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This is gcrypt.info, produced by makeinfo version 4.13 from gcrypt.texi.
This manual is for Libgcrypt (version 1.4.6, 9 July 2009), which is
GNU's library of cryptographic building blocks.
Copyright (C) 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Free
Software Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
document under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the
License, or (at your option) any later version. The text of the
license can be found in the section entitled "GNU General Public
License".
INFO-DIR-SECTION GNU Libraries
START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* libgcrypt: (gcrypt). Cryptographic function library.
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Top, Next: Introduction, Up: (dir)
The Libgcrypt Library
*********************
This manual is for Libgcrypt (version 1.4.6, 9 July 2009), which is
GNU's library of cryptographic building blocks.
Copyright (C) 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Free
Software Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
document under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the
License, or (at your option) any later version. The text of the
license can be found in the section entitled "GNU General Public
License".
* Menu:
* Introduction:: What is Libgcrypt.
* Preparation:: What you should do before using the library.
* Generalities:: General library functions and data types.
* Handler Functions:: Working with handler functions.
* Symmetric cryptography:: How to use symmetric cryptography.
* Public Key cryptography:: How to use public key cryptography.
* Hashing:: How to use hash and MAC algorithms.
* Random Numbers:: How to work with random numbers.
* S-expressions:: How to manage S-expressions.
* MPI library:: How to work with multi-precision-integers.
* Prime numbers:: How to use the Prime number related functions.
* Utilities:: Utility functions.
* Architecture:: How Libgcrypt works internally.
Appendices
* Self-Tests:: Description of the self-tests.
* FIPS Mode:: Description of the FIPS mode.
* Library Copying:: The GNU Lesser General Public License
says how you can copy and share Libgcrypt.
* Copying:: The GNU General Public License says how you
can copy and share some parts of Libgcrypt.
Indices
* Figures and Tables:: Index of figures and tables.
* Concept Index:: Index of concepts and programs.
* Function and Data Index:: Index of functions, variables and data types.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Introduction, Next: Preparation, Prev: Top, Up: Top
1 Introduction
**************
Libgcrypt is a library providing cryptographic building blocks.
* Menu:
* Getting Started:: How to use this manual.
* Features:: A glance at Libgcrypt's features.
* Overview:: Overview about the library.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Getting Started, Next: Features, Up: Introduction
1.1 Getting Started
===================
This manual documents the Libgcrypt library application programming
interface (API). All functions and data types provided by the library
are explained.
The reader is assumed to possess basic knowledge about applied
cryptography.
This manual can be used in several ways. If read from the beginning
to the end, it gives a good introduction into the library and how it
can be used in an application. Forward references are included where
necessary. Later on, the manual can be used as a reference manual to
get just the information needed about any particular interface of the
library. Experienced programmers might want to start looking at the
examples at the end of the manual, and then only read up those parts of
the interface which are unclear.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Features, Next: Overview, Prev: Getting Started, Up: Introduction
1.2 Features
============
Libgcrypt might have a couple of advantages over other libraries doing
a similar job.
It's Free Software
Anybody can use, modify, and redistribute it under the terms of
the GNU Lesser General Public License (*note Library Copying::).
Note, that some parts (which are in general not needed by
applications) are subject to the terms of the GNU General Public
License (*note Copying::); please see the README file of the
distribution for of list of these parts.
It encapsulates the low level cryptography
Libgcrypt provides a high level interface to cryptographic
building blocks using an extensible and flexible API.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Overview, Prev: Features, Up: Introduction
1.3 Overview
============
The Libgcrypt library is fully thread-safe, where it makes sense to be
thread-safe. Not thread-safe are some cryptographic functions that
modify a certain context stored in handles. If the user really intents
to use such functions from different threads on the same handle, he has
to take care of the serialization of such functions himself. If not
described otherwise, every function is thread-safe.
Libgcrypt depends on the library `libgpg-error', which contains
common error handling related code for GnuPG components.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Preparation, Next: Generalities, Prev: Introduction, Up: Top
2 Preparation
*************
To use Libgcrypt, you have to perform some changes to your sources and
the build system. The necessary changes are small and explained in the
following sections. At the end of this chapter, it is described how
the library is initialized, and how the requirements of the library are
verified.
* Menu:
* Header:: What header file you need to include.
* Building sources:: How to build sources using the library.
* Building sources using Automake:: How to build sources with the help of Automake.
* Initializing the library:: How to initialize the library.
* Multi-Threading:: How Libgcrypt can be used in a MT environment.
* Enabling FIPS mode:: How to enable the FIPS mode.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Header, Next: Building sources, Up: Preparation
2.1 Header
==========
All interfaces (data types and functions) of the library are defined in
the header file `gcrypt.h'. You must include this in all source files
using the library, either directly or through some other header file,
like this:
#include <gcrypt.h>
The name space of Libgcrypt is `gcry_*' for function and type names
and `GCRY*' for other symbols. In addition the same name prefixes with
one prepended underscore are reserved for internal use and should never
be used by an application. Note that Libgcrypt uses libgpg-error,
which uses `gpg_*' as name space for function and type names and
`GPG_*' for other symbols, including all the error codes.
Certain parts of gcrypt.h may be excluded by defining these macros:
`GCRYPT_NO_MPI_MACROS'
Do not define the shorthand macros `mpi_*' for `gcry_mpi_*'.
`GCRYPT_NO_DEPRECATED'
Do not include defintions for deprecated features. This is useful
to make sure that no deprecated features are used.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Building sources, Next: Building sources using Automake, Prev: Header, Up: Preparation
2.2 Building sources
====================
If you want to compile a source file including the `gcrypt.h' header
file, you must make sure that the compiler can find it in the directory
hierarchy. This is accomplished by adding the path to the directory in
which the header file is located to the compilers include file search
path (via the `-I' option).
However, the path to the include file is determined at the time the
source is configured. To solve this problem, Libgcrypt ships with a
small helper program `libgcrypt-config' that knows the path to the
include file and other configuration options. The options that need to
be added to the compiler invocation at compile time are output by the
`--cflags' option to `libgcrypt-config'. The following example shows
how it can be used at the command line:
gcc -c foo.c `libgcrypt-config --cflags`
Adding the output of `libgcrypt-config --cflags' to the compilers
command line will ensure that the compiler can find the Libgcrypt header
file.
A similar problem occurs when linking the program with the library.
Again, the compiler has to find the library files. For this to work,
the path to the library files has to be added to the library search path
(via the `-L' option). For this, the option `--libs' to
`libgcrypt-config' can be used. For convenience, this option also
outputs all other options that are required to link the program with
the Libgcrypt libraries (in particular, the `-lgcrypt' option). The
example shows how to link `foo.o' with the Libgcrypt library to a
program `foo'.
gcc -o foo foo.o `libgcrypt-config --libs`
Of course you can also combine both examples to a single command by
specifying both options to `libgcrypt-config':
gcc -o foo foo.c `libgcrypt-config --cflags --libs`

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Building sources using Automake, Next: Initializing the library, Prev: Building sources, Up: Preparation
2.3 Building sources using Automake
===================================
It is much easier if you use GNU Automake instead of writing your own
Makefiles. If you do that, you do not have to worry about finding and
invoking the `libgcrypt-config' script at all. Libgcrypt provides an
extension to Automake that does all the work for you.
-- Macro: AM_PATH_LIBGCRYPT ([MINIMUM-VERSION], [ACTION-IF-FOUND],
[ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND])
Check whether Libgcrypt (at least version MINIMUM-VERSION, if
given) exists on the host system. If it is found, execute
ACTION-IF-FOUND, otherwise do ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND, if given.
Additionally, the function defines `LIBGCRYPT_CFLAGS' to the flags
needed for compilation of the program to find the `gcrypt.h'
header file, and `LIBGCRYPT_LIBS' to the linker flags needed to
link the program to the Libgcrypt library.
You can use the defined Autoconf variables like this in your
`Makefile.am':
AM_CPPFLAGS = $(LIBGCRYPT_CFLAGS)
LDADD = $(LIBGCRYPT_LIBS)

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Initializing the library, Next: Multi-Threading, Prev: Building sources using Automake, Up: Preparation
2.4 Initializing the library
============================
Before the library can be used, it must initialize itself. This is
achieved by invoking the function `gcry_check_version' described below.
Also, it is often desirable to check that the version of Libgcrypt
used is indeed one which fits all requirements. Even with binary
compatibility, new features may have been introduced, but due to
problem with the dynamic linker an old version may actually be used.
So you may want to check that the version is okay right after program
startup.
-- Function: const char * gcry_check_version (const char *REQ_VERSION)
The function `gcry_check_version' initializes some subsystems used
by Libgcrypt and must be invoked before any other function in the
library, with the exception of the `GCRYCTL_SET_THREAD_CBS' command
(called via the `gcry_control' function). *Note Multi-Threading::.
Furthermore, this function returns the version number of the
library. It can also verify that the version number is higher
than a certain required version number REQ_VERSION, if this value
is not a null pointer.
Libgcrypt uses a concept known as secure memory, which is a region of
memory set aside for storing sensitive data. Because such memory is a
scarce resource, it needs to be setup in advanced to a fixed size.
Further, most operating systems have special requirements on how that
secure memory can be used. For example, it might be required to install
an application as "setuid(root)" to allow allocating such memory.
Libgcrypt requires a sequence of initialization steps to make sure that
this works correctly. The following examples show the necessary steps.
If you don't have a need for secure memory, for example if your
application does not use secret keys or other confidential data or it
runs in a controlled environment where key material floating around in
memory is not a problem, you should initialize Libgcrypt this way:
/* Version check should be the very first call because it
makes sure that important subsystems are intialized. */
if (!gcry_check_version (GCRYPT_VERSION))
{
fputs ("libgcrypt version mismatch\n", stderr);
exit (2);
}
/* Disable secure memory. */
gcry_control (GCRYCTL_DISABLE_SECMEM, 0);
/* ... If required, other initialization goes here. */
/* Tell Libgcrypt that initialization has completed. */
gcry_control (GCRYCTL_INITIALIZATION_FINISHED, 0);
If you have to protect your keys or other information in memory
against being swapped out to disk and to enable an automatic overwrite
of used and freed memory, you need to initialize Libgcrypt this way:
/* Version check should be the very first call because it
makes sure that important subsystems are intialized. */
if (!gcry_check_version (GCRYPT_VERSION))
{
fputs ("libgcrypt version mismatch\n", stderr);
exit (2);
}
/* We don't want to see any warnings, e.g. because we have not yet
parsed program options which might be used to suppress such
warnings. */
gcry_control (GCRYCTL_SUSPEND_SECMEM_WARN);
/* ... If required, other initialization goes here. Note that the
process might still be running with increased privileges and that
the secure memory has not been intialized. */
/* Allocate a pool of 16k secure memory. This make the secure memory
available and also drops privileges where needed. */
gcry_control (GCRYCTL_INIT_SECMEM, 16384, 0);
/* It is now okay to let Libgcrypt complain when there was/is
a problem with the secure memory. */
gcry_control (GCRYCTL_RESUME_SECMEM_WARN);
/* ... If required, other initialization goes here. */
/* Tell Libgcrypt that initialization has completed. */
gcry_control (GCRYCTL_INITIALIZATION_FINISHED, 0);
It is important that these initialization steps are not done by a
library but by the actual application. A library using Libgcrypt might
want to check for finished initialization using:
if (!gcry_control (GCRYCTL_INITIALIZATION_FINISHED_P))
{
fputs ("libgcrypt has not been initialized\n", stderr);
abort ();
}
Instead of terminating the process, the library may instead print a
warning and try to initialize Libgcrypt itself. See also the section on
multi-threading below for more pitfalls.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Multi-Threading, Next: Enabling FIPS mode, Prev: Initializing the library, Up: Preparation
2.5 Multi-Threading
===================
As mentioned earlier, the Libgcrypt library is thread-safe if you
adhere to the following requirements:
* If your application is multi-threaded, you must set the thread
support callbacks with the `GCRYCTL_SET_THREAD_CBS' command
*before* any other function in the library.
This is easy enough if you are indeed writing an application using
Libgcrypt. It is rather problematic if you are writing a library
instead. Here are some tips what to do if you are writing a
library:
If your library requires a certain thread package, just initialize
Libgcrypt to use this thread package. If your library supports
multiple thread packages, but needs to be configured, you will
have to implement a way to determine which thread package the
application wants to use with your library anyway. Then configure
Libgcrypt to use this thread package.
If your library is fully reentrant without any special support by a
thread package, then you are lucky indeed. Unfortunately, this
does not relieve you from doing either of the two above, or use a
third option. The third option is to let the application
initialize Libgcrypt for you. Then you are not using Libgcrypt
transparently, though.
As if this was not difficult enough, a conflict may arise if two
libraries try to initialize Libgcrypt independently of each
others, and both such libraries are then linked into the same
application. To make it a bit simpler for you, this will probably
work, but only if both libraries have the same requirement for the
thread package. This is currently only supported for the
non-threaded case, GNU Pth and pthread. Support for more thread
packages is easy to add, so contact us if you require it.
* The function `gcry_check_version' must be called before any other
function in the library, except the `GCRYCTL_SET_THREAD_CBS'
command (called via the `gcry_control' function), because it
initializes the thread support subsystem in Libgcrypt. To achieve
this in multi-threaded programs, you must synchronize the memory
with respect to other threads that also want to use Libgcrypt.
For this, it is sufficient to call `gcry_check_version' before
creating the other threads using Libgcrypt(1).
* Just like the function `gpg_strerror', the function
`gcry_strerror' is not thread safe. You have to use
`gpg_strerror_r' instead.
Libgcrypt contains convenient macros, which define the necessary
thread callbacks for PThread and for GNU Pth:
`GCRY_THREAD_OPTION_PTH_IMPL'
This macro defines the following (static) symbols:
`gcry_pth_init', `gcry_pth_mutex_init', `gcry_pth_mutex_destroy',
`gcry_pth_mutex_lock', `gcry_pth_mutex_unlock', `gcry_pth_read',
`gcry_pth_write', `gcry_pth_select', `gcry_pth_waitpid',
`gcry_pth_accept', `gcry_pth_connect', `gcry_threads_pth'.
After including this macro, `gcry_control()' shall be used with a
command of `GCRYCTL_SET_THREAD_CBS' in order to register the
thread callback structure named "gcry_threads_pth".
`GCRY_THREAD_OPTION_PTHREAD_IMPL'
This macro defines the following (static) symbols:
`gcry_pthread_mutex_init', `gcry_pthread_mutex_destroy',
`gcry_pthread_mutex_lock', `gcry_pthread_mutex_unlock',
`gcry_threads_pthread'.
After including this macro, `gcry_control()' shall be used with a
command of `GCRYCTL_SET_THREAD_CBS' in order to register the
thread callback structure named "gcry_threads_pthread".
Note that these macros need to be terminated with a semicolon. Keep
in mind that these are convenient macros for C programmers; C++
programmers might have to wrap these macros in an "extern C" body.
---------- Footnotes ----------
(1) At least this is true for POSIX threads, as `pthread_create' is
a function that synchronizes memory with respects to other threads.
There are many functions which have this property, a complete list can
be found in POSIX, IEEE Std 1003.1-2003, Base Definitions, Issue 6, in
the definition of the term "Memory Synchronization". For other thread
packages, more relaxed or more strict rules may apply.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Enabling FIPS mode, Prev: Multi-Threading, Up: Preparation
2.6 How to enable the FIPS mode
===============================
Libgcrypt may be used in a FIPS 140-2 mode. Note, that this does not
necessary mean that Libcgrypt is an appoved FIPS 140-2 module. Check
the NIST database at `http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/STM/cmvp/' to see what
versions of Libgcrypt are approved.
Because FIPS 140 has certain restrictions on the use of cryptography
which are not always wanted, Libgcrypt needs to be put into FIPS mode
explicitly. Three alternative mechanisms are provided to switch
Libgcrypt into this mode:
* If the file `/proc/sys/crypto/fips_enabled' exists and contains a
numeric value other than `0', Libgcrypt is put into FIPS mode at
initialization time. Obviously this works only on systems with a
`proc' file system (i.e. GNU/Linux).
* If the file `/etc/gcrypt/fips_enabled' exists, Libgcrypt is put
into FIPS mode at initialization time. Note that this filename is
hardwired and does not depend on any configuration options.
* If the application requests FIPS mode using the control command
`GCRYCTL_FORCE_FIPS_MODE'. This must be done prior to any
initialization (i.e. before `gcry_check_version').
In addition to the standard FIPS mode, Libgcrypt may also be put into
an Enforced FIPS mode by writing a non-zero value into the file
`/etc/gcrypt/fips_enabled'. The Enforced FIPS mode helps to detect
applications which don't fulfill all requirements for using Libgcrypt
in FIPS mode (*note FIPS Mode::).
Once Libgcrypt has been put into FIPS mode, it is not possible to
switch back to standard mode without terminating the process first. If
the logging verbosity level of Libgcrypt has been set to at least 2,
the state transitions and the self-tests are logged.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Generalities, Next: Handler Functions, Prev: Preparation, Up: Top
3 Generalities
**************
* Menu:
* Controlling the library:: Controlling Libgcrypt's behavior.
* Modules:: Description of extension modules.
* Error Handling:: Error codes and such.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Controlling the library, Next: Modules, Up: Generalities
3.1 Controlling the library
===========================
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_control (enum gcry_ctl_cmds CMD, ...)
This function can be used to influence the general behavior of
Libgcrypt in several ways. Depending on CMD, more arguments can
or have to be provided.
`GCRYCTL_ENABLE_M_GUARD; Arguments: none'
This command enables the built-in memory guard. It must not
be used to activate the memory guard after the memory
management has already been used; therefore it can ONLY be
used at initialization time. Note that the memory guard is
NOT used when the user of the library has set his own memory
management callbacks.
