# Do the session keys have the same value on both sides during TLS?

I have two questions about the sessions keys generated during the last steps of the Handshake phase:

1. Do the "client write key" and the "server write key" have the same value, even though both keys are generated independently on both sides?

2. (Same question) Do the "client write MAC key" and the "server write MAC key" have also the same value?

General question: Do the client and server arrive at the same results while generating the session keys?

• Does this answer your question? What is the purpose of four different secrets shared by client and server in SSL/TLS?. In short: they are different parts of the common key_block and thus they are different. Aug 15 '20 at 14:37
• If client write key is different from the server write key, then why is it called a symmetric encryption? In symmetric encryption both sides should use the same key Aug 15 '20 at 14:48
• Yeah, see final section of the answer, I was expecting this confusion :) Aug 15 '20 at 14:50

Do the "client write key" and the "server write key" have the same value, even though both keys are generated independently on both sides?