Verificatum Core Routines (VCR)

Overview

This package contains the core routines for Verificatum software. It is modular and well documented to allow easy use and verification. For comprehensive information and documentation we refer the reader to https://www.verificatum.org.

For improved efficiency, the most time critical parts can optionally be linked to routines in:

• The GNU MP library (GMP) and the GMP Modular Exponentiation Extension (GMPMEE) library, using Verificatum Multiplicative Group library for Java (VMGJ),

• The Verificatum Elliptic Curve library (VEC), using the Verificatum Elliptic Curve library for Java (VECJ), which is based on the GNU MP library (GMP).

The overhead for making native calls is very small in the context of modular exponentiations and scalar multiplications in elliptic curves. Thus, this makes VMN almost as fast as if it was implemented directly in C while keeping the simplicity of Java code for the protocol logic.

The following assumes that you are using a release. Developers should also read README_DEV.

Quick Start

Assuming that you did a standard installation of VMGJ and VECJ you can simply configure everything, build and install using the following snippet, but we strongly advice against this in real applications unless it has already been verified to be adequate on your platform and in your application.

    ./configure --enable-vmgj --enable-vecj
    make
    sudo make install
    vog -rndinit RandomDevice /dev/urandom

We configure the software to use /dev/urandom as the random source which may, or may not, be suitable on your platform. If the pure Java version is used, then the configure flags are simply dropped.

Building

1. You need to install Open JDK 10 (or later) and M4.

2. Please use

    ./configure
    make
   

   to build the software.

3. If you want to use native code for modular exponentiations etc, then you must install VMGJ and VECJ first. We refer to the installation instructions of these packages.

   Note that for security reasons the versions of these libraries must match those stipulated in configure.ac exactly and that it does not suffice to rename the jar files to pass the configuration tests.

   On most platforms the following will work directly

    ./configure --enable-vmgj --enable-vecj
   

   assuming that you installed VMGJ and VECJ in the standard way. It uses the commands vmgj-<VERSION>-path and vecj-<VERSION>-path to set the necessary environment variables unless the environment variables VMGJ_JAR and VMGJ_JAR are set.

   If this does not work, then you can set the environment variables LD_LIBRARY_PATH, VMGJ_JAR, and VECJ_JAR. For example:

    LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib
    VMGJ_JAR=/usr/local/share/java/verificatum-vmgj-<VERSION>.jar
    VECJ_JAR=/usr/local/share/java/verificatum-vecj-<VERSION>.jar
   

4. Optionally, you may run a few unit tests, by

    make check
   

   This takes some time, so please be patient.

Installing

WARNING! Please read the following instructions carefully. Failure to do so may result in a completely insecure installation.

1. Please use

    make install
   

   to install the software. You may need to be root or use sudo.

2. The tools in the library, e.g., vog, that require a source of randomness to function, uses the random source defined by two files that by default are named:

   $HOME/.verificatum_random_source
   
   $HOME/.verificatum_random_seed
   

   The first stores a description of a random device or a PRG and the second stores a random seed if a PRG is used.

   Here $HOME denotes the home directory of the current user. The command vog is a script that invokes the java interpreter on the class com.verificatum.ui.gen.GeneratorTool.

   You may override the location of these files by setting the environment variables:

   VERIFICATUM_RANDOM_SOURCE
   VERIFICATUM_RANDOM_SEED
   

   WARNING!

   If an adversary is able to write to any of these files, then the software provides no security at all.

   If an adversary is able to merely read from the second file, then the software provides no security at all, but the contents of the first file can safely be made public if it cannot be changed.

   If you use the environment variables, then you must make sure that nobody can modify them.

3. The above two files must be initialized using vog before any commands that require randomness are used. You can do this as follows.

   vog -rndinit RandomDevice <my device>
   Successfully initialized random source!
   

   If you wish to use a PRG instead, then you need to provide a seed as well, e.g., to use a provably secure PRG under the DDH assumption you could execute:

   vog -rndinit -seed seedfile PRGElGamal -fixed 2048
   Successfully initialized random source! Deleted seed file.
   

   The command replaces the seed file each time it is invoked to avoid accidental reuse.

   If you wish to change the random source you need to remove the files that store the random source and initialize it again with your new choice.

   WARNING!

   The provided seed file must contain bits that are indistinguishable from truly random bits. The seed bits must not be reused here or anywhere else.

   Failure to provide a proper seed file may result in a catastrophic privacy breach.

Usage

Comprehensive documentation ready for printing can be downloaded at https://www.verificatum.org.

API Documentation

You may use

    make api

to invoke Javadoc to build the API. The API is not installed anywhere. You can copy it to any location.

Reporting Bugs

Minor bugs should be reported in the repository system as issues or bugs. Security critical bugs, vulnerabilities, etc should be reported directly to the Verificatum Project. We will make best effort to disclose the information in a responsible way before the finder gets proper credit.