Re: [TLS] Poly1305 vs GCM

Ilari Liusvaara <ilariliusvaara@welho.com> Thu, 17 December 2015 19:27 UTC

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Date: Thu, 17 Dec 2015 21:27:20 +0200
From: Ilari Liusvaara <ilariliusvaara@welho.com>
To: James Cloos <cloos@jhcloos.com>
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Subject: Re: [TLS] Poly1305 vs GCM
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On Thu, Dec 17, 2015 at 02:14:18PM -0500, James Cloos wrote:
> Given the issues w/ gcm currently under discussion, and that poly1305
> was originally proposed to use w/ aes, should tls recommend aes-poly1305
> instead of aes-gcm for those who want to continue to use aes?
> 
> Or does chacha-poly1305 not fall victim to the 2^36 attack not because
> of the aead but rather because of chacha?

AFAIK, there are two possible reasons for the difference (one or both
may contribute):

- Chacha20 is PRF(unction), AES is PRP(ermutation).
- Chacha20-Poly1305 has per-packet r and s, AES-Poly1305 and AES-GCM
  only has per-packet s and per-key r (as originally proposed).


-Ilari