tor-parallel-relay-conn/doc/spec/proposals/ideas/xxx-what-uses-sha1.txt

Filename: xxx-what-uses-sha1.txt
Title: Where does Tor use SHA-1 today?
Version: $Revision$
Last-Modified: 1-May-2009
Authors: Nick Mathewson, Marian
Created: 30-Dec-2008
Status: Meta


Introduction:

   Tor uses SHA-1 as a message digest. SHA-1 is showing its age:
   theoretical attacks for finding collisions against it get better
   every year or two, and it will likely be broken in practice before
   too long.

   According to smart crypto people, the SHA-2 functions (SHA-256, etc)
   share too much of SHA-1's structure to be very good. RIPEMD-160 is 
   also based on flawed past hashes.  Some people think other hash 
   functions (e.g. Whirlpool and Tiger) are not as bad; most of these 
   have not seen enough analysis to be used yet. 

   Here is a 2006 paper about hash algorithms.
   http://www.sane.nl/sane2006/program/final-papers/R10.pdf

   (Todo: Ask smart crypto people.)

   By 2012, the NIST SHA-3 competition will be done, and with luck we'll
   have something good to switch too.  But it's probably a bad idea to
   wait until 2012 to figure out _how_ to migrate to a new hash
   function, for two reasons:
         1) It's not inconceivable we'll want to migrate in a hurry
            some time before then.
         2) It's likely that migrating to a new hash function will
            require protocol changes, and it's easiest to make protocol
            changes backward compatible if we lay the groundwork in
            advance.  It would suck to have to break compatibility with
            a big hard-to-test "flag day" protocol change.

   This document attempts to list everything Tor uses SHA-1 for today.
   This is the first step in getting all the design work done to switch
   to something else.

   This document SHOULD NOT be a clearinghouse of what to do about our
   use of SHA-1.  That's better left for other individual proposals.


Why now?

   The recent publication of "MD5 considered harmful today: Creating a
   rogue CA certificate" by Alexander Sotirov, Marc Stevens, Jacob
   Appelbaum, Arjen Lenstra, David Molnar, Dag Arne Osvik, and Benne de
   Weger has reminded me that:

       * You can't rely on theoretical attacks to stay theoretical.
       * It's quite unpleasant when theoretical attacks become practical
         and public on days you were planning to leave for vacation.
       * Broken hash functions (which SHA-1 is not quite yet AFAIU)
         should be dropped like hot potatoes.  Failure to do so can make
         one look silly.



What Tor uses hashes for today:

1. Infrastructure.

   A. Our X.509 certificates are signed with SHA-1.
   B. TLS uses SHA-1 (and MD5) internally to generate keys.
   C. Some of the TLS ciphersuites we allow use SHA-1.
   D. When we sign our code with GPG, it might be using SHA-1.
   E. Our GPG keys might be authenticated with SHA-1.
   F. OpenSSL's random number generator uses SHA-1, I believe.

2. The Tor protocol

   A. Everything we sign, we sign using SHA-1-based OAEP-MGF1.
   B. Our CREATE cell format uses SHA-1 for: OAEP padding.
   C. Our EXTEND cells use SHA-1 to hash the identity key of the
      target server.
   D. Our CREATED cells use SHA-1 to hash the derived key data.
   E. The data we use in CREATE_FAST cells to generate a key is the
      length of a SHA-1.
   F. The data we send back in a CREATED/CREATED_FAST cell is the length
      of a SHA-1.
   G. We use SHA-1 to derive our circuit keys from the negotiated g^xy value.
   H. We use SHA-1 to derive the digest field of each RELAY cell, but that's
      used more as a checksum than as a strong digest.

3. Directory services

   A. All signatures are generated on the SHA-1 of their corresponding
      documents, using PKCS1 padding.
      * In dir-spec.txt, section 1.3, it states, 
          "SIGNATURE" Object contains a signature (using the signing key) 
          of the PKCS1-padded digest of the entire document, taken from 
          the beginning of the Initial item, through the newline after 
          the Signature Item's keyword and its arguments."
        So our attacker, Malcom, could generate a collision for the hash 
        that is signed. Thus, a second pre-image attack is possible. 
        Vulnerable to regular collision attack only if key is stolen.
        If the key is stolen, Malcom could distribute two different 
        copies of the document which have the same hash. Maybe useful
        for a partitioning attack?
   B. Router descriptors identify their corresponding extra-info documents
      by their SHA-1 digest.
      * A third party might use a second pre-image attack to generate a 
        false extra-info document that has the same hash. The router 
        itself might use a regular collision attack to generate multiple 
        extra-info documents with the same hash, which might be useful 
        for a partitioning attack.
   C. Fingerprints in router descriptors are taken using SHA-1.
      * The fingerprint must match the public key. Not sure what would 
        happen if two routers had different public keys but the same 
        fingerprint. There could perhaps be unpredictable behaviour.
   D. In router descriptors, routers in the same "Family" may be listed 
      by server nicknames or hexdigests.
      * Does not seem critical.
   E. Fingerprints in authority certs are taken using SHA-1.
   F. Fingerprints in dir-source lines of votes and consensuses are taken
      using SHA-1.
   G. Networkstatuses refer to routers identity keys and descriptors by their
      SHA-1 digests.
   H. Directory-signature lines identify which key is doing the signing by
      the SHA-1 digests of the authority's signing key and its identity key.
   I. The following items are downloaded by the SHA-1 of their contents:
      XXXX list them
   J. The following items are downloaded by the SHA-1 of an identity key:
      XXXX list them too.

4. The rendezvous protocol

   A. Hidden servers use SHA-1 to establish introduction points on relays,
      and relays use SHA-1 to check incoming introduction point
      establishment requests.
   B. Hidden servers use SHA-1 in multiple places when generating hidden
      service descriptors.
   C. Hidden servers performing basic-type client authorization for their
      services use SHA-1 when encrypting introduction points contained in
      hidden service descriptors.
   D. Hidden service directories use SHA-1 to check whether a given hidden
      service descriptor may be published under a given descriptor
      identifier or not.
   E. Hidden servers use SHA-1 to derive .onion addresses of their
      services.
   F. Clients use SHA-1 to generate the current hidden service descriptor
      identifiers for a given .onion address.
   G. Hidden servers use SHA-1 to remember digests of the first parts of
      Diffie-Hellman handshakes contained in introduction requests in order
      to detect replays.
   H. Hidden servers use SHA-1 during the Diffie-Hellman key exchange with
      a connecting client.

5. The bridge protocol

   XXXX write me

6. The Tor user interface

   A. We log information about servers based on SHA-1 hashes of their
      identity keys.
   B. The controller identifies servers based on SHA-1 hashes of their
      identity keys.
   C. Nearly all of our configuration options that list servers allow SHA-1
      hashes of their identity keys.
   E. The deprecated .exit notation uses SHA-1 hashes of identity keys