1 \input texinfo @c -*- Texinfo -*-
3 @setfilename gcrypt.info
5 @settitle The Libgcrypt Reference Manual
6 @c Unify some of the indices.
11 This manual is for Libgcrypt
12 (version @value{VERSION}, @value{UPDATED}),
13 which is GNU's library of cryptographic building blocks.
15 Copyright @copyright{} 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
18 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
19 under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
20 Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your
21 option) any later version. The text of the license can be found in the
22 section entitled ``GNU General Public License''.
26 @dircategory GNU Libraries
28 * libgcrypt: (gcrypt). Cryptographic function library.
36 @setchapternewpage odd
38 @title The Libgcrypt Reference Manual
39 @subtitle Version @value{VERSION}
40 @subtitle @value{UPDATED}
41 @author Werner Koch (@email{wk@@gnupg.org})
42 @author Moritz Schulte (@email{mo@@g10code.com})
45 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
58 @top The Libgcrypt Library
64 * Introduction:: What is Libgcrypt.
65 * Preparation:: What you should do before using the library.
66 * Generalities:: General library functions and data types.
67 * Handler Functions:: Working with handler functions.
68 * Symmetric cryptography:: How to use symmetric cryptography.
69 * Public Key cryptography:: How to use public key cryptography.
70 * Hashing:: How to use hash and MAC algorithms.
71 * Random Numbers:: How to work with random numbers.
72 * S-expressions:: How to manage S-expressions.
73 * MPI library:: How to work with multi-precision-integers.
74 * Prime numbers:: How to use the Prime number related functions.
75 * Utilities:: Utility functions.
76 * Architecture:: How Libgcrypt works internally.
80 * Self-Tests:: Description of the self-tests.
81 * FIPS Mode:: Description of the FIPS mode.
82 * Library Copying:: The GNU Lesser General Public License
83 says how you can copy and share Libgcrypt.
84 * Copying:: The GNU General Public License says how you
85 can copy and share some parts of Libgcrypt.
89 * Figures and Tables:: Index of figures and tables.
90 * Concept Index:: Index of concepts and programs.
91 * Function and Data Index:: Index of functions, variables and data types.
102 @c **********************************************************
103 @c ******************* Introduction ***********************
104 @c **********************************************************
106 @chapter Introduction
108 Libgcrypt is a library providing cryptographic building blocks.
111 * Getting Started:: How to use this manual.
112 * Features:: A glance at Libgcrypt's features.
113 * Overview:: Overview about the library.
116 @node Getting Started
117 @section Getting Started
119 This manual documents the Libgcrypt library application programming
120 interface (API). All functions and data types provided by the library
124 The reader is assumed to possess basic knowledge about applied
127 This manual can be used in several ways. If read from the beginning
128 to the end, it gives a good introduction into the library and how it
129 can be used in an application. Forward references are included where
130 necessary. Later on, the manual can be used as a reference manual to
131 get just the information needed about any particular interface of the
132 library. Experienced programmers might want to start looking at the
133 examples at the end of the manual, and then only read up those parts
134 of the interface which are unclear.
140 Libgcrypt might have a couple of advantages over other libraries doing
144 @item It's Free Software
145 Anybody can use, modify, and redistribute it under the terms of the GNU
146 Lesser General Public License (@pxref{Library Copying}). Note, that
147 some parts (which are in general not needed by applications) are subject
148 to the terms of the GNU General Public License (@pxref{Copying}); please
149 see the README file of the distribution for of list of these parts.
151 @item It encapsulates the low level cryptography
152 Libgcrypt provides a high level interface to cryptographic
153 building blocks using an extensible and flexible API.
161 The Libgcrypt library is fully thread-safe, where it makes
162 sense to be thread-safe. Not thread-safe are some cryptographic
163 functions that modify a certain context stored in handles. If the
164 user really intents to use such functions from different threads on
165 the same handle, he has to take care of the serialization of such
166 functions himself. If not described otherwise, every function is
169 Libgcrypt depends on the library `libgpg-error', which
170 contains common error handling related code for GnuPG components.
172 @c **********************************************************
173 @c ******************* Preparation ************************
174 @c **********************************************************
178 To use Libgcrypt, you have to perform some changes to your
179 sources and the build system. The necessary changes are small and
180 explained in the following sections. At the end of this chapter, it
181 is described how the library is initialized, and how the requirements
182 of the library are verified.
185 * Header:: What header file you need to include.
186 * Building sources:: How to build sources using the library.
187 * Building sources using Automake:: How to build sources with the help of Automake.
188 * Initializing the library:: How to initialize the library.
189 * Multi-Threading:: How Libgcrypt can be used in a MT environment.
190 * Enabling FIPS mode:: How to enable the FIPS mode.
197 All interfaces (data types and functions) of the library are defined
198 in the header file @file{gcrypt.h}. You must include this in all source
199 files using the library, either directly or through some other header
206 The name space of Libgcrypt is @code{gcry_*} for function
207 and type names and @code{GCRY*} for other symbols. In addition the
208 same name prefixes with one prepended underscore are reserved for
209 internal use and should never be used by an application. Note that
210 Libgcrypt uses libgpg-error, which uses @code{gpg_*} as
211 name space for function and type names and @code{GPG_*} for other
212 symbols, including all the error codes.
215 Certain parts of gcrypt.h may be excluded by defining these macros:
218 @item GCRYPT_NO_MPI_MACROS
219 Do not define the shorthand macros @code{mpi_*} for @code{gcry_mpi_*}.
221 @item GCRYPT_NO_DEPRECATED
222 Do not include defintions for deprecated features. This is useful to
223 make sure that no deprecated features are used.
226 @node Building sources
227 @section Building sources
229 If you want to compile a source file including the `gcrypt.h' header
230 file, you must make sure that the compiler can find it in the
231 directory hierarchy. This is accomplished by adding the path to the
232 directory in which the header file is located to the compilers include
233 file search path (via the @option{-I} option).
235 However, the path to the include file is determined at the time the
236 source is configured. To solve this problem, Libgcrypt ships with a small
237 helper program @command{libgcrypt-config} that knows the path to the
238 include file and other configuration options. The options that need
239 to be added to the compiler invocation at compile time are output by
240 the @option{--cflags} option to @command{libgcrypt-config}. The following
241 example shows how it can be used at the command line:
244 gcc -c foo.c `libgcrypt-config --cflags`
247 Adding the output of @samp{libgcrypt-config --cflags} to the compilers
248 command line will ensure that the compiler can find the Libgcrypt header
251 A similar problem occurs when linking the program with the library.
252 Again, the compiler has to find the library files. For this to work,
253 the path to the library files has to be added to the library search path
254 (via the @option{-L} option). For this, the option @option{--libs} to
255 @command{libgcrypt-config} can be used. For convenience, this option
256 also outputs all other options that are required to link the program
257 with the Libgcrypt libraries (in particular, the @samp{-lgcrypt}
258 option). The example shows how to link @file{foo.o} with the Libgcrypt
259 library to a program @command{foo}.
262 gcc -o foo foo.o `libgcrypt-config --libs`
265 Of course you can also combine both examples to a single command by
266 specifying both options to @command{libgcrypt-config}:
269 gcc -o foo foo.c `libgcrypt-config --cflags --libs`
272 @node Building sources using Automake
273 @section Building sources using Automake
275 It is much easier if you use GNU Automake instead of writing your own
276 Makefiles. If you do that, you do not have to worry about finding and
277 invoking the @command{libgcrypt-config} script at all.
278 Libgcrypt provides an extension to Automake that does all
281 @c A simple macro for optional variables.
283 @r{[}@var{\varname\}@r{]}
285 @defmac AM_PATH_LIBGCRYPT (@ovar{minimum-version}, @ovar{action-if-found}, @ovar{action-if-not-found})
286 Check whether Libgcrypt (at least version
287 @var{minimum-version}, if given) exists on the host system. If it is
288 found, execute @var{action-if-found}, otherwise do
289 @var{action-if-not-found}, if given.
291 Additionally, the function defines @code{LIBGCRYPT_CFLAGS} to the
292 flags needed for compilation of the program to find the
293 @file{gcrypt.h} header file, and @code{LIBGCRYPT_LIBS} to the linker
294 flags needed to link the program to the Libgcrypt library.
297 You can use the defined Autoconf variables like this in your
301 AM_CPPFLAGS = $(LIBGCRYPT_CFLAGS)
302 LDADD = $(LIBGCRYPT_LIBS)
305 @node Initializing the library
306 @section Initializing the library
308 Before the library can be used, it must initialize itself. This is
309 achieved by invoking the function @code{gcry_check_version} described
312 Also, it is often desirable to check that the version of
313 Libgcrypt used is indeed one which fits all requirements.
314 Even with binary compatibility, new features may have been introduced,
315 but due to problem with the dynamic linker an old version may actually
316 be used. So you may want to check that the version is okay right
317 after program startup.
319 @deftypefun {const char *} gcry_check_version (const char *@var{req_version})
321 The function @code{gcry_check_version} initializes some subsystems used
322 by Libgcrypt and must be invoked before any other function in the
323 library, with the exception of the @code{GCRYCTL_SET_THREAD_CBS} command
324 (called via the @code{gcry_control} function).
325 @xref{Multi-Threading}.
327 Furthermore, this function returns the version number of the library.
328 It can also verify that the version number is higher than a certain
329 required version number @var{req_version}, if this value is not a null
333 Libgcrypt uses a concept known as secure memory, which is a region of
334 memory set aside for storing sensitive data. Because such memory is a
335 scarce resource, it needs to be setup in advanced to a fixed size.
336 Further, most operating systems have special requirements on how that
337 secure memory can be used. For example, it might be required to install
338 an application as ``setuid(root)'' to allow allocating such memory.
339 Libgcrypt requires a sequence of initialization steps to make sure that
340 this works correctly. The following examples show the necessary steps.
342 If you don't have a need for secure memory, for example if your
343 application does not use secret keys or other confidential data or it
344 runs in a controlled environment where key material floating around in
345 memory is not a problem, you should initialize Libgcrypt this way:
348 /* Version check should be the very first call because it
349 makes sure that important subsystems are intialized. */
350 if (!gcry_check_version (GCRYPT_VERSION))
352 fputs ("libgcrypt version mismatch\n", stderr);
356 /* Disable secure memory. */
357 gcry_control (GCRYCTL_DISABLE_SECMEM, 0);
359 /* ... If required, other initialization goes here. */
361 /* Tell Libgcrypt that initialization has completed. */
362 gcry_control (GCRYCTL_INITIALIZATION_FINISHED, 0);
366 If you have to protect your keys or other information in memory against
367 being swapped out to disk and to enable an automatic overwrite of used
368 and freed memory, you need to initialize Libgcrypt this way:
371 /* Version check should be the very first call because it
372 makes sure that important subsystems are intialized. */
373 if (!gcry_check_version (GCRYPT_VERSION))
375 fputs ("libgcrypt version mismatch\n", stderr);
379 @anchor{sample-use-suspend-secmem}
380 /* We don't want to see any warnings, e.g. because we have not yet
381 parsed program options which might be used to suppress such
383 gcry_control (GCRYCTL_SUSPEND_SECMEM_WARN);
385 /* ... If required, other initialization goes here. Note that the
386 process might still be running with increased privileges and that
387 the secure memory has not been intialized. */
389 /* Allocate a pool of 16k secure memory. This make the secure memory
390 available and also drops privileges where needed. */
391 gcry_control (GCRYCTL_INIT_SECMEM, 16384, 0);
393 @anchor{sample-use-resume-secmem}
394 /* It is now okay to let Libgcrypt complain when there was/is
395 a problem with the secure memory. */
396 gcry_control (GCRYCTL_RESUME_SECMEM_WARN);
398 /* ... If required, other initialization goes here. */
400 /* Tell Libgcrypt that initialization has completed. */
401 gcry_control (GCRYCTL_INITIALIZATION_FINISHED, 0);
404 It is important that these initialization steps are not done by a
405 library but by the actual application. A library using Libgcrypt might
406 want to check for finished initialization using:
409 if (!gcry_control (GCRYCTL_INITIALIZATION_FINISHED_P))
411 fputs ("libgcrypt has not been initialized\n", stderr);
416 Instead of terminating the process, the library may instead print a
417 warning and try to initialize Libgcrypt itself. See also the section on
418 multi-threading below for more pitfalls.
422 @node Multi-Threading
423 @section Multi-Threading
425 As mentioned earlier, the Libgcrypt library is
426 thread-safe if you adhere to the following requirements:
430 If your application is multi-threaded, you must set the thread support
431 callbacks with the @code{GCRYCTL_SET_THREAD_CBS} command
432 @strong{before} any other function in the library.
434 This is easy enough if you are indeed writing an application using
435 Libgcrypt. It is rather problematic if you are writing a library
436 instead. Here are some tips what to do if you are writing a library:
438 If your library requires a certain thread package, just initialize
439 Libgcrypt to use this thread package. If your library supports multiple
440 thread packages, but needs to be configured, you will have to
441 implement a way to determine which thread package the application
442 wants to use with your library anyway. Then configure Libgcrypt to use
445 If your library is fully reentrant without any special support by a
446 thread package, then you are lucky indeed. Unfortunately, this does
447 not relieve you from doing either of the two above, or use a third
448 option. The third option is to let the application initialize Libgcrypt
449 for you. Then you are not using Libgcrypt transparently, though.
451 As if this was not difficult enough, a conflict may arise if two
452 libraries try to initialize Libgcrypt independently of each others, and
453 both such libraries are then linked into the same application. To
454 make it a bit simpler for you, this will probably work, but only if
455 both libraries have the same requirement for the thread package. This
456 is currently only supported for the non-threaded case, GNU Pth and
457 pthread. Support for more thread packages is easy to add, so contact
458 us if you require it.
461 The function @code{gcry_check_version} must be called before any other
462 function in the library, except the @code{GCRYCTL_SET_THREAD_CBS}
463 command (called via the @code{gcry_control} function), because it
464 initializes the thread support subsystem in Libgcrypt. To
465 achieve this in multi-threaded programs, you must synchronize the
466 memory with respect to other threads that also want to use
467 Libgcrypt. For this, it is sufficient to call
468 @code{gcry_check_version} before creating the other threads using
469 Libgcrypt@footnote{At least this is true for POSIX threads,
470 as @code{pthread_create} is a function that synchronizes memory with
471 respects to other threads. There are many functions which have this
472 property, a complete list can be found in POSIX, IEEE Std 1003.1-2003,
473 Base Definitions, Issue 6, in the definition of the term ``Memory
474 Synchronization''. For other thread packages, more relaxed or more
475 strict rules may apply.}.
478 Just like the function @code{gpg_strerror}, the function
479 @code{gcry_strerror} is not thread safe. You have to use
480 @code{gpg_strerror_r} instead.
485 Libgcrypt contains convenient macros, which define the
486 necessary thread callbacks for PThread and for GNU Pth:
489 @item GCRY_THREAD_OPTION_PTH_IMPL
491 This macro defines the following (static) symbols:
492 @code{gcry_pth_init}, @code{gcry_pth_mutex_init},
493 @code{gcry_pth_mutex_destroy}, @code{gcry_pth_mutex_lock},
494 @code{gcry_pth_mutex_unlock}, @code{gcry_pth_read},
495 @code{gcry_pth_write}, @code{gcry_pth_select},
496 @code{gcry_pth_waitpid}, @code{gcry_pth_accept},
497 @code{gcry_pth_connect}, @code{gcry_threads_pth}.
499 After including this macro, @code{gcry_control()} shall be used with a
500 command of @code{GCRYCTL_SET_THREAD_CBS} in order to register the
501 thread callback structure named ``gcry_threads_pth''.
503 @item GCRY_THREAD_OPTION_PTHREAD_IMPL
505 This macro defines the following (static) symbols:
506 @code{gcry_pthread_mutex_init}, @code{gcry_pthread_mutex_destroy},
507 @code{gcry_pthread_mutex_lock}, @code{gcry_pthread_mutex_unlock},
508 @code{gcry_threads_pthread}.
510 After including this macro, @code{gcry_control()} shall be used with a
511 command of @code{GCRYCTL_SET_THREAD_CBS} in order to register the
512 thread callback structure named ``gcry_threads_pthread''.
515 Note that these macros need to be terminated with a semicolon. Keep
516 in mind that these are convenient macros for C programmers; C++
517 programmers might have to wrap these macros in an ``extern C'' body.
520 @node Enabling FIPS mode
521 @section How to enable the FIPS mode
524 Libgcrypt may be used in a FIPS 140-2 mode. Note, that this does not
525 necessary mean that Libcgrypt is an appoved FIPS 140-2 module. Check the
526 NIST database at @url{http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/STM/cmvp/} to see what
527 versions of Libgcrypt are approved.
529 Because FIPS 140 has certain restrictions on the use of cryptography
530 which are not always wanted, Libgcrypt needs to be put into FIPS mode
531 explicitly. Three alternative mechanisms are provided to switch
532 Libgcrypt into this mode:
536 If the file @file{/proc/sys/crypto/fips_enabled} exists and contains a
537 numeric value other than @code{0}, Libgcrypt is put into FIPS mode at
538 initialization time. Obviously this works only on systems with a
539 @code{proc} file system (i.e. GNU/Linux).
542 If the file @file{/etc/gcrypt/fips_enabled} exists, Libgcrypt is put
543 into FIPS mode at initialization time. Note that this filename is
544 hardwired and does not depend on any configuration options.
547 If the application requests FIPS mode using the control command
548 @code{GCRYCTL_FORCE_FIPS_MODE}. This must be done prior to any
549 initialization (i.e. before @code{gcry_check_version}).
553 @cindex Enforced FIPS mode
555 In addition to the standard FIPS mode, Libgcrypt may also be put into
556 an Enforced FIPS mode by writing a non-zero value into the file
557 @file{/etc/gcrypt/fips_enabled}. The Enforced FIPS mode helps to
558 detect applications which don't fulfill all requirements for using
559 Libgcrypt in FIPS mode (@pxref{FIPS Mode}).
561 Once Libgcrypt has been put into FIPS mode, it is not possible to
562 switch back to standard mode without terminating the process first.
563 If the logging verbosity level of Libgcrypt has been set to at least
564 2, the state transitions and the self-tests are logged.
568 @c **********************************************************
569 @c ******************* General ****************************
570 @c **********************************************************
572 @chapter Generalities
575 * Controlling the library:: Controlling Libgcrypt's behavior.
576 * Modules:: Description of extension modules.
577 * Error Handling:: Error codes and such.
580 @node Controlling the library
581 @section Controlling the library
583 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_control (enum gcry_ctl_cmds @var{cmd}, ...)
585 This function can be used to influence the general behavior of
586 Libgcrypt in several ways. Depending on @var{cmd}, more
587 arguments can or have to be provided.
590 @item GCRYCTL_ENABLE_M_GUARD; Arguments: none
591 This command enables the built-in memory guard. It must not be used to
592 activate the memory guard after the memory management has already been
593 used; therefore it can ONLY be used at initialization time. Note that
594 the memory guard is NOT used when the user of the library has set his
595 own memory management callbacks.
