A cryptographic hash algorithm is a function which takes a variable size input and produces a fixed size output. The algorithm makes it difficult to predict the output for a given input, find two inputs with the same output, or reconstruct the input from the output.
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What type of hash functions provides non-malleability of hash digests?
I want to use a hash function for commitments. I don't want an attacker to construct a commitment related to a previously published (but still unopened) commitment.
A simple deterministic commitment ...
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328 views
Can md5 be used for encrypting data?
I know that md5 shouldn't be used for password hashing because of collisions and possibility of making dictionary attacks e.g. using rainbow tables. But what about ...
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849 views
Simple/beginner level explanation of salt
I'm a beginner to cryptography and looking to understand in very simple terms what salt is, when I might need to use it and why I should/should not use it. Can anyone offer me a very simple and clear ...
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388 views
Salts, how does the script know what the salt is?
I am new to PHP programming and trying to grasp the idea of hashing and encryption for protecting passwords, credit card details and such. I've done a lot of reading about MD5 which I think I ...
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317 views
Proving knowledge of a preimage of a hash without disclosing it?
We consider a public hash function $H$, assumed collision-resistant and preimage-resistant (for both first and second preimage), similar in construction to SHA-1 or SHA-256.
Alice discloses a value ...
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Use of salt to hash a password
In a few implementations of hashed passwords, I have seen that the length of the random salt is chosen to be, say, 10 or "some constant". Is there any specific reason why the salt is chosen to have a ...
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Is SHA-256 secure as a CTR block cipher?
Generate a 256-bit random nonce. XOR it with a 256-bit reusable symmetric key. This is x.
We represent numbers in simple binary instead of a counting function. ...
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273 views
Compressing EC private keys
For reasonable security, EC private keys are typically 256-bits. Shorter EC private keys are not sufficiently secure. However, shorter symmetric keys (128-bits, for example) are comparably secure.
I ...
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142 views
Does the position of the salt improve its effectiveness when hashing?
Seems most documentation I have read suggests the salt should prefix the value to be hashed. Is this just for consistency, or is the salt more effective when prefixed?
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407 views
Counter mode secure hash algorithm
Ever since the SHA-3 competition, I've been wondering if it is possible to create a hash algorithm that is easier to parallelize. The current algorithms all seem to require building a tree of hashes. ...
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220 views
Verifying the integrity of ciphertext using the cleartext hash?
I want to be able to verify the integrity of a ciphertext by providing the cleartext hash, for this to work it would need to:
$$hash(crypt(cleartext)) = f(hash(cleartext))$$
Where $f$ is an ...
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305 views
Creating a hash of XOR'd blocks
Suppose a message $m$ is divided into blocks of length $160$ bits: $m
> = M_1 || M_2 || ... || M_l$ And define $h(m) = M_1 \oplus M_2 \oplus ... \oplus M_l$
Which of the three desirable ...
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Malleability of ElGamal and Hashed ElGamal
Question: Suppose A encrypts a number $x$ which indicates her bid on a contract, using ElGamal encryption. Say that the encryption of $x$ produces a ciphertext $c$. Explain how E can modify $c$ to ...
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How to control the output of a hash function to output to specific data according to similarity?
I do not know if the question lies exactly in that field but i'll give it a try unless rejection.
I want to study methods of applying LSH functions to feet in a specific area of digest values. Briefly ...
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2k views
Are there two known strings which have the same MD5 hash value?
Is there an example of two known strings which have the same hash (MD5) value, i.e. an MD5 collision?
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546 views
Why does the padding in MD5 contain the message length?
I understand the need for padding in MD5. But why do we append the message length to the padding?
I heard it strengthens the hash but how?
Please provide an example if possible and how it applies to ...
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301 views
How many possible combinations of input files are possible using a 63-bit length?
I'm trying to calculate how many possible combinations of files there can be using a signed 64-bit file length, but can't seem to find a formula (or I'm using the wrong keywords). For example, the ...