`GCRYCTL_ENABLE_QUICK_RANDOM; Arguments: none'
This command inhibits the use the very secure random quality
level (`GCRY_VERY_STRONG_RANDOM') and degrades all request
down to `GCRY_STRONG_RANDOM'. In general this is not
recommened. However, for some applications the extra quality
random Libgcrypt tries to create is not justified and this
option may help to get better performace. Please check with
a crypto expert whether this option can be used for your
application.
This option can only be used at initialization time.
`GCRYCTL_DUMP_RANDOM_STATS; Arguments: none'
This command dumps randum number generator related statistics
to the library's logging stream.
`GCRYCTL_DUMP_MEMORY_STATS; Arguments: none'
This command dumps memory managment related statistics to the
library's logging stream.
`GCRYCTL_DUMP_SECMEM_STATS; Arguments: none'
This command dumps secure memory manamgent related statistics
to the library's logging stream.
`GCRYCTL_DROP_PRIVS; Arguments: none'
This command disables the use of secure memory and drops the
priviliges of the current process. This command has not much
use; the suggested way to disable secure memory is to use
`GCRYCTL_DISABLE_SECMEM' right after initialization.
`GCRYCTL_DISABLE_SECMEM; Arguments: none'
This command disables the use of secure memory. If this
command is used in FIPS mode, FIPS mode will be disabled and
the function `gcry_fips_mode_active' returns false. However,
in Enforced FIPS mode this command has no effect at all.
Many applications do not require secure memory, so they
should disable it right away. This command should be
executed right after `gcry_check_version'.
`GCRYCTL_INIT_SECMEM; Arguments: int nbytes'
This command is used to allocate a pool of secure memory and
thus enabling the use of secure memory. It also drops all
extra privileges the process has (i.e. if it is run as setuid
(root)). If the argument NBYTES is 0, secure memory will be
disabled. The minimum amount of secure memory allocated is
currently 16384 bytes; you may thus use a value of 1 to
request that default size.
`GCRYCTL_TERM_SECMEM; Arguments: none'
This command zeroises the secure memory and destroys the
handler. The secure memory pool may not be used anymore
after running this command. If the secure memory pool as
already been destroyed, this command has no effect.
Applications might want to run this command from their exit
handler to make sure that the secure memory gets properly
destroyed. This command is not necessarily thread-safe but
that should not be needed in cleanup code. It may be called
from a signal handler.
`GCRYCTL_DISABLE_SECMEM_WARN; Arguments: none'
Disable warning messages about problems with the secure memory
subsystem. This command should be run right after
`gcry_check_version'.
`GCRYCTL_SUSPEND_SECMEM_WARN; Arguments: none'
Postpone warning messages from the secure memory subsystem.
*Note the initialization example: sample-use-suspend-secmem,
on how to use it.
`GCRYCTL_RESUME_SECMEM_WARN; Arguments: none'
Resume warning messages from the secure memory subsystem.
*Note the initialization example: sample-use-resume-secmem,
on how to use it.
`GCRYCTL_USE_SECURE_RNDPOOL; Arguments: none'
This command tells the PRNG to store random numbers in secure
memory. This command should be run right after
`gcry_check_version' and not later than the command
GCRYCTL_INIT_SECMEM. Note that in FIPS mode the secure
memory is always used.
`GCRYCTL_SET_RANDOM_SEED_FILE; Arguments: const char *filename'
This command specifies the file, which is to be used as seed
file for the PRNG. If the seed file is registered prior to
initialization of the PRNG, the seed file's content (if it
exists and seems to be valid) is fed into the PRNG pool.
After the seed file has been registered, the PRNG can be
signalled to write out the PRNG pool's content into the seed
file with the following command.
`GCRYCTL_UPDATE_RANDOM_SEED_FILE; Arguments: none'
Write out the PRNG pool's content into the registered seed
file.
Multiple instances of the applications sharing the same
random seed file can be started in parallel, in which case
they will read out the same pool and then race for updating
it (the last update overwrites earlier updates). They will
differentiate only by the weak entropy that is added in
read_seed_file based on the PID and clock, and up to 16 bytes
of weak random non-blockingly. The consequence is that the
output of these different instances is correlated to some
extent. In a perfect attack scenario, the attacker can
control (or at least guess) the PID and clock of the
application, and drain the system's entropy pool to reduce
the "up to 16 bytes" above to 0. Then the dependencies of the
inital states of the pools are completely known. Note that
this is not an issue if random of `GCRY_VERY_STRONG_RANDOM'
quality is requested as in this case enough extra entropy
gets mixed. It is also not an issue when using Linux
(rndlinux driver), because this one guarantees to read full
16 bytes from /dev/urandom and thus there is no way for an
attacker without kernel access to control these 16 bytes.
`GCRYCTL_SET_VERBOSITY; Arguments: int level'
This command sets the verbosity of the logging. A level of 0
disables all extra logging whereas positive numbers enable
more verbose logging. The level may be changed at any time
but be aware that no memory synchronization is done so the
effect of this command might not immediately show up in other
threads. This command may even be used prior to
`gcry_check_version'.
`GCRYCTL_SET_DEBUG_FLAGS; Arguments: unsigned int flags'
Set the debug flag bits as given by the argument. Be aware
that that no memory synchronization is done so the effect of
this command might not immediately show up in other threads.
The debug flags are not considered part of the API and thus
may change without notice. As of now bit 0 enables debugging
of cipher functions and bit 1 debugging of
multi-precision-integers. This command may even be used
prior to `gcry_check_version'.
`GCRYCTL_CLEAR_DEBUG_FLAGS; Arguments: unsigned int flags'
Set the debug flag bits as given by the argument. Be aware
that that no memory synchronization is done so the effect of
this command might not immediately show up in other threads.
This command may even be used prior to `gcry_check_version'.
`GCRYCTL_DISABLE_INTERNAL_LOCKING; Arguments: none'
This command does nothing. It exists only for backward
compatibility.
`GCRYCTL_ANY_INITIALIZATION_P; Arguments: none'
This command returns true if the library has been basically
initialized. Such a basic initialization happens implicitly
with many commands to get certain internal subsystems
running. The common and suggested way to do this basic
intialization is by calling gcry_check_version.
`GCRYCTL_INITIALIZATION_FINISHED; Arguments: none'
This command tells the libray that the application has
finished the intialization.
`GCRYCTL_INITIALIZATION_FINISHED_P; Arguments: none'
This command returns true if the command
GCRYCTL_INITIALIZATION_FINISHED has already been run.
`GCRYCTL_SET_THREAD_CBS; Arguments: struct ath_ops *ath_ops'
This command registers a thread-callback structure. *Note
Multi-Threading::.
`GCRYCTL_FAST_POLL; Arguments: none'
Run a fast random poll.
`GCRYCTL_SET_RNDEGD_SOCKET; Arguments: const char *filename'
This command may be used to override the default name of the
EGD socket to connect to. It may be used only during
initialization as it is not thread safe. Changing the socket
name again is not supported. The function may return an
error if the given filename is too long for a local socket
name.
EGD is an alternative random gatherer, used only on systems
lacking a proper random device.
`GCRYCTL_PRINT_CONFIG; Arguments: FILE *stream'
This command dumps information pertaining to the
configuration of the library to the given stream. If NULL is
given for STREAM, the log system is used. This command may
be used before the intialization has been finished but not
before a gcry_version_check.
`GCRYCTL_OPERATIONAL_P; Arguments: none'
This command returns true if the library is in an operational
state. This information makes only sense in FIPS mode. In
contrast to other functions, this is a pure test function and
won't put the library into FIPS mode or change the internal
state. This command may be used before the intialization has
been finished but not before a gcry_version_check.
`GCRYCTL_FIPS_MODE_P; Arguments: none'
This command returns true if the library is in FIPS mode.
Note, that this is no indication about the current state of
the library. This command may be used before the
intialization has been finished but not before a
gcry_version_check. An application may use this command or
the convenience macro below to check whether FIPS mode is
actually active.
-- Function: int gcry_fips_mode_active (void)
Returns true if the FIPS mode is active. Note that this
is implemented as a macro.
`GCRYCTL_FORCE_FIPS_MODE; Arguments: none'
Running this command puts the library into FIPS mode. If the
library is already in FIPS mode, a self-test is triggered and
thus the library will be put into operational state. This
command may be used before a call to gcry_check_version and
that is actually the recommended way to let an application
switch the library into FIPS mode. Note that Libgcrypt will
reject an attempt to switch to fips mode during or after the
intialization.
`GCRYCTL_SELFTEST; Arguments: none'
This may be used at anytime to have the library run all
implemented self-tests. It works in standard and in FIPS
mode. Returns 0 on success or an error code on failure.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Modules, Next: Error Handling, Prev: Controlling the library, Up: Generalities
3.2 Modules
===========
Libgcrypt supports the use of `extension modules', which implement
algorithms in addition to those already built into the library directly.
-- Data type: gcry_module_t
This data type represents a `module'.
Functions registering modules provided by the user take a `module
specification structure' as input and return a value of `gcry_module_t'
and an ID that is unique in the modules' category. This ID can be used
to reference the newly registered module. After registering a module
successfully, the new functionality should be able to be used through
the normal functions provided by Libgcrypt until it is unregistered
again.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Error Handling, Prev: Modules, Up: Generalities
3.3 Error Handling
==================
Many functions in Libgcrypt can return an error if they fail. For this
reason, the application should always catch the error condition and
take appropriate measures, for example by releasing the resources and
passing the error up to the caller, or by displaying a descriptive
message to the user and cancelling the operation.
Some error values do not indicate a system error or an error in the
operation, but the result of an operation that failed properly. For
example, if you try to decrypt a tempered message, the decryption will
fail. Another error value actually means that the end of a data buffer
or list has been reached. The following descriptions explain for many
error codes what they mean usually. Some error values have specific
meanings if returned by a certain functions. Such cases are described
in the documentation of those functions.
Libgcrypt uses the `libgpg-error' library. This allows to share the
error codes with other components of the GnuPG system, and to pass
error values transparently from the crypto engine, or some helper
application of the crypto engine, to the user. This way no information
is lost. As a consequence, Libgcrypt does not use its own identifiers
for error codes, but uses those provided by `libgpg-error'. They
usually start with `GPG_ERR_'.
However, Libgcrypt does provide aliases for the functions defined in
libgpg-error, which might be preferred for name space consistency.
Most functions in Libgcrypt return an error code in the case of
failure. For this reason, the application should always catch the
error condition and take appropriate measures, for example by releasing
the resources and passing the error up to the caller, or by displaying
a descriptive message to the user and canceling the operation.
Some error values do not indicate a system error or an error in the
operation, but the result of an operation that failed properly.
GnuPG components, including Libgcrypt, use an extra library named
libgpg-error to provide a common error handling scheme. For more
information on libgpg-error, see the according manual.
* Menu:
* Error Values:: The error value and what it means.
* Error Sources:: A list of important error sources.
* Error Codes:: A list of important error codes.
* Error Strings:: How to get a descriptive string from a value.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Error Values, Next: Error Sources, Up: Error Handling
3.3.1 Error Values
------------------
-- Data type: gcry_err_code_t
The `gcry_err_code_t' type is an alias for the `libgpg-error' type
`gpg_err_code_t'. The error code indicates the type of an error,
or the reason why an operation failed.
A list of important error codes can be found in the next section.
-- Data type: gcry_err_source_t
The `gcry_err_source_t' type is an alias for the `libgpg-error'
type `gpg_err_source_t'. The error source has not a precisely
defined meaning. Sometimes it is the place where the error
happened, sometimes it is the place where an error was encoded
into an error value. Usually the error source will give an
indication to where to look for the problem. This is not always
true, but it is attempted to achieve this goal.
A list of important error sources can be found in the next section.
-- Data type: gcry_error_t
The `gcry_error_t' type is an alias for the `libgpg-error' type
`gpg_error_t'. An error value like this has always two
components, an error code and an error source. Both together form
the error value.
Thus, the error value can not be directly compared against an error
code, but the accessor functions described below must be used.
However, it is guaranteed that only 0 is used to indicate success
(`GPG_ERR_NO_ERROR'), and that in this case all other parts of the
error value are set to 0, too.
Note that in Libgcrypt, the error source is used purely for
diagnostic purposes. Only the error code should be checked to test
for a certain outcome of a function. The manual only documents the
error code part of an error value. The error source is left
unspecified and might be anything.
-- Function: gcry_err_code_t gcry_err_code (gcry_error_t ERR)
The static inline function `gcry_err_code' returns the
`gcry_err_code_t' component of the error value ERR. This function
must be used to extract the error code from an error value in
order to compare it with the `GPG_ERR_*' error code macros.
-- Function: gcry_err_source_t gcry_err_source (gcry_error_t ERR)
The static inline function `gcry_err_source' returns the
`gcry_err_source_t' component of the error value ERR. This
function must be used to extract the error source from an error
value in order to compare it with the `GPG_ERR_SOURCE_*' error
source macros.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_err_make (gcry_err_source_t SOURCE,
gcry_err_code_t CODE)
The static inline function `gcry_err_make' returns the error value
consisting of the error source SOURCE and the error code CODE.
This function can be used in callback functions to construct an
error value to return it to the library.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_error (gcry_err_code_t CODE)
The static inline function `gcry_error' returns the error value
consisting of the default error source and the error code CODE.
For GCRY applications, the default error source is
`GPG_ERR_SOURCE_USER_1'. You can define `GCRY_ERR_SOURCE_DEFAULT'
before including `gcrypt.h' to change this default.
This function can be used in callback functions to construct an
error value to return it to the library.
The `libgpg-error' library provides error codes for all system error
numbers it knows about. If ERR is an unknown error number, the error
code `GPG_ERR_UNKNOWN_ERRNO' is used. The following functions can be
used to construct error values from system errno numbers.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_err_make_from_errno
(gcry_err_source_t SOURCE, int ERR)
The function `gcry_err_make_from_errno' is like `gcry_err_make',
but it takes a system error like `errno' instead of a
`gcry_err_code_t' error code.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_error_from_errno (int ERR)
The function `gcry_error_from_errno' is like `gcry_error', but it
takes a system error like `errno' instead of a `gcry_err_code_t'
error code.
Sometimes you might want to map system error numbers to error codes
directly, or map an error code representing a system error back to the
system error number. The following functions can be used to do that.
-- Function: gcry_err_code_t gcry_err_code_from_errno (int ERR)
The function `gcry_err_code_from_errno' returns the error code for
the system error ERR. If ERR is not a known system error, the
function returns `GPG_ERR_UNKNOWN_ERRNO'.
-- Function: int gcry_err_code_to_errno (gcry_err_code_t ERR)
The function `gcry_err_code_to_errno' returns the system error for
the error code ERR. If ERR is not an error code representing a
system error, or if this system error is not defined on this
system, the function returns `0'.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Error Sources, Next: Error Codes, Prev: Error Values, Up: Error Handling
3.3.2 Error Sources
-------------------
The library `libgpg-error' defines an error source for every component
of the GnuPG system. The error source part of an error value is not
well defined. As such it is mainly useful to improve the diagnostic
error message for the user.
If the error code part of an error value is `0', the whole error
value will be `0'. In this case the error source part is of course
`GPG_ERR_SOURCE_UNKNOWN'.
The list of error sources that might occur in applications using
Libgcrypt is:
`GPG_ERR_SOURCE_UNKNOWN'
The error source is not known. The value of this error source is
`0'.
`GPG_ERR_SOURCE_GPGME'
The error source is GPGME itself.
`GPG_ERR_SOURCE_GPG'
The error source is GnuPG, which is the crypto engine used for the
OpenPGP protocol.
`GPG_ERR_SOURCE_GPGSM'
The error source is GPGSM, which is the crypto engine used for the
OpenPGP protocol.
`GPG_ERR_SOURCE_GCRYPT'
The error source is `libgcrypt', which is used by crypto engines
to perform cryptographic operations.
`GPG_ERR_SOURCE_GPGAGENT'
The error source is `gpg-agent', which is used by crypto engines
to perform operations with the secret key.
`GPG_ERR_SOURCE_PINENTRY'
The error source is `pinentry', which is used by `gpg-agent' to
query the passphrase to unlock a secret key.
`GPG_ERR_SOURCE_SCD'
The error source is the SmartCard Daemon, which is used by
`gpg-agent' to delegate operations with the secret key to a
SmartCard.
`GPG_ERR_SOURCE_KEYBOX'
The error source is `libkbx', a library used by the crypto engines
to manage local keyrings.
`GPG_ERR_SOURCE_USER_1'
`GPG_ERR_SOURCE_USER_2'
`GPG_ERR_SOURCE_USER_3'
`GPG_ERR_SOURCE_USER_4'
These error sources are not used by any GnuPG component and can be
used by other software. For example, applications using Libgcrypt
can use them to mark error values coming from callback handlers.
Thus `GPG_ERR_SOURCE_USER_1' is the default for errors created
with `gcry_error' and `gcry_error_from_errno', unless you define
`GCRY_ERR_SOURCE_DEFAULT' before including `gcrypt.h'.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Error Codes, Next: Error Strings, Prev: Error Sources, Up: Error Handling
3.3.3 Error Codes
-----------------
The library `libgpg-error' defines many error values. The following
list includes the most important error codes.
`GPG_ERR_EOF'
This value indicates the end of a list, buffer or file.
`GPG_ERR_NO_ERROR'
This value indicates success. The value of this error code is
`0'. Also, it is guaranteed that an error value made from the
error code `0' will be `0' itself (as a whole). This means that
the error source information is lost for this error code, however,
as this error code indicates that no error occurred, this is
generally not a problem.
`GPG_ERR_GENERAL'
This value means that something went wrong, but either there is not
enough information about the problem to return a more useful error
value, or there is no separate error value for this type of
problem.
`GPG_ERR_ENOMEM'
This value means that an out-of-memory condition occurred.
`GPG_ERR_E...'
System errors are mapped to GPG_ERR_EFOO where FOO is the symbol
for the system error.
