CTR_DRBG: grab a nonce from the entropy source if needed
Change the default entropy nonce length to be nonzero in some cases.
Specifically, the default nonce length is now set in such a way that
the entropy input during the initial seeding always contains enough
entropy to achieve the maximum possible security strength per
NIST SP 800-90A given the key size and entropy length.
If MBEDTLS_CTR_DRBG_ENTROPY_LEN is kept to its default value,
mbedtls_ctr_drbg_seed() now grabs extra entropy for a nonce if
MBEDTLS_CTR_DRBG_USE_128_BIT_KEY is disabled and either
MBEDTLS_ENTROPY_FORCE_SHA256 is enabled or MBEDTLS_SHA512_C is
disabled. If MBEDTLS_CTR_DRBG_USE_128_BIT_KEY is enabled, or if
the entropy module uses SHA-512, then the default value of
MBEDTLS_CTR_DRBG_ENTROPY_LEN does not require a second call to the
entropy function to achieve the maximum security strength.
This choice of default nonce size guarantees NIST compliance with the
maximum security strength while keeping backward compatibility and
performance high: in configurations that do not require grabbing more
entropy, the code will not grab more entropy than before.
diff --git a/library/ctr_drbg.c b/library/ctr_drbg.c
index 8c6ee59..047bb2a 100644
--- a/library/ctr_drbg.c
+++ b/library/ctr_drbg.c
@@ -56,6 +56,9 @@
void mbedtls_ctr_drbg_init( mbedtls_ctr_drbg_context *ctx )
{
memset( ctx, 0, sizeof( mbedtls_ctr_drbg_context ) );
+ /* Indicate that the entropy nonce length is not set explicitly.
+ * See mbedtls_ctr_drbg_set_nonce_len(). */
+ ctx->reseed_counter = -1;
#if defined(MBEDTLS_THREADING_C)
mbedtls_mutex_init( &ctx->mutex );
@@ -419,6 +422,19 @@
return( mbedtls_ctr_drbg_reseed_internal( ctx, additional, len, 0 ) );
}
+/* Return a "good" nonce length for CTR_DRBG. The chosen nonce length
+ * is sufficient to achieve the maximum security strength given the key
+ * size and entropy length. If there is enough entropy in the initial
+ * call to the entropy function to serve as both the entropy input and
+ * the nonce, don't make a second call to get a nonce. */
+static size_t good_nonce_len( size_t entropy_len )
+{
+ if( entropy_len >= MBEDTLS_CTR_DRBG_KEYSIZE * 3 / 2 )
+ return( 0 );
+ else
+ return( ( entropy_len + 1 ) / 2 );
+}
+
/* CTR_DRBG_Instantiate with derivation function (SP 800-90A §10.2.1.3.2)
* mbedtls_ctr_drbg_seed(ctx, f_entropy, p_entropy, custom, len)
* implements
@@ -438,6 +454,7 @@
{
int ret;
unsigned char key[MBEDTLS_CTR_DRBG_KEYSIZE];
+ size_t nonce_len;
memset( key, 0, MBEDTLS_CTR_DRBG_KEYSIZE );
@@ -448,6 +465,14 @@
if( ctx->entropy_len == 0 )
ctx->entropy_len = MBEDTLS_CTR_DRBG_ENTROPY_LEN;
+ /* ctx->reseed_counter contains the desired amount of entropy to
+ * grab for a nonce (see mbedtls_ctr_drbg_set_nonce_len()).
+ * If it's -1, indicating that the entropy nonce length was not set
+ * explicitly, use a sufficiently large nonce for security. */
+ nonce_len = ( ctx->reseed_counter >= 0 ?
+ (size_t) ctx->reseed_counter :
+ good_nonce_len( ctx->entropy_len ) );
+
ctx->reseed_interval = MBEDTLS_CTR_DRBG_RESEED_INTERVAL;
/* Initialize with an empty key. */
@@ -457,11 +482,9 @@
return( ret );
}
- /* Do the initial seeding.
- * ctx->reseed_counter contains the desired amount of entropy to
- * grab for a nonce (see mbedtls_ctr_drbg_set_nonce_len()). */
+ /* Do the initial seeding. */
if( ( ret = mbedtls_ctr_drbg_reseed_internal( ctx, custom, len,
- ctx->reseed_counter ) ) != 0 )
+ nonce_len ) ) != 0 )
{
return( ret );
}