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610 views
Is HMAC-DRBG or Hash-DRBG stronger?
Out of the two deterministic random bit generators defined in section 10.1 of NIST SP 800-90 (i.e. based on hash functions), which one is cryptographically stronger?
Hash-DRBG (Section 10.1.1)
...
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1answer
136 views
Is a using salt important when creating a hash data validator?
I am creating a service that will return an set of objects, which will be used by multiple systems. At the end of the process, one (or more) of the objects will be sent back to our system for ...
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1answer
291 views
Hash or encryption function for challenge-response protocol?
Say I have an authentication protocol where the shared secret is never transmitted. The server passes a challenge to the client and the client calculates a response using an algorithm where the ...
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621 views
How can I create a fixed length output in my hash function?
I've been recently looking into the creation (and theory) of hash functions, however I just can't figure out how to turn a message into something of a fixed length.
At the moment, my theory of a hash ...
5
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1answer
311 views
What is the proper way to use a client nonce?
I've implemented an API for one of my clients, it relies on nonces and a shared secret. The structure:
Client's Site (CS) requests nonce from My App (MA), posting their username
MA verifies the ...
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314 views
Is H(k||length||x) a secure MAC construction?
If $H$ is a typical secure hash function, then $(k,x) \mapsto H(k \mid\mid x)$ is not a secure MAC construction, because given a known plaintext $x_1$ and its MAC $m_1$, an attacker can extend $k ...
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What is pre-image resistance, and how can the lack thereof be exploited?
What is preimage resistance, and how can the lack thereof be exploited?
How is this different from collision resistance?
Are there any known preimage attacks that would be considered feasible?
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314 views
What is a hard-core predicate?
I read this article on Wikipedia: Hard-core predicate.
Still I don't understand what exactly is a hard-core predicate. Is it possible to put this in simple English terminology, and perhaps with a ...
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Why would you expect to find a collision in a hash function after approximately $\sqrt{n}$ hashes?
I can't get an intuitive understanding of why it's $2^{(\frac{n}{2})}$ and not $2^n$, where $n$ is the number of bits of which the key consists.
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Why is H(k||x) not a secure MAC construction?
If H(m) is a secure hash function, can't we implement a MAC using H(k||m)?
However, it seems the more widely used MACs, such as NMAC and HMAC (both originally defined in Keying hash functions for ...
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How can rainbow tables be used for a dictionary attack?
I'm putting together a password policy for my company. I very much want to avoid requiring complex passwords, and would much rather require length.
The maximum length I can enforce is 14 characters. ...
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1answer
480 views
Why doesn't preimage resistance imply the second preimage resistance?
Let the preimage resistance be defined as »given a hash value $h$, it is hard to find any message $m$ such that $\operatorname{hash}(m)=h$«, and let the second preimage resistance be defined as »given ...
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Is there a hash function with 2048bit output?
Is there a publicly available cryptographic hashing algorithm with 2048 bit output?
The standard ones are "only" up to 512 bit (SHA-512, WHIRLPOOL).
(2048 bits are 256 bytes, so it would be useful ...
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2answers
249 views
Key Length & Hashing
I need to use a hash function to generate a 128-bit key for a symmetric cipher. The specific cipher is from the eStream portofolio, called Rabbit.
I am using the SRP protocol for authentication (a ...
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685 views
Strength of multiple hash iterations?
Is it correct that increasing the iteration possibly decreases the cipher strength but increases the amount of time it would take to find the original hash values if using brute-force on a given hash? ...
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RIPEMD versus SHA-x, what are the main pros and cons?
RIPEMD is a family of cryptographic hash functions, meaning it competes for roughly the same uses as MD5, SHA-1 & SHA-256 do. The Wikipedia page for RIPEMD seems to have some nice things to say ...
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How well does scrypt perform on different architectures / OSes?
The scrypt algorithm seems to be a prominent feature in the "CPU friendly" Bitcoin clones for the proof-of-labor part. I've heard claims that it's relatively slow on Windows and/or Intel compared to ...
