Digest::SHA - Perl extension for SHA-1/224/256/384/512

In programs:

                # Functional interface

        use Digest::SHA qw(sha1 sha1_hex sha1_base64 ...);

        $digest = sha1($data);
        $digest = sha1_hex($data);
        $digest = sha1_base64($data);

        $digest = sha256($data);
        $digest = sha384_hex($data);
        $digest = sha512_base64($data);

                # Object-oriented

        use Digest::SHA;

        $sha = Digest::SHA->new($alg);

        $sha->add($data);               # feed data into stream
        $sha->addfile(*F);
        $sha->add_bits($bits);
        $sha->add_bits($data, $nbits);

        $sha_copy = $sha->clone;        # if needed, make copy of
        $sha->dump($file);              #       current digest state,
        $sha->load($file);              #       or save it on disk

        $digest = $sha->digest;         # compute digest
        $digest = $sha->hexdigest;
        $digest = $sha->b64digest;

From the command line:

        $ shasum files

        $ shasum --help

                # Functional interface only

        use Digest::SHA qw(hmac_sha1 hmac_sha1_hex ...);

        $digest = hmac_sha1($data, $key);
        $digest = hmac_sha224_hex($data, $key);
        $digest = hmac_sha256_base64($data, $key);

Digest::SHA is a complete implementation of the NIST Secure Hash Standard. It gives Perl programmers a convenient way to calculate SHA-1, SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384, and SHA-512 message digests. The module can handle all types of input, including partial-byte data.

Digest::SHA is written in C for speed. If your platform lacks a C compiler, you can install the functionally equivalent (but much slower) Digest::SHA::PurePerl module.

The programming interface is easy to use: it's the same one found in CPAN's Digest module. So, if your applications currently use Digest::MD5 and you'd prefer the stronger security of SHA, it's a simple matter to convert them.

The interface provides two ways to calculate digests: all-at-once, or in stages. To illustrate, the following short program computes the SHA-256 digest of hello world using each approach:

        use Digest::SHA qw(sha256_hex);

        $data = "hello world";
        @frags = split(//, $data);

        # all-at-once (Functional style)
        $digest1 = sha256_hex($data);

        # in-stages (OOP style)
        $state = Digest::SHA->new(2);
        for (@frags) { $state->add($_) }
        $digest2 = $state->hexdigest;

        print $digest1 eq $digest2 ?
                "whew!\n" : "oops!\n";

To calculate the digest of an n-bit message where n is not a multiple of 8, use the add_bits() method. For example, consider the 446-bit message consisting of the bit-string 110 repeated 148 times, followed by 11. Here's how to display its SHA-1 digest:

        use Digest::SHA;
        $bits = "110" x 148 . "11";
        $sha = Digest::SHA->new(1)->add_bits($bits);
        print $sha->hexdigest, "\n";

Note that for larger bit-strings, it's more efficient to use the two-argument version add_bits($data, CI$nbits), where $data is in the customary packed binary format used for Perl strings.

The module also lets you save intermediate SHA states to disk, or display them on standard output. The dump() method generates portable, human-readable text describing the current state of computation. You can subsequently retrieve the file with load() to resume where the calculation left off.

To see what a state description looks like, just run the following:

        use Digest::SHA;
        Digest::SHA->new->add("Shaw" x 1962)->dump;

As an added convenience, the Digest::SHA module offers routines to calculate keyed hashes using the HMAC-SHA-1/224/256/384/512 algorithms. These services exist in functional form only, and mimic the style and behavior of the sha(), sha_hex(), and sha_base64() functions.

        # Test vector from draft-ietf-ipsec-ciph-sha-256-01.txt

        use Digest::SHA qw(hmac_sha256_hex);
        print hmac_sha256_hex("Hi There", chr(0) x 32), "\n";

NIST was recently informed that researchers had discovered a way to break the current Federal Information Processing Standard SHA-1 algorithm, which has been in effect since 1994. The researchers have not yet published their complete results, so NIST has not confirmed these findings. However, the researchers are a reputable research team with expertise in this area.

Due to advances in computing power, NIST already planned to phase out SHA-1 in favor of the larger and stronger hash functions (SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384 and SHA-512) by 2010. New developments should use the larger and stronger hash functions.

ref. <http://www.csrc.nist.gov/pki/HashWorkshop/NIST%20Statement/Burr_Mar2005.html>

None by default.

Provided your C compiler supports a 64-bit type (e.g. the long long of C99, or __int64 used by Microsoft C/), all of these functions will be available for use. Otherwise, you won't be able to perform the SHA-384 and SHA-512 transforms, both of which require 64-bit operations.

Functional style

sha1($data, ...)

sha224($data, ...)

sha256($data, ...)

sha384($data, ...)

sha512($data, ...)

Logically joins the arguments into a single string, and returns its SHA-1/224/256/384/512 digest encoded as a binary string.

sha1_hex($data, ...)

sha224_hex($data, ...)

sha256_hex($data, ...)

sha384_hex($data, ...)

sha512_hex($data, ...)