597 @item GCRYCTL_ENABLE_QUICK_RANDOM; Arguments: none
598 This command inhibits the use the very secure random quality level
599 (@code{GCRY_VERY_STRONG_RANDOM}) and degrades all request down to
600 @code{GCRY_STRONG_RANDOM}. In general this is not recommened. However,
601 for some applications the extra quality random Libgcrypt tries to create
602 is not justified and this option may help to get better performace.
603 Please check with a crypto expert whether this option can be used for
606 This option can only be used at initialization time.
609 @item GCRYCTL_DUMP_RANDOM_STATS; Arguments: none
610 This command dumps randum number generator related statistics to the
611 library's logging stream.
613 @item GCRYCTL_DUMP_MEMORY_STATS; Arguments: none
614 This command dumps memory managment related statistics to the library's
617 @item GCRYCTL_DUMP_SECMEM_STATS; Arguments: none
618 This command dumps secure memory manamgent related statistics to the
619 library's logging stream.
621 @item GCRYCTL_DROP_PRIVS; Arguments: none
622 This command disables the use of secure memory and drops the priviliges
623 of the current process. This command has not much use; the suggested way
624 to disable secure memory is to use @code{GCRYCTL_DISABLE_SECMEM} right
625 after initialization.
627 @item GCRYCTL_DISABLE_SECMEM; Arguments: none
628 This command disables the use of secure memory. If this command is
629 used in FIPS mode, FIPS mode will be disabled and the fucntion
630 @code{gcry_fips_mode_active} returns false. However, in Enforced FIPS
631 mode this command has no effect at all.
633 Many applications do not require secure memory, so they should disable
634 it right away. This command should be executed right after
635 @code{gcry_check_version}.
637 @item GCRYCTL_INIT_SECMEM; Arguments: int nbytes
638 This command is used to allocate a pool of secure memory and thus
639 enabling the use of secure memory. It also drops all extra privileges
640 the process has (i.e. if it is run as setuid (root)). If the argument
641 @var{nbytes} is 0, secure memory will be disabled. The minimum amount
642 of secure memory allocated is currently 16384 bytes; you may thus use a
643 value of 1 to request that default size.
645 @item GCRYCTL_TERM_SECMEM; Arguments: none
646 This command zeroises the secure memory and destroys the handler. The
647 secure memory pool may not be used anymore after running this command.
648 If the secure memory pool as already been destroyed, this command has
649 no effect. Applications might want to run this command from their
650 exit handler to make sure that the secure memory gets properly
651 destroyed. This command is not necessarily thread-safe but that
652 should not be needed in cleanup code. It may be called from a signal
655 @item GCRYCTL_DISABLE_SECMEM_WARN; Arguments: none
656 Disable warning messages about problems with the secure memory
657 subsystem. This command should be run right after
658 @code{gcry_check_version}.
660 @item GCRYCTL_SUSPEND_SECMEM_WARN; Arguments: none
661 Postpone warning messages from the secure memory subsystem.
662 @xref{sample-use-suspend-secmem,,the initialization example}, on how to
665 @item GCRYCTL_RESUME_SECMEM_WARN; Arguments: none
666 Resume warning messages from the secure memory subsystem.
667 @xref{sample-use-resume-secmem,,the initialization example}, on how to
670 @item GCRYCTL_USE_SECURE_RNDPOOL; Arguments: none
671 This command tells the PRNG to store random numbers in secure memory.
672 This command should be run right after @code{gcry_check_version} and not
673 later than the command GCRYCTL_INIT_SECMEM. Note that in FIPS mode the
674 secure memory is always used.
676 @item GCRYCTL_SET_RANDOM_SEED_FILE; Arguments: const char *filename
677 This command specifies the file, which is to be used as seed file for
678 the PRNG. If the seed file is registered prior to initialization of the
679 PRNG, the seed file's content (if it exists and seems to be valid) is
680 fed into the PRNG pool. After the seed file has been registered, the
681 PRNG can be signalled to write out the PRNG pool's content into the seed
682 file with the following command.
685 @item GCRYCTL_UPDATE_RANDOM_SEED_FILE; Arguments: none
686 Write out the PRNG pool's content into the registered seed file.
688 Multiple instances of the applications sharing the same random seed file
689 can be started in parallel, in which case they will read out the same
690 pool and then race for updating it (the last update overwrites earlier
691 updates). They will differentiate only by the weak entropy that is
692 added in read_seed_file based on the PID and clock, and up to 16 bytes
693 of weak random non-blockingly. The consequence is that the output of
694 these different instances is correlated to some extent. In a perfect
695 attack scenario, the attacker can control (or at least guess) the PID
696 and clock of the application, and drain the system's entropy pool to
697 reduce the "up to 16 bytes" above to 0. Then the dependencies of the
698 inital states of the pools are completely known. Note that this is not
699 an issue if random of @code{GCRY_VERY_STRONG_RANDOM} quality is
700 requested as in this case enough extra entropy gets mixed. It is also
701 not an issue when using Linux (rndlinux driver), because this one
702 guarantees to read full 16 bytes from /dev/urandom and thus there is no
703 way for an attacker without kernel access to control these 16 bytes.
705 @item GCRYCTL_SET_VERBOSITY; Arguments: int level
706 This command sets the verbosity of the logging. A level of 0 disables
707 all extra logging whereas positive numbers enable more verbose logging.
708 The level may be changed at any time but be aware that no memory
709 synchronization is done so the effect of this command might not
710 immediately show up in other threads. This command may even be used
711 prior to @code{gcry_check_version}.
713 @item GCRYCTL_SET_DEBUG_FLAGS; Arguments: unsigned int flags
714 Set the debug flag bits as given by the argument. Be aware that that no
715 memory synchronization is done so the effect of this command might not
716 immediately show up in other threads. The debug flags are not
717 considered part of the API and thus may change without notice. As of
718 now bit 0 enables debugging of cipher functions and bit 1 debugging of
719 multi-precision-integers. This command may even be used prior to
720 @code{gcry_check_version}.
722 @item GCRYCTL_CLEAR_DEBUG_FLAGS; Arguments: unsigned int flags
723 Set the debug flag bits as given by the argument. Be aware that that no
724 memory synchronization is done so the effect of this command might not
725 immediately show up in other threads. This command may even be used
726 prior to @code{gcry_check_version}.
728 @item GCRYCTL_DISABLE_INTERNAL_LOCKING; Arguments: none
729 This command does nothing. It exists only for backward compatibility.
731 @item GCRYCTL_ANY_INITIALIZATION_P; Arguments: none
732 This command returns true if the library has been basically initialized.
733 Such a basic initialization happens implicitly with many commands to get
734 certain internal subsystems running. The common and suggested way to
735 do this basic intialization is by calling gcry_check_version.
737 @item GCRYCTL_INITIALIZATION_FINISHED; Arguments: none
738 This command tells the libray that the application has finished the
741 @item GCRYCTL_INITIALIZATION_FINISHED_P; Arguments: none
742 This command returns true if the command@*
743 GCRYCTL_INITIALIZATION_FINISHED has already been run.
745 @item GCRYCTL_SET_THREAD_CBS; Arguments: struct ath_ops *ath_ops
746 This command registers a thread-callback structure.
747 @xref{Multi-Threading}.
749 @item GCRYCTL_FAST_POLL; Arguments: none
750 Run a fast random poll.
752 @item GCRYCTL_SET_RNDEGD_SOCKET; Arguments: const char *filename
753 This command may be used to override the default name of the EGD socket
754 to connect to. It may be used only during initialization as it is not
755 thread safe. Changing the socket name again is not supported. The
756 function may return an error if the given filename is too long for a
759 EGD is an alternative random gatherer, used only on systems lacking a
760 proper random device.
762 @item GCRYCTL_PRINT_CONFIG; Arguments: FILE *stream
763 This command dumps information pertaining to the configuration of the
764 library to the given stream. If NULL is given for @var{stream}, the log
765 system is used. This command may be used before the intialization has
766 been finished but not before a gcry_version_check.
768 @item GCRYCTL_OPERATIONAL_P; Arguments: none
769 This command returns true if the library is in an operational state.
770 This information makes only sense in FIPS mode. In contrast to other
771 functions, this is a pure test function and won't put the library into
772 FIPS mode or change the internal state. This command may be used before
773 the intialization has been finished but not before a gcry_version_check.
775 @item GCRYCTL_FIPS_MODE_P; Arguments: none
776 This command returns true if the library is in FIPS mode. Note, that
777 this is no indication about the current state of the library. This
778 command may be used before the intialization has been finished but not
779 before a gcry_version_check. An application may use this command or
780 the convenience macro below to check whether FIPS mode is actually
783 @deftypefun int gcry_fips_mode_active (void)
785 Returns true if the FIPS mode is active. Note that this is
786 implemented as a macro.
791 @item GCRYCTL_FORCE_FIPS_MODE; Arguments: none
792 Running this command puts the library into FIPS mode. If the library is
793 already in FIPS mode, a self-test is triggered and thus the library will
794 be put into operational state. This command may be used before a call
795 to gcry_check_version and that is actually the recommended way to let an
796 application switch the library into FIPS mode. Note that Libgcrypt will
797 reject an attempt to switch to fips mode during or after the intialization.
799 @item GCRYCTL_SELFTEST; Arguments: none
800 This may be used at anytime to have the library run all implemented
801 self-tests. It works in standard and in FIPS mode. Returns 0 on
802 success or an error code on failure.
812 Libgcrypt supports the use of `extension modules', which
813 implement algorithms in addition to those already built into the library
816 @deftp {Data type} gcry_module_t
817 This data type represents a `module'.
820 Functions registering modules provided by the user take a `module
821 specification structure' as input and return a value of
822 @code{gcry_module_t} and an ID that is unique in the modules'
823 category. This ID can be used to reference the newly registered
824 module. After registering a module successfully, the new functionality
825 should be able to be used through the normal functions provided by
826 Libgcrypt until it is unregistered again.
828 @c **********************************************************
829 @c ******************* Errors ****************************
830 @c **********************************************************
832 @section Error Handling
834 Many functions in Libgcrypt can return an error if they
835 fail. For this reason, the application should always catch the error
836 condition and take appropriate measures, for example by releasing the
837 resources and passing the error up to the caller, or by displaying a
838 descriptive message to the user and cancelling the operation.
840 Some error values do not indicate a system error or an error in the
841 operation, but the result of an operation that failed properly. For
842 example, if you try to decrypt a tempered message, the decryption will
843 fail. Another error value actually means that the end of a data
844 buffer or list has been reached. The following descriptions explain
845 for many error codes what they mean usually. Some error values have
846 specific meanings if returned by a certain functions. Such cases are
847 described in the documentation of those functions.
849 Libgcrypt uses the @code{libgpg-error} library. This allows to share
850 the error codes with other components of the GnuPG system, and to pass
851 error values transparently from the crypto engine, or some helper
852 application of the crypto engine, to the user. This way no
853 information is lost. As a consequence, Libgcrypt does not use its own
854 identifiers for error codes, but uses those provided by
855 @code{libgpg-error}. They usually start with @code{GPG_ERR_}.
857 However, Libgcrypt does provide aliases for the functions
858 defined in libgpg-error, which might be preferred for name space
862 Most functions in Libgcrypt return an error code in the case
863 of failure. For this reason, the application should always catch the
864 error condition and take appropriate measures, for example by
865 releasing the resources and passing the error up to the caller, or by
866 displaying a descriptive message to the user and canceling the
869 Some error values do not indicate a system error or an error in the
870 operation, but the result of an operation that failed properly.
872 GnuPG components, including Libgcrypt, use an extra library named
873 libgpg-error to provide a common error handling scheme. For more
874 information on libgpg-error, see the according manual.
877 * Error Values:: The error value and what it means.
878 * Error Sources:: A list of important error sources.
879 * Error Codes:: A list of important error codes.
880 * Error Strings:: How to get a descriptive string from a value.
885 @subsection Error Values
888 @cindex error sources
890 @deftp {Data type} {gcry_err_code_t}
891 The @code{gcry_err_code_t} type is an alias for the
892 @code{libgpg-error} type @code{gpg_err_code_t}. The error code
893 indicates the type of an error, or the reason why an operation failed.
895 A list of important error codes can be found in the next section.
898 @deftp {Data type} {gcry_err_source_t}
899 The @code{gcry_err_source_t} type is an alias for the
900 @code{libgpg-error} type @code{gpg_err_source_t}. The error source
901 has not a precisely defined meaning. Sometimes it is the place where
902 the error happened, sometimes it is the place where an error was
903 encoded into an error value. Usually the error source will give an
904 indication to where to look for the problem. This is not always true,
905 but it is attempted to achieve this goal.
907 A list of important error sources can be found in the next section.
910 @deftp {Data type} {gcry_error_t}
911 The @code{gcry_error_t} type is an alias for the @code{libgpg-error}
912 type @code{gpg_error_t}. An error value like this has always two
913 components, an error code and an error source. Both together form the
916 Thus, the error value can not be directly compared against an error
917 code, but the accessor functions described below must be used.
918 However, it is guaranteed that only 0 is used to indicate success
919 (@code{GPG_ERR_NO_ERROR}), and that in this case all other parts of
920 the error value are set to 0, too.
922 Note that in Libgcrypt, the error source is used purely for
923 diagnostic purposes. Only the error code should be checked to test
924 for a certain outcome of a function. The manual only documents the
925 error code part of an error value. The error source is left
926 unspecified and might be anything.
929 @deftypefun {gcry_err_code_t} gcry_err_code (@w{gcry_error_t @var{err}})
930 The static inline function @code{gcry_err_code} returns the
931 @code{gcry_err_code_t} component of the error value @var{err}. This
932 function must be used to extract the error code from an error value in
933 order to compare it with the @code{GPG_ERR_*} error code macros.
936 @deftypefun {gcry_err_source_t} gcry_err_source (@w{gcry_error_t @var{err}})
937 The static inline function @code{gcry_err_source} returns the
938 @code{gcry_err_source_t} component of the error value @var{err}. This
939 function must be used to extract the error source from an error value in
940 order to compare it with the @code{GPG_ERR_SOURCE_*} error source macros.
943 @deftypefun {gcry_error_t} gcry_err_make (@w{gcry_err_source_t @var{source}}, @w{gcry_err_code_t @var{code}})
944 The static inline function @code{gcry_err_make} returns the error
945 value consisting of the error source @var{source} and the error code
948 This function can be used in callback functions to construct an error
949 value to return it to the library.
952 @deftypefun {gcry_error_t} gcry_error (@w{gcry_err_code_t @var{code}})
953 The static inline function @code{gcry_error} returns the error value
954 consisting of the default error source and the error code @var{code}.
956 For @acronym{GCRY} applications, the default error source is
957 @code{GPG_ERR_SOURCE_USER_1}. You can define
958 @code{GCRY_ERR_SOURCE_DEFAULT} before including @file{gcrypt.h} to
961 This function can be used in callback functions to construct an error
962 value to return it to the library.
965 The @code{libgpg-error} library provides error codes for all system
966 error numbers it knows about. If @var{err} is an unknown error
967 number, the error code @code{GPG_ERR_UNKNOWN_ERRNO} is used. The
968 following functions can be used to construct error values from system
971 @deftypefun {gcry_error_t} gcry_err_make_from_errno (@w{gcry_err_source_t @var{source}}, @w{int @var{err}})
972 The function @code{gcry_err_make_from_errno} is like
973 @code{gcry_err_make}, but it takes a system error like @code{errno}
974 instead of a @code{gcry_err_code_t} error code.
977 @deftypefun {gcry_error_t} gcry_error_from_errno (@w{int @var{err}})
978 The function @code{gcry_error_from_errno} is like @code{gcry_error},
979 but it takes a system error like @code{errno} instead of a
980 @code{gcry_err_code_t} error code.
983 Sometimes you might want to map system error numbers to error codes
984 directly, or map an error code representing a system error back to the
985 system error number. The following functions can be used to do that.
987 @deftypefun {gcry_err_code_t} gcry_err_code_from_errno (@w{int @var{err}})
988 The function @code{gcry_err_code_from_errno} returns the error code
989 for the system error @var{err}. If @var{err} is not a known system
990 error, the function returns @code{GPG_ERR_UNKNOWN_ERRNO}.
993 @deftypefun {int} gcry_err_code_to_errno (@w{gcry_err_code_t @var{err}})
994 The function @code{gcry_err_code_to_errno} returns the system error
995 for the error code @var{err}. If @var{err} is not an error code
996 representing a system error, or if this system error is not defined on
997 this system, the function returns @code{0}.
1002 @subsection Error Sources
1003 @cindex error codes, list of
1005 The library @code{libgpg-error} defines an error source for every
1006 component of the GnuPG system. The error source part of an error
1007 value is not well defined. As such it is mainly useful to improve the
1008 diagnostic error message for the user.
1010 If the error code part of an error value is @code{0}, the whole error
1011 value will be @code{0}. In this case the error source part is of
1012 course @code{GPG_ERR_SOURCE_UNKNOWN}.
1014 The list of error sources that might occur in applications using
1015 @acronym{Libgcrypt} is:
1018 @item GPG_ERR_SOURCE_UNKNOWN
1019 The error source is not known. The value of this error source is
1022 @item GPG_ERR_SOURCE_GPGME
1023 The error source is @acronym{GPGME} itself.
1025 @item GPG_ERR_SOURCE_GPG
1026 The error source is GnuPG, which is the crypto engine used for the
1029 @item GPG_ERR_SOURCE_GPGSM
1030 The error source is GPGSM, which is the crypto engine used for the
1033 @item GPG_ERR_SOURCE_GCRYPT
1034 The error source is @code{libgcrypt}, which is used by crypto engines
1035 to perform cryptographic operations.
1037 @item GPG_ERR_SOURCE_GPGAGENT
1038 The error source is @command{gpg-agent}, which is used by crypto
1039 engines to perform operations with the secret key.
1041 @item GPG_ERR_SOURCE_PINENTRY
1042 The error source is @command{pinentry}, which is used by
1043 @command{gpg-agent} to query the passphrase to unlock a secret key.
1045 @item GPG_ERR_SOURCE_SCD
1046 The error source is the SmartCard Daemon, which is used by
1047 @command{gpg-agent} to delegate operations with the secret key to a
1050 @item GPG_ERR_SOURCE_KEYBOX
1051 The error source is @code{libkbx}, a library used by the crypto
1052 engines to manage local keyrings.
1054 @item GPG_ERR_SOURCE_USER_1
1055 @item GPG_ERR_SOURCE_USER_2
1056 @item GPG_ERR_SOURCE_USER_3
1057 @item GPG_ERR_SOURCE_USER_4
1058 These error sources are not used by any GnuPG component and can be
1059 used by other software. For example, applications using
1060 Libgcrypt can use them to mark error values coming from callback
1061 handlers. Thus @code{GPG_ERR_SOURCE_USER_1} is the default for errors
1062 created with @code{gcry_error} and @code{gcry_error_from_errno},
1063 unless you define @code{GCRY_ERR_SOURCE_DEFAULT} before including
1069 @subsection Error Codes
1070 @cindex error codes, list of
1072 The library @code{libgpg-error} defines many error values. The
1073 following list includes the most important error codes.