`GPG_ERR_INV_VALUE'
This value means that some user provided data was out of range.
`GPG_ERR_UNUSABLE_PUBKEY'
This value means that some recipients for a message were invalid.
`GPG_ERR_UNUSABLE_SECKEY'
This value means that some signers were invalid.
`GPG_ERR_NO_DATA'
This value means that data was expected where no data was found.
`GPG_ERR_CONFLICT'
This value means that a conflict of some sort occurred.
`GPG_ERR_NOT_IMPLEMENTED'
This value indicates that the specific function (or operation) is
not implemented. This error should never happen. It can only
occur if you use certain values or configuration options which do
not work, but for which we think that they should work at some
later time.
`GPG_ERR_DECRYPT_FAILED'
This value indicates that a decryption operation was unsuccessful.
`GPG_ERR_WRONG_KEY_USAGE'
This value indicates that a key is not used appropriately.
`GPG_ERR_NO_SECKEY'
This value indicates that no secret key for the user ID is
available.
`GPG_ERR_UNSUPPORTED_ALGORITHM'
This value means a verification failed because the cryptographic
algorithm is not supported by the crypto backend.
`GPG_ERR_BAD_SIGNATURE'
This value means a verification failed because the signature is
bad.
`GPG_ERR_NO_PUBKEY'
This value means a verification failed because the public key is
not available.
`GPG_ERR_NOT_OPERATIONAL'
This value means that the library is not yet in state which allows
to use this function. This error code is in particular returned if
Libgcrypt is operated in FIPS mode and the internal state of the
library does not yet or not anymore allow the use of a service.
This error code is only available with newer libgpg-error
versions, thus you might see "invalid error code" when passing
this to `gpg_strerror'. The numeric value of this error code is
176.
`GPG_ERR_USER_1'
`GPG_ERR_USER_2'
`...'
`GPG_ERR_USER_16'
These error codes are not used by any GnuPG component and can be
freely used by other software. Applications using Libgcrypt might
use them to mark specific errors returned by callback handlers if
no suitable error codes (including the system errors) for these
errors exist already.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Error Strings, Prev: Error Codes, Up: Error Handling
3.3.4 Error Strings
-------------------
-- Function: const char * gcry_strerror (gcry_error_t ERR)
The function `gcry_strerror' returns a pointer to a statically
allocated string containing a description of the error code
contained in the error value ERR. This string can be used to
output a diagnostic message to the user.
-- Function: const char * gcry_strsource (gcry_error_t ERR)
The function `gcry_strerror' returns a pointer to a statically
allocated string containing a description of the error source
contained in the error value ERR. This string can be used to
output a diagnostic message to the user.
The following example illustrates the use of the functions described
above:
{
gcry_cipher_hd_t handle;
gcry_error_t err = 0;
err = gcry_cipher_open (&handle, GCRY_CIPHER_AES,
GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_CBC, 0);
if (err)
{
fprintf (stderr, "Failure: %s/%s\n",
gcry_strsource (err),
gcry_strerror (err));
}
}

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Handler Functions, Next: Symmetric cryptography, Prev: Generalities, Up: Top
4 Handler Functions
*******************
Libgcrypt makes it possible to install so called `handler functions',
which get called by Libgcrypt in case of certain events.
* Menu:
* Progress handler:: Using a progress handler function.
* Allocation handler:: Using special memory allocation functions.
* Error handler:: Using error handler functions.
* Logging handler:: Using a special logging function.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Progress handler, Next: Allocation handler, Up: Handler Functions
4.1 Progress handler
====================
It is often useful to retrieve some feedback while long running
operations are performed.
-- Data type: gcry_handler_progress_t
Progress handler functions have to be of the type
`gcry_handler_progress_t', which is defined as:
`void (*gcry_handler_progress_t) (void *, const char *, int, int,
int)'
The following function may be used to register a handler function for
this purpose.
-- Function: void gcry_set_progress_handler (gcry_handler_progress_t
CB, void *CB_DATA)
This function installs CB as the `Progress handler' function. It
may be used only during initialization. CB must be defined as
follows:
void
my_progress_handler (void *CB_DATA, const char *WHAT,
int PRINTCHAR, int CURRENT, int TOTAL)
{
/* Do something. */
}
A description of the arguments of the progress handler function
follows.
CB_DATA
The argument provided in the call to
`gcry_set_progress_handler'.
WHAT
A string identifying the type of the progress output. The
following values for WHAT are defined:
`need_entropy'
Not enough entropy is available. TOTAL holds the number
of required bytes.
`primegen'
Values for PRINTCHAR:
`\n'
Prime generated.
`!'
Need to refresh the pool of prime numbers.
`<, >'
Number of bits adjusted.
`^'
Searching for a generator.
`.'
Fermat test on 10 candidates failed.
`:'
Restart with a new random value.
`+'
Rabin Miller test passed.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Allocation handler, Next: Error handler, Prev: Progress handler, Up: Handler Functions
4.2 Allocation handler
======================
It is possible to make Libgcrypt use special memory allocation
functions instead of the built-in ones.
Memory allocation functions are of the following types:
-- Data type: gcry_handler_alloc_t
This type is defined as: `void *(*gcry_handler_alloc_t) (size_t
n)'.
-- Data type: gcry_handler_secure_check_t
This type is defined as: `int *(*gcry_handler_secure_check_t)
(const void *)'.
-- Data type: gcry_handler_realloc_t
This type is defined as: `void *(*gcry_handler_realloc_t) (void
*p, size_t n)'.
-- Data type: gcry_handler_free_t
This type is defined as: `void *(*gcry_handler_free_t) (void *)'.
Special memory allocation functions can be installed with the
following function:
-- Function: void gcry_set_allocation_handler (gcry_handler_alloc_t
FUNC_ALLOC, gcry_handler_alloc_t FUNC_ALLOC_SECURE,
gcry_handler_secure_check_t FUNC_SECURE_CHECK,
gcry_handler_realloc_t FUNC_REALLOC, gcry_handler_free_t
FUNC_FREE)
Install the provided functions and use them instead of the built-in
functions for doing memory allocation. Using this function is in
general not recommended because the standard Libgcrypt allocation
functions are guaranteed to zeroize memory if needed.
This function may be used only during initialization and may not be
used in fips mode.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Error handler, Next: Logging handler, Prev: Allocation handler, Up: Handler Functions
4.3 Error handler
=================
The following functions may be used to register handler functions that
are called by Libgcrypt in case certain error conditions occur. They
may and should be registered prior to calling `gcry_check_version'.
-- Data type: gcry_handler_no_mem_t
This type is defined as: `int (*gcry_handler_no_mem_t) (void *,
size_t, unsigned int)'
-- Function: void gcry_set_outofcore_handler (gcry_handler_no_mem_t
FUNC_NO_MEM, void *CB_DATA)
This function registers FUNC_NO_MEM as `out-of-core handler',
which means that it will be called in the case of not having enough
memory available. The handler is called with 3 arguments: The
first one is the pointer CB_DATA as set with this function, the
second is the requested memory size and the last being a flag. If
bit 0 of the flag is set, secure memory has been requested. The
handler should either return true to indicate that Libgcrypt
should try again allocating memory or return false to let
Libgcrypt use its default fatal error handler.
-- Data type: gcry_handler_error_t
This type is defined as: `void (*gcry_handler_error_t) (void *,
int, const char *)'
-- Function: void gcry_set_fatalerror_handler (gcry_handler_error_t
FUNC_ERROR, void *CB_DATA)
This function registers FUNC_ERROR as `error handler', which means
that it will be called in error conditions.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Logging handler, Prev: Error handler, Up: Handler Functions
4.4 Logging handler
===================
-- Data type: gcry_handler_log_t
This type is defined as: `void (*gcry_handler_log_t) (void *, int,
const char *, va_list)'
-- Function: void gcry_set_log_handler (gcry_handler_log_t FUNC_LOG,
void *CB_DATA)
This function registers FUNC_LOG as `logging handler', which means
that it will be called in case Libgcrypt wants to log a message.
This function may and should be used prior to calling
`gcry_check_version'.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Symmetric cryptography, Next: Public Key cryptography, Prev: Handler Functions, Up: Top
5 Symmetric cryptography
************************
The cipher functions are used for symmetrical cryptography, i.e.
cryptography using a shared key. The programming model follows an
open/process/close paradigm and is in that similar to other building
blocks provided by Libgcrypt.
* Menu:
* Available ciphers:: List of ciphers supported by the library.
* Cipher modules:: How to work with cipher modules.
* Available cipher modes:: List of cipher modes supported by the library.
* Working with cipher handles:: How to perform operations related to cipher handles.
* General cipher functions:: General cipher functions independent of cipher handles.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Available ciphers, Next: Cipher modules, Up: Symmetric cryptography
5.1 Available ciphers
=====================
`GCRY_CIPHER_NONE'
This is not a real algorithm but used by some functions as error
return. The value always evaluates to false.
`GCRY_CIPHER_IDEA'
This is the IDEA algorithm. The constant is provided but there is
currently no implementation for it because the algorithm is
patented.
`GCRY_CIPHER_3DES'
Triple-DES with 3 Keys as EDE. The key size of this algorithm is
168 but you have to pass 192 bits because the most significant
bits of each byte are ignored.
`GCRY_CIPHER_CAST5'
CAST128-5 block cipher algorithm. The key size is 128 bits.
`GCRY_CIPHER_BLOWFISH'
The blowfish algorithm. The current implementation allows only for
a key size of 128 bits.
`GCRY_CIPHER_SAFER_SK128'
Reserved and not currently implemented.
`GCRY_CIPHER_DES_SK'
Reserved and not currently implemented.
`GCRY_CIPHER_AES'
`GCRY_CIPHER_AES128'
`GCRY_CIPHER_RIJNDAEL'
`GCRY_CIPHER_RIJNDAEL128'
AES (Rijndael) with a 128 bit key.
`GCRY_CIPHER_AES192'
`GCRY_CIPHER_RIJNDAEL192'
AES (Rijndael) with a 192 bit key.
`GCRY_CIPHER_AES256'
`GCRY_CIPHER_RIJNDAEL256'
AES (Rijndael) with a 256 bit key.
`GCRY_CIPHER_TWOFISH'
The Twofish algorithm with a 256 bit key.
`GCRY_CIPHER_TWOFISH128'
The Twofish algorithm with a 128 bit key.
`GCRY_CIPHER_ARCFOUR'
An algorithm which is 100% compatible with RSA Inc.'s RC4
algorithm. Note that this is a stream cipher and must be used
very carefully to avoid a couple of weaknesses.
`GCRY_CIPHER_DES'
Standard DES with a 56 bit key. You need to pass 64 bit but the
high bits of each byte are ignored. Note, that this is a weak
algorithm which can be broken in reasonable time using a brute
force approach.
`GCRY_CIPHER_SERPENT128'
`GCRY_CIPHER_SERPENT192'
`GCRY_CIPHER_SERPENT256'
The Serpent cipher from the AES contest.
`GCRY_CIPHER_RFC2268_40'
`GCRY_CIPHER_RFC2268_128'
Ron's Cipher 2 in the 40 and 128 bit variants. Note, that we
currently only support the 40 bit variant. The identifier for 128
is reserved for future use.
`GCRY_CIPHER_SEED'
A 128 bit cipher as described by RFC4269.
`GCRY_CIPHER_CAMELLIA128'
`GCRY_CIPHER_CAMELLIA192'
`GCRY_CIPHER_CAMELLIA256'
The Camellia cipher by NTT. See
`http://info.isl.ntt.co.jp/crypt/eng/camellia/specifications.html'.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Cipher modules, Next: Available cipher modes, Prev: Available ciphers, Up: Symmetric cryptography
5.2 Cipher modules
==================
Libgcrypt makes it possible to load additional `cipher modules'; these
ciphers can be used just like the cipher algorithms that are built into
the library directly. For an introduction into extension modules, see
*Note Modules::.
-- Data type: gcry_cipher_spec_t
This is the `module specification structure' needed for registering
cipher modules, which has to be filled in by the user before it
can be used to register a module. It contains the following
members:
`const char *name'
The primary name of the algorithm.
`const char **aliases'
A list of strings that are `aliases' for the algorithm. The
list must be terminated with a NULL element.
`gcry_cipher_oid_spec_t *oids'
A list of OIDs that are to be associated with the algorithm.
The list's last element must have it's `oid' member set to
NULL. See below for an explanation of this type.
`size_t blocksize'
The block size of the algorithm, in bytes.
`size_t keylen'
The length of the key, in bits.
`size_t contextsize'
The size of the algorithm-specific `context', that should be
allocated for each handle.
`gcry_cipher_setkey_t setkey'
The function responsible for initializing a handle with a
provided key. See below for a description of this type.
`gcry_cipher_encrypt_t encrypt'
The function responsible for encrypting a single block. See
below for a description of this type.
`gcry_cipher_decrypt_t decrypt'
The function responsible for decrypting a single block. See
below for a description of this type.
`gcry_cipher_stencrypt_t stencrypt'
Like `encrypt', for stream ciphers. See below for a
description of this type.
`gcry_cipher_stdecrypt_t stdecrypt'
Like `decrypt', for stream ciphers. See below for a
description of this type.
-- Data type: gcry_cipher_oid_spec_t
This type is used for associating a user-provided algorithm
implementation with certain OIDs. It contains the following
members:
`const char *oid'
Textual representation of the OID.
`int mode'
Cipher mode for which this OID is valid.
-- Data type: gcry_cipher_setkey_t
Type for the `setkey' function, defined as: gcry_err_code_t
(*gcry_cipher_setkey_t) (void *c, const unsigned char *key,
unsigned keylen)
-- Data type: gcry_cipher_encrypt_t
Type for the `encrypt' function, defined as: gcry_err_code_t
(*gcry_cipher_encrypt_t) (void *c, const unsigned char *outbuf,
const unsigned char *inbuf)
-- Data type: gcry_cipher_decrypt_t
Type for the `decrypt' function, defined as: gcry_err_code_t
(*gcry_cipher_decrypt_t) (void *c, const unsigned char *outbuf,
const unsigned char *inbuf)
-- Data type: gcry_cipher_stencrypt_t
Type for the `stencrypt' function, defined as: gcry_err_code_t
(*gcry_cipher_stencrypt_t) (void *c, const unsigned char *outbuf,
const unsigned char *, unsigned int n)
-- Data type: gcry_cipher_stdecrypt_t
Type for the `stdecrypt' function, defined as: gcry_err_code_t
(*gcry_cipher_stdecrypt_t) (void *c, const unsigned char *outbuf,
const unsigned char *, unsigned int n)
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_register (gcry_cipher_spec_t
*CIPHER, unsigned int *algorithm_id, gcry_module_t *MODULE)
Register a new cipher module whose specification can be found in
CIPHER. On success, a new algorithm ID is stored in ALGORITHM_ID
and a pointer representing this module is stored in MODULE.
-- Function: void gcry_cipher_unregister (gcry_module_t MODULE)
Unregister the cipher identified by MODULE, which must have been
registered with gcry_cipher_register.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_list (int *LIST, int
*LIST_LENGTH)
Get a list consisting of the IDs of the loaded cipher modules. If
LIST is zero, write the number of loaded cipher modules to
LIST_LENGTH and return. If LIST is non-zero, the first
*LIST_LENGTH algorithm IDs are stored in LIST, which must be of
according size. In case there are less cipher modules than
*LIST_LENGTH, *LIST_LENGTH is updated to the correct number.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Available cipher modes, Next: Working with cipher handles, Prev: Cipher modules, Up: Symmetric cryptography
5.3 Available cipher modes
==========================
`GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_NONE'
No mode specified. This should not be used. The only exception
is that if Libgcrypt is not used in FIPS mode and if any debug
flag has been set, this mode may be used to bypass the actual
encryption.
`GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_ECB'
Electronic Codebook mode.
`GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_CFB'
Cipher Feedback mode. The shift size equals the block size of the
cipher (e.g. for AES it is CFB-128).
`GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_CBC'
Cipher Block Chaining mode.
`GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_STREAM'
Stream mode, only to be used with stream cipher algorithms.
`GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_OFB'
Output Feedback mode.
`GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_CTR'
Counter mode.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Working with cipher handles, Next: General cipher functions, Prev: Available cipher modes, Up: Symmetric cryptography
5.4 Working with cipher handles
===============================
To use a cipher algorithm, you must first allocate an according handle.
This is to be done using the open function:
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_open (gcry_cipher_hd_t *HD, int
ALGO, int MODE, unsigned int FLAGS)
This function creates the context handle required for most of the
other cipher functions and returns a handle to it in `hd'. In
case of an error, an according error code is returned.
The ID of algorithm to use must be specified via ALGO. See *Note
Available ciphers::, for a list of supported ciphers and the
according constants.
Besides using the constants directly, the function
`gcry_cipher_map_name' may be used to convert the textual name of
an algorithm into the according numeric ID.
The cipher mode to use must be specified via MODE. See *Note
Available cipher modes::, for a list of supported cipher modes and
the according constants. Note that some modes are incompatible
with some algorithms - in particular, stream mode
(`GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_STREAM') only works with stream ciphers. Any
block cipher mode (`GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_ECB', `GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_CBC',
`GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_CFB', `GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_OFB' or
`GCRY_CIPHER_MODE_CTR') will work with any block cipher algorithm.
The third argument FLAGS can either be passed as `0' or as the
bit-wise OR of the following constants.
`GCRY_CIPHER_SECURE'
Make sure that all operations are allocated in secure memory.
This is useful when the key material is highly confidential.
`GCRY_CIPHER_ENABLE_SYNC'
This flag enables the CFB sync mode, which is a special
feature of Libgcrypt's CFB mode implementation to allow for
OpenPGP's CFB variant. See `gcry_cipher_sync'.
`GCRY_CIPHER_CBC_CTS'
Enable cipher text stealing (CTS) for the CBC mode. Cannot
be used simultaneous as GCRY_CIPHER_CBC_MAC. CTS mode makes
it possible to transform data of almost arbitrary size (only
limitation is that it must be greater than the algorithm's
block size).