Logically joins the arguments into a single string, and returns its SHA-1/224/256/384/512 digest encoded as a hexadecimal string.

sha1_base64($data, ...)

sha224_base64($data, ...)

sha256_base64($data, ...)

sha384_base64($data, ...)

sha512_base64($data, ...)

Logically joins the arguments into a single string, and returns its SHA-1/224/256/384/512 digest encoded as a Base64 string.

OOP style

new($alg)

Returns a new Digest::SHA object. Allowed values for $alg are 1, 224, 256, 384, or 512. It's also possible to use common string representations of the algorithm (e.g. sha256, SHA-384). If the argument is missing, SHA-1 will be used by default. Invoking new as an instance method will not create a new object; instead, it will simply reset the object to the initial state associated with $alg. If the argument is missing, the object will continue using the same algorithm that was selected at creation.

reset($alg)

This method has exactly the same effect as new($alg). In fact, reset is just an alias for new.

hashsize

Returns the number of digest bits for this object. The values are 160, 224, 256, 384, and 512 for SHA-1, SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384, and SHA-512, respectively.

algorithm

Returns the digest algorithm for this object. The values are 1, 224, 256, 384, and 512 for SHA-1, SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384, and SHA-512, respectively.

clone

Returns a duplicate copy of the object.

add($data, ...)

Logically joins the arguments into a single string, and uses it to update the current digest state. In other words, the following statements have the same effect:

        $sha->add("a"); $sha->add("b"); $sha->add("c");
        $sha->add("a")->add("b")->add("c");
        $sha->add("a", "b", "c");
        $sha->add("abc");

The return value is the updated object itself.

add_bits($bits)

Updates the current digest state by appending bits to it. The return value is the updated object itself. The first form causes the most-significant $nbits of $data to be appended to the stream. The $data argument is in the customary binary format used for Perl strings. The second form takes an ASCII string of 0 and 1 characters as its argument. It's equivalent to

        $sha->add_bits(pack("B*", $bits), length($bits));

So, the following two statements do the same thing:

        $sha->add_bits("111100001010");
        $sha->add_bits("\xF0\xA0", 12);

addfile(*FILE)

Reads from FILE until EOF, and appends that data to the current state. The return value is the updated object itself. This method is inherited if Digest::base is installed on your system. Otherwise, a functionally equivalent substitute is used.

dump($filename)

Provides persistent storage of intermediate SHA states by writing a portable, human-readable representation of the current state to $filename. If the argument is missing, or equal to the empty string, the state information will be written to STDOUT.

load($filename)

Returns a Digest::SHA object representing the intermediate SHA state that was previously dumped to $filename. If called as a class method, a new object is created; if called as an instance method, the object is reset to the state contained in $filename. If the argument is missing, or equal to the empty string, the state information will be read from STDIN.

digest

Returns the digest encoded as a binary string. Note that the digest method is a read-once operation. Once it has been performed, the Digest::SHA object is automatically reset in preparation for calculating another digest value. Call $sha->clone->digest if it's necessary to preserve the original digest state.

hexdigest

Returns the digest encoded as a hexadecimal string. Like digest, this method is a read-once operation. Call $sha->clone->hexdigest if it's necessary to preserve the original digest state. This method is inherited if Digest::base is installed on your system. Otherwise, a functionally equivalent substitute is used.

b64digest

Returns the digest encoded as a Base64 string. Like digest, this method is a read-once operation. Call $sha->clone->b64digest if it's necessary to preserve the original digest state. This method is inherited if Digest::base is installed on your system. Otherwise, a functionally equivalent substitute is used.

HMAC-SHA-1/224/256/384/512 Returns the HMAC-SHA-1/224/256/384/512 digest of $data/$key, with the result encoded as a binary string. Multiple $data arguments are allowed, provided that $key is the last argument in the list. Returns the HMAC-SHA-1/224/256/384/512 digest of $data/$key, with the result encoded as a hexadecimal string. Multiple $data arguments are allowed, provided that $key is the last argument in the list. Returns the HMAC-SHA-1/224/256/384/512 digest of $data/$key, with the result encoded as a Base64 string. Multiple $data arguments are allowed, provided that $key is the last argument in the list.

Digest, Digest::SHA::PurePerl

The Secure Hash Standard (FIPS PUB 180-2) can be found at:

<http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips180-2/fips180-2withchangenotice.pdf>

The Keyed-Hash Message Authentication Code (HMAC):

<http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips198/fips-198a.pdf>

        Mark Shelor     <mshelor@cpan.org>

The author is particularly grateful to

        Gisle Aas
        Chris Carey
        Julius Duque
        Jeffrey Friedl
        Robert Gilmour
        Brian Gladman
        Andy Lester
        Alex Muntada
        Chris Skiscim
        Martin Thurn
        Gunnar Wolf
        Adam Woodbury

for their valuable comments and suggestions.

Copyright (C) 2003-2005 Mark Shelor

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

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