NAME

Crypt::RSA - RSA public-key cryptosystem.

VERSION

 $Revision: 1.23 $ (Beta)
 $Date: 2001/03/07 15:39:55 $

DESCRIPTION

Crypt::RSA is a pure-perl, cleanroom implementation of the RSA public-key cryptosystem, written atop the blazingly fast number theory library PARI. As far as possible, Crypt::RSA conforms with PKCS #1, RSA Cryptography Specifications v2.1[13].

This implementation is structured as a bundle of modules that provide key pair generation and management, plaintext-aware encryption and digital signatures with appendix. Crypt::RSA is a DWIM wrapper around the other modules in the bundle.

WARNINGS

This is beta, and largely untested, software. Please use at your own risk!

Due to lack of a suitable ASN.1 encoder in perl, ASN.1 encoded formats are not supported yet.

MODULES

As of this writing, Crypt::RSA is just a placeholder for the wrapper code, which will appear soon. In the meantime, please use the following modules directly:

Crypt::RSA::Key

RSA key pair generator.

Crypt::RSA::Key::Public

RSA Public Key Management.

Crypt::RSA::Key::Private

RSA Private Key Management.

Crypt::RSA::EME::OAEP

Plaintext-aware encryption with RSA.

Crypt::RSA::SSA::PSS

Probablistic Signature Scheme based on RSA.

ERROR HANDLING

All modules in the Crypt::RSA bundle use a common error handling method. When a method fails it returns a non-true value and sets $self->errstr to a string that explains the reason for the error. Private keys and plaintext representations passed to the method in question are wiped from memory.

AUTHOR

Vipul Ved Prakash, <mail@vipul.net>

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Ilya Zakharevich for answering even the goofiest of my questions regarding Math::Pari with unwavering paitence. Shizukesa on #perl for clueing me into the error handling method used in this module and a-mused for good advice.

LICENSE

Copyright (c) 1998-2001, Vipul Ved Prakash. All rights reserved. This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

SEE ALSO

Crypt::RSA::Primitives(3), Crypt::RSA::DataFormat(3), Crypt::RSA::Errorhandler(3), Crypt::RSA::Debug(3), Crypt::Primes(3), Crypt::Random(3), Crypt::CBC(3), Crypt::Blowfish(3), Tie::EncryptedHash(3), Math::Pari(3).

MAILING LIST

pac@lists.vipul.net is a mailing list for discussing development of asymmetric cryptography modules in perl. Please send Crypt::RSA related communications directly to the list address. Subscription interface for pac is at http://lists.vipul.net/mailman/listinfo/pac/

BIBLIOGRAPHY

(Chronologically sorted.)

1 R. Rivest, A. Shamir, L. Aldeman. A Method for Obtaining Digital Signatures and Public-Key Cryptosystems (1978).

2 U. Maurer. Fast Generation of Prime Numbers and Secure Public-Key Cryptographic Parameters (1994).

3 M. Bellare, P. Rogaway. Optimal Asymmetric Encryption - How to Encrypt with RSA (1995).

4 M. Bellare, P. Rogaway. The Exact Security of Digital Signatures - How to sign with RSA and Rabin (1996).

5 B. Schneier. Applied Cryptography, Second Edition (1996).

6 A. Menezes, P. Oorschot, S. Vanstone. Handbook of Applied Cryptography (1997).

7 D. Boneh. Twenty Years of Attacks on the RSA Cryptosystem (1998).

8 D. Bleichenbacher, M. Joye, J. Quisquater. A New and Optimal Chosen-message Attack on RSA-type Cryptosystems (1998).

9 B. Kaliski, J. Staddon. Recent Results on PKCS #1: RSA Encryption Standard, RSA Labs Bulletin Number 7 (1998).

10 B. Kaliski, J. Staddon. PKCS #1: RSA Cryptography Specifications v2.0, RFC 2437 (1998).

11 SSH Communications Security. SSH 1.2.7 source code (1998).

12 S. Simpson. PGP DH vs. RSA FAQ v1.5 (1999).

13 RSA Laboratories Draft I, PKCS #1 v2.1: RSA Cryptography Standard (1999).

14 E. Young, T. Hudson, OpenSSL Team. OpenSSL 0.9.5a source code (2000).