`GCRY_CIPHER_CBC_MAC'
Compute CBC-MAC keyed checksums. This is the same as CBC
mode, but only output the last block. Cannot be used
simultaneous as GCRY_CIPHER_CBC_CTS.
Use the following function to release an existing handle:
-- Function: void gcry_cipher_close (gcry_cipher_hd_t H)
This function releases the context created by `gcry_cipher_open'.
It also zeroises all sensitive information associated with this
cipher handle.
In order to use a handle for performing cryptographic operations, a
`key' has to be set first:
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_setkey (gcry_cipher_hd_t H,
const void *K, size_t L)
Set the key K used for encryption or decryption in the context
denoted by the handle H. The length L (in bytes) of the key K
must match the required length of the algorithm set for this
context or be in the allowed range for algorithms with variable
key size. The function checks this and returns an error if there
is a problem. A caller should always check for an error.
Most crypto modes requires an initialization vector (IV), which
usually is a non-secret random string acting as a kind of salt value.
The CTR mode requires a counter, which is also similar to a salt value.
To set the IV or CTR, use these functions:
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_setiv (gcry_cipher_hd_t H, const
void *K, size_t L)
Set the initialization vector used for encryption or decryption.
The vector is passed as the buffer K of length L bytes and copied
to internal data structures. The function checks that the IV
matches the requirement of the selected algorithm and mode.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_setctr (gcry_cipher_hd_t H,
const void *C, size_t L)
Set the counter vector used for encryption or decryption. The
counter is passed as the buffer C of length L bytes and copied to
internal data structures. The function checks that the counter
matches the requirement of the selected algorithm (i.e., it must be
the same size as the block size).
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_reset (gcry_cipher_hd_t H)
Set the given handle's context back to the state it had after the
last call to gcry_cipher_setkey and clear the initialization
vector.
Note that gcry_cipher_reset is implemented as a macro.
The actual encryption and decryption is done by using one of the
following functions. They may be used as often as required to process
all the data.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_encrypt (gcry_cipher_hd_t H,
unsigned char *out, size_t OUTSIZE, const unsigned char *IN,
size_t INLEN)
`gcry_cipher_encrypt' is used to encrypt the data. This function
can either work in place or with two buffers. It uses the cipher
context already setup and described by the handle H. There are 2
ways to use the function: If IN is passed as `NULL' and INLEN is
`0', in-place encryption of the data in OUT or length OUTSIZE
takes place. With IN being not `NULL', INLEN bytes are encrypted
to the buffer OUT which must have at least a size of INLEN.
OUTSIZE must be set to the allocated size of OUT, so that the
function can check that there is sufficient space. Note that
overlapping buffers are not allowed.
Depending on the selected algorithms and encryption mode, the
length of the buffers must be a multiple of the block size.
The function returns `0' on success or an error code.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_decrypt (gcry_cipher_hd_t H,
unsigned char *out, size_t OUTSIZE, const unsigned char *IN,
size_t INLEN)
`gcry_cipher_decrypt' is used to decrypt the data. This function
can either work in place or with two buffers. It uses the cipher
context already setup and described by the handle H. There are 2
ways to use the function: If IN is passed as `NULL' and INLEN is
`0', in-place decryption of the data in OUT or length OUTSIZE
takes place. With IN being not `NULL', INLEN bytes are decrypted
to the buffer OUT which must have at least a size of INLEN.
OUTSIZE must be set to the allocated size of OUT, so that the
function can check that there is sufficient space. Note that
overlapping buffers are not allowed.
Depending on the selected algorithms and encryption mode, the
length of the buffers must be a multiple of the block size.
The function returns `0' on success or an error code.
OpenPGP (as defined in RFC-2440) requires a special sync operation in
some places. The following function is used for this:
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_sync (gcry_cipher_hd_t H)
Perform the OpenPGP sync operation on context H. Note that this
is a no-op unless the context was created with the flag
`GCRY_CIPHER_ENABLE_SYNC'
Some of the described functions are implemented as macros utilizing a
catch-all control function. This control function is rarely used
directly but there is nothing which would inhibit it:
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_ctl (gcry_cipher_hd_t H, int
CMD, void *BUFFER, size_t BUFLEN)
`gcry_cipher_ctl' controls various aspects of the cipher module and
specific cipher contexts. Usually some more specialized functions
or macros are used for this purpose. The semantics of the
function and its parameters depends on the the command CMD and the
passed context handle H. Please see the comments in the source
code (`src/global.c') for details.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_info (gcry_cipher_hd_t H, int
WHAT, void *BUFFER, size_t *NBYTES)
`gcry_cipher_info' is used to retrieve various information about a
cipher context or the cipher module in general.
Currently no information is available.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: General cipher functions, Prev: Working with cipher handles, Up: Symmetric cryptography
5.5 General cipher functions
============================
To work with the algorithms, several functions are available to map
algorithm names to the internal identifiers, as well as ways to
retrieve information about an algorithm or the current cipher context.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_cipher_algo_info (int ALGO, int WHAT,
void *BUFFER, size_t *NBYTES)
This function is used to retrieve information on a specific
algorithm. You pass the cipher algorithm ID as ALGO and the type
of information requested as WHAT. The result is either returned as
the return code of the function or copied to the provided BUFFER
whose allocated length must be available in an integer variable
with the address passed in NBYTES. This variable will also
receive the actual used length of the buffer.
Here is a list of supported codes for WHAT:
`GCRYCTL_GET_KEYLEN:'
Return the length of the key. If the algorithm supports
multiple key lengths, the maximum supported value is
returned. The length is returned as number of octets (bytes)
and not as number of bits in NBYTES; BUFFER must be zero.
`GCRYCTL_GET_BLKLEN:'
Return the block length of the algorithm. The length is
returned as a number of octets in NBYTES; BUFFER must be zero.
`GCRYCTL_TEST_ALGO:'
Returns `0' when the specified algorithm is available for use.
BUFFER and NBYTES must be zero.
-- Function: const char * gcry_cipher_algo_name (int ALGO)
`gcry_cipher_algo_name' returns a string with the name of the
cipher algorithm ALGO. If the algorithm is not known or another
error occurred, the string `"?"' is returned. This function should
not be used to test for the availability of an algorithm.
-- Function: int gcry_cipher_map_name (const char *NAME)
`gcry_cipher_map_name' returns the algorithm identifier for the
cipher algorithm described by the string NAME. If this algorithm
is not available `0' is returned.
-- Function: int gcry_cipher_mode_from_oid (const char *STRING)
Return the cipher mode associated with an ASN.1 object identifier.
The object identifier is expected to be in the IETF-style dotted
decimal notation. The function returns `0' for an unknown object
identifier or when no mode is associated with it.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Public Key cryptography, Next: Hashing, Prev: Symmetric cryptography, Up: Top
6 Public Key cryptography
*************************
Public key cryptography, also known as asymmetric cryptography, is an
easy way for key management and to provide digital signatures.
Libgcrypt provides two completely different interfaces to public key
cryptography, this chapter explains the one based on S-expressions.
* Menu:
* Available algorithms:: Algorithms supported by the library.
* Used S-expressions:: Introduction into the used S-expression.
* Public key modules:: How to work with public key modules.
* Cryptographic Functions:: Functions for performing the cryptographic actions.
* General public-key related Functions:: General functions, not implementing any cryptography.
* AC Interface:: Alternative interface to public key functions.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Available algorithms, Next: Used S-expressions, Up: Public Key cryptography
6.1 Available algorithms
========================
Libgcrypt supports the RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) algorithms as well
as DSA (Digital Signature Algorithm) and Elgamal. The versatile
interface allows to add more algorithms in the future.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Used S-expressions, Next: Public key modules, Prev: Available algorithms, Up: Public Key cryptography
6.2 Used S-expressions
======================
Libgcrypt's API for asymmetric cryptography is based on data structures
called S-expressions (see
`http://people.csail.mit.edu/rivest/sexp.html') and does not work with
contexts as most of the other building blocks of Libgcrypt do.
The following information are stored in S-expressions:
keys
plain text data
encrypted data
signatures
To describe how Libgcrypt expect keys, we use examples. Note that words
in uppercase indicate parameters whereas lowercase words are literals.
Note that all MPI (multi-precision-integers) values are expected to
be in `GCRYMPI_FMT_USG' format. An easy way to create S-expressions is
by using `gcry_sexp_build' which allows to pass a string with
printf-like escapes to insert MPI values.
* Menu:
* RSA key parameters:: Parameters used with an RSA key.
* DSA key parameters:: Parameters used with a DSA key.
* ECC key parameters:: Parameters used with ECC keys.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: RSA key parameters, Next: DSA key parameters, Up: Used S-expressions
6.2.1 RSA key parameters
------------------------
An RSA private key is described by this S-expression:
(private-key
(rsa
(n N-MPI)
(e E-MPI)
(d D-MPI)
(p P-MPI)
(q Q-MPI)
(u U-MPI)))
An RSA public key is described by this S-expression:
(public-key
(rsa
(n N-MPI)
(e E-MPI)))
N-MPI
RSA public modulus n.
E-MPI
RSA public exponent e.
D-MPI
RSA secret exponent d = e^-1 \bmod (p-1)(q-1).
P-MPI
RSA secret prime p.
Q-MPI
RSA secret prime q with p < q.
U-MPI
Multiplicative inverse u = p^-1 \bmod q.
For signing and decryption the parameters (p, q, u) are optional but
greatly improve the performance. Either all of these optional
parameters must be given or none of them. They are mandatory for
gcry_pk_testkey.
Note that OpenSSL uses slighly different parameters: q < p and u =
q^-1 \bmod p. To use these parameters you will need to swap the values
and recompute u. Here is example code to do this:
if (gcry_mpi_cmp (p, q) > 0)
{
gcry_mpi_swap (p, q);
gcry_mpi_invm (u, p, q);
}

File: gcrypt.info, Node: DSA key parameters, Next: ECC key parameters, Prev: RSA key parameters, Up: Used S-expressions
6.2.2 DSA key parameters
------------------------
A DSA private key is described by this S-expression:
(private-key
(dsa
(p P-MPI)
(q Q-MPI)
(g G-MPI)
(y Y-MPI)
(x X-MPI)))
P-MPI
DSA prime p.
Q-MPI
DSA group order q (which is a prime divisor of p-1).
G-MPI
DSA group generator g.
Y-MPI
DSA public key value y = g^x \bmod p.
X-MPI
DSA secret exponent x.
The public key is similar with "private-key" replaced by "public-key"
and no X-MPI.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: ECC key parameters, Prev: DSA key parameters, Up: Used S-expressions
6.2.3 ECC key parameters
------------------------
An ECC private key is described by this S-expression:
(private-key
(ecc
(p P-MPI)
(a A-MPI)
(b B-MPI)
(g G-POINT)
(n N-MPI)
(q Q-POINT)
(d D-MPI)))
P-MPI
Prime specifying the field GF(p).
A-MPI
B-MPI
The two coefficients of the Weierstrass equation y^2 = x^3 + ax + b
G-POINT
Base point g.
N-MPI
Order of g
Q-POINT
The point representing the public key Q = dP.
D-MPI
The private key d
All point values are encoded in standard format; Libgcrypt does
currently only support uncompressed points, thus the first byte needs to
be `0x04'.
The public key is similar with "private-key" replaced by "public-key"
and no D-MPI.
If the domain parameters are well-known, the name of this curve may
be used. For example
(private-key
(ecc
(curve "NIST P-192")
(q Q-POINT)
(d D-MPI)))
The `curve' parameter may be given in any case and is used to replace
missing parameters.
Currently implemented curves are:
`NIST P-192'
`1.2.840.10045.3.1.1'
`prime192v1'
`secp192r1'
The NIST 192 bit curve, its OID, X9.62 and SECP aliases.
`NIST P-224'
`secp224r1'
The NIST 224 bit curve and its SECP alias.
`NIST P-256'
`1.2.840.10045.3.1.7'
`prime256v1'
`secp256r1'
The NIST 256 bit curve, its OID, X9.62 and SECP aliases.
`NIST P-384'
`secp384r1'
The NIST 384 bit curve and its SECP alias.
`NIST P-521'
`secp521r1'
The NIST 521 bit curve and its SECP alias.
As usual the OIDs may optionally be prefixed with the string `OID.'
or `oid.'.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Public key modules, Next: Cryptographic Functions, Prev: Used S-expressions, Up: Public Key cryptography
6.3 Public key modules
======================
Libgcrypt makes it possible to load additional `public key modules';
these public key algorithms can be used just like the algorithms that
are built into the library directly. For an introduction into
extension modules, see *Note Modules::.
-- Data type: gcry_pk_spec_t
This is the `module specification structure' needed for registering
public key modules, which has to be filled in by the user before it
can be used to register a module. It contains the following
members:
`const char *name'
The primary name of this algorithm.
`char **aliases'
A list of strings that are `aliases' for the algorithm. The
list must be terminated with a NULL element.
`const char *elements_pkey'
String containing the one-letter names of the MPI values
contained in a public key.
`const char *element_skey'
String containing the one-letter names of the MPI values
contained in a secret key.
`const char *elements_enc'
String containing the one-letter names of the MPI values that
are the result of an encryption operation using this
algorithm.
`const char *elements_sig'
String containing the one-letter names of the MPI values that
are the result of a sign operation using this algorithm.
`const char *elements_grip'
String containing the one-letter names of the MPI values that
are to be included in the `key grip'.
`int use'
The bitwise-OR of the following flags, depending on the
abilities of the algorithm:
`GCRY_PK_USAGE_SIGN'
The algorithm supports signing and verifying of data.
`GCRY_PK_USAGE_ENCR'
The algorithm supports the encryption and decryption of
data.
`gcry_pk_generate_t generate'
The function responsible for generating a new key pair. See
below for a description of this type.
`gcry_pk_check_secret_key_t check_secret_key'
The function responsible for checking the sanity of a
provided secret key. See below for a description of this
type.
`gcry_pk_encrypt_t encrypt'
The function responsible for encrypting data. See below for a
description of this type.
`gcry_pk_decrypt_t decrypt'
The function responsible for decrypting data. See below for a
description of this type.
`gcry_pk_sign_t sign'
The function responsible for signing data. See below for a
description of this type.
`gcry_pk_verify_t verify'
The function responsible for verifying that the provided
signature matches the provided data. See below for a
description of this type.
`gcry_pk_get_nbits_t get_nbits'
The function responsible for returning the number of bits of
a provided key. See below for a description of this type.
-- Data type: gcry_pk_generate_t
Type for the `generate' function, defined as: gcry_err_code_t
(*gcry_pk_generate_t) (int algo, unsigned int nbits, unsigned long
use_e, gcry_mpi_t *skey, gcry_mpi_t **retfactors)
-- Data type: gcry_pk_check_secret_key_t
Type for the `check_secret_key' function, defined as:
gcry_err_code_t (*gcry_pk_check_secret_key_t) (int algo,
gcry_mpi_t *skey)
-- Data type: gcry_pk_encrypt_t
Type for the `encrypt' function, defined as: gcry_err_code_t
(*gcry_pk_encrypt_t) (int algo, gcry_mpi_t *resarr, gcry_mpi_t
data, gcry_mpi_t *pkey, int flags)
-- Data type: gcry_pk_decrypt_t
Type for the `decrypt' function, defined as: gcry_err_code_t
(*gcry_pk_decrypt_t) (int algo, gcry_mpi_t *result, gcry_mpi_t
*data, gcry_mpi_t *skey, int flags)
-- Data type: gcry_pk_sign_t
Type for the `sign' function, defined as: gcry_err_code_t
(*gcry_pk_sign_t) (int algo, gcry_mpi_t *resarr, gcry_mpi_t data,
gcry_mpi_t *skey)
-- Data type: gcry_pk_verify_t
Type for the `verify' function, defined as: gcry_err_code_t
(*gcry_pk_verify_t) (int algo, gcry_mpi_t hash, gcry_mpi_t *data,
gcry_mpi_t *pkey, int (*cmp) (void *, gcry_mpi_t), void *opaquev)
-- Data type: gcry_pk_get_nbits_t
Type for the `get_nbits' function, defined as: unsigned
(*gcry_pk_get_nbits_t) (int algo, gcry_mpi_t *pkey)
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_pk_register (gcry_pk_spec_t *PUBKEY,
unsigned int *algorithm_id, gcry_module_t *MODULE)
Register a new public key module whose specification can be found
in PUBKEY. On success, a new algorithm ID is stored in
ALGORITHM_ID and a pointer representing this module is stored in
MODULE.
-- Function: void gcry_pk_unregister (gcry_module_t MODULE)
Unregister the public key module identified by MODULE, which must
have been registered with gcry_pk_register.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_pk_list (int *LIST, int *LIST_LENGTH)
Get a list consisting of the IDs of the loaded pubkey modules. If
LIST is zero, write the number of loaded pubkey modules to
LIST_LENGTH and return. If LIST is non-zero, the first
*LIST_LENGTH algorithm IDs are stored in LIST, which must be of
according size. In case there are less pubkey modules than
*LIST_LENGTH, *LIST_LENGTH is updated to the correct number.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Cryptographic Functions, Next: General public-key related Functions, Prev: Public key modules, Up: Public Key cryptography
6.4 Cryptographic Functions
===========================
Note that we will in future allow to use keys without p,q and u
specified and may also support other parameters for performance reasons.
Some functions operating on S-expressions support `flags', that
influence the operation. These flags have to be listed in a
sub-S-expression named `flags'; the following flags are known:
`pkcs1'
Use PKCS#1 block type 2 padding.
`no-blinding'
Do not use a technique called `blinding', which is used by default
in order to prevent leaking of secret information. Blinding is
only implemented by RSA, but it might be implemented by other
algorithms in the future as well, when necessary.
