213 lines
7.8 KiB
Plaintext
213 lines
7.8 KiB
Plaintext
=pod
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=head1 NAME
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EVP_PKEY - an internal description
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=head1 SYNOPSIS
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#include "crypto/evp.h"
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typedef struct evp_pkey_st EVP_PKEY;
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=head1 DESCRIPTION
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I<This is not a complete description yet>
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B<EVP_PKEY> is a complex type that's essentially a container for
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private/public key pairs, but has had other uses as well.
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=for comment "uses" could as well be "abuses"...
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The private/public key pair that an B<EVP_PKEY> contains is referred to
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as its "internal key" or "origin" (the reason for "origin" is
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explained further down, in L</Export cache for provider operations>),
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and it can take one of the following forms:
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=over 4
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=item legacy origin
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This is the form that an B<EVP_PKEY> in OpenSSL prior to 3.0 had. The
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internal key in the B<EVP_PKEY> is a pointer to the low-level key
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types, such as B<RSA>, B<DSA> and B<EC>, or an engine driven
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structure, and is governed by an associated L<EVP_PKEY_METHOD(3)> and
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an L<EVP_PKEY_ASN1_METHOD(3)>.
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The functions available through those two method structures get full
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access to the B<EVP_PKEY> and therefore have a lot of freedom to
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modify whatever they want. This also means that an B<EVP_PKEY> is a
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shared structure between libcrypto and any ENGINE that serves such
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methods.
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=item provider-native origin
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This is a new form in OpenSSL 3.0, which permits providers to hold the
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key data (see L<provider-keymgmt(7)>). The internal key in the
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B<EVP_PKEY> is a pointer to that key data held by the provider, and
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is governed by an associated L<EVP_KEYMGMT(3)> method structure.
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The functions available through the L<EVP_KEYMGMT(3)> have no access
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to the B<EVP_PKEY>, and can therefore not make any direct changes.
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Similarly, the key data that the B<EVP_PKEY> points at is only known
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to the functions pointed at in the L<EVP_KEYMGMT(3)>.
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=back
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These two forms can never co-exist in the same B<EVP_PKEY>, the main
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reason being that having both at the same time will create problems
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with synchronising between the two forms, and potentially make it
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confusing which one of the two is the origin.
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=head2 Key mutability
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The B<EVP_PKEY> internal keys are mutable.
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This is especially visible with internal legacy keys, since they can
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be extracted with functions like L<EVP_PKEY_get0_RSA(3)> and then
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modified at will with functions like L<RSA_set0_key(3)>. Note that if the
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internal key is a provider key then the return value from functions such as
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L<EVP_PKEY_get0_RSA(3)> is a cached copy of the key. Changes to the cached
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copy are not reflected back in the provider key.
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Internal provider native keys are also possible to be modified, if the
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associated L<EVP_KEYMGMT(3)> implementation allows it. This is done
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with L<EVP_PKEY_set_params(3)> and its specialised derivatives. The
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OpenSSL providers allow it for the following:
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=over 4
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=item DH, EC, X25519, X448:
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It's possible to set the encoded public key. This is supported in
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particular through L<EVP_PKEY_set1_encoded_public_key(3)>.
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=item EC:
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It's possible to flip the ECDH cofactor mode.
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=back
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Every time the B<EVP_PKEY> internal key mutates, an internal dirty
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count is incremented. The need for a dirty count is explained further
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in L</Export cache for provider operations>.
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For provider native origin keys, this doesn't require any help from
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the L<EVP_KEYMGMT(3)>, the dirty count is maintained in the B<EVP_PKEY>
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itself, and is incremented every time L<EVP_PKEY_set_params(3)> or its
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specialised derivatives are called.
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For legacy origin keys, this requires the associated
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L<EVP_PKEY_ASN1_METHOD(3)> to implement the dirty_cnt() function. All
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of OpenSSL's built-in L<EVP_PKEY_ASN1_METHOD(3)> implement this
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function.
