Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) in OpenPGP
RFC 6637

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Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                         A. Jivsov
Request for Comments: 6637                          Symantec Corporation
Category: Standards Track                                      June 2012
ISSN: 2070-1721

              Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) in OpenPGP

Abstract

   This document defines an Elliptic Curve Cryptography extension to the
   OpenPGP public key format and specifies three Elliptic Curves that
   enjoy broad support by other standards, including standards published
   by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology.  The
   document specifies the conventions for interoperability between
   compliant OpenPGP implementations that make use of this extension and
   these Elliptic Curves.

Status of This Memo

   This is an Internet Standards Track document.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
   received public review and has been approved for publication by the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Further information on
   Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 5741.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6637.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2012 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Jivsov                       Standards Track                    [Page 1]
RFC 6637                     ECC in OpenPGP                    June 2012

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ....................................................3
   2. Conventions used in This Document ...............................3
   3. Elliptic Curve Cryptography .....................................3
   4. Supported ECC Curves ............................................3
   5. Supported Public Key Algorithms .................................4
   6. Conversion Primitives ...........................................4
   7. Key Derivation Function .........................................5
   8. EC DH Algorithm (ECDH) ..........................................5
   9. Encoding of Public and Private Keys .............................8
   10. Message Encoding with Public Keys ..............................9
   11. ECC Curve OID .................................................10
   12. Compatibility Profiles ........................................10
      12.1. OpenPGP ECC Profile ......................................10
      12.2. Suite-B Profile ..........................................11
           12.2.1. Security Strength at 192 Bits .....................11
           12.2.2. Security Strength at 128 Bits .....................11
   13. Security Considerations .......................................12
   14. IANA Considerations ...........................................14
   15. References ....................................................14
      15.1. Normative References .....................................14
      15.2. Informative References ...................................15
   16. Contributors ..................................................15
   17. Acknowledgment ................................................15

Jivsov                       Standards Track                    [Page 2]
RFC 6637                     ECC in OpenPGP                    June 2012

1.  Introduction

   The OpenPGP protocol [RFC4880] supports RSA and DSA (Digital
   Signature Algorithm) public key formats.  This document defines the
   extension to incorporate support for public keys that are based on
   Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC).

2.  Conventions Used in This Document

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].  Any
   implementation that adheres to the format and methods specified in
   this document is called a compliant application.  Compliant
   applications are a subset of the broader set of OpenPGP applications
   described in [RFC4880].  Any [RFC2119] keyword within this document
   applies to compliant applications only.

3.  Elliptic Curve Cryptography

   This document establishes the minimum set of Elliptic Curve
   Cryptography (ECC) public key parameters and cryptographic methods