Now that we know the key basics, we can carry on and explain how to
encrypt and decrypt data. In almost all cases the data is a random
session key which is in turn used for the actual encryption of the real
data. There are 2 functions to do this:
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_pk_encrypt (gcry_sexp_t *R_CIPH,
gcry_sexp_t DATA, gcry_sexp_t PKEY)
Obviously a public key must be provided for encryption. It is
expected as an appropriate S-expression (see above) in PKEY. The
data to be encrypted can either be in the simple old format, which
is a very simple S-expression consisting only of one MPI, or it
may be a more complex S-expression which also allows to specify
flags for operation, like e.g. padding rules.
If you don't want to let Libgcrypt handle the padding, you must
pass an appropriate MPI using this expression for DATA:
(data
(flags raw)
(value MPI))
This has the same semantics as the old style MPI only way. MPI is
the actual data, already padded appropriate for your protocol.
Most systems however use PKCS#1 padding and so you can use this
S-expression for DATA:
(data
(flags pkcs1)
(value BLOCK))
Here, the "flags" list has the "pkcs1" flag which let the function
know that it should provide PKCS#1 block type 2 padding. The
actual data to be encrypted is passed as a string of octets in
BLOCK. The function checks that this data actually can be used
with the given key, does the padding and encrypts it.
If the function could successfully perform the encryption, the
return value will be 0 and a new S-expression with the encrypted
result is allocated and assigned to the variable at the address of
R_CIPH. The caller is responsible to release this value using
`gcry_sexp_release'. In case of an error, an error code is
returned and R_CIPH will be set to `NULL'.
The returned S-expression has this format when used with RSA:
(enc-val
(rsa
(a A-MPI)))
Where A-MPI is an MPI with the result of the RSA operation. When
using the Elgamal algorithm, the return value will have this
format:
(enc-val
(elg
(a A-MPI)
(b B-MPI)))
Where A-MPI and B-MPI are MPIs with the result of the Elgamal
encryption operation.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_pk_decrypt (gcry_sexp_t *R_PLAIN,
gcry_sexp_t DATA, gcry_sexp_t SKEY)
Obviously a private key must be provided for decryption. It is
expected as an appropriate S-expression (see above) in SKEY. The
data to be decrypted must match the format of the result as
returned by `gcry_pk_encrypt', but should be enlarged with a
`flags' element:
(enc-val
(flags)
(elg
(a A-MPI)
(b B-MPI)))
Note that this function currently does not know of any padding
methods and the caller must do any un-padding on his own.
The function returns 0 on success or an error code. The variable
at the address of R_PLAIN will be set to NULL on error or receive
the decrypted value on success. The format of R_PLAIN is a simple
S-expression part (i.e. not a valid one) with just one MPI if
there was no `flags' element in DATA; if at least an empty `flags'
is passed in DATA, the format is:
(value PLAINTEXT)
Another operation commonly performed using public key cryptography is
signing data. In some sense this is even more important than
encryption because digital signatures are an important instrument for
key management. Libgcrypt supports digital signatures using 2
functions, similar to the encryption functions:
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_pk_sign (gcry_sexp_t *R_SIG,
gcry_sexp_t DATA, gcry_sexp_t SKEY)
This function creates a digital signature for DATA using the
private key SKEY and place it into the variable at the address of
R_SIG. DATA may either be the simple old style S-expression with
just one MPI or a modern and more versatile S-expression which
allows to let Libgcrypt handle padding:
(data
(flags pkcs1)
(hash HASH-ALGO BLOCK))
This example requests to sign the data in BLOCK after applying
PKCS#1 block type 1 style padding. HASH-ALGO is a string with the
hash algorithm to be encoded into the signature, this may be any
hash algorithm name as supported by Libgcrypt. Most likely, this
will be "sha256" or "sha1". It is obvious that the length of
BLOCK must match the size of that message digests; the function
checks that this and other constraints are valid.
If PKCS#1 padding is not required (because the caller does already
provide a padded value), either the old format or better the
following format should be used:
(data
(flags raw)
(value MPI))
Here, the data to be signed is directly given as an MPI.
The signature is returned as a newly allocated S-expression in
R_SIG using this format for RSA:
(sig-val
(rsa
(s S-MPI)))
Where S-MPI is the result of the RSA sign operation. For DSA the
S-expression returned is:
(sig-val
(dsa
(r R-MPI)
(s S-MPI)))
Where R-MPI and S-MPI are the result of the DSA sign operation.
For Elgamal signing (which is slow, yields large numbers and
probably is not as secure as the other algorithms), the same
format is used with "elg" replacing "dsa".
The operation most commonly used is definitely the verification of a
signature. Libgcrypt provides this function:
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_pk_verify (gcry_sexp_t SIG,
gcry_sexp_t DATA, gcry_sexp_t PKEY)
This is used to check whether the signature SIG matches the DATA.
The public key PKEY must be provided to perform this verification.
This function is similar in its parameters to `gcry_pk_sign' with
the exceptions that the public key is used instead of the private
key and that no signature is created but a signature, in a format
as created by `gcry_pk_sign', is passed to the function in SIG.
The result is 0 for success (i.e. the data matches the signature),
or an error code where the most relevant code is
`GCRYERR_BAD_SIGNATURE' to indicate that the signature does not
match the provided data.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: General public-key related Functions, Next: AC Interface, Prev: Cryptographic Functions, Up: Public Key cryptography
6.5 General public-key related Functions
========================================
A couple of utility functions are available to retrieve the length of
the key, map algorithm identifiers and perform sanity checks:
-- Function: const char * gcry_pk_algo_name (int ALGO)
Map the public key algorithm id ALGO to a string representation of
the algorithm name. For unknown algorithms this functions returns
the string `"?"'. This function should not be used to test for the
availability of an algorithm.
-- Function: int gcry_pk_map_name (const char *NAME)
Map the algorithm NAME to a public key algorithm Id. Returns 0 if
the algorithm name is not known.
-- Function: int gcry_pk_test_algo (int ALGO)
Return 0 if the public key algorithm ALGO is available for use.
Note that this is implemented as a macro.
-- Function: unsigned int gcry_pk_get_nbits (gcry_sexp_t KEY)
Return what is commonly referred as the key length for the given
public or private in KEY.
-- Function: unsigned char * gcry_pk_get_keygrip (gcry_sexp_t KEY,
unsigned char *ARRAY)
Return the so called "keygrip" which is the SHA-1 hash of the
public key parameters expressed in a way depended on the
algorithm. ARRAY must either provide space for 20 bytes or be
`NULL'. In the latter case a newly allocated array of that size is
returned. On success a pointer to the newly allocated space or to
ARRAY is returned. `NULL' is returned to indicate an error which
is most likely an unknown algorithm or one where a "keygrip" has
not yet been defined. The function accepts public or secret keys
in KEY.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_pk_testkey (gcry_sexp_t KEY)
Return zero if the private key KEY is `sane', an error code
otherwise. Note that it is not possible to check the `saneness'
of a public key.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_pk_algo_info (int ALGO, int WHAT,
void *BUFFER, size_t *NBYTES)
Depending on the value of WHAT return various information about
the public key algorithm with the id ALGO. Note that the function
returns `-1' on error and the actual error code must be retrieved
using the function `gcry_errno'. The currently defined values for
WHAT are:
`GCRYCTL_TEST_ALGO:'
Return 0 if the specified algorithm is available for use.
BUFFER must be `NULL', NBYTES may be passed as `NULL' or
point to a variable with the required usage of the algorithm.
This may be 0 for "don't care" or the bit-wise OR of these
flags:
`GCRY_PK_USAGE_SIGN'
Algorithm is usable for signing.
`GCRY_PK_USAGE_ENCR'
Algorithm is usable for encryption.
Unless you need to test for the allowed usage, it is in
general better to use the macro gcry_pk_test_algo instead.
`GCRYCTL_GET_ALGO_USAGE:'
Return the usage flags for the given algorithm. An invalid
algorithm return 0. Disabled algorithms are ignored here
because we want to know whether the algorithm is at all
capable of a certain usage.
`GCRYCTL_GET_ALGO_NPKEY'
Return the number of elements the public key for algorithm
ALGO consist of. Return 0 for an unknown algorithm.
`GCRYCTL_GET_ALGO_NSKEY'
Return the number of elements the private key for algorithm
ALGO consist of. Note that this value is always larger than
that of the public key. Return 0 for an unknown algorithm.
`GCRYCTL_GET_ALGO_NSIGN'
Return the number of elements a signature created with the
algorithm ALGO consists of. Return 0 for an unknown
algorithm or for an algorithm not capable of creating
signatures.
`GCRYCTL_GET_ALGO_NENC'
Return the number of elements a encrypted message created
with the algorithm ALGO consists of. Return 0 for an unknown
algorithm or for an algorithm not capable of encryption.
Please note that parameters not required should be passed as
`NULL'.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_pk_ctl (int CMD, void *BUFFER,
size_t BUFLEN)
This is a general purpose function to perform certain control
operations. CMD controls what is to be done. The return value is
0 for success or an error code. Currently supported values for
CMD are:
`GCRYCTL_DISABLE_ALGO'
Disable the algorithm given as an algorithm id in BUFFER.
BUFFER must point to an `int' variable with the algorithm id
and BUFLEN must have the value `sizeof (int)'.
Libgcrypt also provides a function to generate public key pairs:
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_pk_genkey (gcry_sexp_t *R_KEY,
gcry_sexp_t PARMS)
This function create a new public key pair using information given
in the S-expression PARMS and stores the private and the public key
in one new S-expression at the address given by R_KEY. In case of
an error, R_KEY is set to `NULL'. The return code is 0 for
success or an error code otherwise.
Here is an example for PARMS to create an 2048 bit RSA key:
(genkey
(rsa
(nbits 4:2048)))
To create an Elgamal key, substitute "elg" for "rsa" and to create
a DSA key use "dsa". Valid ranges for the key length depend on the
algorithms; all commonly used key lengths are supported. Currently
supported parameters are:
`nbits'
This is always required to specify the length of the key.
The argument is a string with a number in C-notation. The
value should be a multiple of 8.
`curve NAME'
For ECC a named curve may be used instead of giving the
number of requested bits. This allows to request a specific
curve to override a default selection Libgcrypt would have
taken if `nbits' has been given. The available names are
listed with the description of the ECC public key parameters.
`rsa-use-e'
This is only used with RSA to give a hint for the public
exponent. The value will be used as a base to test for a
usable exponent. Some values are special:
`0'
Use a secure and fast value. This is currently the
number 41.
`1'
Use a value as required by some crypto policies. This
is currently the number 65537.
`2'
Reserved
`> 2'
Use the given value.
If this parameter is not used, Libgcrypt uses for historic
reasons 65537.
`qbits'
This is only meanigful for DSA keys. If it is given the DSA
key is generated with a Q parameyer of this size. If it is
not given or zero Q is deduced from NBITS in this way:
`512 <= N <= 1024'
Q = 160
`N = 2048'
Q = 224
`N = 3072'
Q = 256
`N = 7680'
Q = 384
`N = 15360'
Q = 512
Note that in this case only the values for N, as given in the
table, are allowed. When specifying Q all values of N in the
range 512 to 15680 are valid as long as they are multiples of
8.
`transient-key'
This is only meaningful for RSA and DSA keys. This is a flag
with no value. If given the RSA or DSA key is created using
a faster and a somewhat less secure random number generator.
This flag may be used for keys which are only used for a
short time and do not require full cryptographic strength.
`domain'
This is only meaningful for DLP algorithms. If specified
keys are generated with domain parameters taken from this
list. The exact format of this parameter depends on the
actual algorithm. It is currently only implemented for DSA
using this format:
(genkey
(dsa
(domain
(p P-MPI)
(q Q-MPI)
(g Q-MPI))))
`nbits' and `qbits' may not be specified because they are
derived from the domain parameters.
`derive-parms'
This is currently only implemented for RSA and DSA keys. It
is not allowed to use this together with a `domain'
specification. If given, it is used to derive the keys using
the given parameters.
If given for an RSA key the X9.31 key generation algorithm is
used even if libgcrypt is not in FIPS mode. If given for a
DSA key, the FIPS 186 algorithm is used even if libgcrypt is
not in FIPS mode.
(genkey
(rsa
(nbits 4:1024)
(rsa-use-e 1:3)
(derive-parms
(Xp1 #1A1916DDB29B4EB7EB6732E128#)
(Xp2 #192E8AAC41C576C822D93EA433#)
(Xp #D8CD81F035EC57EFE822955149D3BFF70C53520D
769D6D76646C7A792E16EBD89FE6FC5B605A6493
39DFC925A86A4C6D150B71B9EEA02D68885F5009
B98BD984#)
(Xq1 #1A5CF72EE770DE50CB09ACCEA9#)
(Xq2 #134E4CAA16D2350A21D775C404#)
(Xq #CC1092495D867E64065DEE3E7955F2EBC7D47A2D
7C9953388F97DDDC3E1CA19C35CA659EDC2FC325
6D29C2627479C086A699A49C4C9CEE7EF7BD1B34
321DE34A#))))
(genkey
(dsa
(nbits 4:1024)
(derive-parms
(seed SEED-MPI))))
`use-x931'
Force the use of the ANSI X9.31 key generation algorithm
instead of the default algorithm. This flag is only
meaningful for RSA and usually not required. Note that this
algorithm is implicitly used if either `derive-parms' is
given or Libgcrypt is in FIPS mode.
`use-fips186'
Force the use of the FIPS 186 key generation algorithm
instead of the default algorithm. This flag is only
meaningful for DSA and usually not required. Note that this
algorithm is implicitly used if either `derive-parms' is
given or Libgcrypt is in FIPS mode. As of now FIPS 186-2 is
implemented; after the approval of FIPS 186-3 the code will
be changed to implement 186-3.
`use-fips186-2'
Force the use of the FIPS 186-2 key generation algorithm
instead of the default algorithm. This algorithm is slighlty
different from FIPS 186-3 and allows only 1024 bit keys.
This flag is only meaningful for DSA and only required for
FIPS testing backward compatibility.
The key pair is returned in a format depending on the algorithm.
Both private and public keys are returned in one container and may
be accompanied by some miscellaneous information.
As an example, here is what the Elgamal key generation returns:
(key-data
(public-key
(elg
(p P-MPI)
(g G-MPI)
(y Y-MPI)))
(private-key
(elg
(p P-MPI)
(g G-MPI)
(y Y-MPI)
(x X-MPI)))
(misc-key-info
(pm1-factors N1 N2 ... NN))
As you can see, some of the information is duplicated, but this
provides an easy way to extract either the public or the private
key. Note that the order of the elements is not defined, e.g. the
private key may be stored before the public key. N1 N2 ... NN is a
list of prime numbers used to composite P-MPI; this is in general
not a very useful information and only available if the key
generation algorithm provides them.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: AC Interface, Prev: General public-key related Functions, Up: Public Key cryptography
6.6 Alternative Public Key Interface
====================================
This section documents the alternative interface to asymmetric
cryptography (ac) that is not based on S-expressions, but on native C
data structures. As opposed to the pk interface described in the
former chapter, this one follows an open/use/close paradigm like other
building blocks of the library.
*This interface has a few known problems; most noteworthy an
inherent tendency to leak memory. It might not be available in
forthcoming versions of Libgcrypt.*
* Menu:
* Available asymmetric algorithms:: List of algorithms supported by the library.
* Working with sets of data:: How to work with sets of data.
* Working with IO objects:: How to work with IO objects.
* Working with handles:: How to use handles.
* Working with keys:: How to work with keys.
* Using cryptographic functions:: How to perform cryptographic operations.
* Handle-independent functions:: General functions independent of handles.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Available asymmetric algorithms, Next: Working with sets of data, Up: AC Interface
6.6.1 Available asymmetric algorithms
-------------------------------------
Libgcrypt supports the RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) algorithms as well
as DSA (Digital Signature Algorithm) and Elgamal. The versatile
interface allows to add more algorithms in the future.
-- Data type: gcry_ac_id_t
The following constants are defined for this type:
`GCRY_AC_RSA'
Rivest-Shamir-Adleman
`GCRY_AC_DSA'
Digital Signature Algorithm
`GCRY_AC_ELG'
Elgamal
`GCRY_AC_ELG_E'
Elgamal, encryption only.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Working with sets of data, Next: Working with IO objects, Prev: Available asymmetric algorithms, Up: AC Interface
6.6.2 Working with sets of data
-------------------------------
In the context of this interface the term `data set' refers to a list
of `named MPI values' that is used by functions performing
cryptographic operations; a named MPI value is a an MPI value,
associated with a label.
Such data sets are used for representing keys, since keys simply
consist of a variable amount of numbers. Furthermore some functions
return data sets to the caller that are to be provided to other
functions.
This section documents the data types, symbols and functions that are
relevant for working with data sets.
-- Data type: gcry_ac_data_t
A single data set.
The following flags are supported:
`GCRY_AC_FLAG_DEALLOC'
Used for storing data in a data set. If given, the data will be
released by the library. Note that whenever one of the ac
functions is about to release objects because of this flag, the
objects are expected to be stored in memory allocated through the
Libgcrypt memory management. In other words: gcry_free() is used
instead of free().
`GCRY_AC_FLAG_COPY'
Used for storing/retrieving data in/from a data set. If given, the
library will create copies of the provided/contained data, which
will then be given to the user/associated with the data set.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_new (gcry_ac_data_t *DATA)
Creates a new, empty data set and stores it in DATA.
-- Function: void gcry_ac_data_destroy (gcry_ac_data_t DATA)
Destroys the data set DATA.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_set (gcry_ac_data_t DATA,
unsigned int FLAGS, char *NAME, gcry_mpi_t MPI)
Add the value MPI to DATA with the label NAME. If FLAGS contains
GCRY_AC_FLAG_COPY, the data set will contain copies of NAME and
MPI. If FLAGS contains GCRY_AC_FLAG_DEALLOC or GCRY_AC_FLAG_COPY,
the values contained in the data set will be deallocated when they
are to be removed from the data set.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_copy (gcry_ac_data_t *DATA_CP,
gcry_ac_data_t DATA)
Create a copy of the data set DATA and store it in DATA_CP.