1077 This value indicates the end of a list, buffer or file.
1079 @item GPG_ERR_NO_ERROR
1080 This value indicates success. The value of this error code is
1081 @code{0}. Also, it is guaranteed that an error value made from the
1082 error code @code{0} will be @code{0} itself (as a whole). This means
1083 that the error source information is lost for this error code,
1084 however, as this error code indicates that no error occurred, this is
1085 generally not a problem.
1087 @item GPG_ERR_GENERAL
1088 This value means that something went wrong, but either there is not
1089 enough information about the problem to return a more useful error
1090 value, or there is no separate error value for this type of problem.
1092 @item GPG_ERR_ENOMEM
1093 This value means that an out-of-memory condition occurred.
1096 System errors are mapped to GPG_ERR_EFOO where FOO is the symbol for
1099 @item GPG_ERR_INV_VALUE
1100 This value means that some user provided data was out of range.
1102 @item GPG_ERR_UNUSABLE_PUBKEY
1103 This value means that some recipients for a message were invalid.
1105 @item GPG_ERR_UNUSABLE_SECKEY
1106 This value means that some signers were invalid.
1108 @item GPG_ERR_NO_DATA
1109 This value means that data was expected where no data was found.
1111 @item GPG_ERR_CONFLICT
1112 This value means that a conflict of some sort occurred.
1114 @item GPG_ERR_NOT_IMPLEMENTED
1115 This value indicates that the specific function (or operation) is not
1116 implemented. This error should never happen. It can only occur if
1117 you use certain values or configuration options which do not work,
1118 but for which we think that they should work at some later time.
1120 @item GPG_ERR_DECRYPT_FAILED
1121 This value indicates that a decryption operation was unsuccessful.
1123 @item GPG_ERR_WRONG_KEY_USAGE
1124 This value indicates that a key is not used appropriately.
1126 @item GPG_ERR_NO_SECKEY
1127 This value indicates that no secret key for the user ID is available.
1129 @item GPG_ERR_UNSUPPORTED_ALGORITHM
1130 This value means a verification failed because the cryptographic
1131 algorithm is not supported by the crypto backend.
1133 @item GPG_ERR_BAD_SIGNATURE
1134 This value means a verification failed because the signature is bad.
1136 @item GPG_ERR_NO_PUBKEY
1137 This value means a verification failed because the public key is not
1140 @item GPG_ERR_NOT_OPERATIONAL
1141 This value means that the library is not yet in state which allows to
1142 use this function. This error code is in particular returned if
1143 Libgcrypt is operated in FIPS mode and the internal state of the
1144 library does not yet or not anymore allow the use of a service.
1146 This error code is only available with newer libgpg-error versions, thus
1147 you might see ``invalid error code'' when passing this to
1148 @code{gpg_strerror}. The numeric value of this error code is 176.
1150 @item GPG_ERR_USER_1
1151 @item GPG_ERR_USER_2
1153 @item GPG_ERR_USER_16
1154 These error codes are not used by any GnuPG component and can be
1155 freely used by other software. Applications using Libgcrypt
1156 might use them to mark specific errors returned by callback handlers
1157 if no suitable error codes (including the system errors) for these
1158 errors exist already.
1163 @subsection Error Strings
1164 @cindex error values, printing of
1165 @cindex error codes, printing of
1166 @cindex error sources, printing of
1167 @cindex error strings
1169 @deftypefun {const char *} gcry_strerror (@w{gcry_error_t @var{err}})
1170 The function @code{gcry_strerror} returns a pointer to a statically
1171 allocated string containing a description of the error code contained
1172 in the error value @var{err}. This string can be used to output a
1173 diagnostic message to the user.
1177 @deftypefun {const char *} gcry_strsource (@w{gcry_error_t @var{err}})
1178 The function @code{gcry_strerror} returns a pointer to a statically
1179 allocated string containing a description of the error source
1180 contained in the error value @var{err}. This string can be used to
1181 output a diagnostic message to the user.
1184 The following example illustrates the use of the functions described
1189 gcry_cipher_hd_t handle;
1190 gcry_error_t err = 0;
1192 err = gcry_cipher_open (&handle, GCRY_CIPHER_AES,
1193 GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_CBC, 0);
1196 fprintf (stderr, "Failure: %s/%s\n",
1197 gcry_strsource (err),
1198 gcry_strerror (err));
1203 @c **********************************************************
1204 @c ******************* General ****************************
1205 @c **********************************************************
1206 @node Handler Functions
1207 @chapter Handler Functions
1209 Libgcrypt makes it possible to install so called `handler functions',
1210 which get called by Libgcrypt in case of certain events.
1213 * Progress handler:: Using a progress handler function.
1214 * Allocation handler:: Using special memory allocation functions.
1215 * Error handler:: Using error handler functions.
1216 * Logging handler:: Using a special logging function.
1219 @node Progress handler
1220 @section Progress handler
1222 It is often useful to retrieve some feedback while long running
1223 operations are performed.
1225 @deftp {Data type} gcry_handler_progress_t
1226 Progress handler functions have to be of the type
1227 @code{gcry_handler_progress_t}, which is defined as:
1229 @code{void (*gcry_handler_progress_t) (void *, const char *, int, int, int)}
1232 The following function may be used to register a handler function for
1235 @deftypefun void gcry_set_progress_handler (gcry_handler_progress_t @var{cb}, void *@var{cb_data})
1237 This function installs @var{cb} as the `Progress handler' function.
1238 @var{cb} must be defined as follows:
1242 my_progress_handler (void *@var{cb_data}, const char *@var{what},
1243 int @var{printchar}, int @var{current}, int @var{total})
1249 A description of the arguments of the progress handler function follows.
1253 The argument provided in the call to @code{gcry_set_progress_handler}.
1255 A string identifying the type of the progress output. The following
1256 values for @var{what} are defined:
1260 Not enough entropy is available. @var{total} holds the number of
1264 Values for @var{printchar}:
1269 Need to refresh the pool of prime numbers.
1271 Number of bits adjusted.
1273 Searching for a generator.
1275 Fermat test on 10 candidates failed.
1277 Restart with a new random value.
1279 Rabin Miller test passed.
1287 @node Allocation handler
1288 @section Allocation handler
1290 It is possible to make Libgcrypt use special memory
1291 allocation functions instead of the built-in ones.
1293 Memory allocation functions are of the following types:
1294 @deftp {Data type} gcry_handler_alloc_t
1295 This type is defined as: @code{void *(*gcry_handler_alloc_t) (size_t n)}.
1297 @deftp {Data type} gcry_handler_secure_check_t
1298 This type is defined as: @code{int *(*gcry_handler_secure_check_t) (const void *)}.
1300 @deftp {Data type} gcry_handler_realloc_t
1301 This type is defined as: @code{void *(*gcry_handler_realloc_t) (void *p, size_t n)}.
1303 @deftp {Data type} gcry_handler_free_t
1304 This type is defined as: @code{void *(*gcry_handler_free_t) (void *)}.
1307 Special memory allocation functions can be installed with the
1310 @deftypefun void gcry_set_allocation_handler (gcry_handler_alloc_t @var{func_alloc}, gcry_handler_alloc_t @var{func_alloc_secure}, gcry_handler_secure_check_t @var{func_secure_check}, gcry_handler_realloc_t @var{func_realloc}, gcry_handler_free_t @var{func_free})
1311 Install the provided functions and use them instead of the built-in
1312 functions for doing memory allocation.
1316 @section Error handler
1318 The following functions may be used to register handler functions that
1319 are called by Libgcrypt in case certain error conditions occur. They
1320 may and should be registered prior to calling @code{gcry_check_version}.
1322 @deftp {Data type} gcry_handler_no_mem_t
1323 This type is defined as: @code{int (*gcry_handler_no_mem_t) (void *, size_t, unsigned int)}
1325 @deftypefun void gcry_set_outofcore_handler (gcry_handler_no_mem_t @var{func_no_mem}, void *@var{cb_data})
1326 This function registers @var{func_no_mem} as `out-of-core handler',
1327 which means that it will be called in the case of not having enough
1328 memory available. The handler is called with 3 arguments: The first
1329 one is the pointer @var{cb_data} as set with this function, the second
1330 is the requested memory size and the last being a flag. If bit 0 of
1331 the flag is set, secure memory has been requested. The handler should
1332 either return true to indicate that Libgcrypt should try again
1333 allocating memory or return false to let Libgcrypt use its default
1334 fatal error handler.
1337 @deftp {Data type} gcry_handler_error_t
1338 This type is defined as: @code{void (*gcry_handler_error_t) (void *, int, const char *)}
1341 @deftypefun void gcry_set_fatalerror_handler (gcry_handler_error_t @var{func_error}, void *@var{cb_data})
1342 This function registers @var{func_error} as `error handler',
1343 which means that it will be called in error conditions.
1346 @node Logging handler
1347 @section Logging handler
1349 @deftp {Data type} gcry_handler_log_t
1350 This type is defined as: @code{void (*gcry_handler_log_t) (void *, int, const char *, va_list)}
1353 @deftypefun void gcry_set_log_handler (gcry_handler_log_t @var{func_log}, void *@var{cb_data})
1354 This function registers @var{func_log} as `logging handler', which means
1355 that it will be called in case Libgcrypt wants to log a message. This
1356 function may and should be used prior to calling
1357 @code{gcry_check_version}.
1360 @c **********************************************************
1361 @c ******************* Ciphers ****************************
1362 @c **********************************************************
1363 @c @include cipher-ref.texi
1364 @node Symmetric cryptography
1365 @chapter Symmetric cryptography
1367 The cipher functions are used for symmetrical cryptography,
1368 i.e. cryptography using a shared key. The programming model follows
1369 an open/process/close paradigm and is in that similar to other
1370 building blocks provided by Libgcrypt.
1373 * Available ciphers:: List of ciphers supported by the library.
1374 * Cipher modules:: How to work with cipher modules.
1375 * Available cipher modes:: List of cipher modes supported by the library.
1376 * Working with cipher handles:: How to perform operations related to cipher handles.
1377 * General cipher functions:: General cipher functions independent of cipher handles.
1380 @node Available ciphers
1381 @section Available ciphers
1384 @item GCRY_CIPHER_NONE
1385 This is not a real algorithm but used by some functions as error return.
1386 The value always evaluates to false.
1388 @item GCRY_CIPHER_IDEA
1390 This is the IDEA algorithm. The constant is provided but there is
1391 currently no implementation for it because the algorithm is patented.
1393 @item GCRY_CIPHER_3DES
1397 @cindex Digital Encryption Standard
1398 Triple-DES with 3 Keys as EDE. The key size of this algorithm is 168 but
1399 you have to pass 192 bits because the most significant bits of each byte
1402 @item GCRY_CIPHER_CAST5
1404 CAST128-5 block cipher algorithm. The key size is 128 bits.
1406 @item GCRY_CIPHER_BLOWFISH
1408 The blowfish algorithm. The current implementation allows only for a key
1411 @item GCRY_CIPHER_SAFER_SK128
1412 Reserved and not currently implemented.
1414 @item GCRY_CIPHER_DES_SK
1415 Reserved and not currently implemented.
1417 @item GCRY_CIPHER_AES
1418 @itemx GCRY_CIPHER_AES128
1419 @itemx GCRY_CIPHER_RIJNDAEL
1420 @itemx GCRY_CIPHER_RIJNDAEL128
1423 @cindex Advanced Encryption Standard
1424 AES (Rijndael) with a 128 bit key.
1426 @item GCRY_CIPHER_AES192
1427 @itemx GCRY_CIPHER_RIJNDAEL192
1428 AES (Rijndael) with a 192 bit key.
1430 @item GCRY_CIPHER_AES256
1431 @itemx GCRY_CIPHER_RIJNDAEL256
1432 AES (Rijndael) with a 256 bit key.
1434 @item GCRY_CIPHER_TWOFISH
1436 The Twofish algorithm with a 256 bit key.
1438 @item GCRY_CIPHER_TWOFISH128
1439 The Twofish algorithm with a 128 bit key.
1441 @item GCRY_CIPHER_ARCFOUR
1444 An algorithm which is 100% compatible with RSA Inc.'s RC4 algorithm.
1445 Note that this is a stream cipher and must be used very carefully to
1446 avoid a couple of weaknesses.
1448 @item GCRY_CIPHER_DES
1450 Standard DES with a 56 bit key. You need to pass 64 bit but the high
1451 bits of each byte are ignored. Note, that this is a weak algorithm
1452 which can be broken in reasonable time using a brute force approach.
1454 @item GCRY_CIPHER_SERPENT128
1455 @itemx GCRY_CIPHER_SERPENT192
1456 @itemx GCRY_CIPHER_SERPENT256
1458 The Serpent cipher from the AES contest.
1460 @item GCRY_CIPHER_RFC2268_40
1461 @itemx GCRY_CIPHER_RFC2268_128
1464 Ron's Cipher 2 in the 40 and 128 bit variants. Note, that we currently
1465 only support the 40 bit variant. The identifier for 128 is reserved for
1468 @item GCRY_CIPHER_SEED
1469 @cindex Seed (cipher)
1470 A 128 bit cipher as described by RFC4269.
1472 @item GCRY_CIPHER_CAMELLIA128
1473 @itemx GCRY_CIPHER_CAMELLIA192
1474 @itemx GCRY_CIPHER_CAMELLIA256
1476 The Camellia cipher by NTT. See
1477 @uref{http://info.isl.ntt.co.jp/@/crypt/@/eng/@/camellia/@/specifications.html}.
1481 @node Cipher modules
1482 @section Cipher modules
1484 Libgcrypt makes it possible to load additional `cipher modules'; these
1485 ciphers can be used just like the cipher algorithms that are built
1486 into the library directly. For an introduction into extension
1487 modules, see @xref{Modules}.
1489 @deftp {Data type} gcry_cipher_spec_t
1490 This is the `module specification structure' needed for registering
1491 cipher modules, which has to be filled in by the user before it can be
1492 used to register a module. It contains the following members:
1495 @item const char *name
1496 The primary name of the algorithm.
1497 @item const char **aliases
1498 A list of strings that are `aliases' for the algorithm. The list must
1499 be terminated with a NULL element.
1500 @item gcry_cipher_oid_spec_t *oids
1501 A list of OIDs that are to be associated with the algorithm. The
1502 list's last element must have it's `oid' member set to NULL. See
1503 below for an explanation of this type.
1504 @item size_t blocksize
1505 The block size of the algorithm, in bytes.
1507 The length of the key, in bits.
1508 @item size_t contextsize
1509 The size of the algorithm-specific `context', that should be allocated
1511 @item gcry_cipher_setkey_t setkey
1512 The function responsible for initializing a handle with a provided
1513 key. See below for a description of this type.
1514 @item gcry_cipher_encrypt_t encrypt
1515 The function responsible for encrypting a single block. See below for
1516 a description of this type.
1517 @item gcry_cipher_decrypt_t decrypt
1518 The function responsible for decrypting a single block. See below for
1519 a description of this type.
1520 @item gcry_cipher_stencrypt_t stencrypt
1521 Like `encrypt', for stream ciphers. See below for a description of
1523 @item gcry_cipher_stdecrypt_t stdecrypt
1524 Like `decrypt', for stream ciphers. See below for a description of
1529 @deftp {Data type} gcry_cipher_oid_spec_t
1530 This type is used for associating a user-provided algorithm
1531 implementation with certain OIDs. It contains the following members:
1533 @item const char *oid
1534 Textual representation of the OID.
1536 Cipher mode for which this OID is valid.
1540 @deftp {Data type} gcry_cipher_setkey_t
1541 Type for the `setkey' function, defined as: gcry_err_code_t
1542 (*gcry_cipher_setkey_t) (void *c, const unsigned char *key, unsigned
1546 @deftp {Data type} gcry_cipher_encrypt_t
1547 Type for the `encrypt' function, defined as: gcry_err_code_t
1548 (*gcry_cipher_encrypt_t) (void *c, const unsigned char *outbuf, const
1549 unsigned char *inbuf)
1552 @deftp {Data type} gcry_cipher_decrypt_t
1553 Type for the `decrypt' function, defined as: gcry_err_code_t
1554 (*gcry_cipher_decrypt_t) (void *c, const unsigned char *outbuf, const
1555 unsigned char *inbuf)
1558 @deftp {Data type} gcry_cipher_stencrypt_t
1559 Type for the `stencrypt' function, defined as: gcry_err_code_t
1560 (*gcry_@/cipher_@/stencrypt_@/t) (void *c, const unsigned char *outbuf, const
1561 unsigned char *, unsigned int n)
1564 @deftp {Data type} gcry_cipher_stdecrypt_t
1565 Type for the `stdecrypt' function, defined as: gcry_err_code_t
1566 (*gcry_@/cipher_@/stdecrypt_@/t) (void *c, const unsigned char *outbuf, const
1567 unsigned char *, unsigned int n)
1570 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_register (gcry_cipher_spec_t *@var{cipher}, unsigned int *algorithm_id, gcry_module_t *@var{module})
1572 Register a new cipher module whose specification can be found in
1573 @var{cipher}. On success, a new algorithm ID is stored in
1574 @var{algorithm_id} and a pointer representing this module is stored
1578 @deftypefun void gcry_cipher_unregister (gcry_module_t @var{module})
1579 Unregister the cipher identified by @var{module}, which must have been
1580 registered with gcry_cipher_register.
1583 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_list (int *@var{list}, int *@var{list_length})
1584 Get a list consisting of the IDs of the loaded cipher modules. If
1585 @var{list} is zero, write the number of loaded cipher modules to
1586 @var{list_length} and return. If @var{list} is non-zero, the first
1587 *@var{list_length} algorithm IDs are stored in @var{list}, which must
1588 be of according size. In case there are less cipher modules than
1589 *@var{list_length}, *@var{list_length} is updated to the correct
1593 @node Available cipher modes
1594 @section Available cipher modes
1597 @item GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_NONE
1598 No mode specified. This should not be used. The only exception is that
1599 if Libgcrypt is not used in FIPS mode and if any debug flag has been
1600 set, this mode may be used to bypass the actual encryption.
1602 @item GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_ECB
1603 @cindex ECB, Electronic Codebook mode
1604 Electronic Codebook mode.
1606 @item GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_CFB
1607 @cindex CFB, Cipher Feedback mode
1608 Cipher Feedback mode. The shift size equals the block size of the
1609 cipher (e.g. for AES it is CFB-128).
