.. _mac: Message Authentication Codes (MAC) =================================== A Message Authentication Code algorithm computes a tag over a message utilizing a shared secret key. Thus a valid tag confirms the authenticity and integrity of the message. Only entities in possession of the shared secret key are able to verify the tag. .. note:: When combining a MAC with unauthenticated encryption mode, prefer to first encrypt the message and then MAC the ciphertext. The alternative is to MAC the plaintext, which depending on exact usage can suffer serious security issues. For a detailed discussion of this issue see the paper "The Order of Encryption and Authentication for Protecting Communications" by Hugo Krawczyk The Botan MAC computation is split into five stages. #. Instantiate the MAC algorithm. #. Set the secret key. #. Process IV. #. Process data. #. Finalize the MAC computation. .. cpp:class:: MessageAuthenticationCode .. cpp:function:: std::string name() const Returns a human-readable string of the name of this algorithm. .. cpp:function:: void clear() Clear the key. .. cpp:function:: MessageAuthenticationCode* clone() const Return a newly allocated object of the same type as this one. .. cpp:function:: void set_key(const uint8_t* key, size_t length) Set the shared MAC key for the calculation. This function has to be called before the data is processed. .. cpp:function:: bool valid_keylength(size_t length) const This function returns true if and only if *length* is a valid keylength for the algorithm. .. cpp:function:: size_t minimum_keylength() const Return the smallest key length (in bytes) that is acceptible for the algorithm. .. cpp:function:: size_t maximum_keylength() const Return the largest key length (in bytes) that is acceptible for the algorithm. .. cpp:function:: void start(const uint8_t* nonce, size_t nonce_len) Set the IV for the MAC calculation. Note that not all MAC algorithms require an IV. If an IV is required, the function has to be called before the data is processed. For algorithms that don't require it, the call can be omitted, or else called with ``nonce_len`` of zero. .. cpp:function:: void update(const uint8_t* input, size_t length) Process the passed data. .. cpp:function:: void update(const secure_vector& in) Process the passed data. .. cpp:function:: void update(uint8_t in) Process a single byte. .. cpp:function:: void final(uint8_t* out) Complete the MAC computation and write the calculated tag to the passed byte array. .. cpp:function:: secure_vector final() Complete the MAC computation and return the calculated tag. .. cpp:function:: bool verify_mac(const uint8_t* mac, size_t length) Finalize the current MAC computation and compare the result to the passed ``mac``. Returns ``true``, if the verification is successful and false otherwise. Code Example ------------------------ The following example code computes a AES-256 GMAC and subsequently verifies the tag. .. code-block:: cpp #include #include #include int main() { const std::vector key = Botan::hex_decode("1337133713371337133713371337133713371337133713371337133713371337"); const std::vector iv = Botan::hex_decode("FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF"); const std::vector data = Botan::hex_decode("6BC1BEE22E409F96E93D7E117393172A"); std::unique_ptr mac(Botan::MessageAuthenticationCode::create("GMAC(AES-256)")); if(!mac) return 1; mac->set_key(key); mac->start(iv); mac->update(data); Botan::secure_vector tag = mac->final(); std::cout << mac->name() << ": " << Botan::hex_encode(tag) << std::endl; //Verify created MAC mac->start(iv); mac->update(data); std::cout << "Verification: " << (mac->verify_mac(tag) ? "success" : "failure"); return 0; } The following example code computes a valid AES-128 CMAC tag and modifies the data to demonstrate a MAC verification failure. .. code-block:: cpp #include #include #include int main() { const std::vector key = Botan::hex_decode("2B7E151628AED2A6ABF7158809CF4F3C"); std::vector data = Botan::hex_decode("6BC1BEE22E409F96E93D7E117393172A"); std::unique_ptr mac(Botan::MessageAuthenticationCode::create("CMAC(AES-128)")); if(!mac) return 1; mac->set_key(key); mac->update(data); Botan::secure_vector tag = mac->final(); //Corrupting data data.back()++; //Verify with corrupted data mac->update(data); std::cout << "Verification with malformed data: " << (mac->verify_mac(tag) ? "success" : "failure"); return 0; } Available MACs ------------------------------------------ Currently the following MAC algorithms are available in Botan. In new code, default to HMAC or CMAC. CBC-MAC ~~~~~~~~~~~~ An older authentication code based on a block cipher. Serious security problems, in particular **insecure** if messages of several different lengths are authenticated. Avoid unless required for compatability. Available if ``BOTAN_HAS_CBC_MAC`` is defined. CMAC ~~~~~~~~~~~~ A modern CBC-MAC variant that avoids the security problems of plain CBC-MAC. Approved by NIST. Also sometimes called OMAC. Available if ``BOTAN_HAS_CMAC`` is defined. GMAC ~~~~~~~~~~~~ GMAC is related to the GCM authenticated cipher mode. It is quite slow unless hardware support for carryless multiplications is available. A new nonce must be used with each message authenticated, or otherwise all security is lost. Available if ``BOTAN_HAS_GMAC`` is defined. HMAC ~~~~~~~~~~~~ A message authentication code based on a hash function. Very commonly used. Available if ``BOTAN_HAS_HMAC`` is defined. Poly1305 ~~~~~~~~~~~~ A polynomial mac (similar to GMAC). Very fast, but tricky to use safely. Forms part of the ChaCha20Poly1305 AEAD mode. A new key must be used for *each* message, or all security is lost. Available if ``BOTAN_HAS_POLY1305`` is defined. SipHash ~~~~~~~~~~~~ A modern and very fast PRF. Produces only a 64-bit output. Available if ``BOTAN_HAS_SIPHASH`` is defined. X9.19-MAC ~~~~~~~~~~~~ A CBC-MAC variant sometimes used in finance. Always uses DES. Avoid unless required. Available if ``BOTAN_HAS_X919_MAC`` is defined.