[PATCH 1/2] crypto: sm3 - add a new alias name sm3-256

Mon Feb 10 17:01:01 UTC 2020

> -----Original Message-----
> From: linux-crypto-owner at vger.kernel.org <linux-crypto-owner at vger.kernel.org> On Behalf Of James Bottomley
> Sent: Monday, February 10, 2020 5:40 PM
> To: Ken Goldman <kgold at linux.ibm.com>; Eric Biggers <ebiggers at kernel.org>; Tianjia Zhang <tianjia.zhang at linux.alibaba.com>
> Cc: herbert at gondor.apana.org.au; davem at davemloft.net; zohar at linux.ibm.com; dmitry.kasatkin at gmail.com; jmorris at namei.org;
> serge at hallyn.com; linux-crypto at vger.kernel.org; linux-integrity at vger.kernel.org; linux-security-module at vger.kernel.org; linux-
> kernel at vger.kernel.org
> Subject: Re: [PATCH 1/2] crypto: sm3 - add a new alias name sm3-256
>
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> On Mon, 2020-02-10 at 11:30 -0500, Ken Goldman wrote:
> > On 2/9/2020 10:17 PM, Eric Biggers wrote:
> > > According to https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftools.ietf.org%2Fid%2Fdraft-oscca-cfrg-sm3-
> 01.html&amp;data=01%7C01%7Cpvanleeuwen%40verimatrix.com%7C3a51d0c133dd4b00fd9a08d7ae47d6d6%7Cdcb260f9022d449586
> 02eae51035a0d0%7C0&amp;sdata=0nQ6tWMdVR5uB0MTCgdMXiOmkvTvGEKDTLcMXdzyZpg%3D&amp;reserved=0
> > > ,
> > > SM3 always produces a 256-bit hash value.  E.g., it says:
> > >
> > >     "SM3 produces an output hash value of 256 bits long"
> > >
> > > and
> > >
> > >     "SM3 is a hash function that generates a 256-bit hash value."
> > >
> > > I don't see any mention of "SM3-256".
> > >
> > > So why not just keep it as "sm3" and change hash_info.c instead?
> > > Since the name there is currently wrong, no one can be using it
> > > yet.
> >
> > Question:  Is 256 bits fundamental to SM3?
>
> No.
>
Well, the current specification surely doesn't define anything else and is
already over a decade old. So what would be the odds that they add a
different blocksize variant _now_ AND still call that SM3-something?

> >   Could there ever be a
> > variant in the future that's e.g., 512 bits?
>
> Yes, SM3 like SHA-3 is based on a 512  bit input blocks.  However,
> what's left of the standard:
>
SM3 is based on 512 bit input blocks, like _SHA-2_.
The SHA-3 variants use block sizes between 576 and 1152 bits,
depending on the output (digest) size.

The -xxx is referring to output (digest) size, not block size by the way.
And SHA-3 is indeed defined for 512 bit output size, amongst others.

> https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ietf.org%2Farchive%2Fid%2Fdraft-sca-cfrg-sm3-
> 02.txt&amp;data=01%7C01%7Cpvanleeuwen%40verimatrix.com%7C3a51d0c133dd4b00fd9a08d7ae47d6d6%7Cdcb260f9022d44958602
> eae51035a0d0%7C0&amp;sdata=9pfgM0bG%2Bp0zUavsknwn9vquWqPsqzPENV2okmgCOqE%3D&amp;reserved=0
>
> Currently only defines a 256 output (via compression from the final 512
> bit output).
>
Yes. Although that is not the original (Chinese) specification.

> In theory, like SHA-3, SM3 could support 384 and 512
> output variants.  However, there's no evidence anyone is working on
> adding this.
>
Hmm ... not without changing the word width (as for SHA-512) and/or
increasing the number of rounds plus other tweaking, I would say.
It's not as straightforward as you are suggesting (crypto rarely is).
I would even go as far as saying that is highly unlikely to happen.

Regards,
Pascal van Leeuwen
Silicon IP Architect Multi-Protocol Engines, Rambus Security
Rambus ROTW Holding BV
+31-73 6581953

Note: The Inside Secure/Verimatrix Silicon IP team was recently acquired by Rambus.
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