📝HKDF

tags: § Cryptography
RFC: RFC 5869 - HMAC-based Extract-and-Expand Key Derivation Function (HKDF)

HKDF is a key derivation function (KDF) that uses HMAC to generate new key material.

two main uses:

given a large source of weak entropy, condense it and provide a smaller source of stronger entropy. (e.g., generating an encryption key)
- Note that HKDF does not amplify entropy, but allows a larger source of weak entropy to be utilized more evenly.
given a small source of strong entropy, expand it and generate a large number of independent keys. This can be done on multiple devices independently and produce deterministic results. (e.g., producing multiple keys from a single key exchanged with diffie-hellman)

inputs:

salt (acts as a key)
IKM (input key material, possibly weak entropy) (IKM_A)
optional context string (IKM_B)

generates:

OKM (output key material of the given length)

Algorithm:

generate Pseudo-Random Key (PRK) with HMAC using salt as key, and IKM as data
use HMAC to repeatedly generate new blocks until enough length is generated
- for key, use PRK
- for data, use HMAC from previous iteration + optional context (IKM_B) + incrementing 8-bit counter

Example Python implementation:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import hashlib
import hmac
from math import ceil

hash_len = 32


def hmac_sha256(key, data):
    return hmac.new(key, data, hashlib.sha256).digest()


def hkdf(length: int, ikm, salt: bytes = b"", info: bytes = b"") -> bytes:
    if len(salt) == 0:
        salt = bytes([0] * hash_len)

    prk = hmac_sha256(salt, ikm)

    okm = b""
    t = b""
    for i in range(ceil(length / hash_len)):
        t = hmac_sha256(prk, t + info + bytes([1 + i]))
        okm += t
    return okm[:length]

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📝 § Cryptography