I have heard that to combine two keys HKDF is better than using XOR function. But if you look at the HKDF RFC I could not figure out how to use it for concatenating two keys. What I can see is HKDF can be used to derive a key from another key. So I want to know how to use HKDF to concatenate two keys.
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2 Answers
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If you have two keys of constant length, using HKDF is rather pointless.
You can simply combine them using a hash function like SHA-2:
$$combined\_key = \text{SHA-2}(k_1 || k_2)$$
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1$\begingroup$ In CSE I have seen HKDF is recommended to use for key concatenation because it preserves the entropy unlike in a XOR function. crypto.stackexchange.com/questions/11405/…>. So why you are saying HKDF is pointless. Please enlighten me. I want the finale key to be as random as possible. Thats why I am using HKDF to concatenation without using HASH alto or a XOR function. $\endgroup$ Dec 20, 2013 at 7:16
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1$\begingroup$ @user10988 In your scenario HKDF basically comes down to a HMAC-SHA-256 call. HMAC has no advantage compared to SHA in this scenario, because the input is of constant length, so you might as well hash. $\endgroup$– orlpDec 20, 2013 at 7:32
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$\begingroup$ Thank you for explanation. One more question.Will using a hash function be better than use XOR the two keys(Considering the entropy)? $\endgroup$ Dec 20, 2013 at 7:52
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2$\begingroup$ @user10988 Hashing is better than xor-ing, for the same reason that HKDF is better than xor-ing. HKDF with a constant salt is a hash. $\endgroup$ Dec 20, 2013 at 9:00
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Forgive me for sounding condescending – that’s not the intent – but to “concatenate 2 keys” you use “concatenation” operation. Not XOR, HKDF, HASH/SHA-2, etc. The only proper way of concatenating an n-bit Key1 and m-bit Key2 - without entropy loss - is to concatenate them.
