3. Functionality overview

This section provides a high-level overview of the functionality provided by the interface defined in this specification. Refer to the API definition for a detailed description, which begins with Library management reference.

Future additions describes features that might be included in future versions of this specification.

Due to the modularity of the interface, almost every part of the library is optional. The only mandatory function is psa_crypto_init().

3.1. Library management

Applications must call psa_crypto_init() to initialize the library before using any other function.

3.2. Key management

Applications always access keys indirectly via an identifier, and can perform operations using a key without accessing the key material. This allows keys to be non-extractable, where an application can use a key but is not permitted to obtain the key material. Non-extractable keys are bound to the device, can be rate-limited and can have their usage restricted by policies.

Each key has a set of attributes that describe the key and the policy for using the key. A psa_key_attributes_t object contains all of the attributes, which is used when creating a key and when querying key attributes.

The key attributes include:

• A type and size that describe the key material. See Key types.

• The key identifier that the application uses to refer to the key. See Key identifiers.

• A lifetime that determines when the key material is destroyed, and where it is stored. See Key lifetimes.

• A policy that determines how the key can be used. See Key policies.

Keys are created using one of the key creation functions:

• psa_import_key()

• psa_generate_key()

• psa_key_derivation_output_key()

• psa_key_agreement()

• psa_copy_key()

These output the key identifier, that is used to access the key in all other parts of the API.

All of the key attributes are set when the key is created and cannot be changed without destroying the key first. If the original key permits copying, then the application can specify a different lifetime or restricted policy for the copy of the key.

A call to psa_destroy_key() destroys the key material, and will cause any active operations that are using the key to fail. Therefore an application must not destroy a key while an operation using that key is in progress, unless the application is prepared to handle a failure of the operation.

3.2.1. Key types

Each cryptographic algorithm requires a key that has the right form, in terms of the size of the key material and its numerical properties. The key type and key size encode that information about a key, and determine whether the key is compatible with a cryptographic algorithm.

Additional non-cryptographic key types enable applications to store other secret values in the keystore.

See Key types.

3.2.2. Key identifiers

Key identifiers are integral values that act as permanent names for persistent keys, or as transient references to volatile keys. Key identifiers are defined by the application for persistent keys, and by the implementation for volatile keys and for built-in keys.

Key identifiers are output from a successful call to one of the key creation functions.

Valid key identifiers must have distinct values within the same application. If the implementation provides caller isolation, then key identifiers are local to each application.

See Key identifiers.

3.2.3. Key lifetimes

The lifetime of a key indicates where it is stored and which application and system actions will create and destroy it.

There are two main types of lifetimes: volatile and persistent.

Volatile keys are automatically destroyed when the application instance terminates or on a power reset of the device. Volatile key identifiers are allocated by the implementation when the key is created. Volatile keys can be explicitly destroyed with a call to psa_destroy_key().

Persistent keys are preserved until the application explicitly destroys them or until an implementation-specific device management event occurs, for example, a factory reset. The key identifier for a persistent key is set by the application when creating the key, and remains valid throughout the lifetime of the key, even if the application instance that created the key terminates.

See Key lifetimes.

3.2.4. Key policies

All keys have an associated policy that regulates which operations are permitted on the key. Each key policy is a set of usage flags and a specific algorithm that is permitted with the key. See Key policies.

3.2.5. Recommendations of minimum standards for key management

Most implementations provide the following functions:

• psa_import_key(). The exceptions are implementations that only give access to a key or keys that are provisioned by proprietary means, and do not allow the main application to use its own cryptographic material.

• psa_get_key_attributes() and the psa_get_key_xxx() accessor functions. They are easy to implement, and it is difficult to write applications and to diagnose issues without being able to check the metadata.

• psa_export_public_key(). This function is usually provided if the implementation supports any asymmetric algorithm, since public-key cryptography often requires the delivery of a public key that is associated with a protected private key.

• psa_export_key(). However, highly constrained implementations that are designed to work only with short-term keys, or only with long-term non-extractable keys, do not need to provide this function.

3.3. Symmetric cryptography

This specification defines interfaces for the following types of symmetric cryptographic operation:

• Message digests, commonly known as hash functions. See Message digests (Hashes).

• Message authentication codes (MAC). See Message authentication codes (MAC).

• Symmetric ciphers. See Unauthenticated ciphers.

• Authenticated encryption with associated data (AEAD). See Authenticated encryption with associated data (AEAD).

• Key derivation. See Key derivation.

For each type of symmetric cryptographic operation, the API can include:

• A pair of single-part functions. For example, compute and verify, or encrypt and decrypt.

• A series of functions that permit multi-part operations.

Key derivation only provides multi-part operation, to support the flexibility required by these type of algorithms.

3.3.1. Single-part Functions

Single-part functions are APIs that implement the cryptographic operation in a single function call. This is the easiest API to use when all of the inputs and outputs fit into the application memory.

Some use cases involve messages that are too large to be assembled in memory, or require non-default configuration of the algorithm. These use cases require the use of a multi-part operation.

3.3.2. Multi-part operations

Multi-part operations are APIs which split a single cryptographic operation into a sequence of separate steps. This enables fine control over the configuration of the cryptographic operation, and allows the message data to be processed in fragments instead of all at once. For example, the following situations require the use of a multi-part operation:

• Processing messages that cannot be assembled in memory.

• Using a deterministic IV for unauthenticated encryption.

• Providing the IV separately for unauthenticated encryption or decryption.

• Separating the AEAD authentication tag from the cipher text.