1611 @item GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_CBC
1612 @cindex CBC, Cipher Block Chaining mode
1613 Cipher Block Chaining mode.
1615 @item GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_STREAM
1616 Stream mode, only to be used with stream cipher algorithms.
1618 @item GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_OFB
1619 @cindex OFB, Output Feedback mode
1620 Output Feedback mode.
1622 @item GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_CTR
1623 @cindex CTR, Counter mode
1628 @node Working with cipher handles
1629 @section Working with cipher handles
1631 To use a cipher algorithm, you must first allocate an according
1632 handle. This is to be done using the open function:
1634 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_open (gcry_cipher_hd_t *@var{hd}, int @var{algo}, int @var{mode}, unsigned int @var{flags})
1636 This function creates the context handle required for most of the
1637 other cipher functions and returns a handle to it in `hd'. In case of
1638 an error, an according error code is returned.
1640 The ID of algorithm to use must be specified via @var{algo}. See
1641 @xref{Available ciphers}, for a list of supported ciphers and the
1642 according constants.
1644 Besides using the constants directly, the function
1645 @code{gcry_cipher_map_name} may be used to convert the textual name of
1646 an algorithm into the according numeric ID.
1648 The cipher mode to use must be specified via @var{mode}. See
1649 @xref{Available cipher modes}, for a list of supported cipher modes
1650 and the according constants. Note that some modes are incompatible
1651 with some algorithms - in particular, stream mode
1652 (@code{GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_STREAM}) only works with stream ciphers. Any
1653 block cipher mode (@code{GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_ECB},
1654 @code{GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_CBC}, @code{GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_CFB},
1655 @code{GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_OFB} or @code{GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_CTR}) will work
1656 with any block cipher algorithm.
1658 The third argument @var{flags} can either be passed as @code{0} or as
1659 the bit-wise OR of the following constants.
1662 @item GCRY_CIPHER_SECURE
1663 Make sure that all operations are allocated in secure memory. This is
1664 useful when the key material is highly confidential.
1665 @item GCRY_CIPHER_ENABLE_SYNC
1666 @cindex sync mode (OpenPGP)
1667 This flag enables the CFB sync mode, which is a special feature of
1668 Libgcrypt's CFB mode implementation to allow for OpenPGP's CFB variant.
1669 See @code{gcry_cipher_sync}.
1670 @item GCRY_CIPHER_CBC_CTS
1671 @cindex cipher text stealing
1672 Enable cipher text stealing (CTS) for the CBC mode. Cannot be used
1673 simultaneous as GCRY_CIPHER_CBC_MAC. CTS mode makes it possible to
1674 transform data of almost arbitrary size (only limitation is that it
1675 must be greater than the algorithm's block size).
1676 @item GCRY_CIPHER_CBC_MAC
1678 Compute CBC-MAC keyed checksums. This is the same as CBC mode, but
1679 only output the last block. Cannot be used simultaneous as
1680 GCRY_CIPHER_CBC_CTS.
1684 Use the following function to release an existing handle:
1686 @deftypefun void gcry_cipher_close (gcry_cipher_hd_t @var{h})
1688 This function releases the context created by @code{gcry_cipher_open}.
1691 In order to use a handle for performing cryptographic operations, a
1692 `key' has to be set first:
1694 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_setkey (gcry_cipher_hd_t @var{h}, const void *@var{k}, size_t @var{l})
1696 Set the key @var{k} used for encryption or decryption in the context
1697 denoted by the handle @var{h}. The length @var{l} of the key @var{k}
1698 must match the required length of the algorithm set for this context or
1699 be in the allowed range for algorithms with variable key size. The
1700 function checks this and returns an error if there is a problem. A
1701 caller should always check for an error.
1705 Most crypto modes requires an initialization vector (IV), which
1706 usually is a non-secret random string acting as a kind of salt value.
1707 The CTR mode requires a counter, which is also similar to a salt
1708 value. To set the IV or CTR, use these functions:
1710 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_setiv (gcry_cipher_hd_t @var{h}, const void *@var{k}, size_t @var{l})
1712 Set the initialization vector used for encryption or decryption. The
1713 vector is passed as the buffer @var{K} of length @var{l} and copied to
1714 internal data structures. The function checks that the IV matches the
1715 requirement of the selected algorithm and mode.
1718 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_setctr (gcry_cipher_hd_t @var{h}, const void *@var{c}, size_t @var{l})
1720 Set the counter vector used for encryption or decryption. The counter
1721 is passed as the buffer @var{c} of length @var{l} and copied to
1722 internal data structures. The function checks that the counter
1723 matches the requirement of the selected algorithm (i.e., it must be
1724 the same size as the block size).
1727 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_reset (gcry_cipher_hd_t @var{h})
1729 Set the given handle's context back to the state it had after the last
1730 call to gcry_cipher_setkey and clear the initialization vector.
1732 Note that gcry_cipher_reset is implemented as a macro.
1735 The actual encryption and decryption is done by using one of the
1736 following functions. They may be used as often as required to process
1739 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_encrypt (gcry_cipher_hd_t @var{h}, unsigned char *{out}, size_t @var{outsize}, const unsigned char *@var{in}, size_t @var{inlen})
1741 @code{gcry_cipher_encrypt} is used to encrypt the data. This function
1742 can either work in place or with two buffers. It uses the cipher
1743 context already setup and described by the handle @var{h}. There are 2
1744 ways to use the function: If @var{in} is passed as @code{NULL} and
1745 @var{inlen} is @code{0}, in-place encryption of the data in @var{out} or
1746 length @var{outsize} takes place. With @var{in} being not @code{NULL},
1747 @var{inlen} bytes are encrypted to the buffer @var{out} which must have
1748 at least a size of @var{inlen}. @var{outsize} must be set to the
1749 allocated size of @var{out}, so that the function can check that there
1750 is sufficient space. Note that overlapping buffers are not allowed.
1752 Depending on the selected algorithms and encryption mode, the length of
1753 the buffers must be a multiple of the block size.
1755 The function returns @code{0} on success or an error code.
1759 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_decrypt (gcry_cipher_hd_t @var{h}, unsigned char *{out}, size_t @var{outsize}, const unsigned char *@var{in}, size_t @var{inlen})
1761 @code{gcry_cipher_decrypt} is used to decrypt the data. This function
1762 can either work in place or with two buffers. It uses the cipher
1763 context already setup and described by the handle @var{h}. There are 2
1764 ways to use the function: If @var{in} is passed as @code{NULL} and
1765 @var{inlen} is @code{0}, in-place decryption of the data in @var{out} or
1766 length @var{outsize} takes place. With @var{in} being not @code{NULL},
1767 @var{inlen} bytes are decrypted to the buffer @var{out} which must have
1768 at least a size of @var{inlen}. @var{outsize} must be set to the
1769 allocated size of @var{out}, so that the function can check that there
1770 is sufficient space. Note that overlapping buffers are not allowed.
1772 Depending on the selected algorithms and encryption mode, the length of
1773 the buffers must be a multiple of the block size.
1775 The function returns @code{0} on success or an error code.
1779 OpenPGP (as defined in RFC-2440) requires a special sync operation in
1780 some places. The following function is used for this:
1782 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_sync (gcry_cipher_hd_t @var{h})
1784 Perform the OpenPGP sync operation on context @var{h}. Note that this
1785 is a no-op unless the context was created with the flag
1786 @code{GCRY_CIPHER_ENABLE_SYNC}
1789 Some of the described functions are implemented as macros utilizing a
1790 catch-all control function. This control function is rarely used
1791 directly but there is nothing which would inhibit it:
1793 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_ctl (gcry_cipher_hd_t @var{h}, int @var{cmd}, void *@var{buffer}, size_t @var{buflen})
1795 @code{gcry_cipher_ctl} controls various aspects of the cipher module and
1796 specific cipher contexts. Usually some more specialized functions or
1797 macros are used for this purpose. The semantics of the function and its
1798 parameters depends on the the command @var{cmd} and the passed context
1799 handle @var{h}. Please see the comments in the source code
1800 (@code{src/global.c}) for details.
1803 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_info (gcry_cipher_hd_t @var{h}, int @var{what}, void *@var{buffer}, size_t *@var{nbytes})
1805 @code{gcry_cipher_info} is used to retrieve various
1806 information about a cipher context or the cipher module in general.
1808 Currently no information is available.
1811 @node General cipher functions
1812 @section General cipher functions
1814 To work with the algorithms, several functions are available to map
1815 algorithm names to the internal identifiers, as well as ways to
1816 retrieve information about an algorithm or the current cipher context.
1818 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_algo_info (int @var{algo}, int @var{what}, void *@var{buffer}, size_t *@var{nbytes})
1820 This function is used to retrieve information on a specific algorithm.
1821 You pass the cipher algorithm ID as @var{algo} and the type of
1822 information requested as @var{what}. The result is either returned as
1823 the return code of the function or copied to the provided @var{buffer}
1824 whose allocated length must be available in an integer variable with the
1825 address passed in @var{nbytes}. This variable will also receive the
1826 actual used length of the buffer.
1828 Here is a list of supported codes for @var{what}:
1830 @c begin constants for gcry_cipher_algo_info
1832 @item GCRYCTL_GET_KEYLEN:
1833 Return the length of the key. If the algorithm supports multiple key
1834 lengths, the maximum supported value is returned. The length is
1835 returned as number of octets (bytes) and not as number of bits in
1836 @var{nbytes}; @var{buffer} must be zero.
1838 @item GCRYCTL_GET_BLKLEN:
1839 Return the block length of the algorithm. The length is returned as a
1840 number of octets in @var{nbytes}; @var{buffer} must be zero.
1842 @item GCRYCTL_TEST_ALGO:
1843 Returns @code{0} when the specified algorithm is available for use.
1844 @var{buffer} and @var{nbytes} must be zero.
1847 @c end constants for gcry_cipher_algo_info
1850 @c end gcry_cipher_algo_info
1852 @deftypefun {const char *} gcry_cipher_algo_name (int @var{algo})
1854 @code{gcry_cipher_algo_name} returns a string with the name of the
1855 cipher algorithm @var{algo}. If the algorithm is not known or another
1856 error occurred, the string @code{"?"} is returned. This function should
1857 not be used to test for the availability of an algorithm.
1860 @deftypefun int gcry_cipher_map_name (const char *@var{name})
1862 @code{gcry_cipher_map_name} returns the algorithm identifier for the
1863 cipher algorithm described by the string @var{name}. If this algorithm
1864 is not available @code{0} is returned.
1867 @deftypefun int gcry_cipher_mode_from_oid (const char *@var{string})
1869 Return the cipher mode associated with an @acronym{ASN.1} object
1870 identifier. The object identifier is expected to be in the
1871 @acronym{IETF}-style dotted decimal notation. The function returns
1872 @code{0} for an unknown object identifier or when no mode is associated
1877 @c **********************************************************
1878 @c ******************* Public Key *************************
1879 @c **********************************************************
1880 @node Public Key cryptography
1881 @chapter Public Key cryptography
1883 Public key cryptography, also known as asymmetric cryptography, is an
1884 easy way for key management and to provide digital signatures.
1885 Libgcrypt provides two completely different interfaces to
1886 public key cryptography, this chapter explains the one based on
1890 * Available algorithms:: Algorithms supported by the library.
1891 * Used S-expressions:: Introduction into the used S-expression.
1892 * Public key modules:: How to work with public key modules.
1893 * Cryptographic Functions:: Functions for performing the cryptographic actions.
1894 * General public-key related Functions:: General functions, not implementing any cryptography.
1896 * AC Interface:: Alternative interface to public key functions.
1899 @node Available algorithms
1900 @section Available algorithms
1902 Libgcrypt supports the RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) algorithms as well
1903 as DSA (Digital Signature Algorithm) and Elgamal. The versatile
1904 interface allows to add more algorithms in the future.
1906 @node Used S-expressions
1907 @section Used S-expressions
1909 Libgcrypt's API for asymmetric cryptography is based on data structures
1910 called S-expressions (see
1911 @uref{http://people.csail.mit.edu/@/rivest/@/sexp.html}) and does not work
1912 with contexts as most of the other building blocks of Libgcrypt do.
1915 The following information are stored in S-expressions:
1920 @item plain text data
1922 @item encrypted data
1929 To describe how Libgcrypt expect keys, we use examples. Note that
1937 indicate parameters whereas lowercase words are literals.
1939 Note that all MPI (multi-precision-integers) values are expected to be in
1940 @code{GCRYMPI_FMT_USG} format. An easy way to create S-expressions is
1941 by using @code{gcry_sexp_build} which allows to pass a string with
1942 printf-like escapes to insert MPI values.
1945 * RSA key parameters:: Parameters used with an RSA key.
1946 * DSA key parameters:: Parameters used with a DSA key.
1947 * ECC key parameters:: Parameters used with ECC keys.
1950 @node RSA key parameters
1951 @subsection RSA key parameters
1954 An RSA private key is described by this S-expression:
1968 An RSA public key is described by this S-expression:
1980 RSA public modulus @math{n}.
1982 RSA public exponent @math{e}.
1984 RSA secret exponent @math{d = e^{-1} \bmod (p-1)(q-1)}.
1986 RSA secret prime @math{p}.
1988 RSA secret prime @math{q} with @math{p < q}.
1990 Multiplicative inverse @math{u = p^{-1} \bmod q}.
1993 For signing and decryption the parameters @math{(p, q, u)} are optional
1994 but greatly improve the performance. Either all of these optional
1995 parameters must be given or none of them. They are mandatory for
1998 Note that OpenSSL uses slighly different parameters: @math{q < p} and
1999 @math{u = q^{-1} \bmod p}. To use these parameters you will need to
2000 swap the values and recompute @math{u}. Here is example code to do this:
2003 if (gcry_mpi_cmp (p, q) > 0)
2005 gcry_mpi_swap (p, q);
2006 gcry_mpi_invm (u, p, q);
2013 @node DSA key parameters
2014 @subsection DSA key parameters
2017 A DSA private key is described by this S-expression:
2033 DSA group order @math{q} (which is a prime divisor of @math{p-1}).
2035 DSA group generator @math{g}.
2037 DSA public key value @math{y = g^x \bmod p}.
2039 DSA secret exponent x.
2042 The public key is similar with "private-key" replaced by "public-key"
2046 @node ECC key parameters
2047 @subsection ECC key parameters
2050 An ECC private key is described by this S-expression:
2066 Prime specifying the field @math{GF(p)}.
2069 The two coefficients of the Weierstrass equation @math{y^2 = x^3 + ax + b}
2071 Base point @math{g}.
2075 The point representing the public key @math{Q = dP}.
2077 The private key @math{d}
2080 All point values are encoded in standard format; Libgcrypt does
2081 currently only support uncompressed points, thus the first byte needs to
2084 The public key is similar with "private-key" replaced by "public-key"
2087 If the domain parameters are well-known, the name of this curve may be
2093 (curve "NIST P-192")
2098 The @code{curve} parameter may be given in any case and is used to replace
2102 Currently implemented curves are:
2105 @itemx 1.2.840.10045.3.1.1
2108 The NIST 192 bit curve, its OID, X9.62 and SECP aliases.
2112 The NIST 224 bit curve and its SECP alias.
2115 @itemx 1.2.840.10045.3.1.7
2118 The NIST 256 bit curve, its OID, X9.62 and SECP aliases.
2122 The NIST 384 bit curve and its SECP alias.
2126 The NIST 521 bit curve and its SECP alias.
2129 As usual the OIDs may optionally be prefixed with the string @code{OID.}
2134 @node Public key modules
2135 @section Public key modules
2137 Libgcrypt makes it possible to load additional `public key
2138 modules'; these public key algorithms can be used just like the
2139 algorithms that are built into the library directly. For an
2140 introduction into extension modules, see @xref{Modules}.
2142 @deftp {Data type} gcry_pk_spec_t
2143 This is the `module specification structure' needed for registering
2144 public key modules, which has to be filled in by the user before it
2145 can be used to register a module. It contains the following members:
2148 @item const char *name
2149 The primary name of this algorithm.
2150 @item char **aliases
2151 A list of strings that are `aliases' for the algorithm. The list
2152 must be terminated with a NULL element.
2153 @item const char *elements_pkey
2154 String containing the one-letter names of the MPI values contained in
2156 @item const char *element_skey
2157 String containing the one-letter names of the MPI values contained in
2159 @item const char *elements_enc
2160 String containing the one-letter names of the MPI values that are the
2161 result of an encryption operation using this algorithm.
2162 @item const char *elements_sig
2163 String containing the one-letter names of the MPI values that are the
2164 result of a sign operation using this algorithm.
2165 @item const char *elements_grip
2166 String containing the one-letter names of the MPI values that are to
2167 be included in the `key grip'.
2169 The bitwise-OR of the following flags, depending on the abilities of
2172 @item GCRY_PK_USAGE_SIGN
2173 The algorithm supports signing and verifying of data.
2174 @item GCRY_PK_USAGE_ENCR
2175 The algorithm supports the encryption and decryption of data.
2177 @item gcry_pk_generate_t generate
2178 The function responsible for generating a new key pair. See below for
2179 a description of this type.
2180 @item gcry_pk_check_secret_key_t check_secret_key
2181 The function responsible for checking the sanity of a provided secret
2182 key. See below for a description of this type.
2183 @item gcry_pk_encrypt_t encrypt
2184 The function responsible for encrypting data. See below for a
2185 description of this type.
2186 @item gcry_pk_decrypt_t decrypt
2187 The function responsible for decrypting data. See below for a
2188 description of this type.
2189 @item gcry_pk_sign_t sign
2190 The function responsible for signing data. See below for a description
2192 @item gcry_pk_verify_t verify
2193 The function responsible for verifying that the provided signature
2194 matches the provided data. See below for a description of this type.
2195 @item gcry_pk_get_nbits_t get_nbits
2196 The function responsible for returning the number of bits of a provided
2197 key. See below for a description of this type.
2201 @deftp {Data type} gcry_pk_generate_t
2202 Type for the `generate' function, defined as: gcry_err_code_t
2203 (*gcry_pk_generate_t) (int algo, unsigned int nbits, unsigned long
2204 use_e, gcry_mpi_t *skey, gcry_mpi_t **retfactors)
2207 @deftp {Data type} gcry_pk_check_secret_key_t
2208 Type for the `check_secret_key' function, defined as: gcry_err_code_t
2209 (*gcry_pk_check_secret_key_t) (int algo, gcry_mpi_t *skey)
2212 @deftp {Data type} gcry_pk_encrypt_t
2213 Type for the `encrypt' function, defined as: gcry_err_code_t
2214 (*gcry_pk_encrypt_t) (int algo, gcry_mpi_t *resarr, gcry_mpi_t data,
2215 gcry_mpi_t *pkey, int flags)
2218 @deftp {Data type} gcry_pk_decrypt_t
2219 Type for the `decrypt' function, defined as: gcry_err_code_t
2220 (*gcry_pk_decrypt_t) (int algo, gcry_mpi_t *result, gcry_mpi_t *data,
2221 gcry_mpi_t *skey, int flags)
2224 @deftp {Data type} gcry_pk_sign_t
2225 Type for the `sign' function, defined as: gcry_err_code_t
2226 (*gcry_pk_sign_t) (int algo, gcry_mpi_t *resarr, gcry_mpi_t data,
2230 @deftp {Data type} gcry_pk_verify_t
2231 Type for the `verify' function, defined as: gcry_err_code_t
2232 (*gcry_pk_verify_t) (int algo, gcry_mpi_t hash, gcry_mpi_t *data,
2233 gcry_mpi_t *pkey, int (*cmp) (void *, gcry_mpi_t), void *opaquev)
2236 @deftp {Data type} gcry_pk_get_nbits_t
2237 Type for the `get_nbits' function, defined as: unsigned
2238 (*gcry_pk_get_nbits_t) (int algo, gcry_mpi_t *pkey)
2241 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_pk_register (gcry_pk_spec_t *@var{pubkey}, unsigned int *algorithm_id, gcry_module_t *@var{module})
2243 Register a new public key module whose specification can be found in
2244 @var{pubkey}. On success, a new algorithm ID is stored in
2245 @var{algorithm_id} and a pointer representing this module is stored
2249 @deftypefun void gcry_pk_unregister (gcry_module_t @var{module})
2250 Unregister the public key module identified by @var{module}, which
2251 must have been registered with gcry_pk_register.
