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Diffstat (limited to 'docs/hazmat/primitives/key-derivation-functions.rst')
| -rw-r--r-- | docs/hazmat/primitives/key-derivation-functions.rst | 43 |
1 files changed, 31 insertions, 12 deletions
diff --git a/docs/hazmat/primitives/key-derivation-functions.rst b/docs/hazmat/primitives/key-derivation-functions.rst index c77b763a..529f4416 100644 --- a/docs/hazmat/primitives/key-derivation-functions.rst +++ b/docs/hazmat/primitives/key-derivation-functions.rst @@ -5,20 +5,36 @@ Key Derivation Functions .. currentmodule:: cryptography.hazmat.primitives.kdf -Key derivation functions derive key material from passwords or other data -sources using a pseudo-random function (PRF). Each KDF is suitable for -different tasks (cryptographic key derivation, password storage, -key stretching) so match your needs to their capabilities. +Key derivation functions derive bytes suitable for cryptographic operations +from passwords or other data sources using a pseudo-random function (PRF). +Different KDFs are suitable for different tasks such as: -.. class:: PBKDF2HMAC(algorithm, length, salt, iterations, backend): +* Cryptographic key derivation + + Deriving a key suitable for use as input to an encryption algorithm. + Typically this means taking a password and running it through an algorithm + such as :class:`~cryptography.hazmat.primitives.kdf.pbkdf2.PBKDF2HMAC` or HKDF. + This process is typically known as `key stretching`_. + +* Password storage + + When storing passwords you want to use an algorithm that is computationally + intensive. Legitimate users will only need to compute it once (for example, + taking the user's password, running it through the KDF, then comparing it + to the stored value), while attackers will need to do it billions of times. + Ideal password storage KDFs will be demanding on both computational and + memory resources. + +.. currentmodule:: cryptography.hazmat.primitives.kdf.pbkdf2 + +.. class:: PBKDF2HMAC(algorithm, length, salt, iterations, backend) .. versionadded:: 0.2 - PBKDF2 (Password Based Key Derivation Function 2) is typically used for + `PBKDF2`_ (Password Based Key Derivation Function 2) is typically used for deriving a cryptographic key from a password. It may also be used for - key storage, but other key storage KDFs such as `scrypt`_ or `bcrypt`_ - are generally considered better solutions since they are designed to be - slow. + key storage, but an alternate key storage KDF such as `scrypt`_ is generally + considered a better solution. This class conforms to the :class:`~cryptography.hazmat.primitives.interfaces.KeyDerivationFunction` @@ -59,7 +75,9 @@ key stretching) so match your needs to their capabilities. :param bytes salt: A salt. `NIST SP 800-132`_ recommends 128-bits or longer. :param int iterations: The number of iterations to perform of the hash - function. See OWASP's `Password Storage Cheat Sheet`_ for more + function. This can be used to control the length of time the operation + takes. Higher numbers help mitigate brute force attacks against derived + keys. See OWASP's `Password Storage Cheat Sheet`_ for more detailed recommendations if you intend to use this for password storage. :param backend: A :class:`~cryptography.hazmat.backends.interfaces.CipherBackend` @@ -69,7 +87,7 @@ key stretching) so match your needs to their capabilities. :param key_material bytes: The input key material. For PBKDF2 this should be a password. - :return: The new key. + :return bytes: the derived key. :raises cryptography.exceptions.AlreadyFinalized: This is raised when :meth:`derive` or :meth:`verify` is @@ -102,5 +120,6 @@ key stretching) so match your needs to their capabilities. .. _`NIST SP 800-132`: http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-132/nist-sp800-132.pdf .. _`Password Storage Cheat Sheet`: https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Password_Storage_Cheat_Sheet -.. _`bcrypt`: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bcrypt +.. _`PBKDF2`: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PBKDF2 .. _`scrypt`: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrypt +.. _`key stretching`: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_stretching |