FIXME: exact semantics undefined.
-- Function: unsigned int gcry_ac_data_length (gcry_ac_data_t DATA)
Returns the number of named MPI values inside of the data set DATA.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_get_name (gcry_ac_data_t DATA,
unsigned int FLAGS, char *NAME, gcry_mpi_t *MPI)
Store the value labelled with NAME found in DATA in MPI. If FLAGS
contains GCRY_AC_FLAG_COPY, store a copy of the MPI value
contained in the data set. MPI may be NULL (this might be useful
for checking the existence of an MPI with extracting it).
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_get_index (gcry_ac_data_t DATA,
unsigned int flags, unsigned int INDEX, const char **NAME,
gcry_mpi_t *MPI)
Stores in NAME and MPI the named MPI value contained in the data
set DATA with the index IDX. If FLAGS contains GCRY_AC_FLAG_COPY,
store copies of the values contained in the data set. NAME or MPI
may be NULL.
-- Function: void gcry_ac_data_clear (gcry_ac_data_t DATA)
Destroys any values contained in the data set DATA.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_to_sexp (gcry_ac_data_t DATA,
gcry_sexp_t *SEXP, const char **IDENTIFIERS)
This function converts the data set DATA into a newly created
S-Expression, which is to be stored in SEXP; IDENTIFIERS is a NULL
terminated list of C strings, which specifies the structure of the
S-Expression.
Example:
If IDENTIFIERS is a list of pointers to the strings "foo" and
"bar" and if DATA is a data set containing the values "val1 =
0x01" and "val2 = 0x02", then the resulting S-Expression will look
like this: (foo (bar ((val1 0x01) (val2 0x02))).
-- Function: gcry_error gcry_ac_data_from_sexp (gcry_ac_data_t *DATA,
gcry_sexp_t SEXP, const char **IDENTIFIERS)
This function converts the S-Expression SEXP into a newly created
data set, which is to be stored in DATA; IDENTIFIERS is a NULL
terminated list of C strings, which specifies the structure of the
S-Expression. If the list of identifiers does not match the
structure of the S-Expression, the function fails.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Working with IO objects, Next: Working with handles, Prev: Working with sets of data, Up: AC Interface
6.6.3 Working with IO objects
-----------------------------
Note: IO objects are currently only used in the context of message
encoding/decoding and encryption/signature schemes.
-- Data type: gcry_ac_io_t
`gcry_ac_io_t' is the type to be used for IO objects.
IO objects provide an uniform IO layer on top of different underlying
IO mechanisms; either they can be used for providing data to the
library (mode is GCRY_AC_IO_READABLE) or they can be used for
retrieving data from the library (mode is GCRY_AC_IO_WRITABLE).
IO object need to be initialized by calling on of the following
functions:
-- Function: void gcry_ac_io_init (gcry_ac_io_t *AC_IO,
gcry_ac_io_mode_t MODE, gcry_ac_io_type_t TYPE, ...);
Initialize AC_IO according to MODE, TYPE and the variable list of
arguments. The list of variable arguments to specify depends on
the given TYPE.
-- Function: void gcry_ac_io_init_va (gcry_ac_io_t *AC_IO,
gcry_ac_io_mode_t MODE, gcry_ac_io_type_t TYPE, va_list AP);
Initialize AC_IO according to MODE, TYPE and the variable list of
arguments AP. The list of variable arguments to specify depends
on the given TYPE.
The following types of IO objects exist:
`GCRY_AC_IO_STRING'
In case of GCRY_AC_IO_READABLE the IO object will provide data
from a memory string. Arguments to specify at initialization time:
`unsigned char *'
Pointer to the beginning of the memory string
`size_t'
Size of the memory string
In case of GCRY_AC_IO_WRITABLE the object will store retrieved
data in a newly allocated memory string. Arguments to specify at
initialization time:
`unsigned char **'
Pointer to address, at which the pointer to the newly created
memory string is to be stored
`size_t *'
Pointer to address, at which the size of the newly created
memory string is to be stored
`GCRY_AC_IO_CALLBACK'
In case of GCRY_AC_IO_READABLE the object will forward read
requests to a provided callback function. Arguments to specify at
initialization time:
`gcry_ac_data_read_cb_t'
Callback function to use
`void *'
Opaque argument to provide to the callback function
In case of GCRY_AC_IO_WRITABLE the object will forward write
requests to a provided callback function. Arguments to specify at
initialization time:
`gcry_ac_data_write_cb_t'
Callback function to use
`void *'
Opaque argument to provide to the callback function

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Working with handles, Next: Working with keys, Prev: Working with IO objects, Up: AC Interface
6.6.4 Working with handles
--------------------------
In order to use an algorithm, an according handle must be created.
This is done using the following function:
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_ac_open (gcry_ac_handle_t *HANDLE, int
ALGORITHM, int FLAGS)
Creates a new handle for the algorithm ALGORITHM and stores it in
HANDLE. FLAGS is not used currently.
ALGORITHM must be a valid algorithm ID, see *Note Available
asymmetric algorithms::, for a list of supported algorithms and the
according constants. Besides using the listed constants directly,
the functions `gcry_pk_name_to_id' may be used to convert the
textual name of an algorithm into the according numeric ID.
-- Function: void gcry_ac_close (gcry_ac_handle_t HANDLE)
Destroys the handle HANDLE.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Working with keys, Next: Using cryptographic functions, Prev: Working with handles, Up: AC Interface
6.6.5 Working with keys
-----------------------
-- Data type: gcry_ac_key_type_t
Defined constants:
`GCRY_AC_KEY_SECRET'
Specifies a secret key.
`GCRY_AC_KEY_PUBLIC'
Specifies a public key.
-- Data type: gcry_ac_key_t
This type represents a single `key', either a secret one or a
public one.
-- Data type: gcry_ac_key_pair_t
This type represents a `key pair' containing a secret and a public
key.
Key data structures can be created in two different ways; a new key
pair can be generated, resulting in ready-to-use key. Alternatively a
key can be initialized from a given data set.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_ac_key_init (gcry_ac_key_t *KEY,
gcry_ac_handle_t HANDLE, gcry_ac_key_type_t TYPE,
gcry_ac_data_t DATA)
Creates a new key of type TYPE, consisting of the MPI values
contained in the data set DATA and stores it in KEY.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_ac_key_pair_generate (gcry_ac_handle_t
HANDLE, unsigned int NBITS, void *KEY_SPEC,
gcry_ac_key_pair_t *KEY_PAIR, gcry_mpi_t **MISC_DATA)
Generates a new key pair via the handle HANDLE of NBITS bits and
stores it in KEY_PAIR.
In case non-standard settings are wanted, a pointer to a structure
of type `gcry_ac_key_spec_<algorithm>_t', matching the selected
algorithm, can be given as KEY_SPEC. MISC_DATA is not used yet.
Such a structure does only exist for RSA. A description of the
members of the supported structures follows.
`gcry_ac_key_spec_rsa_t'
`gcry_mpi_t e'
Generate the key pair using a special `e'. The value of
`e' has the following meanings:
`= 0'
Let Libgcrypt decide what exponent should be used.
`= 1'
Request the use of a "secure" exponent; this is
required by some specification to be 65537.
`> 2'
Try starting at this value until a working exponent
is found. Note that the current implementation
leaks some information about the private key
because the incrementation used is not randomized.
Thus, this function will be changed in the future
to return a random exponent of the given size.
Example code:
{
gcry_ac_key_pair_t key_pair;
gcry_ac_key_spec_rsa_t rsa_spec;
rsa_spec.e = gcry_mpi_new (0);
gcry_mpi_set_ui (rsa_spec.e, 1);
err = gcry_ac_open (&handle, GCRY_AC_RSA, 0);
assert (! err);
err = gcry_ac_key_pair_generate (handle, 1024, &rsa_spec,
&key_pair, NULL);
assert (! err);
}
-- Function: gcry_ac_key_t gcry_ac_key_pair_extract
(gcry_ac_key_pair_t KEY_PAIR, gcry_ac_key_type_t WHICH)
Returns the key of type WHICH out of the key pair KEY_PAIR.
-- Function: void gcry_ac_key_destroy (gcry_ac_key_t KEY)
Destroys the key KEY.
-- Function: void gcry_ac_key_pair_destroy (gcry_ac_key_pair_t
KEY_PAIR)
Destroys the key pair KEY_PAIR.
-- Function: gcry_ac_data_t gcry_ac_key_data_get (gcry_ac_key_t KEY)
Returns the data set contained in the key KEY.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_ac_key_test (gcry_ac_handle_t HANDLE,
gcry_ac_key_t KEY)
Verifies that the private key KEY is sane via HANDLE.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_ac_key_get_nbits (gcry_ac_handle_t
HANDLE, gcry_ac_key_t KEY, unsigned int *NBITS)
Stores the number of bits of the key KEY in NBITS via HANDLE.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_ac_key_get_grip (gcry_ac_handle_t
HANDLE, gcry_ac_key_t KEY, unsigned char *KEY_GRIP)
Writes the 20 byte long key grip of the key KEY to KEY_GRIP via
HANDLE.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Using cryptographic functions, Next: Handle-independent functions, Prev: Working with keys, Up: AC Interface
6.6.6 Using cryptographic functions
-----------------------------------
The following flags might be relevant:
`GCRY_AC_FLAG_NO_BLINDING'
Disable any blinding, which might be supported by the chosen
algorithm; blinding is the default.
There exist two kinds of cryptographic functions available through
the ac interface: primitives, and high-level functions.
Primitives deal with MPIs (data sets) directly; what they provide is
direct access to the cryptographic operations provided by an algorithm
implementation.
High-level functions deal with octet strings, according to a
specified "scheme". Schemes make use of "encoding methods", which are
responsible for converting the provided octet strings into MPIs, which
are then forwared to the cryptographic primitives. Since schemes are
to be used for a special purpose in order to achieve a particular
security goal, there exist "encryption schemes" and "signature
schemes". Encoding methods can be used seperately or implicitly
through schemes.
What follows is a description of the cryptographic primitives.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_encrypt (gcry_ac_handle_t
HANDLE, unsigned int FLAGS, gcry_ac_key_t KEY, gcry_mpi_t
DATA_PLAIN, gcry_ac_data_t *DATA_ENCRYPTED)
Encrypts the plain text MPI value DATA_PLAIN with the key public
KEY under the control of the flags FLAGS and stores the resulting
data set into DATA_ENCRYPTED.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_decrypt (gcry_ac_handle_t
HANDLE, unsigned int FLAGS, gcry_ac_key_t KEY, gcry_mpi_t
*DATA_PLAIN, gcry_ac_data_t DATA_ENCRYPTED)
Decrypts the encrypted data contained in the data set
DATA_ENCRYPTED with the secret key KEY under the control of the
flags FLAGS and stores the resulting plain text MPI value in
DATA_PLAIN.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_sign (gcry_ac_handle_t HANDLE,
gcry_ac_key_t KEY, gcry_mpi_t DATA, gcry_ac_data_t
*DATA_SIGNATURE)
Signs the data contained in DATA with the secret key KEY and
stores the resulting signature in the data set DATA_SIGNATURE.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_verify (gcry_ac_handle_t
HANDLE, gcry_ac_key_t KEY, gcry_mpi_t DATA, gcry_ac_data_t
DATA_SIGNATURE)
Verifies that the signature contained in the data set
DATA_SIGNATURE is indeed the result of signing the data contained
in DATA with the secret key belonging to the public key KEY.
What follows is a description of the high-level functions.
The type "gcry_ac_em_t" is used for specifying encoding methods; the
following methods are supported:
`GCRY_AC_EME_PKCS_V1_5'
PKCS-V1_5 Encoding Method for Encryption. Options must be provided
through a pointer to a correctly initialized object of type
gcry_ac_eme_pkcs_v1_5_t.
`GCRY_AC_EMSA_PKCS_V1_5'
PKCS-V1_5 Encoding Method for Signatures with Appendix. Options
must be provided through a pointer to a correctly initialized
object of type gcry_ac_emsa_pkcs_v1_5_t.
Option structure types:
`gcry_ac_eme_pkcs_v1_5_t'
`gcry_ac_key_t key'
`gcry_ac_handle_t handle'
`gcry_ac_emsa_pkcs_v1_5_t'
`gcry_md_algo_t md'
`size_t em_n'
Encoding methods can be used directly through the following
functions:
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_encode (gcry_ac_em_t METHOD,
unsigned int FLAGS, void *OPTIONS, unsigned char *M, size_t
M_N, unsigned char **EM, size_t *EM_N)
Encodes the message contained in M of size M_N according to
METHOD, FLAGS and OPTIONS. The newly created encoded message is
stored in EM and EM_N.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_decode (gcry_ac_em_t METHOD,
unsigned int FLAGS, void *OPTIONS, unsigned char *EM, size_t
EM_N, unsigned char **M, size_t *M_N)
Decodes the message contained in EM of size EM_N according to
METHOD, FLAGS and OPTIONS. The newly created decoded message is
stored in M and M_N.
The type "gcry_ac_scheme_t" is used for specifying schemes; the
following schemes are supported:
`GCRY_AC_ES_PKCS_V1_5'
PKCS-V1_5 Encryption Scheme. No options can be provided.
`GCRY_AC_SSA_PKCS_V1_5'
PKCS-V1_5 Signature Scheme (with Appendix). Options can be
provided through a pointer to a correctly initialized object of
type gcry_ac_ssa_pkcs_v1_5_t.
Option structure types:
`gcry_ac_ssa_pkcs_v1_5_t'
`gcry_md_algo_t md'
The functions implementing schemes:
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_encrypt_scheme
(gcry_ac_handle_t HANDLE, gcry_ac_scheme_t SCHEME, unsigned
int FLAGS, void *OPTS, gcry_ac_key_t KEY, gcry_ac_io_t
*IO_MESSAGE, gcry_ac_io_t *IO_CIPHER)
Encrypts the plain text readable from IO_MESSAGE through HANDLE
with the public key KEY according to SCHEME, FLAGS and OPTS. If
OPTS is not NULL, it has to be a pointer to a structure specific
to the chosen scheme (gcry_ac_es_*_t). The encrypted message is
written to IO_CIPHER.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_decrypt_scheme
(gcry_ac_handle_t HANDLE, gcry_ac_scheme_t SCHEME, unsigned
int FLAGS, void *OPTS, gcry_ac_key_t KEY, gcry_ac_io_t
*IO_CIPHER, gcry_ac_io_t *IO_MESSAGE)
Decrypts the cipher text readable from IO_CIPHER through HANDLE
with the secret key KEY according to SCHEME, FLAGS and OPTS. If
OPTS is not NULL, it has to be a pointer to a structure specific
to the chosen scheme (gcry_ac_es_*_t). The decrypted message is
written to IO_MESSAGE.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_sign_scheme (gcry_ac_handle_t
HANDLE, gcry_ac_scheme_t SCHEME, unsigned int FLAGS, void
*OPTS, gcry_ac_key_t KEY, gcry_ac_io_t *IO_MESSAGE,
gcry_ac_io_t *IO_SIGNATURE)
Signs the message readable from IO_MESSAGE through HANDLE with the
secret key KEY according to SCHEME, FLAGS and OPTS. If OPTS is
not NULL, it has to be a pointer to a structure specific to the
chosen scheme (gcry_ac_ssa_*_t). The signature is written to
IO_SIGNATURE.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_ac_data_verify_scheme (gcry_ac_handle_t
HANDLE, gcry_ac_scheme_t SCHEME, unsigned int FLAGS, void
*OPTS, gcry_ac_key_t KEY, gcry_ac_io_t *IO_MESSAGE,
gcry_ac_io_t *IO_SIGNATURE)
Verifies through HANDLE that the signature readable from
IO_SIGNATURE is indeed the result of signing the message readable
from IO_MESSAGE with the secret key belonging to the public key
KEY according to SCHEME and OPTS. If OPTS is not NULL, it has to
be an anonymous structure (gcry_ac_ssa_*_t) specific to the chosen
scheme.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Handle-independent functions, Prev: Using cryptographic functions, Up: AC Interface
6.6.7 Handle-independent functions
----------------------------------
These two functions are deprecated; do not use them for new code.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_ac_id_to_name (gcry_ac_id_t ALGORITHM,
const char **NAME)
Stores the textual representation of the algorithm whose id is
given in ALGORITHM in NAME. Deprecated; use `gcry_pk_algo_name'.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_ac_name_to_id (const char *NAME,
gcry_ac_id_t *ALGORITHM)
Stores the numeric ID of the algorithm whose textual
representation is contained in NAME in ALGORITHM. Deprecated; use
`gcry_pk_map_name'.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Hashing, Next: Random Numbers, Prev: Public Key cryptography, Up: Top
7 Hashing
*********
Libgcrypt provides an easy and consistent to use interface for hashing.
Hashing is buffered and several hash algorithms can be updated at once.
It is possible to compute a MAC using the same routines. The
programming model follows an open/process/close paradigm and is in that
similar to other building blocks provided by Libgcrypt.
For convenience reasons, a few cyclic redundancy check value
operations are also supported.
* Menu:
* Available hash algorithms:: List of hash algorithms supported by the library.
* Hash algorithm modules:: How to work with hash algorithm modules.
* Working with hash algorithms:: List of functions related to hashing.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Available hash algorithms, Next: Hash algorithm modules, Up: Hashing
7.1 Available hash algorithms
=============================
`GCRY_MD_NONE'
This is not a real algorithm but used by some functions as an error
return value. This constant is guaranteed to have the value `0'.
`GCRY_MD_SHA1'
This is the SHA-1 algorithm which yields a message digest of 20
bytes. Note that SHA-1 begins to show some weaknesses and it is
suggested to fade out its use if strong cryptographic properties
are required.