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At the current time, is SHA256 the de facto standard for strong cryptographic hashes?
At the current time, is SHA256 the de facto standard for strong cryptographic hashes?
From what I am seeing of more sites utilizing it, I would suppose the answer to this is yes, but would like to ...
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930 views
What is wrong with using SHA1 in digital signatures? Why is a robust hash function needed?
For the purposes of signing and verifying signatures, what is the value of the hash function?
Why would it matter if SHA1 is later determined to be easy to break? Since a Public/Private key process ...
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A set of key pairs and one hash to secure them
I have a simple problem: I have a set of users' ECDSA key pairs, and say I want to encrypt them with a simple algorithm. I have access to one variable that uniquely identifies the user, so I hash it ...
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Is the last step of an iterated cryptographic hash still as resistant to preimage attacks as the original hash?
Considering a cryptographic hash, such as MD5 or SHA2, denoted by the function $H(m)$ where $m$ is an arbitrary binary string, there is a lot of material available that deals with potential weakness ...
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Hashing or encrypting twice to increase security?
Over on the bitcoin forums I asked why the bitcoin client computes SHA-256(SHA-256(x)) as its cryptographic hash for a variety of purposes. The leading theory--since the bitcoin author has ...
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3answers
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Is there a simple hash function that one can compute without a computer?
I am looking for a hash function that is computable by hand (in reasonable time). The function should be at least a little bit secure: There should be no trivial way to find a collision (by hand). For ...
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4answers
619 views
Webapp password storage: Salting a hash vs multiple hashes?
For security's sake, of course it's blasphemous to store passwords in plain-text; using a hash function and then doing a re-hash and comparison is considered much better.
But, if bad guys steal your ...
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521 views
Accelerating SHA-1
I have a program where computing SHA-1 is the bottleneck. This is using OpenSSL 1.0.0e on a 2.6Ghz 16-core Opteron where I get about 325MiB/s throughput. (SHA1 here is via Andy Polyakov's x86-64 ...
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Why use an Initialization Vector (IV)?
Why use an Initialization Vector (IV)?
How are IV's used?
What are the advantages/disadvantages of using an IV?
Why use an IV instead of a longer key in which some section of the key is pubic?
What ...
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1answer
202 views
How is the MJH double-block-length hash function constructed?
I'm looking for information on the MJH double-block-length hash function, but the best free source I could find is the diagram on page 18 of Efficient hashing using the AES Instruction Set (submitted ...
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5answers
482 views
How do I construct a 256-bit hash function from 128-bit AES?
I would like to generate a 256-bit hash on a microcontroller that has a 128-bit (only) AES engine. How can I construct a 256-bit hash function from a 128-bit cipher?
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Does MD5 generate 128 independent bits?
I heard that there are 128 stochastically independent bits in an MD5 output. Is that true?
If so, are there any citations or proofs for that?
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Looking for cryptographic secure hash algorithm(s) that produces identical root hash for differently sliced hash list
I have a scenario similar to the one described in Wikipedia: hash list, but with a twist. I'm looking for a cryptographically secure hash function that would create the same root hash for the same ...
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Is digest=HASH(HASH(a)+HASH(b)) equivalent to publishing two digests?
Is combining digests (created using a hash function) using arithmetic addition, and then hashing and publishing the result, less secure than publishing the set of digests?
Does the answer change if ...
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3answers
517 views
What security does Keccak offer against quantum attacks, specifically Grover's algorithm?
In the face of non-quantum attacker, Keccak[r=1088,c=512] with 512 bits of output provides:
Collision resistance up to $2^{256}$ operations
Preimage resistance up to $2^{256}$ operations
Second ...
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415 views
Is the number of creatable torrents limited?
Currently, a magnet link containing a 40-digits long SHA-hash value, is assigned to every torrent which is created. Therefore, this hash should be unique to identify a torrent and send the right bytes ...
