable long.
Is tag 9F79 provided by the card or the terminal?
Tag 9F79 (Unprotected Data Envelope 5) is provided by the Card (ICC).

Sources

  • C-2-Kernel-2-V2.11-Final-June-2023, p. 435

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