EVP_RAND-HASH-DRBG(7ssl)

EVP_RAND-HASH-DRBG7ssl

The hash drbg evp_rand implementation

Overview

Support for the hash deterministic random bit generator through the EVP_RAND API.

Identity

"HASH-DRBG" is the name for this implementation; it can be used with the EVP_RAND_fetch() function.

Supported parameters

The supported parameters are:

"state" (OSSL_RAND_PARAM_STATE) <integer>
"strength" (OSSL_RAND_PARAM_STRENGTH) <unsigned integer>
"max_request" (OSSL_RAND_PARAM_MAX_REQUEST) <unsigned integer>
"reseed_requests" (OSSL_DRBG_PARAM_RESEED_REQUESTS) <unsigned integer>
"reseed_time_interval" (OSSL_DRBG_PARAM_RESEED_TIME_INTERVAL) <integer>
"min_entropylen" (OSSL_DRBG_PARAM_MIN_ENTROPYLEN) <unsigned integer>
"max_entropylen" (OSSL_DRBG_PARAM_MAX_ENTROPYLEN) <unsigned integer>
"min_noncelen" (OSSL_DRBG_PARAM_MIN_NONCELEN) <unsigned integer>
"max_noncelen" (OSSL_DRBG_PARAM_MAX_NONCELEN) <unsigned integer>
"max_perslen" (OSSL_DRBG_PARAM_MAX_PERSLEN) <unsigned integer>
"max_adinlen" (OSSL_DRBG_PARAM_MAX_ADINLEN) <unsigned integer>
"reseed_counter" (OSSL_DRBG_PARAM_RESEED_COUNTER) <unsigned integer>
"properties" (OSSL_DRBG_PARAM_PROPERTIES) <UTF8 string>
"digest" (OSSL_DRBG_PARAM_DIGEST) <UTF8 string>

These parameters work as described in "PARAMETERS" in EVP_RAND(3).

"fips-indicator" (OSSL_DRBG_PARAM_FIPS_APPROVED_INDICATOR) <integer>
"digest-check" (OSSL_DRBG_PARAM_FIPS_DIGEST_CHECK) <integer>

These parameters work as described in "PARAMETERS" in provider-rand(7).

Notes

When the FIPS provider is installed using the -no_drbg_truncated_digests option to fipsinstall, only these digests are permitted (as per FIPS 140-3 IG D.R <https://csrc.nist.gov/CSRC/media/Projects/cryptographic-module-validation-program/documents/fips%20140-3/FIPS%20140-3%20IG.pdf>):

The default HASH-DRBG implementation attempts to fetch the required internal algorithms from the provider they are built into (eg the default provider) regardless of the properties provided. Should the provider not implement the required algorithms then properties will be used to find a different implementation.

SHA-1
SHA2-256
SHA2-512
SHA3-256
SHA3-512

A context for HASH DRBG can be obtained by calling:

 EVP_RAND *rand = EVP_RAND_fetch(NULL, "HASH-DRBG", NULL);
 EVP_RAND_CTX *rctx = EVP_RAND_CTX_new(rand, NULL);

Examples

 EVP_RAND *rand;
 EVP_RAND_CTX *rctx;
 unsigned char bytes[100];
 OSSL_PARAM params[2], *p = params;
 unsigned int strength = 128;
 rand = EVP_RAND_fetch(NULL, "HASH-DRBG", NULL);
 rctx = EVP_RAND_CTX_new(rand, NULL);
 EVP_RAND_free(rand);
 *p++ = OSSL_PARAM_construct_utf8_string(OSSL_DRBG_PARAM_DIGEST, SN_sha512, 0);
 *p = OSSL_PARAM_construct_end();
 EVP_RAND_instantiate(rctx, strength, 0, NULL, 0, params);
 EVP_RAND_generate(rctx, bytes, sizeof(bytes), strength, 0, NULL, 0);
 EVP_RAND_CTX_free(rctx);

Releases

3 releases since Debian 12 (Bookworm); the text changed 2 times.

  1. 12
  2. 13
  3. Arch

Conforming to

NIST SP 800-90A and SP 800-90B

History

OpenSSL 3.1.1 introduced the -no_drbg_truncated_digests option to fipsinstall which restricts the permitted digests when using the FIPS provider in a complaint manner. For details refer to FIPS 140-3 IG D.R <https://csrc.nist.gov/CSRC/media/Projects/cryptographic-module-validation-program/documents/fips%20140-3/FIPS%20140-3%20IG.pdf>.

From openssl 3.6.5-1 in Arch Linux 2026-11-01. Parsed by carta from the page's man source.