2254 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_pk_list (int *@var{list}, int *@var{list_length})
2255 Get a list consisting of the IDs of the loaded pubkey modules. If
2256 @var{list} is zero, write the number of loaded pubkey modules to
2257 @var{list_length} and return. If @var{list} is non-zero, the first
2258 *@var{list_length} algorithm IDs are stored in @var{list}, which must
2259 be of according size. In case there are less pubkey modules than
2260 *@var{list_length}, *@var{list_length} is updated to the correct
2264 @node Cryptographic Functions
2265 @section Cryptographic Functions
2268 Note that we will in future allow to use keys without p,q and u
2269 specified and may also support other parameters for performance
2274 Some functions operating on S-expressions support `flags', that
2275 influence the operation. These flags have to be listed in a
2276 sub-S-expression named `flags'; the following flags are known:
2280 Use PKCS#1 block type 2 padding.
2282 Do not use a technique called `blinding', which is used by default in
2283 order to prevent leaking of secret information. Blinding is only
2284 implemented by RSA, but it might be implemented by other algorithms in
2285 the future as well, when necessary.
2289 Now that we know the key basics, we can carry on and explain how to
2290 encrypt and decrypt data. In almost all cases the data is a random
2291 session key which is in turn used for the actual encryption of the real
2292 data. There are 2 functions to do this:
2294 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_pk_encrypt (@w{gcry_sexp_t *@var{r_ciph},} @w{gcry_sexp_t @var{data},} @w{gcry_sexp_t @var{pkey}})
2296 Obviously a public key must be provided for encryption. It is
2297 expected as an appropriate S-expression (see above) in @var{pkey}.
2298 The data to be encrypted can either be in the simple old format, which
2299 is a very simple S-expression consisting only of one MPI, or it may be
2300 a more complex S-expression which also allows to specify flags for
2301 operation, like e.g. padding rules.
2304 If you don't want to let Libgcrypt handle the padding, you must pass an
2305 appropriate MPI using this expression for @var{data}:
2314 This has the same semantics as the old style MPI only way. @var{MPI} is
2315 the actual data, already padded appropriate for your protocol. Most
2316 systems however use PKCS#1 padding and so you can use this S-expression
2322 (value @var{block}))
2326 Here, the "flags" list has the "pkcs1" flag which let the function know
2327 that it should provide PKCS#1 block type 2 padding. The actual data to
2328 be encrypted is passed as a string of octets in @var{block}. The
2329 function checks that this data actually can be used with the given key,
2330 does the padding and encrypts it.
2332 If the function could successfully perform the encryption, the return
2333 value will be 0 and a new S-expression with the encrypted result is
2334 allocated and assigned to the variable at the address of @var{r_ciph}.
2335 The caller is responsible to release this value using
2336 @code{gcry_sexp_release}. In case of an error, an error code is
2337 returned and @var{r_ciph} will be set to @code{NULL}.
2340 The returned S-expression has this format when used with RSA:
2349 Where @var{a-mpi} is an MPI with the result of the RSA operation. When
2350 using the Elgamal algorithm, the return value will have this format:
2360 Where @var{a-mpi} and @var{b-mpi} are MPIs with the result of the
2361 Elgamal encryption operation.
2363 @c end gcry_pk_encrypt
2365 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_pk_decrypt (@w{gcry_sexp_t *@var{r_plain},} @w{gcry_sexp_t @var{data},} @w{gcry_sexp_t @var{skey}})
2367 Obviously a private key must be provided for decryption. It is expected
2368 as an appropriate S-expression (see above) in @var{skey}. The data to
2369 be decrypted must match the format of the result as returned by
2370 @code{gcry_pk_encrypt}, but should be enlarged with a @code{flags}
2382 Note that this function currently does not know of any padding
2383 methods and the caller must do any un-padding on his own.
2386 The function returns 0 on success or an error code. The variable at the
2387 address of @var{r_plain} will be set to NULL on error or receive the
2388 decrypted value on success. The format of @var{r_plain} is a
2389 simple S-expression part (i.e. not a valid one) with just one MPI if
2390 there was no @code{flags} element in @var{data}; if at least an empty
2391 @code{flags} is passed in @var{data}, the format is:
2394 (value @var{plaintext})
2397 @c end gcry_pk_decrypt
2400 Another operation commonly performed using public key cryptography is
2401 signing data. In some sense this is even more important than
2402 encryption because digital signatures are an important instrument for
2403 key management. Libgcrypt supports digital signatures using
2404 2 functions, similar to the encryption functions:
2406 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_pk_sign (@w{gcry_sexp_t *@var{r_sig},} @w{gcry_sexp_t @var{data},} @w{gcry_sexp_t @var{skey}})
2408 This function creates a digital signature for @var{data} using the
2409 private key @var{skey} and place it into the variable at the address of
2410 @var{r_sig}. @var{data} may either be the simple old style S-expression
2411 with just one MPI or a modern and more versatile S-expression which
2412 allows to let Libgcrypt handle padding:
2417 (hash @var{hash-algo} @var{block}))
2421 This example requests to sign the data in @var{block} after applying
2422 PKCS#1 block type 1 style padding. @var{hash-algo} is a string with the
2423 hash algorithm to be encoded into the signature, this may be any hash
2424 algorithm name as supported by Libgcrypt. Most likely, this will be
2425 "sha1", "rmd160" or "md5". It is obvious that the length of @var{block}
2426 must match the size of that message digests; the function checks that
2427 this and other constraints are valid.
2430 If PKCS#1 padding is not required (because the caller does already
2431 provide a padded value), either the old format or better the following
2432 format should be used:
2441 Here, the data to be signed is directly given as an @var{MPI}.
2444 The signature is returned as a newly allocated S-expression in
2445 @var{r_sig} using this format for RSA:
2453 Where @var{s-mpi} is the result of the RSA sign operation. For DSA the
2454 S-expression returned is:
2463 Where @var{r-mpi} and @var{s-mpi} are the result of the DSA sign
2464 operation. For Elgamal signing (which is slow, yields large numbers
2465 and probably is not as secure as the other algorithms), the same format is
2466 used with "elg" replacing "dsa".
2471 The operation most commonly used is definitely the verification of a
2472 signature. Libgcrypt provides this function:
2474 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_pk_verify (@w{gcry_sexp_t @var{sig}}, @w{gcry_sexp_t @var{data}}, @w{gcry_sexp_t @var{pkey}})
2476 This is used to check whether the signature @var{sig} matches the
2477 @var{data}. The public key @var{pkey} must be provided to perform this
2478 verification. This function is similar in its parameters to
2479 @code{gcry_pk_sign} with the exceptions that the public key is used
2480 instead of the private key and that no signature is created but a
2481 signature, in a format as created by @code{gcry_pk_sign}, is passed to
2482 the function in @var{sig}.
2485 The result is 0 for success (i.e. the data matches the signature), or an
2486 error code where the most relevant code is @code{GCRYERR_BAD_SIGNATURE}
2487 to indicate that the signature does not match the provided data.
2490 @c end gcry_pk_verify
2492 @node General public-key related Functions
2493 @section General public-key related Functions
2496 A couple of utility functions are available to retrieve the length of
2497 the key, map algorithm identifiers and perform sanity checks:
2499 @deftypefun {const char *} gcry_pk_algo_name (int @var{algo})
2501 Map the public key algorithm id @var{algo} to a string representation of
2502 the algorithm name. For unknown algorithms this functions returns the
2503 string @code{"?"}. This function should not be used to test for the
2504 availability of an algorithm.
2507 @deftypefun int gcry_pk_map_name (const char *@var{name})
2509 Map the algorithm @var{name} to a public key algorithm Id. Returns 0 if
2510 the algorithm name is not known.
2513 @deftypefun int gcry_pk_test_algo (int @var{algo})
2515 Return 0 if the public key algorithm @var{algo} is available for use.
2516 Note that this is implemented as a macro.
2520 @deftypefun {unsigned int} gcry_pk_get_nbits (gcry_sexp_t @var{key})
2522 Return what is commonly referred as the key length for the given
2523 public or private in @var{key}.
2526 @deftypefun {unsigned char *} gcry_pk_get_keygrip (@w{gcry_sexp_t @var{key}}, @w{unsigned char *@var{array}})
2528 Return the so called "keygrip" which is the SHA-1 hash of the public key
2529 parameters expressed in a way depended on the algorithm. @var{array}
2530 must either provide space for 20 bytes or be @code{NULL}. In the latter
2531 case a newly allocated array of that size is returned. On success a
2532 pointer to the newly allocated space or to @var{array} is returned.
2533 @code{NULL} is returned to indicate an error which is most likely an
2534 unknown algorithm or one where a "keygrip" has not yet been defined.
2535 The function accepts public or secret keys in @var{key}.
2538 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_pk_testkey (gcry_sexp_t @var{key})
2540 Return zero if the private key @var{key} is `sane', an error code otherwise.
2541 Note that it is not possible to check the `saneness' of a public key.
2546 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_pk_algo_info (@w{int @var{algo}}, @w{int @var{what}}, @w{void *@var{buffer}}, @w{size_t *@var{nbytes}})
2548 Depending on the value of @var{what} return various information about
2549 the public key algorithm with the id @var{algo}. Note that the
2550 function returns @code{-1} on error and the actual error code must be
2551 retrieved using the function @code{gcry_errno}. The currently defined
2552 values for @var{what} are:
2555 @item GCRYCTL_TEST_ALGO:
2556 Return 0 if the specified algorithm is available for use.
2557 @var{buffer} must be @code{NULL}, @var{nbytes} may be passed as
2558 @code{NULL} or point to a variable with the required usage of the
2559 algorithm. This may be 0 for "don't care" or the bit-wise OR of these
2563 @item GCRY_PK_USAGE_SIGN
2564 Algorithm is usable for signing.
2565 @item GCRY_PK_USAGE_ENCR
2566 Algorithm is usable for encryption.
2569 Unless you need to test for the allowed usage, it is in general better
2570 to use the macro gcry_pk_test_algo instead.
2572 @item GCRYCTL_GET_ALGO_USAGE:
2573 Return the usage flags for the given algorithm. An invalid algorithm
2574 return 0. Disabled algorithms are ignored here because we
2575 want to know whether the algorithm is at all capable of a certain usage.
2577 @item GCRYCTL_GET_ALGO_NPKEY
2578 Return the number of elements the public key for algorithm @var{algo}
2579 consist of. Return 0 for an unknown algorithm.
2581 @item GCRYCTL_GET_ALGO_NSKEY
2582 Return the number of elements the private key for algorithm @var{algo}
2583 consist of. Note that this value is always larger than that of the
2584 public key. Return 0 for an unknown algorithm.
2586 @item GCRYCTL_GET_ALGO_NSIGN
2587 Return the number of elements a signature created with the algorithm
2588 @var{algo} consists of. Return 0 for an unknown algorithm or for an
2589 algorithm not capable of creating signatures.
2591 @item GCRYCTL_GET_ALGO_NENC
2592 Return the number of elements a encrypted message created with the algorithm
2593 @var{algo} consists of. Return 0 for an unknown algorithm or for an
2594 algorithm not capable of encryption.
2598 Please note that parameters not required should be passed as @code{NULL}.
2600 @c end gcry_pk_algo_info
2603 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_pk_ctl (@w{int @var{cmd}}, @w{void *@var{buffer}}, @w{size_t @var{buflen}})
2605 This is a general purpose function to perform certain control
2606 operations. @var{cmd} controls what is to be done. The return value is
2607 0 for success or an error code. Currently supported values for
2611 @item GCRYCTL_DISABLE_ALGO
2612 Disable the algorithm given as an algorithm id in @var{buffer}.
2613 @var{buffer} must point to an @code{int} variable with the algorithm id
2614 and @var{buflen} must have the value @code{sizeof (int)}.
2621 Libgcrypt also provides a function to generate public key
2624 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_pk_genkey (@w{gcry_sexp_t *@var{r_key}}, @w{gcry_sexp_t @var{parms}})
2626 This function create a new public key pair using information given in
2627 the S-expression @var{parms} and stores the private and the public key
2628 in one new S-expression at the address given by @var{r_key}. In case of
2629 an error, @var{r_key} is set to @code{NULL}. The return code is 0 for
2630 success or an error code otherwise.
2633 Here is an example for @var{parms} to create an 2048 bit RSA key:
2642 To create an Elgamal key, substitute "elg" for "rsa" and to create a DSA
2643 key use "dsa". Valid ranges for the key length depend on the
2644 algorithms; all commonly used key lengths are supported. Currently
2645 supported parameters are:
2649 This is always required to specify the length of the key. The argument
2650 is a string with a number in C-notation. The value should be a multiple
2653 @item curve @var{name}
2654 For ECC a named curve may be used instead of giving the number of
2655 requested bits. This allows to request a specific curve to override a
2656 default selection Libgcrypt would have taken if @code{nbits} has been
2657 given. The available names are listed with the description of the ECC
2658 public key parameters.
2661 This is only used with RSA to give a hint for the public exponent. The
2662 value will be used as a base to test for a usable exponent. Some values
2667 Use a secure and fast value. This is currently the number 41.
2669 Use a value as required by some crypto policies. This is currently
2674 Use the given value.
2678 If this parameter is not used, Libgcrypt uses for historic reasons
2682 This is only meanigful for DSA keys. If it is given the DSA key is
2683 generated with a Q parameyer of this size. If it is not given or zero
2684 Q is deduced from NBITS in this way:
2686 @item 512 <= N <= 1024
2697 Note that in this case only the values for N, as given in the table,
2698 are allowed. When specifying Q all values of N in the range 512 to
2699 15680 are valid as long as they are multiples of 8.
2702 This is only meaningful for RSA keys. This is a flag with no value. If
2703 given the RSA key is created using a faster and a somewhat less secure
2704 random number generator. This flag may be used for keys which are only
2705 used for a short time and do not require full cryptographic strength.
2708 This is only meaningful for DLP algorithms. If specified keys are
2709 generated with domain parameters taken from this list. The exact
2710 format of this parameter depends on the actual algorithm. It is
2711 currently only implemented for DSA using this format:
2720 (seed @var{seed-mpi})
2721 (counter @var{counter-mpi})
2725 The @code{seed}, @code{counter} and @code{h} domain parameters are
2726 optional and currently not used.
2729 This is currently only meaningful for RSA keys. If given, it is used
2730 to derive the RSA keys using the given parameters. This is in general
2731 only useful for key generation tests. If given for an RSA key the
2732 X9.31 key generation algorithm is used even if libgcrypt is not in
2741 (Xp1 #1A1916DDB29B4EB7EB6732E128#)
2742 (Xp2 #192E8AAC41C576C822D93EA433#)
2743 (Xp #D8CD81F035EC57EFE822955149D3BFF70C53520D
2744 769D6D76646C7A792E16EBD89FE6FC5B605A6493
2745 39DFC925A86A4C6D150B71B9EEA02D68885F5009
2747 (Xq1 #1A5CF72EE770DE50CB09ACCEA9#)
2748 (Xq2 #134E4CAA16D2350A21D775C404#)
2749 (Xq #CC1092495D867E64065DEE3E7955F2EBC7D47A2D
2750 7C9953388F97DDDC3E1CA19C35CA659EDC2FC325
2751 6D29C2627479C086A699A49C4C9CEE7EF7BD1B34
2756 Force the use of the ANSI X9.31 key generation algorithm instead of
2757 the default algorithm. This flag is only meaningful for RSA and
2758 usullat not required. Note that this algorithm is implicitly used if
2759 either @code{derive-parms} are given or Libgcrypt is in FIPS mode.
2763 @c end table of parameters
2766 The key pair is returned in a format depending on the algorithm. Both
2767 private and public keys are returned in one container and may be
2768 accompanied by some miscellaneous information.
2771 As an example, here is what the Elgamal key generation returns:
2787 (pm1-factors @var{n1 n2 ... nn}))
2791 As you can see, some of the information is duplicated, but this
2792 provides an easy way to extract either the public or the private key.
2793 Note that the order of the elements is not defined, e.g. the private
2794 key may be stored before the public key. @var{n1 n2 ... nn} is a list
2795 of prime numbers used to composite @var{p-mpi}; this is in general not
2796 a very useful information and only available if the key generation
2797 algorithm provides them.
2799 @c end gcry_pk_genkey
2802 @section Alternative Public Key Interface
2804 This section documents the alternative interface to asymmetric
2805 cryptography (ac) that is not based on S-expressions, but on native C
2806 data structures. As opposed to the pk interface described in the
2807 former chapter, this one follows an open/use/close paradigm like other
2808 building blocks of the library.
2810 @strong{This interface has a few known problems; most noteworthy an
2811 inherent tendency to leak memory. It might not be available in
2812 forthcoming versions Libgcrypt.}
2816 * Available asymmetric algorithms:: List of algorithms supported by the library.
2817 * Working with sets of data:: How to work with sets of data.
2818 * Working with IO objects:: How to work with IO objects.
2819 * Working with handles:: How to use handles.
2820 * Working with keys:: How to work with keys.
2821 * Using cryptographic functions:: How to perform cryptographic operations.
2822 * Handle-independent functions:: General functions independent of handles.
2825 @node Available asymmetric algorithms
2826 @subsection Available asymmetric algorithms
2828 Libgcrypt supports the RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman)
2829 algorithms as well as DSA (Digital Signature Algorithm) and Elgamal.
2830 The versatile interface allows to add more algorithms in the future.
2832 @deftp {Data type} gcry_ac_id_t
2834 The following constants are defined for this type:
2838 Rivest-Shamir-Adleman
2840 Digital Signature Algorithm
2844 Elgamal, encryption only.
2848 @node Working with sets of data
2849 @subsection Working with sets of data
2851 In the context of this interface the term `data set' refers to a list
2852 of `named MPI values' that is used by functions performing
2853 cryptographic operations; a named MPI value is a an MPI value,
2854 associated with a label.
2856 Such data sets are used for representing keys, since keys simply
2857 consist of a variable amount of numbers. Furthermore some functions
2858 return data sets to the caller that are to be provided to other
2861 This section documents the data types, symbols and functions that are
2862 relevant for working with data sets.
