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rand_ssl(3)							   rand_ssl(3)

NAME
       rand_ssl - Pseudo-random number generator

SYNOPSIS
       #include <openssl/rand.h>

       int RAND_bytes(
	       unsigned char *buf, int num ); int RAND_pseudo_bytes(
	       unsigned char *buf, int num ); void RAND_seed(
	       const void *buf, int num ); void RAND_add(
	       const void *buf, int num, int entropy ); int RAND_status(
	       void ); void RAND_screen(
	       void ); int RAND_load_file(
	       const char *file, long max_bytes ); int RAND_write_file(
	       const char *file ); const char *RAND_file_name(
	       char *file, size_t num ); int RAND_egd(
	       const char *path ); void RAND_set_rand_method(
	       RAND_METHOD *meth ); RAND_METHOD *RAND_get_rand_method(
	       void ); RAND_METHOD *RAND_SSLeay(
	       void ); void RAND_cleanup(
	       void );

DESCRIPTION
       These functions implement a cryptographically secure pseudo-random num‐
       ber generator (PRNG). It is used by other library functions, for	 exam‐
       ple,  to	 generate  random keys. Applications can use it when they need
       randomness.

       A cryptographic PRNG must be seeded with unpredictable  data,  such  as
       mouse  movements	 or  keys  pressed  at	random	by  the	 user. This is
       described in RAND_add(3).  Its state can be saved in a seed  file  (see
       RAND_load_file(3))  to  avoid  having to go through the seeding process
       whenever the application is started.

       For more information on how to obtain random data from  the  PRNG,  see
       RAND_bytes(3).

   Internals
       The  RAND_SSLeay()  method  implements  a PRNG based on a cryptographic
       hash function.

       The following description of its design is based on the SSLeay documen‐
       tation.	 A  good RNG includes the following components: A good hashing
       algorithm to mix things up and to convert the RNG state to random  num‐
       bers.   An  initial  source  of random state.  The state should be very
       large.  If the RNG is used to generate 4096 bit RSA keys, two  2048-bit
       random strings are required (at a minimum).  If your RNG state only has
       128 bits, you are limiting the search space to 128 bits, not 2048.   It
       should  be  easier to break a cipher than guess the RNG seed data.  Any
       RNG seed data should influence all subsequent random numbers generated.
       This  implies  that any random seed data entered will have an influence
       on all subsequent random numbers generated.  When using	data  to  seed
       the  RNG	 state, the data should not be extractable from the RNG state.
       We believe this should be a requirement because one possible source  of
       secret  semi-random  data  would	 be a private key or a password.  This
       data must not be disclosed by either subsequent	random	numbers	 or  a
       core  dump  left by a program crash.  Given the same initial state, two
       systems should deviate in their RNG state (and hence the random numbers
       generated)  over time if at all possible.  Given the random number out‐
       put stream, it should not be possible to determine the RNG state or the
       next random number.

       The algorithm is as follows.

       There  is  global  state	 made  up of a 1023 byte buffer (the state), a
       working hash value (md), and a counter (count).

       Whenever seed data is added, it is inserted into the state as follows:

       The input is divided into blocks of 20 bytes  (or  less	for  the  last
       block).	 Each  block is run through the hash function as follows:  The
       data passed to the hash function is the current md, the same number  of
       bytes from the state (the location determined by an incremented looping
       index) as the current block, the new key data block, and	 count	(which
       is  incremented	after  each use). The result of this is kept in md and
       also xored into the state at the same locations that were used as input
       into  the hash function. This system addresses points 1 (hash function;
       currently SHA-1), 3 (the state), 4 (via the md), and 5 (by the use of a
       hash function and xor).

       When  bytes  are extracted from the RNG, the following process is used.
       For each group of 10 bytes (or less), you do the following:

       Input into the hash function the local md (which	 is  initialized  from
       the global md before any bytes are generated), the bytes that are to be
       overwritten by the random bytes, and bytes from the state (incrementing
       looping index).	From this digest output (which is kept in md), the top
       (up to) 10 bytes are returned to the caller and the bottom 10 bytes are
       xored into the state.

       Finally, after you finish num random bytes for the caller, count (which
       is incremented) and the local and global md are fed into the hash func‐
       tion and the results are kept in the global md.

       I  believe  the	above addressed points 1 (use of SHA-1), 6 (by hashing
       into the 'state' the 'old' data from the caller that  is	 about	to  be
       overwritten)  and  7  (by not using the 10 bytes given to the caller to
       update the 'state', but they are used to update 'md').

       Of  the	points	raised,	 only  the  second  is	not   addressed	  (see
       RAND_add(3)).

SEE ALSO
       Functions:  BN_rand(3),	RAND_add(3),  RAND_load_file(3),  RAND_egd(3),
       RAND_bytes(3), RAND_set_rand_method(3), RAND_cleanup(3) rand(3)

								   rand_ssl(3)
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