Vote proposal: Private keys can exist independently of public keys

[Dr Paul Dale]

Would it be feasible to change code that does ->pub_key to call a function that null checks the field and generates the public key if it is absent?


Pauli
-- 
Dr Paul Dale | Distinguished Architect | Cryptographic Foundations 
Phone +61 7 3031 7217
Oracle Australia




> On 7 Oct 2020, at 9:29 pm, Matt Caswell <matt at openssl.org> wrote:
> 
> Issue #12612 exposes a problem with how we handle keys that contain
> private components but not public components.
> 
> There is a widespread assumption in the code that keys with private
> components must have public components. There is text in our public
> documentation that states this (and that text dates back to 2006).
> 
> OTOH, the code has not always enforced this. Issue #12612 describes a
> scenario where this has not historically been enforced, and it now is in
> the current 3.0 code causing a regression.
> 
> There are differences of opinion on how this should be handled. Some
> have the opinion that we should change the model so that we explicitly
> allow private keys to exists without the public components. Others feel
> that we should continue with the old model.
> 
> It seems we need a vote to decide this. Here is my proposed vote text:
> 
> We should change the 3.0 code to explicitly allow private components to
> exist in keys without the public components also being present.
> 
> Feedback please on the proposed vote text.
> 
> Matt

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