2864 @deftp {Data type} gcry_ac_data_t
2868 The following flags are supported:
2871 @item GCRY_AC_FLAG_DEALLOC
2872 Used for storing data in a data set. If given, the data will be
2873 released by the library. Note that whenever one of the ac functions
2874 is about to release objects because of this flag, the objects are
2875 expected to be stored in memory allocated through the Libgcrypt memory
2876 management. In other words: gcry_free() is used instead of free().
2878 @item GCRY_AC_FLAG_COPY
2879 Used for storing/retrieving data in/from a data set. If given, the
2880 library will create copies of the provided/contained data, which will
2881 then be given to the user/associated with the data set.
2884 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_new (gcry_ac_data_t *@var{data})
2885 Creates a new, empty data set and stores it in @var{data}.
2888 @deftypefun void gcry_ac_data_destroy (gcry_ac_data_t @var{data})
2889 Destroys the data set @var{data}.
2892 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_set (gcry_ac_data_t @var{data}, unsigned int @var{flags}, char *@var{name}, gcry_mpi_t @var{mpi})
2893 Add the value @var{mpi} to @var{data} with the label @var{name}. If
2894 @var{flags} contains GCRY_AC_FLAG_COPY, the data set will contain
2895 copies of @var{name} and @var{mpi}. If @var{flags} contains
2896 GCRY_AC_FLAG_DEALLOC or GCRY_AC_FLAG_COPY, the values
2897 contained in the data set will be deallocated when they are to be
2898 removed from the data set.
2901 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_copy (gcry_ac_data_t *@var{data_cp}, gcry_ac_data_t @var{data})
2902 Create a copy of the data set @var{data} and store it in
2903 @var{data_cp}. FIXME: exact semantics undefined.
2906 @deftypefun {unsigned int} gcry_ac_data_length (gcry_ac_data_t @var{data})
2907 Returns the number of named MPI values inside of the data set
2911 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_get_name (gcry_ac_data_t @var{data}, unsigned int @var{flags}, char *@var{name}, gcry_mpi_t *@var{mpi})
2912 Store the value labelled with @var{name} found in @var{data} in
2913 @var{mpi}. If @var{flags} contains GCRY_AC_FLAG_COPY, store a copy of
2914 the @var{mpi} value contained in the data set. @var{mpi} may be NULL
2915 (this might be useful for checking the existence of an MPI with
2919 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_get_index (gcry_ac_data_t @var{data}, unsigned int flags, unsigned int @var{index}, const char **@var{name}, gcry_mpi_t *@var{mpi})
2920 Stores in @var{name} and @var{mpi} the named @var{mpi} value contained
2921 in the data set @var{data} with the index @var{idx}. If @var{flags}
2922 contains GCRY_AC_FLAG_COPY, store copies of the values contained in
2923 the data set. @var{name} or @var{mpi} may be NULL.
2926 @deftypefun void gcry_ac_data_clear (gcry_ac_data_t @var{data})
2927 Destroys any values contained in the data set @var{data}.
2930 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_to_sexp (gcry_ac_data_t @var{data}, gcry_sexp_t *@var{sexp}, const char **@var{identifiers})
2931 This function converts the data set @var{data} into a newly created
2932 S-Expression, which is to be stored in @var{sexp}; @var{identifiers}
2933 is a NULL terminated list of C strings, which specifies the structure
2934 of the S-Expression.
2938 If @var{identifiers} is a list of pointers to the strings ``foo'' and
2939 ``bar'' and if @var{data} is a data set containing the values ``val1 =
2940 0x01'' and ``val2 = 0x02'', then the resulting S-Expression will look
2941 like this: (foo (bar ((val1 0x01) (val2 0x02))).
2944 @deftypefun gcry_error gcry_ac_data_from_sexp (gcry_ac_data_t *@var{data}, gcry_sexp_t @var{sexp}, const char **@var{identifiers})
2945 This function converts the S-Expression @var{sexp} into a newly
2946 created data set, which is to be stored in @var{data};
2947 @var{identifiers} is a NULL terminated list of C strings, which
2948 specifies the structure of the S-Expression. If the list of
2949 identifiers does not match the structure of the S-Expression, the
2953 @node Working with IO objects
2954 @subsection Working with IO objects
2956 Note: IO objects are currently only used in the context of message
2957 encoding/decoding and encryption/signature schemes.
2959 @deftp {Data type} {gcry_ac_io_t}
2960 @code{gcry_ac_io_t} is the type to be used for IO objects.
2963 IO objects provide an uniform IO layer on top of different underlying
2964 IO mechanisms; either they can be used for providing data to the
2965 library (mode is GCRY_AC_IO_READABLE) or they can be used for
2966 retrieving data from the library (mode is GCRY_AC_IO_WRITABLE).
2968 IO object need to be initialized by calling on of the following
2971 @deftypefun void gcry_ac_io_init (gcry_ac_io_t *@var{ac_io}, gcry_ac_io_mode_t @var{mode}, gcry_ac_io_type_t @var{type}, ...);
2972 Initialize @var{ac_io} according to @var{mode}, @var{type} and the
2973 variable list of arguments. The list of variable arguments to specify
2974 depends on the given @var{type}.
2977 @deftypefun void gcry_ac_io_init_va (gcry_ac_io_t *@var{ac_io}, gcry_ac_io_mode_t @var{mode}, gcry_ac_io_type_t @var{type}, va_list @var{ap});
2978 Initialize @var{ac_io} according to @var{mode}, @var{type} and the
2979 variable list of arguments @var{ap}. The list of variable arguments
2980 to specify depends on the given @var{type}.
2983 The following types of IO objects exist:
2986 @item GCRY_AC_IO_STRING
2987 In case of GCRY_AC_IO_READABLE the IO object will provide data from a
2988 memory string. Arguments to specify at initialization time:
2990 @item unsigned char *
2991 Pointer to the beginning of the memory string
2993 Size of the memory string
2995 In case of GCRY_AC_IO_WRITABLE the object will store retrieved data in
2996 a newly allocated memory string. Arguments to specify at
2997 initialization time:
2999 @item unsigned char **
3000 Pointer to address, at which the pointer to the newly created memory
3001 string is to be stored
3003 Pointer to address, at which the size of the newly created memory
3004 string is to be stored
3007 @item GCRY_AC_IO_CALLBACK
3008 In case of GCRY_AC_IO_READABLE the object will forward read requests
3009 to a provided callback function. Arguments to specify at
3010 initialization time:
3012 @item gcry_ac_data_read_cb_t
3013 Callback function to use
3015 Opaque argument to provide to the callback function
3017 In case of GCRY_AC_IO_WRITABLE the object will forward write requests
3018 to a provided callback function. Arguments to specify at
3019 initialization time:
3021 @item gcry_ac_data_write_cb_t
3022 Callback function to use
3024 Opaque argument to provide to the callback function
3028 @node Working with handles
3029 @subsection Working with handles
3031 In order to use an algorithm, an according handle must be created.
3032 This is done using the following function:
3034 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_ac_open (gcry_ac_handle_t *@var{handle}, int @var{algorithm}, int @var{flags})
3036 Creates a new handle for the algorithm @var{algorithm} and stores it
3037 in @var{handle}. @var{flags} is not used currently.
3039 @var{algorithm} must be a valid algorithm ID, see @xref{Available
3040 asymmetric algorithms}, for a list of supported algorithms and the
3041 according constants. Besides using the listed constants directly, the
3042 functions @code{gcry_pk_name_to_id} may be used to convert the textual
3043 name of an algorithm into the according numeric ID.
3046 @deftypefun void gcry_ac_close (gcry_ac_handle_t @var{handle})
3047 Destroys the handle @var{handle}.
3050 @node Working with keys
3051 @subsection Working with keys
3053 @deftp {Data type} gcry_ac_key_type_t
3057 @item GCRY_AC_KEY_SECRET
3058 Specifies a secret key.
3059 @item GCRY_AC_KEY_PUBLIC
3060 Specifies a public key.
3064 @deftp {Data type} gcry_ac_key_t
3065 This type represents a single `key', either a secret one or a public
3069 @deftp {Data type} gcry_ac_key_pair_t
3070 This type represents a `key pair' containing a secret and a public key.
3073 Key data structures can be created in two different ways; a new key
3074 pair can be generated, resulting in ready-to-use key. Alternatively a
3075 key can be initialized from a given data set.
3077 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_ac_key_init (gcry_ac_key_t *@var{key}, gcry_ac_handle_t @var{handle}, gcry_ac_key_type_t @var{type}, gcry_ac_data_t @var{data})
3078 Creates a new key of type @var{type}, consisting of the MPI values
3079 contained in the data set @var{data} and stores it in @var{key}.
3082 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_ac_key_pair_generate (gcry_ac_handle_t @var{handle}, unsigned int @var{nbits}, void *@var{key_spec}, gcry_ac_key_pair_t *@var{key_pair}, gcry_mpi_t **@var{misc_data})
3084 Generates a new key pair via the handle @var{handle} of @var{NBITS}
3085 bits and stores it in @var{key_pair}.
3087 In case non-standard settings are wanted, a pointer to a structure of
3088 type @code{gcry_ac_key_spec_<algorithm>_t}, matching the selected
3089 algorithm, can be given as @var{key_spec}. @var{misc_data} is not
3090 used yet. Such a structure does only exist for RSA. A description
3091 of the members of the supported structures follows.
3094 @item gcry_ac_key_spec_rsa_t
3097 Generate the key pair using a special @code{e}. The value of @code{e}
3098 has the following meanings:
3101 Let Libgcrypt decide what exponent should be used.
3103 Request the use of a ``secure'' exponent; this is required by some
3104 specification to be 65537.
3106 Try starting at this value until a working exponent is found. Note
3107 that the current implementation leaks some information about the
3108 private key because the incrementation used is not randomized. Thus,
3109 this function will be changed in the future to return a random
3110 exponent of the given size.
3118 gcry_ac_key_pair_t key_pair;
3119 gcry_ac_key_spec_rsa_t rsa_spec;
3121 rsa_spec.e = gcry_mpi_new (0);
3122 gcry_mpi_set_ui (rsa_spec.e, 1);
3124 err = gcry_ac_open (&handle, GCRY_AC_RSA, 0);
3127 err = gcry_ac_key_pair_generate (handle, 1024, &rsa_spec,
3135 @deftypefun gcry_ac_key_t gcry_ac_key_pair_extract (gcry_ac_key_pair_t @var{key_pair}, gcry_ac_key_type_t @var{which})
3136 Returns the key of type @var{which} out of the key pair
3140 @deftypefun void gcry_ac_key_destroy (gcry_ac_key_t @var{key})
3141 Destroys the key @var{key}.
3144 @deftypefun void gcry_ac_key_pair_destroy (gcry_ac_key_pair_t @var{key_pair})
3145 Destroys the key pair @var{key_pair}.
3148 @deftypefun gcry_ac_data_t gcry_ac_key_data_get (gcry_ac_key_t @var{key})
3149 Returns the data set contained in the key @var{key}.
3152 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_ac_key_test (gcry_ac_handle_t @var{handle}, gcry_ac_key_t @var{key})
3153 Verifies that the private key @var{key} is sane via @var{handle}.
3156 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_ac_key_get_nbits (gcry_ac_handle_t @var{handle}, gcry_ac_key_t @var{key}, unsigned int *@var{nbits})
3157 Stores the number of bits of the key @var{key} in @var{nbits} via @var{handle}.
3160 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_ac_key_get_grip (gcry_ac_handle_t @var{handle}, gcry_ac_key_t @var{key}, unsigned char *@var{key_grip})
3161 Writes the 20 byte long key grip of the key @var{key} to
3162 @var{key_grip} via @var{handle}.
3165 @node Using cryptographic functions
3166 @subsection Using cryptographic functions
3168 The following flags might be relevant:
3171 @item GCRY_AC_FLAG_NO_BLINDING
3172 Disable any blinding, which might be supported by the chosen
3173 algorithm; blinding is the default.
3176 There exist two kinds of cryptographic functions available through the
3177 ac interface: primitives, and high-level functions.
3179 Primitives deal with MPIs (data sets) directly; what they provide is
3180 direct access to the cryptographic operations provided by an algorithm
3183 High-level functions deal with octet strings, according to a specified
3184 ``scheme''. Schemes make use of ``encoding methods'', which are
3185 responsible for converting the provided octet strings into MPIs, which
3186 are then forwared to the cryptographic primitives. Since schemes are
3187 to be used for a special purpose in order to achieve a particular
3188 security goal, there exist ``encryption schemes'' and ``signature
3189 schemes''. Encoding methods can be used seperately or implicitly
3192 What follows is a description of the cryptographic primitives.
3194 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_encrypt (gcry_ac_handle_t @var{handle}, unsigned int @var{flags}, gcry_ac_key_t @var{key}, gcry_mpi_t @var{data_plain}, gcry_ac_data_t *@var{data_encrypted})
3195 Encrypts the plain text MPI value @var{data_plain} with the key public
3196 @var{key} under the control of the flags @var{flags} and stores the
3197 resulting data set into @var{data_encrypted}.
3200 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_decrypt (gcry_ac_handle_t @var{handle}, unsigned int @var{flags}, gcry_ac_key_t @var{key}, gcry_mpi_t *@var{data_plain}, gcry_ac_data_t @var{data_encrypted})
3201 Decrypts the encrypted data contained in the data set
3202 @var{data_encrypted} with the secret key KEY under the control of the
3203 flags @var{flags} and stores the resulting plain text MPI value in
3207 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_sign (gcry_ac_handle_t @var{handle}, gcry_ac_key_t @var{key}, gcry_mpi_t @var{data}, gcry_ac_data_t *@var{data_signature})
3208 Signs the data contained in @var{data} with the secret key @var{key}
3209 and stores the resulting signature in the data set
3210 @var{data_signature}.
3213 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_verify (gcry_ac_handle_t @var{handle}, gcry_ac_key_t @var{key}, gcry_mpi_t @var{data}, gcry_ac_data_t @var{data_signature})
3214 Verifies that the signature contained in the data set
3215 @var{data_signature} is indeed the result of signing the data
3216 contained in @var{data} with the secret key belonging to the public
3220 What follows is a description of the high-level functions.
3222 The type ``gcry_ac_em_t'' is used for specifying encoding methods; the
3223 following methods are supported:
3226 @item GCRY_AC_EME_PKCS_V1_5
3227 PKCS-V1_5 Encoding Method for Encryption. Options must be provided
3228 through a pointer to a correctly initialized object of type
3229 gcry_ac_eme_pkcs_v1_5_t.
3231 @item GCRY_AC_EMSA_PKCS_V1_5
3232 PKCS-V1_5 Encoding Method for Signatures with Appendix. Options must
3233 be provided through a pointer to a correctly initialized object of
3234 type gcry_ac_emsa_pkcs_v1_5_t.
3237 Option structure types:
3240 @item gcry_ac_eme_pkcs_v1_5_t
3242 @item gcry_ac_key_t key
3243 @item gcry_ac_handle_t handle
3245 @item gcry_ac_emsa_pkcs_v1_5_t
3247 @item gcry_md_algo_t md
3252 Encoding methods can be used directly through the following functions:
3254 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_encode (gcry_ac_em_t @var{method}, unsigned int @var{flags}, void *@var{options}, unsigned char *@var{m}, size_t @var{m_n}, unsigned char **@var{em}, size_t *@var{em_n})
3255 Encodes the message contained in @var{m} of size @var{m_n} according
3256 to @var{method}, @var{flags} and @var{options}. The newly created
3257 encoded message is stored in @var{em} and @var{em_n}.
3260 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_decode (gcry_ac_em_t @var{method}, unsigned int @var{flags}, void *@var{options}, unsigned char *@var{em}, size_t @var{em_n}, unsigned char **@var{m}, size_t *@var{m_n})
3261 Decodes the message contained in @var{em} of size @var{em_n} according
3262 to @var{method}, @var{flags} and @var{options}. The newly created
3263 decoded message is stored in @var{m} and @var{m_n}.
3266 The type ``gcry_ac_scheme_t'' is used for specifying schemes; the
3267 following schemes are supported:
3270 @item GCRY_AC_ES_PKCS_V1_5
3271 PKCS-V1_5 Encryption Scheme. No options can be provided.
3272 @item GCRY_AC_SSA_PKCS_V1_5
3273 PKCS-V1_5 Signature Scheme (with Appendix). Options can be provided
3274 through a pointer to a correctly initialized object of type
3275 gcry_ac_ssa_pkcs_v1_5_t.
3278 Option structure types:
3281 @item gcry_ac_ssa_pkcs_v1_5_t
3283 @item gcry_md_algo_t md
3287 The functions implementing schemes:
3289 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_encrypt_scheme (gcry_ac_handle_t @var{handle}, gcry_ac_scheme_t @var{scheme}, unsigned int @var{flags}, void *@var{opts}, gcry_ac_key_t @var{key}, gcry_ac_io_t *@var{io_message}, gcry_ac_io_t *@var{io_cipher})
3290 Encrypts the plain text readable from @var{io_message} through
3291 @var{handle} with the public key @var{key} according to @var{scheme},
3292 @var{flags} and @var{opts}. If @var{opts} is not NULL, it has to be a
3293 pointer to a structure specific to the chosen scheme (gcry_ac_es_*_t).
3294 The encrypted message is written to @var{io_cipher}.
3297 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_decrypt_scheme (gcry_ac_handle_t @var{handle}, gcry_ac_scheme_t @var{scheme}, unsigned int @var{flags}, void *@var{opts}, gcry_ac_key_t @var{key}, gcry_ac_io_t *@var{io_cipher}, gcry_ac_io_t *@var{io_message})
3298 Decrypts the cipher text readable from @var{io_cipher} through
3299 @var{handle} with the secret key @var{key} according to @var{scheme},
3300 @var{flags} and @var{opts}. If @var{opts} is not NULL, it has to be a
3301 pointer to a structure specific to the chosen scheme (gcry_ac_es_*_t).
3302 The decrypted message is written to @var{io_message}.
3305 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_sign_scheme (gcry_ac_handle_t @var{handle}, gcry_ac_scheme_t @var{scheme}, unsigned int @var{flags}, void *@var{opts}, gcry_ac_key_t @var{key}, gcry_ac_io_t *@var{io_message}, gcry_ac_io_t *@var{io_signature})
3306 Signs the message readable from @var{io_message} through @var{handle}
3307 with the secret key @var{key} according to @var{scheme}, @var{flags}
3308 and @var{opts}. If @var{opts} is not NULL, it has to be a pointer to
3309 a structure specific to the chosen scheme (gcry_ac_ssa_*_t). The
3310 signature is written to @var{io_signature}.
3313 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_verify_scheme (gcry_ac_handle_t @var{handle}, gcry_ac_scheme_t @var{scheme}, unsigned int @var{flags}, void *@var{opts}, gcry_ac_key_t @var{key}, gcry_ac_io_t *@var{io_message}, gcry_ac_io_t *@var{io_signature})
3314 Verifies through @var{handle} that the signature readable from
3315 @var{io_signature} is indeed the result of signing the message
3316 readable from @var{io_message} with the secret key belonging to the
3317 public key @var{key} according to @var{scheme} and @var{opts}. If
3318 @var{opts} is not NULL, it has to be an anonymous structure
3319 (gcry_ac_ssa_*_t) specific to the chosen scheme.