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=head2 Export cache for provider operations
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OpenSSL 3.0 can handle operations such as signing, encrypting, etc in
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diverse providers, potentially others than the provider of the
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L<EVP_KEYMGMT(3)>. Two providers, possibly from different vendors,
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can't be expected to share internal key structures. There are
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therefore instances where key data will need to be exported to the
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provider that is going to perform the operation (this also implies
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that every provider that implements a key pair based operation must
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also implement an L<EVP_KEYMGMT(3)>).
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For performance reasons, libcrypto tries to minimize the need to
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perform such an export, so it maintains a cache of such exports in the
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B<EVP_PKEY>. Each cache entry has two items, a pointer to the
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provider side key data and the associated L<EVP_KEYMGMT(3)>.
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I<This cache is often referred to as the "operation key cache", and
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the key data that the cached keys came from is the "origin", and since
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there are two forms of the latter, we have the "legacy origin" and the
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"provider native origin".>
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The export to the operation key cache can be performed independent of
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what form the origin has.
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For a legacy origin, this requires that the associated
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L<EVP_PKEY_ASN1_METHOD(3)> implements the functions export_to() and
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dirty_cnt().
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For a provider native origin, this requires that the associated
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L<EVP_KEYMGMT(3)> implements the OSSL_FUNC_keymgmt_export() function
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(see L<provider-keymgmt(7)>).
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In all cases, the receiving L<EVP_KEYMGMT(3)> (the one associated with
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the exported key data) must implement OSSL_FUNC_keymgmt_import().
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If such caching isn't supported, the operations that can be performed
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with that key are limited to the same backend as the origin key
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(ENGINE for legacy origin keys, provider for provider side origin
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keys).
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=head3 Exporting implementation details
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Exporting a key to the operation cache involves the following:
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=over 4
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=item 1.
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Check if the dirty count for the internal origin key has changed since
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the previous time. This is done by comparing it with a copy of the
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dirty count, which is maintained by the export function.
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If the dirty count has changed, the export cache is cleared.
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=item 2.
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Check if there's an entry in the export cache with the same
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L<EVP_KEYMGMT(3)> that's the same provider that an export is to be
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made to (which is the provider that's going to perform an operation
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for which the current B<EVP_PKEY> is going to be used).
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If such an entry is found, nothing more is done, the key data and
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L<EVP_KEYMGMT(3)> found in that export cache entry will be used for
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the operation to be performed.
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=item 3.
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Export the internal origin key to the provider, using the appropriate
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method.
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For legacy origin keys, that's done with the help of the
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L<EVP_PKEY_ASN1_METHOD(3)> export_to() function.
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For provider native origin keys, that's done by retrieving the key
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data in L<OSSL_PARAM(3)> form from the origin keys, using the
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OSSL_FUNC_keymgmt_export() functions of the associated
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L<EVP_KEYMGMT(3)>, and sending that data to the L<EVP_KEYMGMT(3)> of
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the provider that's to perform the operation, using its
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OSSL_FUNC_keymgmt_import() function.
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=back
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=head2 Changing a key origin
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It is never possible to change the origin of a key. An B<EVP_PKEY> with a legacy
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origin will I<never> be upgraded to become an B<EVP_PKEY> with a provider
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native origin. Instead, we have the operation cache as described above, that
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takes care of the needs of the diverse operation the application may want to
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perform.
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Similarly an B<EVP_PKEY> with a provider native origin, will I<never> be
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I<transformed> into an B<EVP_PKEY> with a legacy origin. Instead we may have a
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cached copy of the provider key in legacy form. Once the cached copy is created
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it is never updated. Changes made to the provider key are not reflected back in
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the cached legacy copy. Similarly changes made to the cached legacy copy are not
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reflected back in the provider key.
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=head1 SEE ALSO
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L<provider-keymgmt(7)>
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=head1 COPYRIGHT
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Copyright 2020-2022 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
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Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (the "License"). You may not use
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this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy
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in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at
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L<https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.
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=cut
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