I have read and (believe) I understand the basics of key exchange / creation over a public channel of communication from this diagram Diffie–Hellman key exchange.

Now, a fair bit of the online documentation states what has been produced by this process is a "shared secret" not a "shared secret key", nor any references to keys. The documentation does indicate what has been produced can be used as a (shared private?) key. But is the "shared secret" ever used for anything other than a key - I can't think what, but that's why I am asking the question. It was just the term "shared secret" without reference to "key" that prompts this question.

Thanks.

Edit: This has been answered (but I can't find a way to indicate that on this post), so see comments below and : How to encrypt a symmetric key with a shared secret?

I have read and (believe) I understand the basics of key exchange / creation over a public channel of communication from this diagram Diffie–Hellman key exchange.

Now, a fair bit of the online documentation states what has been produced by this process is a "shared secret" not a "shared secret key", nor any references to keys. The documentation does indicate what has been produced can be used as a (shared private?) key. But is the "shared secret" ever used for anything other than a key - I can't think what, but that's why I am asking the question. It was just the term "shared secret" without reference to "key" that prompts this question.

Edit:

This has been answered (but I can't find a way to indicate that on this post), so see comments below and : How to encrypt a symmetric key with a shared secret?

I have read and (believe) I understand the basics of key exchange / creation over a public channel of communication from this diagram Diffie–Hellman key exchange.

Now, a fair bit of the online documentation states what has been produced by this process is a "shared secret" not a "shared secret key", nor any references to keys. The documentation does indicate what has been produced can be used as a (shared private?) key. But is the "shared secret" ever used for anything other than a key - I can't think what, but that's why I am asking the question. It was just the term "shared secret" without reference to "key" that prompts this question.

Thanks.

I have read and (believe) I understand the basics of key exchange / creation over a public channel of communication from this diagram Diffie–Hellman key exchange.

Now, a fair bit of the online documentation states what has been produced by this process is a "shared secret" not a "shared secret key", nor any references to keys. The documentation does indicate what has been produced can be used as a (shared private?) key. But is the "shared secret" ever used for anything other than a key - I can't think what, but that's why I am asking the question. It was just the term "shared secret" without reference to "key" that prompts this question.

Thanks.

Edit: This has been answered (but I can't find a way to indicate that on this post), so see comments below and : How to encrypt a symmetric key with a shared secret?