`GCRY_MD_RMD160'
This is the 160 bit version of the RIPE message digest
(RIPE-MD-160). Like SHA-1 it also yields a digest of 20 bytes.
This algorithm share a lot of design properties with SHA-1 and
thus it is advisable not to use it for new protocols.
`GCRY_MD_MD5'
This is the well known MD5 algorithm, which yields a message
digest of 16 bytes. Note that the MD5 algorithm has severe
weaknesses, for example it is easy to compute two messages
yielding the same hash (collision attack). The use of this
algorithm is only justified for non-cryptographic application.
`GCRY_MD_MD4'
This is the MD4 algorithm, which yields a message digest of 16
bytes. This algorithms ha severe weaknesses and should not be
used.
`GCRY_MD_MD2'
This is an reserved identifier for MD-2; there is no
implementation yet. This algorithm has severe weaknesses and
should not be used.
`GCRY_MD_TIGER'
This is the TIGER/192 algorithm which yields a message digest of
24 bytes.
`GCRY_MD_HAVAL'
This is an reserved value for the HAVAL algorithm with 5 passes
and 160 bit. It yields a message digest of 20 bytes. Note that
there is no implementation yet available.
`GCRY_MD_SHA224'
This is the SHA-224 algorithm which yields a message digest of 28
bytes. See Change Notice 1 for FIPS 180-2 for the specification.
`GCRY_MD_SHA256'
This is the SHA-256 algorithm which yields a message digest of 32
bytes. See FIPS 180-2 for the specification.
`GCRY_MD_SHA384'
This is the SHA-384 algorithm which yields a message digest of 48
bytes. See FIPS 180-2 for the specification.
`GCRY_MD_SHA512'
This is the SHA-384 algorithm which yields a message digest of 64
bytes. See FIPS 180-2 for the specification.
`GCRY_MD_CRC32'
This is the ISO 3309 and ITU-T V.42 cyclic redundancy check. It
yields an output of 4 bytes. Note that this is not a hash
algorithm in the cryptographic sense.
`GCRY_MD_CRC32_RFC1510'
This is the above cyclic redundancy check function, as modified by
RFC 1510. It yields an output of 4 bytes. Note that this is not
a hash algorithm in the cryptographic sense.
`GCRY_MD_CRC24_RFC2440'
This is the OpenPGP cyclic redundancy check function. It yields an
output of 3 bytes. Note that this is not a hash algorithm in the
cryptographic sense.
`GCRY_MD_WHIRLPOOL'
This is the Whirlpool algorithm which yields a message digest of 64
bytes.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Hash algorithm modules, Next: Working with hash algorithms, Prev: Available hash algorithms, Up: Hashing
7.2 Hash algorithm modules
==========================
Libgcrypt makes it possible to load additional `message digest
modules'; these digests can be used just like the message digest
algorithms that are built into the library directly. For an
introduction into extension modules, see *Note Modules::.
-- Data type: gcry_md_spec_t
This is the `module specification structure' needed for registering
message digest modules, which has to be filled in by the user
before it can be used to register a module. It contains the
following members:
`const char *name'
The primary name of this algorithm.
`unsigned char *asnoid'
Array of bytes that form the ASN OID.
`int asnlen'
Length of bytes in `asnoid'.
`gcry_md_oid_spec_t *oids'
A list of OIDs that are to be associated with the algorithm.
The list's last element must have it's `oid' member set to
NULL. See below for an explanation of this type. See below
for an explanation of this type.
`int mdlen'
Length of the message digest algorithm. See below for an
explanation of this type.
`gcry_md_init_t init'
The function responsible for initializing a handle. See
below for an explanation of this type.
`gcry_md_write_t write'
The function responsible for writing data into a message
digest context. See below for an explanation of this type.
`gcry_md_final_t final'
The function responsible for `finalizing' a message digest
context. See below for an explanation of this type.
`gcry_md_read_t read'
The function responsible for reading out a message digest
result. See below for an explanation of this type.
`size_t contextsize'
The size of the algorithm-specific `context', that should be
allocated for each handle.
-- Data type: gcry_md_oid_spec_t
This type is used for associating a user-provided algorithm
implementation with certain OIDs. It contains the following
members:
`const char *oidstring'
Textual representation of the OID.
-- Data type: gcry_md_init_t
Type for the `init' function, defined as: void (*gcry_md_init_t)
(void *c)
-- Data type: gcry_md_write_t
Type for the `write' function, defined as: void (*gcry_md_write_t)
(void *c, unsigned char *buf, size_t nbytes)
-- Data type: gcry_md_final_t
Type for the `final' function, defined as: void (*gcry_md_final_t)
(void *c)
-- Data type: gcry_md_read_t
Type for the `read' function, defined as: unsigned char
*(*gcry_md_read_t) (void *c)
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_md_register (gcry_md_spec_t *DIGEST,
unsigned int *algorithm_id, gcry_module_t *MODULE)
Register a new digest module whose specification can be found in
DIGEST. On success, a new algorithm ID is stored in ALGORITHM_ID
and a pointer representing this module is stored in MODULE.
-- Function: void gcry_md_unregister (gcry_module_t MODULE)
Unregister the digest identified by MODULE, which must have been
registered with gcry_md_register.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_md_list (int *LIST, int *LIST_LENGTH)
Get a list consisting of the IDs of the loaded message digest
modules. If LIST is zero, write the number of loaded message
digest modules to LIST_LENGTH and return. If LIST is non-zero,
the first *LIST_LENGTH algorithm IDs are stored in LIST, which
must be of according size. In case there are less message digests
modules than *LIST_LENGTH, *LIST_LENGTH is updated to the correct
number.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Working with hash algorithms, Prev: Hash algorithm modules, Up: Hashing
7.3 Working with hash algorithms
================================
To use most of these function it is necessary to create a context; this
is done using:
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_md_open (gcry_md_hd_t *HD, int ALGO,
unsigned int FLAGS)
Create a message digest object for algorithm ALGO. FLAGS may be
given as an bitwise OR of constants described below. ALGO may be
given as `0' if the algorithms to use are later set using
`gcry_md_enable'. HD is guaranteed to either receive a valid
handle or NULL.
For a list of supported algorithms, see *Note Available hash
algorithms::.
The flags allowed for MODE are:
`GCRY_MD_FLAG_SECURE'
Allocate all buffers and the resulting digest in "secure
memory". Use this is the hashed data is highly confidential.
`GCRY_MD_FLAG_HMAC'
Turn the algorithm into a HMAC message authentication
algorithm. This only works if just one algorithm is enabled
for the handle. Note that the function `gcry_md_setkey' must
be used to set the MAC key. The size of the MAC is equal to
the message digest of the underlying hash algorithm. If you
want CBC message authentication codes based on a cipher, see
*Note Working with cipher handles::.
You may use the function `gcry_md_is_enabled' to later check
whether an algorithm has been enabled.
If you want to calculate several hash algorithms at the same time,
you have to use the following function right after the `gcry_md_open':
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_md_enable (gcry_md_hd_t H, int ALGO)
Add the message digest algorithm ALGO to the digest object
described by handle H. Duplicated enabling of algorithms is
detected and ignored.
If the flag `GCRY_MD_FLAG_HMAC' was used, the key for the MAC must
be set using the function:
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_md_setkey (gcry_md_hd_t H, const void
*KEY, size_t KEYLEN)
For use with the HMAC feature, set the MAC key to the value of KEY
of length KEYLEN bytes. There is no restriction on the length of
the key.
After you are done with the hash calculation, you should release the
resources by using:
-- Function: void gcry_md_close (gcry_md_hd_t H)
Release all resources of hash context H. H should not be used
after a call to this function. A `NULL' passed as H is ignored.
The function also zeroises all sensitive information associated
with this handle.
Often you have to do several hash operations using the same
algorithm. To avoid the overhead of creating and releasing context, a
reset function is provided:
-- Function: void gcry_md_reset (gcry_md_hd_t H)
Reset the current context to its initial state. This is
effectively identical to a close followed by an open and enabling
all currently active algorithms.
Often it is necessary to start hashing some data and then continue to
hash different data. To avoid hashing the same data several times
(which might not even be possible if the data is received from a pipe),
a snapshot of the current hash context can be taken and turned into a
new context:
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_md_copy (gcry_md_hd_t *HANDLE_DST,
gcry_md_hd_t HANDLE_SRC)
Create a new digest object as an exact copy of the object
described by handle HANDLE_SRC and store it in HANDLE_DST. The
context is not reset and you can continue to hash data using this
context and independently using the original context.
Now that we have prepared everything to calculate hashes, it is time
to see how it is actually done. There are two ways for this, one to
update the hash with a block of memory and one macro to update the hash
by just one character. Both methods can be used on the same hash
context.
-- Function: void gcry_md_write (gcry_md_hd_t H, const void *BUFFER,
size_t LENGTH)
Pass LENGTH bytes of the data in BUFFER to the digest object with
handle H to update the digest values. This function should be used
for large blocks of data.
-- Function: void gcry_md_putc (gcry_md_hd_t H, int C)
Pass the byte in C to the digest object with handle H to update
the digest value. This is an efficient function, implemented as a
macro to buffer the data before an actual update.
The semantics of the hash functions do not provide for reading out
intermediate message digests because the calculation must be finalized
first. This finalization may for example include the number of bytes
hashed in the message digest or some padding.
-- Function: void gcry_md_final (gcry_md_hd_t H)
Finalize the message digest calculation. This is not really needed
because `gcry_md_read' does this implicitly. After this has been
done no further updates (by means of `gcry_md_write' or
`gcry_md_putc' are allowed. Only the first call to this function
has an effect. It is implemented as a macro.
The way to read out the calculated message digest is by using the
function:
-- Function: unsigned char * gcry_md_read (gcry_md_hd_t H, int ALGO)
`gcry_md_read' returns the message digest after finalizing the
calculation. This function may be used as often as required but
it will always return the same value for one handle. The returned
message digest is allocated within the message context and
therefore valid until the handle is released or reseted (using
`gcry_md_close' or `gcry_md_reset'. ALGO may be given as 0 to
return the only enabled message digest or it may specify one of
the enabled algorithms. The function does return `NULL' if the
requested algorithm has not been enabled.
Because it is often necessary to get the message digest of one block
of memory, a fast convenience function is available for this task:
-- Function: void gcry_md_hash_buffer (int ALGO, void *DIGEST, const
void *BUFFER, size_t LENGTH);
`gcry_md_hash_buffer' is a shortcut function to calculate a message
digest of a buffer. This function does not require a context and
immediately returns the message digest of the LENGTH bytes at
BUFFER. DIGEST must be allocated by the caller, large enough to
hold the message digest yielded by the the specified algorithm
ALGO. This required size may be obtained by using the function
`gcry_md_get_algo_dlen'.
Note that this function will abort the process if an unavailable
algorithm is used.
Hash algorithms are identified by internal algorithm numbers (see
`gcry_md_open' for a list). However, in most applications they are
used by names, so two functions are available to map between string
representations and hash algorithm identifiers.
-- Function: const char * gcry_md_algo_name (int ALGO)
Map the digest algorithm id ALGO to a string representation of the
algorithm name. For unknown algorithms this function returns the
string `"?"'. This function should not be used to test for the
availability of an algorithm.
-- Function: int gcry_md_map_name (const char *NAME)
Map the algorithm with NAME to a digest algorithm identifier.
Returns 0 if the algorithm name is not known. Names representing
ASN.1 object identifiers are recognized if the IETF dotted format
is used and the OID is prefixed with either "`oid.'" or "`OID.'".
For a list of supported OIDs, see the source code at
`cipher/md.c'. This function should not be used to test for the
availability of an algorithm.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_md_get_asnoid (int ALGO, void *BUFFER,
size_t *LENGTH)
Return an DER encoded ASN.1 OID for the algorithm ALGO in the user
allocated BUFFER. LENGTH must point to variable with the available
size of BUFFER and receives after return the actual size of the
returned OID. The returned error code may be `GPG_ERR_TOO_SHORT'
if the provided buffer is to short to receive the OID; it is
possible to call the function with `NULL' for BUFFER to have it
only return the required size. The function returns 0 on success.
To test whether an algorithm is actually available for use, the
following macro should be used:
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_md_test_algo (int ALGO)
The macro returns 0 if the algorithm ALGO is available for use.
If the length of a message digest is not known, it can be retrieved
using the following function:
-- Function: unsigned int gcry_md_get_algo_dlen (int ALGO)
Retrieve the length in bytes of the digest yielded by algorithm
ALGO. This is often used prior to `gcry_md_read' to allocate
sufficient memory for the digest.
In some situations it might be hard to remember the algorithm used
for the ongoing hashing. The following function might be used to get
that information:
-- Function: int gcry_md_get_algo (gcry_md_hd_t H)
Retrieve the algorithm used with the handle H. Note that this
does not work reliable if more than one algorithm is enabled in H.
The following macro might also be useful:
-- Function: int gcry_md_is_secure (gcry_md_hd_t H)
This function returns true when the digest object H is allocated
in "secure memory"; i.e. H was created with the
`GCRY_MD_FLAG_SECURE'.
-- Function: int gcry_md_is_enabled (gcry_md_hd_t H, int ALGO)
This function returns true when the algorithm ALGO has been
enabled for the digest object H.
Tracking bugs related to hashing is often a cumbersome task which
requires to add a lot of printf statements into the code. Libgcrypt
provides an easy way to avoid this. The actual data hashed can be
written to files on request.
-- Function: void gcry_md_debug (gcry_md_hd_t H, const char *SUFFIX)
Enable debugging for the digest object with handle H. This
creates create files named `dbgmd-<n>.<string>' while doing the
actual hashing. SUFFIX is the string part in the filename. The
number is a counter incremented for each new hashing. The data in
the file is the raw data as passed to `gcry_md_write' or
`gcry_md_putc'. If `NULL' is used for SUFFIX, the debugging is
stopped and the file closed. This is only rarely required because
`gcry_md_close' implicitly stops debugging.
The following two deprecated macros are used for debugging by old
code. They shopuld be replaced by `gcry_md_debug'.
-- Function: void gcry_md_start_debug (gcry_md_hd_t H, const char
*SUFFIX)
Enable debugging for the digest object with handle H. This
creates create files named `dbgmd-<n>.<string>' while doing the
actual hashing. SUFFIX is the string part in the filename. The
number is a counter incremented for each new hashing. The data in
the file is the raw data as passed to `gcry_md_write' or
`gcry_md_putc'.
-- Function: void gcry_md_stop_debug (gcry_md_hd_t H, int RESERVED)
Stop debugging on handle H. RESERVED should be specified as 0.
This function is usually not required because `gcry_md_close' does
implicitly stop debugging.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Random Numbers, Next: S-expressions, Prev: Hashing, Up: Top
8 Random Numbers
****************
* Menu:
* Quality of random numbers:: Libgcrypt uses different quality levels.
* Retrieving random numbers:: How to retrieve random numbers.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Quality of random numbers, Next: Retrieving random numbers, Up: Random Numbers
8.1 Quality of random numbers
=============================
Libgcypt offers random numbers of different quality levels:
-- Data type: gcry_random_level_t
The constants for the random quality levels are of this enum type.
`GCRY_WEAK_RANDOM'
For all functions, except for `gcry_mpi_randomize', this level maps
to GCRY_STRONG_RANDOM. If you do not want this, consider using
`gcry_create_nonce'.
`GCRY_STRONG_RANDOM'
Use this level for session keys and similar purposes.
`GCRY_VERY_STRONG_RANDOM'
Use this level for long term key material.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Retrieving random numbers, Prev: Quality of random numbers, Up: Random Numbers
8.2 Retrieving random numbers
=============================
-- Function: void gcry_randomize (unsigned char *BUFFER, size_t
LENGTH, enum gcry_random_level LEVEL)
Fill BUFFER with LENGTH random bytes using a random quality as
defined by LEVEL.
-- Function: void * gcry_random_bytes (size_t NBYTES, enum
gcry_random_level LEVEL)
Convenience function to allocate a memory block consisting of
NBYTES fresh random bytes using a random quality as defined by
LEVEL.
-- Function: void * gcry_random_bytes_secure (size_t NBYTES, enum
gcry_random_level LEVEL)
Convenience function to allocate a memory block consisting of
NBYTES fresh random bytes using a random quality as defined by
LEVEL. This function differs from `gcry_random_bytes' in that the
returned buffer is allocated in a "secure" area of the memory.
-- Function: void gcry_create_nonce (unsigned char *BUFFER, size_t
LENGTH)
Fill BUFFER with LENGTH unpredictable bytes. This is commonly
called a nonce and may also be used for initialization vectors and
padding. This is an extra function nearly independent of the
other random function for 3 reasons: It better protects the
regular random generator's internal state, provides better
performance and does not drain the precious entropy pool.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: S-expressions, Next: MPI library, Prev: Random Numbers, Up: Top
9 S-expressions
***************
S-expressions are used by the public key functions to pass complex data
structures around. These LISP like objects are used by some
cryptographic protocols (cf. RFC-2692) and Libgcrypt provides functions
to parse and construct them. For detailed information, see `Ron
Rivest, code and description of S-expressions,
`http://theory.lcs.mit.edu/~rivest/sexp.html''.
* Menu:
* Data types for S-expressions:: Data types related with S-expressions.
* Working with S-expressions:: How to work with S-expressions.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Data types for S-expressions, Next: Working with S-expressions, Up: S-expressions
9.1 Data types for S-expressions
================================
-- Data type: gcry_sexp_t
The `gcry_sexp_t' type describes an object with the Libgcrypt
internal representation of an S-expression.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Working with S-expressions, Prev: Data types for S-expressions, Up: S-expressions
9.2 Working with S-expressions
==============================
There are several functions to create an Libgcrypt S-expression object
from its external representation or from a string template. There is
also a function to convert the internal representation back into one of
the external formats:
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_sexp_new (gcry_sexp_t *R_SEXP,
const void *BUFFER, size_t LENGTH, int AUTODETECT)
This is the generic function to create an new S-expression object
from its external representation in BUFFER of LENGTH bytes. On
success the result is stored at the address given by R_SEXP. With
AUTODETECT set to 0, the data in BUFFER is expected to be in
canonized format, with AUTODETECT set to 1 the parses any of the
defined external formats. If BUFFER does not hold a valid
S-expression an error code is returned and R_SEXP set to `NULL'.
