theupdateframework / theupdateframework/specification

Add new keytype-scheme for prehash ?

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Description

I was scrolling back throuh the TUF Slack recently and found an interesting discussion[1][2] related to using compute-constrained hardware tokens (e.g. Yubikeys) for signing.

TL;DR The discussion pointed out that there was a limitation, both in terms of processing power and in terms of input bytes as to how much a Yubikey would accept, e.g. it was stated that on YubiHSM it was limited to the size of one message to the YubiHSM, i.e. 2019 bytes.

It could therefore perhaps be useful in this context to formally enable support in the specification for pre-hash modes of signing, e.g. Ed25519ph and others.

There are other hardware keys out there, e.g. Tilitis TKey which by definition can support any algorithm, including Ed25519ph, but you would still be limited to the processing-power and perhaps input size too.

[1] https://cloud-native.slack.com/archives/C8NMD3QJ3/p1719216361044959
[2] https://cloud-native.slack.com/archives/C8NMD3QJ3/p1719229551933119

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with the proposed pre-hash signing modes in the issue and review the two linked TUF Slack discussions. Establish the specification changes, supported keytype schemes, and acceptance criteria before implementation; done should mean the proposal is resolved in the specification.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
cryptography
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
28/100

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