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crypto/ed25519: doc of Sign should warn not to prehash messages #36761

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gmichelo opened this issue Jan 25, 2020 · 1 comment
Open

crypto/ed25519: doc of Sign should warn not to prehash messages #36761

gmichelo opened this issue Jan 25, 2020 · 1 comment
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@gmichelo
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Typically, digital signature schemas require the user to first hash the payload and then sign it. Correct me if I am wrong, but this should be true for RSA, DSA and ECDSA.

If my understanding is right, ED25519 seems to be different: it already hashes the message in a way that the collision resistant property is guaranteed even when it becomes feasible to find a collision for SHA512. Thus, prehashing the input messages basically nullifies this collision resistant property of ED25519 itself. In fact, if a possible attacker can efficiently find a collision for the prehashed message, they would be able to carry out a forgery attack.

Also, according to RFC8032 section 8.7 , it would be better to mention to avoid signing large messages.

/cc @FiloSottile @katiehockman

@gopherbot
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Change https://golang.org/cl/216458 mentions this issue: crypto/ed25519: clarify doc of Sign and added package example

@cagedmantis cagedmantis added the NeedsFix The path to resolution is known, but the work has not been done. label Feb 3, 2020
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