Note that the caller is responsible for releasing the newly
allocated S-expression using `gcry_sexp_release'.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_sexp_create (gcry_sexp_t *R_SEXP,
void *BUFFER, size_t LENGTH, int AUTODETECT,
void (*FREEFNC)(void*))
This function is identical to `gcry_sexp_new' but has an extra
argument FREEFNC, which, when not set to `NULL', is expected to be
a function to release the BUFFER; most likely the standard `free'
function is used for this argument. This has the effect of
transferring the ownership of BUFFER to the created object in
R_SEXP. The advantage of using this function is that Libgcrypt
might decide to directly use the provided buffer and thus avoid
extra copying.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_sexp_sscan (gcry_sexp_t *R_SEXP,
size_t *ERROFF, const char *BUFFER, size_t LENGTH)
This is another variant of the above functions. It behaves nearly
identical but provides an ERROFF argument which will receive the
offset into the buffer where the parsing stopped on error.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_sexp_build (gcry_sexp_t *R_SEXP,
size_t *ERROFF, const char *FORMAT, ...)
This function creates an internal S-expression from the string
template FORMAT and stores it at the address of R_SEXP. If there
is a parsing error, the function returns an appropriate error code
and stores the offset into FORMAT where the parsing stopped in
ERROFF. The function supports a couple of printf-like formatting
characters and expects arguments for some of these escape
sequences right after FORMAT. The following format characters are
defined:
`%m'
The next argument is expected to be of type `gcry_mpi_t' and
a copy of its value is inserted into the resulting
S-expression.
`%s'
The next argument is expected to be of type `char *' and that
string is inserted into the resulting S-expression.
`%d'
The next argument is expected to be of type `int' and its
value is inserted into the resulting S-expression.
`%b'
The next argument is expected to be of type `int' directly
followed by an argument of type `char *'. This represents a
buffer of given length to be inserted into the resulting
S-expression.
`%S'
The next argument is expected to be of type `gcry_sexp_t' and
a copy of that S-expression is embedded in the resulting
S-expression. The argument needs to be a regular
S-expression, starting with a parenthesis.
No other format characters are defined and would return an error.
Note that the format character `%%' does not exists, because a
percent sign is not a valid character in an S-expression.
-- Function: void gcry_sexp_release (gcry_sexp_t SEXP)
Release the S-expression object SEXP. If the S-expression is
stored in secure memory it explicitly zeroises that memory; note
that this is done in addition to the zeroisation always done when
freeing secure memory.
The next 2 functions are used to convert the internal representation
back into a regular external S-expression format and to show the
structure for debugging.
-- Function: size_t gcry_sexp_sprint (gcry_sexp_t SEXP, int MODE,
char *BUFFER, size_t MAXLENGTH)
Copies the S-expression object SEXP into BUFFER using the format
specified in MODE. MAXLENGTH must be set to the allocated length
of BUFFER. The function returns the actual length of valid bytes
put into BUFFER or 0 if the provided buffer is too short. Passing
`NULL' for BUFFER returns the required length for BUFFER. For
convenience reasons an extra byte with value 0 is appended to the
buffer.
The following formats are supported:
`GCRYSEXP_FMT_DEFAULT'
Returns a convenient external S-expression representation.
`GCRYSEXP_FMT_CANON'
Return the S-expression in canonical format.
`GCRYSEXP_FMT_BASE64'
Not currently supported.
`GCRYSEXP_FMT_ADVANCED'
Returns the S-expression in advanced format.
-- Function: void gcry_sexp_dump (gcry_sexp_t SEXP)
Dumps SEXP in a format suitable for debugging to Libgcrypt's
logging stream.
Often canonical encoding is used in the external representation. The
following function can be used to check for valid encoding and to learn
the length of the S-expression"
-- Function: size_t gcry_sexp_canon_len (const unsigned char *BUFFER,
size_t LENGTH, size_t *ERROFF, int *ERRCODE)
Scan the canonical encoded BUFFER with implicit length values and
return the actual length this S-expression uses. For a valid
S-expression it should never return 0. If LENGTH is not 0, the
maximum length to scan is given; this can be used for syntax
checks of data passed from outside. ERRCODE and ERROFF may both be
passed as `NULL'.
There are functions to parse S-expressions and retrieve elements:
-- Function: gcry_sexp_t gcry_sexp_find_token (const gcry_sexp_t LIST,
const char *TOKEN, size_t TOKLEN)
Scan the S-expression for a sublist with a type (the car of the
list) matching the string TOKEN. If TOKLEN is not 0, the token is
assumed to be raw memory of this length. The function returns a
newly allocated S-expression consisting of the found sublist or
`NULL' when not found.
-- Function: int gcry_sexp_length (const gcry_sexp_t LIST)
Return the length of the LIST. For a valid S-expression this
should be at least 1.
-- Function: gcry_sexp_t gcry_sexp_nth (const gcry_sexp_t LIST,
int NUMBER)
Create and return a new S-expression from the element with index
NUMBER in LIST. Note that the first element has the index 0. If
there is no such element, `NULL' is returned.
-- Function: gcry_sexp_t gcry_sexp_car (const gcry_sexp_t LIST)
Create and return a new S-expression from the first element in
LIST; this called the "type" and should always exist and be a
string. `NULL' is returned in case of a problem.
-- Function: gcry_sexp_t gcry_sexp_cdr (const gcry_sexp_t LIST)
Create and return a new list form all elements except for the
first one. Note that this function may return an invalid
S-expression because it is not guaranteed, that the type exists
and is a string. However, for parsing a complex S-expression it
might be useful for intermediate lists. Returns `NULL' on error.
-- Function: const char * gcry_sexp_nth_data (const gcry_sexp_t LIST,
int NUMBER, size_t *DATALEN)
This function is used to get data from a LIST. A pointer to the
actual data with index NUMBER is returned and the length of this
data will be stored to DATALEN. If there is no data at the given
index or the index represents another list, `NULL' is returned.
*Caution:* The returned pointer is valid as long as LIST is not
modified or released.
Here is an example on how to extract and print the surname (Meier)
from the S-expression `(Name Otto Meier (address Burgplatz 3))':
size_t len;
const char *name;
name = gcry_sexp_nth_data (list, 2, &len);
printf ("my name is %.*s\n", (int)len, name);
-- Function: char * gcry_sexp_nth_string (gcry_sexp_t LIST, int NUMBER)
This function is used to get and convert data from a LIST. The
data is assumed to be a Nul terminated string. The caller must
release this returned value using `gcry_free'. If there is no
data at the given index, the index represents a list or the value
can't be converted to a string, `NULL' is returned.
-- Function: gcry_mpi_t gcry_sexp_nth_mpi (gcry_sexp_t LIST,
int NUMBER, int MPIFMT)
This function is used to get and convert data from a LIST. This
data is assumed to be an MPI stored in the format described by
MPIFMT and returned as a standard Libgcrypt MPI. The caller must
release this returned value using `gcry_mpi_release'. If there is
no data at the given index, the index represents a list or the
value can't be converted to an MPI, `NULL' is returned.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: MPI library, Next: Prime numbers, Prev: S-expressions, Up: Top
10 MPI library
**************
* Menu:
* Data types:: MPI related data types.
* Basic functions:: First steps with MPI numbers.
* MPI formats:: External representation of MPIs.
* Calculations:: Performing MPI calculations.
* Comparisons:: How to compare MPI values.
* Bit manipulations:: How to access single bits of MPI values.
* Miscellaneous:: Miscellaneous MPI functions.
Public key cryptography is based on mathematics with large numbers.
To implement the public key functions, a library for handling these
large numbers is required. Because of the general usefulness of such a
library, its interface is exposed by Libgcrypt. In the context of
Libgcrypt and in most other applications, these large numbers are
called MPIs (multi-precision-integers).

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Data types, Next: Basic functions, Up: MPI library
10.1 Data types
===============
-- Data type: gcry_mpi_t
This type represents an object to hold an MPI.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Basic functions, Next: MPI formats, Prev: Data types, Up: MPI library
10.2 Basic functions
====================
To work with MPIs, storage must be allocated and released for the
numbers. This can be done with one of these functions:
-- Function: gcry_mpi_t gcry_mpi_new (unsigned int NBITS)
Allocate a new MPI object, initialize it to 0 and initially
allocate enough memory for a number of at least NBITS. This
pre-allocation is only a small performance issue and not actually
necessary because Libgcrypt automatically re-allocates the
required memory.
-- Function: gcry_mpi_t gcry_mpi_snew (unsigned int NBITS)
This is identical to `gcry_mpi_new' but allocates the MPI in the so
called "secure memory" which in turn will take care that all
derived values will also be stored in this "secure memory". Use
this for highly confidential data like private key parameters.
-- Function: gcry_mpi_t gcry_mpi_copy (const gcry_mpi_t A)
Create a new MPI as the exact copy of A.
-- Function: void gcry_mpi_release (gcry_mpi_t A)
Release the MPI A and free all associated resources. Passing
`NULL' is allowed and ignored. When a MPI stored in the "secure
memory" is released, that memory gets wiped out immediately.
The simplest operations are used to assign a new value to an MPI:
-- Function: gcry_mpi_t gcry_mpi_set (gcry_mpi_t W, const gcry_mpi_t U)
Assign the value of U to W and return W. If `NULL' is passed for
W, a new MPI is allocated, set to the value of U and returned.
-- Function: gcry_mpi_t gcry_mpi_set_ui (gcry_mpi_t W, unsigned long U)
Assign the value of U to W and return W. If `NULL' is passed for
W, a new MPI is allocated, set to the value of U and returned.
This function takes an `unsigned int' as type for U and thus it is
only possible to set W to small values (usually up to the word
size of the CPU).
-- Function: void gcry_mpi_swap (gcry_mpi_t A, gcry_mpi_t B)
Swap the values of A and B.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: MPI formats, Next: Calculations, Prev: Basic functions, Up: MPI library
10.3 MPI formats
================
The following functions are used to convert between an external
representation of an MPI and the internal one of Libgcrypt.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_mpi_scan (gcry_mpi_t *R_MPI,
enum gcry_mpi_format FORMAT, const unsigned char *BUFFER,
size_t BUFLEN, size_t *NSCANNED)
Convert the external representation of an integer stored in BUFFER
with a length of BUFLEN into a newly created MPI returned which
will be stored at the address of R_MPI. For certain formats the
length argument is not required and should be passed as `0'.
After a successful operation the variable NSCANNED receives the
number of bytes actually scanned unless NSCANNED was given as
`NULL'. FORMAT describes the format of the MPI as stored in BUFFER:
`GCRYMPI_FMT_STD'
2-complement stored without a length header.
`GCRYMPI_FMT_PGP'
As used by OpenPGP (only defined as unsigned). This is
basically `GCRYMPI_FMT_STD' with a 2 byte big endian length
header.
`GCRYMPI_FMT_SSH'
As used in the Secure Shell protocol. This is
`GCRYMPI_FMT_STD' with a 4 byte big endian header.
`GCRYMPI_FMT_HEX'
Stored as a C style string with each byte of the MPI encoded
as 2 hex digits. When using this format, BUFLEN must be zero.
`GCRYMPI_FMT_USG'
Simple unsigned integer.
Note that all of the above formats store the integer in big-endian
format (MSB first).
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_mpi_print (enum gcry_mpi_format FORMAT,
unsigned char *BUFFER, size_t BUFLEN, size_t *NWRITTEN,
const gcry_mpi_t A)
Convert the MPI A into an external representation described by
FORMAT (see above) and store it in the provided BUFFER which has a
usable length of at least the BUFLEN bytes. If NWRITTEN is not
NULL, it will receive the number of bytes actually stored in
BUFFER after a successful operation.
-- Function: gcry_error_t gcry_mpi_aprint
(enum gcry_mpi_format FORMAT, unsigned char **BUFFER,
size_t *NBYTES, const gcry_mpi_t A)
Convert the MPI A into an external representation described by
FORMAT (see above) and store it in a newly allocated buffer which
address will be stored in the variable BUFFER points to. The
number of bytes stored in this buffer will be stored in the
variable NBYTES points to, unless NBYTES is `NULL'.
-- Function: void gcry_mpi_dump (const gcry_mpi_t A)
Dump the value of A in a format suitable for debugging to
Libgcrypt's logging stream. Note that one leading space but no
trailing space or linefeed will be printed. It is okay to pass
`NULL' for A.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Calculations, Next: Comparisons, Prev: MPI formats, Up: MPI library
10.4 Calculations
=================
Basic arithmetic operations:
-- Function: void gcry_mpi_add (gcry_mpi_t W, gcry_mpi_t U,
gcry_mpi_t V)
W = U + V.
-- Function: void gcry_mpi_add_ui (gcry_mpi_t W, gcry_mpi_t U,
unsigned long V)
W = U + V. Note that V is an unsigned integer.
-- Function: void gcry_mpi_addm (gcry_mpi_t W, gcry_mpi_t U,
gcry_mpi_t V, gcry_mpi_t M)
W = U + V \bmod M.
-- Function: void gcry_mpi_sub (gcry_mpi_t W, gcry_mpi_t U,
gcry_mpi_t V)
W = U - V.
-- Function: void gcry_mpi_sub_ui (gcry_mpi_t W, gcry_mpi_t U,
unsigned long V)
W = U - V. V is an unsigned integer.
-- Function: void gcry_mpi_subm (gcry_mpi_t W, gcry_mpi_t U,
gcry_mpi_t V, gcry_mpi_t M)
W = U - V \bmod M.
-- Function: void gcry_mpi_mul (gcry_mpi_t W, gcry_mpi_t U,
gcry_mpi_t V)
W = U * V.
-- Function: void gcry_mpi_mul_ui (gcry_mpi_t W, gcry_mpi_t U,
unsigned long V)
W = U * V. V is an unsigned integer.
-- Function: void gcry_mpi_mulm (gcry_mpi_t W, gcry_mpi_t U,
gcry_mpi_t V, gcry_mpi_t M)
W = U * V \bmod M.
-- Function: void gcry_mpi_mul_2exp (gcry_mpi_t W, gcry_mpi_t U,
unsigned long E)
W = U * 2^e.
-- Function: void gcry_mpi_div (gcry_mpi_t Q, gcry_mpi_t R,
gcry_mpi_t DIVIDEND, gcry_mpi_t DIVISOR, int ROUND)
Q = DIVIDEND / DIVISOR, R = DIVIDEND \bmod DIVISOR. Q and R may
be passed as `NULL'. ROUND should be negative or 0.
-- Function: void gcry_mpi_mod (gcry_mpi_t R, gcry_mpi_t DIVIDEND,
gcry_mpi_t DIVISOR)
R = DIVIDEND \bmod DIVISOR.
-- Function: void gcry_mpi_powm (gcry_mpi_t W, const gcry_mpi_t B,
const gcry_mpi_t E, const gcry_mpi_t M)
W = B^e \bmod M.
-- Function: int gcry_mpi_gcd (gcry_mpi_t G, gcry_mpi_t A,
gcry_mpi_t B)
Set G to the greatest common divisor of A and B. Return true if
the G is 1.
-- Function: int gcry_mpi_invm (gcry_mpi_t X, gcry_mpi_t A,
gcry_mpi_t M)
Set X to the multiplicative inverse of A \bmod M. Return true if
the inverse exists.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Comparisons, Next: Bit manipulations, Prev: Calculations, Up: MPI library
10.5 Comparisons
================
The next 2 functions are used to compare MPIs:
-- Function: int gcry_mpi_cmp (const gcry_mpi_t U, const gcry_mpi_t V)
Compare the multi-precision-integers number U and V returning 0
for equality, a positive value for U > V and a negative for U < V.
-- Function: int gcry_mpi_cmp_ui (const gcry_mpi_t U, unsigned long V)
Compare the multi-precision-integers number U with the unsigned
integer V returning 0 for equality, a positive value for U > V and
a negative for U < V.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Bit manipulations, Next: Miscellaneous, Prev: Comparisons, Up: MPI library
10.6 Bit manipulations
======================
There are a couple of functions to get information on arbitrary bits in
an MPI and to set or clear them:
-- Function: unsigned int gcry_mpi_get_nbits (gcry_mpi_t A)
Return the number of bits required to represent A.
-- Function: int gcry_mpi_test_bit (gcry_mpi_t A, unsigned int N)
Return true if bit number N (counting from 0) is set in A.
-- Function: void gcry_mpi_set_bit (gcry_mpi_t A, unsigned int N)
Set bit number N in A.
-- Function: void gcry_mpi_clear_bit (gcry_mpi_t A, unsigned int N)
Clear bit number N in A.
-- Function: void gcry_mpi_set_highbit (gcry_mpi_t A, unsigned int N)
Set bit number N in A and clear all bits greater than N.
-- Function: void gcry_mpi_clear_highbit (gcry_mpi_t A, unsigned int N)
Clear bit number N in A and all bits greater than N.
-- Function: void gcry_mpi_rshift (gcry_mpi_t X, gcry_mpi_t A,
unsigned int N)
Shift the value of A by N bits to the right and store the result
in X.
-- Function: void gcry_mpi_lshift (gcry_mpi_t X, gcry_mpi_t A,
unsigned int N)
Shift the value of A by N bits to the left and store the result in
X.

File: gcrypt.info, Node: Miscellaneous, Prev: Bit manipulations, Up: MPI library
10.7 Miscellaneous
==================
-- Function: gcry_mpi_t gcry_mpi_set_opaque (gcry_mpi_t A, void *P,
unsigned int NBITS)
Store NBITS of the