3322 @node Handle-independent functions
3323 @subsection Handle-independent functions
3325 These two functions are deprecated; do not use them for new code.
3327 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_ac_id_to_name (gcry_ac_id_t @var{algorithm}, const char **@var{name})
3328 Stores the textual representation of the algorithm whose id is given
3329 in @var{algorithm} in @var{name}. Deprecated; use @code{gcry_pk_algo_name}.
3332 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_ac_name_to_id (const char *@var{name}, gcry_ac_id_t *@var{algorithm})
3333 Stores the numeric ID of the algorithm whose textual representation is
3334 contained in @var{name} in @var{algorithm}. Deprecated; use
3335 @code{gcry_pk_map_name}.
3338 @c **********************************************************
3339 @c ******************* Hash Functions *********************
3340 @c **********************************************************
3344 Libgcrypt provides an easy and consistent to use interface for hashing.
3345 Hashing is buffered and several hash algorithms can be updated at once.
3346 It is possible to compute a MAC using the same routines. The
3347 programming model follows an open/process/close paradigm and is in that
3348 similar to other building blocks provided by Libgcrypt.
3350 For convenience reasons, a few cyclic redundancy check value operations
3354 * Available hash algorithms:: List of hash algorithms supported by the library.
3355 * Hash algorithm modules:: How to work with hash algorithm modules.
3356 * Working with hash algorithms:: List of functions related to hashing.
3359 @node Available hash algorithms
3360 @section Available hash algorithms
3362 @c begin table of hash algorithms
3364 @cindex SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512
3366 @cindex MD2, MD4, MD5
3373 This is not a real algorithm but used by some functions as an error
3374 return value. This constant is guaranteed to have the value @code{0}.
3377 This is the SHA-1 algorithm which yields a message digest of 20 bytes.
3379 @item GCRY_MD_RMD160
3380 This is the 160 bit version of the RIPE message digest (RIPE-MD-160).
3381 Like SHA-1 it also yields a digest of 20 bytes.
3384 This is the well known MD5 algorithm, which yields a message digest of
3388 This is the MD4 algorithm, which yields a message digest of 16 bytes.
3391 This is an reserved identifier for MD-2; there is no implementation yet.
3394 This is the TIGER/192 algorithm which yields a message digest of 24 bytes.
3397 This is an reserved for the HAVAL algorithm with 5 passes and 160
3398 bit. It yields a message digest of 20 bytes. Note that there is no
3399 implementation yet available.
3401 @item GCRY_MD_SHA224
3402 This is the SHA-224 algorithm which yields a message digest of 28 bytes.
3403 See Change Notice 1 for FIPS 180-2 for the specification.
3405 @item GCRY_MD_SHA256
3406 This is the SHA-256 algorithm which yields a message digest of 32 bytes.
3407 See FIPS 180-2 for the specification.
3409 @item GCRY_MD_SHA384
3410 This is the SHA-384 algorithm which yields a message digest of 48 bytes.
3411 See FIPS 180-2 for the specification.
3413 @item GCRY_MD_SHA512
3414 This is the SHA-384 algorithm which yields a message digest of 64 bytes.
3415 See FIPS 180-2 for the specification.
3418 This is the ISO 3309 and ITU-T V.42 cyclic redundancy check. It
3419 yields an output of 4 bytes.
3421 @item GCRY_MD_CRC32_RFC1510
3422 This is the above cyclic redundancy check function, as modified by RFC
3423 1510. It yields an output of 4 bytes.
3425 @item GCRY_MD_CRC24_RFC2440
3426 This is the OpenPGP cyclic redundancy check function. It yields an
3429 @item GCRY_MD_WHIRLPOOL
3430 This is the Whirlpool algorithm which yields a message digest of 64
3434 @c end table of hash algorithms
3436 @node Hash algorithm modules
3437 @section Hash algorithm modules
3439 Libgcrypt makes it possible to load additional `message
3440 digest modules'; these digests can be used just like the message digest
3441 algorithms that are built into the library directly. For an
3442 introduction into extension modules, see @xref{Modules}.
3444 @deftp {Data type} gcry_md_spec_t
3445 This is the `module specification structure' needed for registering
3446 message digest modules, which has to be filled in by the user before
3447 it can be used to register a module. It contains the following
3451 @item const char *name
3452 The primary name of this algorithm.
3453 @item unsigned char *asnoid
3454 Array of bytes that form the ASN OID.
3456 Length of bytes in `asnoid'.
3457 @item gcry_md_oid_spec_t *oids
3458 A list of OIDs that are to be associated with the algorithm. The
3459 list's last element must have it's `oid' member set to NULL. See
3460 below for an explanation of this type. See below for an explanation
3463 Length of the message digest algorithm. See below for an explanation
3465 @item gcry_md_init_t init
3466 The function responsible for initializing a handle. See below for an
3467 explanation of this type.
3468 @item gcry_md_write_t write
3469 The function responsible for writing data into a message digest
3470 context. See below for an explanation of this type.
3471 @item gcry_md_final_t final
3472 The function responsible for `finalizing' a message digest context.
3473 See below for an explanation of this type.
3474 @item gcry_md_read_t read
3475 The function responsible for reading out a message digest result. See
3476 below for an explanation of this type.
3477 @item size_t contextsize
3478 The size of the algorithm-specific `context', that should be
3479 allocated for each handle.
3483 @deftp {Data type} gcry_md_oid_spec_t
3484 This type is used for associating a user-provided algorithm
3485 implementation with certain OIDs. It contains the following members:
3488 @item const char *oidstring
3489 Textual representation of the OID.
3493 @deftp {Data type} gcry_md_init_t
3494 Type for the `init' function, defined as: void (*gcry_md_init_t) (void
3498 @deftp {Data type} gcry_md_write_t
3499 Type for the `write' function, defined as: void (*gcry_md_write_t)
3500 (void *c, unsigned char *buf, size_t nbytes)
3503 @deftp {Data type} gcry_md_final_t
3504 Type for the `final' function, defined as: void (*gcry_md_final_t)
3508 @deftp {Data type} gcry_md_read_t
3509 Type for the `read' function, defined as: unsigned char
3510 *(*gcry_md_read_t) (void *c)
3513 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_md_register (gcry_md_spec_t *@var{digest}, unsigned int *algorithm_id, gcry_module_t *@var{module})
3515 Register a new digest module whose specification can be found in
3516 @var{digest}. On success, a new algorithm ID is stored in
3517 @var{algorithm_id} and a pointer representing this module is stored
3521 @deftypefun void gcry_md_unregister (gcry_module_t @var{module})
3522 Unregister the digest identified by @var{module}, which must have been
3523 registered with gcry_md_register.
3526 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_md_list (int *@var{list}, int *@var{list_length})
3527 Get a list consisting of the IDs of the loaded message digest modules.
3528 If @var{list} is zero, write the number of loaded message digest
3529 modules to @var{list_length} and return. If @var{list} is non-zero,
3530 the first *@var{list_length} algorithm IDs are stored in @var{list},
3531 which must be of according size. In case there are less message
3532 digests modules than *@var{list_length}, *@var{list_length} is updated
3533 to the correct number.
3536 @node Working with hash algorithms
3537 @section Working with hash algorithms
3539 To use most of these function it is necessary to create a context;
3542 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_md_open (gcry_md_hd_t *@var{hd}, int @var{algo}, unsigned int @var{flags})
3544 Create a message digest object for algorithm @var{algo}. @var{flags}
3545 may be given as an bitwise OR of constants described below. @var{algo}
3546 may be given as @code{0} if the algorithms to use are later set using
3547 @code{gcry_md_enable}. @var{hd} is guaranteed to either receive a valid
3550 For a list of supported algorithms, see @xref{Available hash
3553 The flags allowed for @var{mode} are:
3555 @c begin table of hash flags
3557 @item GCRY_MD_FLAG_SECURE
3558 Allocate all buffers and the resulting digest in "secure memory". Use
3559 this is the hashed data is highly confidential.
3561 @item GCRY_MD_FLAG_HMAC
3563 Turn the algorithm into a HMAC message authentication algorithm. This
3564 only works if just one algorithm is enabled for the handle. Note that
3565 the function @code{gcry_md_setkey} must be used to set the MAC key.
3566 The size of the MAC is equal to the message digest of the underlying
3567 hash algorithm. If you want CBC message authentication codes based on
3568 a cipher, see @xref{Working with cipher handles}.
3571 @c begin table of hash flags
3573 You may use the function @code{gcry_md_is_enabled} to later check
3574 whether an algorithm has been enabled.
3577 @c end function gcry_md_open
3579 If you want to calculate several hash algorithms at the same time, you
3580 have to use the following function right after the @code{gcry_md_open}:
3582 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_md_enable (gcry_md_hd_t @var{h}, int @var{algo})
3584 Add the message digest algorithm @var{algo} to the digest object
3585 described by handle @var{h}. Duplicated enabling of algorithms is
3586 detected and ignored.
3589 If the flag @code{GCRY_MD_FLAG_HMAC} was used, the key for the MAC must
3590 be set using the function:
3592 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_md_setkey (gcry_md_hd_t @var{h}, const void *@var{key}, size_t @var{keylen})
3594 For use with the HMAC feature, set the MAC key to the value of @var{key}
3595 of length @var{keylen}. There is no restriction on the length of the key.
3599 After you are done with the hash calculation, you should release the
3602 @deftypefun void gcry_md_close (gcry_md_hd_t @var{h})
3604 Release all resources of hash context @var{h}. @var{h} should not be
3605 used after a call to this function. A @code{NULL} passed as @var{h} is
3610 Often you have to do several hash operations using the same algorithm.
3611 To avoid the overhead of creating and releasing context, a reset function
3614 @deftypefun void gcry_md_reset (gcry_md_hd_t @var{h})
3616 Reset the current context to its initial state. This is effectively
3617 identical to a close followed by an open and enabling all currently
3622 Often it is necessary to start hashing some data and then continue to
3623 hash different data. To avoid hashing the same data several times (which
3624 might not even be possible if the data is received from a pipe), a
3625 snapshot of the current hash context can be taken and turned into a new
3628 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_md_copy (gcry_md_hd_t *@var{handle_dst}, gcry_md_hd_t @var{handle_src})
3630 Create a new digest object as an exact copy of the object described by
3631 handle @var{handle_src} and store it in @var{handle_dst}. The context
3632 is not reset and you can continue to hash data using this context and
3633 independently using the original context.
3637 Now that we have prepared everything to calculate hashes, it is time to
3638 see how it is actually done. There are two ways for this, one to
3639 update the hash with a block of memory and one macro to update the hash
3640 by just one character. Both methods can be used on the same hash context.
3642 @deftypefun void gcry_md_write (gcry_md_hd_t @var{h}, const void *@var{buffer}, size_t @var{length})
3644 Pass @var{length} bytes of the data in @var{buffer} to the digest object
3645 with handle @var{h} to update the digest values. This
3646 function should be used for large blocks of data.
3649 @deftypefun void gcry_md_putc (gcry_md_hd_t @var{h}, int @var{c})
3651 Pass the byte in @var{c} to the digest object with handle @var{h} to
3652 update the digest value. This is an efficient function, implemented as
3653 a macro to buffer the data before an actual update.
3656 The semantics of the hash functions do not provide for reading out intermediate
3657 message digests because the calculation must be finalized first. This
3658 finalization may for example include the number of bytes hashed in the
3659 message digest or some padding.
3661 @deftypefun void gcry_md_final (gcry_md_hd_t @var{h})
3663 Finalize the message digest calculation. This is not really needed
3664 because @code{gcry_md_read} does this implicitly. After this has been
3665 done no further updates (by means of @code{gcry_md_write} or
3666 @code{gcry_md_putc} are allowed. Only the first call to this function
3667 has an effect. It is implemented as a macro.
3670 The way to read out the calculated message digest is by using the
3673 @deftypefun {unsigned char *} gcry_md_read (gcry_md_hd_t @var{h}, int @var{algo})
3675 @code{gcry_md_read} returns the message digest after finalizing the
3676 calculation. This function may be used as often as required but it will
3677 always return the same value for one handle. The returned message digest
3678 is allocated within the message context and therefore valid until the
3679 handle is released or reseted (using @code{gcry_md_close} or
3680 @code{gcry_md_reset}. @var{algo} may be given as 0 to return the only
3681 enabled message digest or it may specify one of the enabled algorithms.
3682 The function does return @code{NULL} if the requested algorithm has not
3686 Because it is often necessary to get the message digest of one block of
3687 memory, a fast convenience function is available for this task:
3689 @deftypefun void gcry_md_hash_buffer (int @var{algo}, void *@var{digest}, const void *@var{buffer}, size_t @var{length});
3691 @code{gcry_md_hash_buffer} is a shortcut function to calculate a message
3692 digest of a buffer. This function does not require a context and
3693 immediately returns the message digest of the @var{length} bytes at
3694 @var{buffer}. @var{digest} must be allocated by the caller, large
3695 enough to hold the message digest yielded by the the specified algorithm
3696 @var{algo}. This required size may be obtained by using the function
3697 @code{gcry_md_get_algo_dlen}.
3699 Note that this function will abort the process if an unavailable
3703 @c ***********************************
3704 @c ***** MD info functions ***********
3705 @c ***********************************
3707 Hash algorithms are identified by internal algorithm numbers (see
3708 @code{gcry_md_open} for a list). However, in most applications they are
3709 used by names, so two functions are available to map between string
3710 representations and hash algorithm identifiers.
3712 @deftypefun {const char *} gcry_md_algo_name (int @var{algo})
3714 Map the digest algorithm id @var{algo} to a string representation of the
3715 algorithm name. For unknown algorithms this function returns the
3716 string @code{"?"}. This function should not be used to test for the
3717 availability of an algorithm.
3720 @deftypefun int gcry_md_map_name (const char *@var{name})
3722 Map the algorithm with @var{name} to a digest algorithm identifier.
3723 Returns 0 if the algorithm name is not known. Names representing
3724 @acronym{ASN.1} object identifiers are recognized if the @acronym{IETF}
3725 dotted format is used and the OID is prefixed with either "@code{oid.}"
3726 or "@code{OID.}". For a list of supported OIDs, see the source code at
3727 @file{cipher/md.c}. This function should not be used to test for the
3728 availability of an algorithm.
3731 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_md_get_asnoid (int @var{algo}, void *@var{buffer}, size_t *@var{length})
3733 Return an DER encoded ASN.1 OID for the algorithm @var{algo} in the
3734 user allocated @var{buffer}. @var{length} must point to variable with
3735 the available size of @var{buffer} and receives after return the
3736 actual size of the returned OID. The returned error code may be
3737 @code{GPG_ERR_TOO_SHORT} if the provided buffer is to short to receive
3738 the OID; it is possible to call the function with @code{NULL} for
3739 @var{buffer} to have it only return the required size. The function
3740 returns 0 on success.
3745 To test whether an algorithm is actually available for use, the
3746 following macro should be used:
3748 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_md_test_algo (int @var{algo})
3750 The macro returns 0 if the algorithm @var{algo} is available for use.
3753 If the length of a message digest is not known, it can be retrieved
3754 using the following function:
3756 @deftypefun {unsigned int} gcry_md_get_algo_dlen (int @var{algo})
3758 Retrieve the length in bytes of the digest yielded by algorithm
3759 @var{algo}. This is often used prior to @code{gcry_md_read} to allocate
3760 sufficient memory for the digest.
3764 In some situations it might be hard to remember the algorithm used for
3765 the ongoing hashing. The following function might be used to get that
3768 @deftypefun int gcry_md_get_algo (gcry_md_hd_t @var{h})
3770 Retrieve the algorithm used with the handle @var{h}. Note that this
3771 does not work reliable if more than one algorithm is enabled in @var{h}.
3774 The following macro might also be useful:
3776 @deftypefun int gcry_md_is_secure (gcry_md_hd_t @var{h})
3778 This function returns true when the digest object @var{h} is allocated
3779 in "secure memory"; i.e. @var{h} was created with the
3780 @code{GCRY_MD_FLAG_SECURE}.
3783 @deftypefun int gcry_md_is_enabled (gcry_md_hd_t @var{h}, int @var{algo})
3785 This function returns true when the algorithm @var{algo} has been
3786 enabled for the digest object @var{h}.
3791 Tracking bugs related to hashing is often a cumbersome task which
3792 requires to add a lot of printf statements into the code.
3793 Libgcrypt provides an easy way to avoid this. The actual data
3794 hashed can be written to files on request.
3796 @deftypefun void gcry_md_debug (gcry_md_hd_t @var{h}, const char *@var{suffix})
3798 Enable debugging for the digest object with handle @var{h}. This
3799 creates create files named @file{dbgmd-<n>.<string>} while doing the
3800 actual hashing. @var{suffix} is the string part in the filename. The
3801 number is a counter incremented for each new hashing. The data in the
3802 file is the raw data as passed to @code{gcry_md_write} or
3803 @code{gcry_md_putc}. If @code{NULL} is used for @var{suffix}, the
3804 debugging is stopped and the file closed. This is only rarely required
3805 because @code{gcry_md_close} implicitly stops debugging.
3809 The following two deprecated macros are used for debugging by old code.
3810 They shopuld be replaced by @code{gcry_md_debug}.
3812 @deftypefun void gcry_md_start_debug (gcry_md_hd_t @var{h}, const char *@var{suffix})
3814 Enable debugging for the digest object with handle @var{h}. This
3815 creates create files named @file{dbgmd-<n>.<string>} while doing the
3816 actual hashing. @var{suffix} is the string part in the filename. The
3817 number is a counter incremented for each new hashing. The data in the
3818 file is the raw data as passed to @code{gcry_md_write} or
3819 @code{gcry_md_putc}.
3823 @deftypefun void gcry_md_stop_debug (gcry_md_hd_t @var{h}, int @var{reserved})
3825 Stop debugging on handle @var{h}. @var{reserved} should be specified as
3826 0. This function is usually not required because @code{gcry_md_close}
3827 does implicitly stop debugging.
3831 @c **********************************************************
3832 @c ******************* Random *****************************
3833 @c **********************************************************
3834 @node Random Numbers
3835 @chapter Random Numbers
3838 * Quality of random numbers:: Libgcrypt uses different quality levels.
3839 * Retrieving random numbers:: How to retrieve random numbers.
3842 @node Quality of random numbers
3843 @section Quality of random numbers
3845 @acronym{Libgcypt} offers random numbers of different quality levels:
3847 @deftp {Data type} gcry_random_level_t
3848 The constants for the random quality levels are of this enum type.
3852 @item GCRY_WEAK_RANDOM
3853 For all functions, except for @code{gcry_mpi_randomize}, this level maps
3854 to GCRY_STRONG_RANDOM. If you do not want this, consider using
3855 @code{gcry_create_nonce}.