Each multi-part operation defines a specific object type to maintain the state of the operation. These types are implementation-defined.

All multi-part operations follow the same pattern of use, which is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 General state model for a multi-part operation

The typical sequence of actions with a multi-part operation is as follows:

1. Allocate: Allocate memory for an operation object of the appropriate type. The application can use any allocation strategy: stack, heap, static, etc.

2. Initialize: Initialize or assign the operation object by one of the following methods:

   • Set it to logical zero. This is automatic for static and global variables. Explicit initialization must use the associated PSA_xxx_INIT macro as the type is implementation-defined.

   • Set it to all-bits zero. This is automatic if the object was allocated with calloc().

   • Assign the value of the associated macro PSA_xxx_INIT.

   • Assign the result of calling the associated function psa_xxx_init().

   The resulting object is now inactive.

   It is an error to initialize an operation object that is in active or error states. This can leak memory or other resources.

3. Setup: Start a new multi-part operation on an inactive operation object. Each operation object will define one or more setup functions to start a specific operation.

   On success, a setup function will put an operation object into an active state. On failure, the operation object will remain inactive.

4. Update: Update an active operation object. The update function can provide additional parameters, supply data for processing or generate outputs.

   On success, the operation object remains active. On failure, the operation object will enter an error state.

5. Finish: To end the operation, call the applicable finishing function. This will take any final inputs, produce any final outputs, and then release any resources associated with the operation.

   On success, the operation object returns to the inactive state. On failure, the operation object will enter an error state.

6. Abort: An operation can be aborted at any stage during its use by calling the associated psa_xxx_abort() function. This will release any resources associated with the operation and return the operation object to the inactive state.

   Any error that occurs to an operation while it is in an active state will result in the operation entering an error state. The application must call the associated psa_xxx_abort() function to release the operation resources and return the object to the inactive state.

   psa_xxx_abort() can be called on an inactive operation, and this has no effect.

Once an operation object is returned to the inactive state, it can be reused by calling one of the applicable setup functions again.

If a multi-part operation object is not initialized before use, the behavior is undefined.

If a multi-part operation function determines that the operation object is not in any valid state, it can return PSA_ERROR_CORRUPTION_DETECTED.

If a multi-part operation function is called with an operation object in the wrong state, the function will return PSA_ERROR_BAD_STATE and the operation object will enter the error state.

It is safe to move a multi-part operation object to a different memory location, for example, using a bitwise copy, and then to use the object in the new location. For example, an application can allocate an operation object on the stack and return it, or the operation object can be allocated within memory managed by a garbage collector. However, this does not permit the following behaviors:

• Moving the object while a function is being called on the object. This is not safe. See also Concurrent calls.

• Working with both the original and the copied operation objects. This requires cloning the operation, which is only available for hash operations using psa_hash_clone().

Each type of multi-part operation can have multiple active states. Documentation for the specific operation describes the configuration and update functions, and any requirements about their usage and ordering.

3.3.3. Example of the symmetric cryptography API

Here is an example of a use case where a master key is used to generate both a message encryption key and an IV for the encryption, and the derived key and IV are then used to encrypt a message.

1. Derive the message encryption material from the master key.

   1. Initialize a psa_key_derivation_operation_t object to zero or to PSA_KEY_DERIVATION_OPERATION_INIT.

   2. Call psa_key_derivation_setup() with PSA_ALG_HKDF as the algorithm.

   3. Call psa_key_derivation_input_key() with the step PSA_KEY_DERIVATION_INPUT_SECRET and the master key.

   4. Call psa_key_derivation_input_bytes() with the step PSA_KEY_DERIVATION_INPUT_INFO and a public value that uniquely identifies the message.

   5. Populate a psa_key_attributes_t object with the derived message encryption key’s attributes.

   6. Call psa_key_derivation_output_key() to create the derived message key.

   7. Call psa_key_derivation_output_bytes() to generate the derived IV.

   8. Call psa_key_derivation_abort() to release the key derivation operation memory.

2. Encrypt the message with the derived material.

   1. Initialize a psa_cipher_operation_t object to zero or to PSA_CIPHER_OPERATION_INIT.

   2. Call psa_cipher_encrypt_setup() with the derived message encryption key.

   3. Call psa_cipher_set_iv() using the derived IV retrieved above.

   4. Call psa_cipher_update() one or more times to encrypt the message.

   5. Call psa_cipher_finish() at the end of the message.

3. Call psa_destroy_key() to clear the generated key.

3.4. Asymmetric cryptography

This specification defines interfaces for the following types of asymmetric cryptographic operation:

• Asymmetric encryption (also known as public key encryption). See Asymmetric encryption.

• Asymmetric signature. See Asymmetric signature.

• Two-way key agreement (also known as key establishment). See Key agreement.

For asymmetric encryption and signature, the API provides single-part functions. For key agreement, the API provides single-part functions and an additional input method for a key derivation operation.

3.5. Randomness and key generation

We strongly recommended that implementations include a random generator, consisting of a cryptographically secure pseudo-random generator (CSPRNG), which is adequately seeded with a cryptographic-quality hardware entropy source, commonly referred to as a true random number generator (TRNG). Constrained implementations can omit the random generation functionality if they do not implement any algorithm that requires randomness internally, and they do not provide a key generation functionality. For example, a special-purpose component for signature verification can omit this.

It is recommended that applications use psa_generate_key(), psa_cipher_generate_iv() or psa_aead_generate_nonce() to generate suitably-formatted random data, as applicable. In addition, the API includes a function psa_generate_random() to generate and extract arbitrary random data.