[openssl-dev] [openssl.org #3897] request: add BLAKE2 hash function (let's kill md5sum!)

[Zooko Wilcox-OHearn via RT]

Dear OpenSSL folks:

I'm one of the authors of the BLAKE2 hash function
(https://blake2.net). I've been working with the maintainers of GNU
coreutils to make a tool named "b2sum", which I hope will eventually
replace md5sum.

md5sum is the most widely-used tool in the world for data integrity
but, as you know, MD5 is weak in ways that could endanger the users of
md5sum, depending on how they use it. I want to see md5sum phased out
entirely in our lifetimes!

BLAKE2 is a secure hash function, while being faster than MD5 (at
least on 64-bit CPUs). BLAKE2 is being used in new software projects
(https://blake2.net/#us) and there is recently an Internet Draft to
specify it (https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-saarinen-blake2/?include_text=1).

One of the coreutils maintainers suggested that we should ask OpenSSL
to add BLAKE2, because coreutils itself will probably just use a
portable C implementation, but it would use an optimized
implementation if openssl provided it. Here's that thread:
http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/coreutils/2015-06/msg00011.html

We, the BLAKE2 maintainers, offer both reference C code and optimized
implementations: https://blake2.net/#dl . There are also other
implementations with various virtues available: https://blake2.net/#sw

Here's my blog post extolling the virtues of BLAKE2 as a
high-performance hash function:

https://leastauthority.com/blog/BLAKE2-harder-better-faster-stronger-than-MD5.html

Regards,

Zooko

_______________________________________________
openssl-bugs-mod mailing list
openssl-bugs-mod at openssl.org
https://mta.openssl.org/mailman/listinfo/openssl-bugs-mod