3856 @item GCRY_STRONG_RANDOM
3857 Use this level for session keys and similar purposes.
3858 @item GCRY_VERY_STRONG_RANDOM
3859 Use this level for long term key material.
3862 @node Retrieving random numbers
3863 @section Retrieving random numbers
3865 @deftypefun void gcry_randomize (unsigned char *@var{buffer}, size_t @var{length}, enum gcry_random_level @var{level})
3867 Fill @var{buffer} with @var{length} random bytes using a random quality
3868 as defined by @var{level}.
3871 @deftypefun {void *} gcry_random_bytes (size_t @var{nbytes}, enum gcry_random_level @var{level})
3873 Convenience function to allocate a memory block consisting of
3874 @var{nbytes} fresh random bytes using a random quality as defined by
3878 @deftypefun {void *} gcry_random_bytes_secure (size_t @var{nbytes}, enum gcry_random_level @var{level})
3880 Convenience function to allocate a memory block consisting of
3881 @var{nbytes} fresh random bytes using a random quality as defined by
3882 @var{level}. This function differs from @code{gcry_random_bytes} in
3883 that the returned buffer is allocated in a ``secure'' area of the
3887 @deftypefun void gcry_create_nonce (unsigned char *@var{buffer}, size_t @var{length})
3889 Fill @var{buffer} with @var{length} unpredictable bytes. This is
3890 commonly called a nonce and may also be used for initialization
3891 vectors and padding. This is an extra function nearly independent of
3892 the other random function for 3 reasons: It better protects the
3893 regular random generator's internal state, provides better performance
3894 and does not drain the precious entropy pool.
3900 @c **********************************************************
3901 @c ******************* S-Expressions ***********************
3902 @c **********************************************************
3904 @chapter S-expressions
3906 S-expressions are used by the public key functions to pass complex data
3907 structures around. These LISP like objects are used by some
3908 cryptographic protocols (cf. RFC-2692) and Libgcrypt provides functions
3909 to parse and construct them. For detailed information, see
3910 @cite{Ron Rivest, code and description of S-expressions,
3911 @uref{http://theory.lcs.mit.edu/~rivest/sexp.html}}.
3914 * Data types for S-expressions:: Data types related with S-expressions.
3915 * Working with S-expressions:: How to work with S-expressions.
3918 @node Data types for S-expressions
3919 @section Data types for S-expressions
3921 @deftp {Data type} gcry_sexp_t
3922 The @code{gcry_sexp_t} type describes an object with the Libgcrypt internal
3923 representation of an S-expression.
3926 @node Working with S-expressions
3927 @section Working with S-expressions
3930 There are several functions to create an Libgcrypt S-expression object
3931 from its external representation or from a string template. There is
3932 also a function to convert the internal representation back into one of
3933 the external formats:
3936 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_sexp_new (@w{gcry_sexp_t *@var{r_sexp}}, @w{const void *@var{buffer}}, @w{size_t @var{length}}, @w{int @var{autodetect}})
3938 This is the generic function to create an new S-expression object from
3939 its external representation in @var{buffer} of @var{length} bytes. On
3940 success the result is stored at the address given by @var{r_sexp}.
3941 With @var{autodetect} set to 0, the data in @var{buffer} is expected to
3942 be in canonized format, with @var{autodetect} set to 1 the parses any of
3943 the defined external formats. If @var{buffer} does not hold a valid
3944 S-expression an error code is returned and @var{r_sexp} set to
3946 Note that the caller is responsible for releasing the newly allocated
3947 S-expression using @code{gcry_sexp_release}.
3950 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_sexp_create (@w{gcry_sexp_t *@var{r_sexp}}, @w{void *@var{buffer}}, @w{size_t @var{length}}, @w{int @var{autodetect}}, @w{void (*@var{freefnc})(void*)})
3952 This function is identical to @code{gcry_sexp_new} but has an extra
3953 argument @var{freefnc}, which, when not set to @code{NULL}, is expected
3954 to be a function to release the @var{buffer}; most likely the standard
3955 @code{free} function is used for this argument. This has the effect of
3956 transferring the ownership of @var{buffer} to the created object in
3957 @var{r_sexp}. The advantage of using this function is that Libgcrypt
3958 might decide to directly use the provided buffer and thus avoid extra
3962 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_sexp_sscan (@w{gcry_sexp_t *@var{r_sexp}}, @w{size_t *@var{erroff}}, @w{const char *@var{buffer}}, @w{size_t @var{length}})
3964 This is another variant of the above functions. It behaves nearly
3965 identical but provides an @var{erroff} argument which will receive the
3966 offset into the buffer where the parsing stopped on error.
3969 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_sexp_build (@w{gcry_sexp_t *@var{r_sexp}}, @w{size_t *@var{erroff}}, @w{const char *@var{format}, ...})
3971 This function creates an internal S-expression from the string template
3972 @var{format} and stores it at the address of @var{r_sexp}. If there is a
3973 parsing error, the function returns an appropriate error code and stores
3974 the offset into @var{format} where the parsing stopped in @var{erroff}.
3975 The function supports a couple of printf-like formatting characters and
3976 expects arguments for some of these escape sequences right after
3977 @var{format}. The following format characters are defined:
3981 The next argument is expected to be of type @code{gcry_mpi_t} and a copy of
3982 its value is inserted into the resulting S-expression.
3984 The next argument is expected to be of type @code{char *} and that
3985 string is inserted into the resulting S-expression.
3987 The next argument is expected to be of type @code{int} and its value is
3988 inserted into the resulting S-expression.
3990 The next argument is expected to be of type @code{int} directly
3991 followed by an argument of type @code{char *}. This represents a
3992 buffer of given length to be inserted into the resulting regular
3997 No other format characters are defined and would return an error. Note
3998 that the format character @samp{%%} does not exists, because a percent
3999 sign is not a valid character in an S-expression.
4002 @deftypefun void gcry_sexp_release (@w{gcry_sexp_t @var{sexp}})
4004 Release the S-expression object @var{sexp}.
4009 The next 2 functions are used to convert the internal representation
4010 back into a regular external S-expression format and to show the
4011 structure for debugging.
4013 @deftypefun size_t gcry_sexp_sprint (@w{gcry_sexp_t @var{sexp}}, @w{int @var{mode}}, @w{char *@var{buffer}}, @w{size_t @var{maxlength}})
4015 Copies the S-expression object @var{sexp} into @var{buffer} using the
4016 format specified in @var{mode}. @var{maxlength} must be set to the
4017 allocated length of @var{buffer}. The function returns the actual
4018 length of valid bytes put into @var{buffer} or 0 if the provided buffer
4019 is too short. Passing @code{NULL} for @var{buffer} returns the required
4020 length for @var{buffer}. For convenience reasons an extra byte with
4021 value 0 is appended to the buffer.
4024 The following formats are supported:
4027 @item GCRYSEXP_FMT_DEFAULT
4028 Returns a convenient external S-expression representation.
4030 @item GCRYSEXP_FMT_CANON
4031 Return the S-expression in canonical format.
4033 @item GCRYSEXP_FMT_BASE64
4034 Not currently supported.
4036 @item GCRYSEXP_FMT_ADVANCED
4037 Returns the S-expression in advanced format.
4041 @deftypefun void gcry_sexp_dump (@w{gcry_sexp_t @var{sexp}})
4043 Dumps @var{sexp} in a format suitable for debugging to Libgcrypt's
4048 Often canonical encoding is used in the external representation. The
4049 following function can be used to check for valid encoding and to learn
4050 the length of the S-expression"
4052 @deftypefun size_t gcry_sexp_canon_len (@w{const unsigned char *@var{buffer}}, @w{size_t @var{length}}, @w{size_t *@var{erroff}}, @w{int *@var{errcode}})
4054 Scan the canonical encoded @var{buffer} with implicit length values and
4055 return the actual length this S-expression uses. For a valid S-expression
4056 it should never return 0. If @var{length} is not 0, the maximum
4057 length to scan is given; this can be used for syntax checks of
4058 data passed from outside. @var{errcode} and @var{erroff} may both be
4059 passed as @code{NULL}.
4065 There are a couple of functions to parse S-expressions and retrieve
4068 @deftypefun gcry_sexp_t gcry_sexp_find_token (@w{const gcry_sexp_t @var{list}}, @w{const char *@var{token}}, @w{size_t @var{toklen}})
4070 Scan the S-expression for a sublist with a type (the car of the list)
4071 matching the string @var{token}. If @var{toklen} is not 0, the token is
4072 assumed to be raw memory of this length. The function returns a newly
4073 allocated S-expression consisting of the found sublist or @code{NULL}
4078 @deftypefun int gcry_sexp_length (@w{const gcry_sexp_t @var{list}})
4080 Return the length of the @var{list}. For a valid S-expression this
4081 should be at least 1.
4085 @deftypefun gcry_sexp_t gcry_sexp_nth (@w{const gcry_sexp_t @var{list}}, @w{int @var{number}})
4087 Create and return a new S-expression from the element with index @var{number} in
4088 @var{list}. Note that the first element has the index 0. If there is
4089 no such element, @code{NULL} is returned.
4092 @deftypefun gcry_sexp_t gcry_sexp_car (@w{const gcry_sexp_t @var{list}})
4094 Create and return a new S-expression from the first element in
4095 @var{list}; this called the "type" and should always exist and be a
4096 string. @code{NULL} is returned in case of a problem.
4099 @deftypefun gcry_sexp_t gcry_sexp_cdr (@w{const gcry_sexp_t @var{list}})
4101 Create and return a new list form all elements except for the first one.
4102 Note that this function may return an invalid S-expression because it
4103 is not guaranteed, that the type exists and is a string. However, for
4104 parsing a complex S-expression it might be useful for intermediate
4105 lists. Returns @code{NULL} on error.
4109 @deftypefun {const char *} gcry_sexp_nth_data (@w{const gcry_sexp_t @var{list}}, @w{int @var{number}}, @w{size_t *@var{datalen}})
4111 This function is used to get data from a @var{list}. A pointer to the
4112 actual data with index @var{number} is returned and the length of this
4113 data will be stored to @var{datalen}. If there is no data at the given
4114 index or the index represents another list, @code{NULL} is returned.
4115 @strong{Caution:} The returned pointer is valid as long as @var{list} is
4116 not modified or released.
4119 Here is an example on how to extract and print the surname (Meier) from
4120 the S-expression @samp{(Name Otto Meier (address Burgplatz 3))}:
4126 name = gcry_sexp_nth_data (list, 2, &len);
4127 printf ("my name is %.*s\n", (int)len, name);
4131 @deftypefun {char *} gcry_sexp_nth_string (@w{gcry_sexp_t @var{list}}, @w{int @var{number}})
4133 This function is used to get and convert data from a @var{list}. The
4134 data is assumed to be a Nul terminated string. The caller must
4135 release this returned value using @code{gcry_free}. If there is
4136 no data at the given index, the index represents a list or the value
4137 can't be converted to a string, @code{NULL} is returned.
4140 @deftypefun gcry_mpi_t gcry_sexp_nth_mpi (@w{gcry_sexp_t @var{list}}, @w{int @var{number}}, @w{int @var{mpifmt}})
4142 This function is used to get and convert data from a @var{list}. This
4143 data is assumed to be an MPI stored in the format described by
4144 @var{mpifmt} and returned as a standard Libgcrypt MPI. The caller must
4145 release this returned value using @code{gcry_mpi_release}. If there is
4146 no data at the given index, the index represents a list or the value
4147 can't be converted to an MPI, @code{NULL} is returned.
4151 @c **********************************************************
4152 @c ******************* MPIs ******** ***********************
4153 @c **********************************************************
4155 @chapter MPI library
4158 * Data types:: MPI related data types.
4159 * Basic functions:: First steps with MPI numbers.
4160 * MPI formats:: External representation of MPIs.
4161 * Calculations:: Performing MPI calculations.
4162 * Comparisons:: How to compare MPI values.
4163 * Bit manipulations:: How to access single bits of MPI values.
4164 * Miscellaneous:: Miscellaneous MPI functions.
4167 Public key cryptography is based on mathematics with large numbers. To
4168 implement the public key functions, a library for handling these large
4169 numbers is required. Because of the general usefulness of such a
4170 library, its interface is exposed by Libgcrypt.
4171 In the context of Libgcrypt and in most other applications, these large
4172 numbers are called MPIs (multi-precision-integers).
4177 @deftp {Data type} {gcry_mpi_t}
4178 This type represents an object to hold an MPI.
4181 @node Basic functions
4182 @section Basic functions
4185 To work with MPIs, storage must be allocated and released for the
4186 numbers. This can be done with one of these functions:
4188 @deftypefun gcry_mpi_t gcry_mpi_new (@w{unsigned int @var{nbits}})
4190 Allocate a new MPI object, initialize it to 0 and initially allocate
4191 enough memory for a number of at least @var{nbits}. This pre-allocation is
4192 only a small performance issue and not actually necessary because
4193 Libgcrypt automatically re-allocates the required memory.
4196 @deftypefun gcry_mpi_t gcry_mpi_snew (@w{unsigned int @var{nbits}})
4198 This is identical to @code{gcry_mpi_new} but allocates the MPI in the so
4199 called "secure memory" which in turn will take care that all derived
4200 values will also be stored in this "secure memory". Use this for highly
4201 confidential data like private key parameters.
4204 @deftypefun gcry_mpi_t gcry_mpi_copy (@w{const gcry_mpi_t @var{a}})
4206 Create a new MPI as the exact copy of @var{a}.
4210 @deftypefun void gcry_mpi_release (@w{gcry_mpi_t @var{a}})
4212 Release the MPI @var{a} and free all associated resources. Passing
4213 @code{NULL} is allowed and ignored. When a MPI stored in the "secure
4214 memory" is released, that memory gets wiped out immediately.
4218 The simplest operations are used to assign a new value to an MPI:
4220 @deftypefun gcry_mpi_t gcry_mpi_set (@w{gcry_mpi_t @var{w}}, @w{const gcry_mpi_t @var{u}})
4222 Assign the value of @var{u} to @var{w} and return @var{w}. If
4223 @code{NULL} is passed for @var{w}, a new MPI is allocated, set to the
4224 value of @var{u} and returned.
4227 @deftypefun gcry_mpi_t gcry_mpi_set_ui (@w{gcry_mpi_t @var{w}}, @w{unsigned long @var{u}})
4229 Assign the value of @var{u} to @var{w} and return @var{w}. If
4230 @code{NULL} is passed for @var{w}, a new MPI is allocated, set to the
4231 value of @var{u} and returned. This function takes an @code{unsigned
4232 int} as type for @var{u} and thus it is only possible to set @var{w} to
4233 small values (usually up to the word size of the CPU).
4236 @deftypefun void gcry_mpi_swap (@w{gcry_mpi_t @var{a}}, @w{gcry_mpi_t @var{b}})
4238 Swap the values of @var{a} and @var{b}.
4242 @section MPI formats
4245 The following functions are used to convert between an external
4246 representation of an MPI and the internal one of Libgcrypt.
4248 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_mpi_scan (@w{gcry_mpi_t *@var{r_mpi}}, @w{enum gcry_mpi_format @var{format}}, @w{const unsigned char *@var{buffer}}, @w{size_t @var{buflen}}, @w{size_t *@var{nscanned}})
4250 Convert the external representation of an integer stored in @var{buffer}
4251 with a length of @var{buflen} into a newly created MPI returned which
4252 will be stored at the address of @var{r_mpi}. For certain formats the
4253 length argument is not required and should be passed as @code{0}. After a
4254 successful operation the variable @var{nscanned} receives the number of
4255 bytes actually scanned unless @var{nscanned} was given as
4256 @code{NULL}. @var{format} describes the format of the MPI as stored in
4260 @item GCRYMPI_FMT_STD
4261 2-complement stored without a length header.
4263 @item GCRYMPI_FMT_PGP
4264 As used by OpenPGP (only defined as unsigned). This is basically
4265 @code{GCRYMPI_FMT_STD} with a 2 byte big endian length header.
4267 @item GCRYMPI_FMT_SSH
4268 As used in the Secure Shell protocol. This is @code{GCRYMPI_FMT_STD}
4269 with a 4 byte big endian header.
4271 @item GCRYMPI_FMT_HEX
4272 Stored as a C style string with each byte of the MPI encoded as 2 hex
4273 digits. When using this format, @var{buflen} must be zero.
4275 @item GCRYMPI_FMT_USG
4276 Simple unsigned integer.
4280 Note that all of the above formats store the integer in big-endian
4285 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_mpi_print (@w{enum gcry_mpi_format @var{format}}, @w{unsigned char *@var{buffer}}, @w{size_t @var{buflen}}, @w{size_t *@var{nwritten}}, @w{const gcry_mpi_t @var{a}})
4287 Convert the MPI @var{a} into an external representation described by
4288 @var{format} (see above) and store it in the provided @var{buffer}
4289 which has a usable length of at least the @var{buflen} bytes. If
4290 @var{nwritten} is not NULL, it will receive the number of bytes
4291 actually stored in @var{buffer} after a successful operation.
4294 @deftypefun gcry_error_t gcry_mpi_aprint (@w{enum gcry_mpi_format @var{format}}, @w{unsigned char **@var{buffer}}, @w{size_t *@var{nbytes}}, @w{const gcry_mpi_t @var{a}})
4296 Convert the MPI @var{a} into an external representation described by
4297 @var{format} (see above) and store it in a newly allocated buffer which
4298 address will be stored in the variable @var{buffer} points to. The
4299 number of bytes stored in this buffer will be stored in the variable
4300 @var{nbytes} points to, unless @var{nbytes} is @code{NULL}.
4303 @deftypefun void gcry_mpi_dump (@w{const gcry_mpi_t @var{a}})
4305 Dump the value of @var{a} in a format suitable for debugging to
4306 Libgcrypt's logging stream. Note that one leading space but no trailing
4307 space or linefeed will be printed. It is okay to pass @code{NULL} for
4313 @section Calculations
4316 Basic arithmetic operations:
4318 @deftypefun void gcry_mpi_add (@w{gcry_mpi_t @var{w}}, @w{gcry_mpi_t @var{u}}, @w{gcry_mpi_t @var{v}})
4320 @math{@var{w} = @var{u} + @var{v}}.
4324 @deftypefun void gcry_mpi_add_ui (@w{gcry_mpi_t @var{w}}, @w{gcry_mpi_t @var{u}}, @w{unsigned long @var{v}})
4326 @math{@var{w} = @var{u} + @var{v}}. Note that @var{v} is an unsigned integer.
4330 @deftypefun void gcry_mpi_addm (@w{gcry_mpi_t @var{w}}, @w{gcry_mpi_t @var{u}}, @w{gcry_mpi_t @var{v}}, @w{gcry_mpi_t @var{m}})
4332 @math{@var{w} = @var{u} + @var{v} \bmod @var{m}}.
4335 @deftypefun void gcry_mpi_sub (@w{gcry_mpi_t @var{w}}, @w{gcry_mpi_t @var{u}}, @w{gcry_mpi_t @var{v}})