openssl/doc/man3/RAND_add.pod
Rich Salz 8389ec4b49 Add --with-rand-seed
Add a new config param to specify how the CSPRNG should be seeded.
Illegal values or nonsensical combinations (e.g., anything other
than "os" on VMS or HP VOS etc) result in build failures.
Add RDSEED support.
Add RDTSC but leave it disabled for now pending more investigation.

Refactor and reorganization all seeding files (rand_unix/win/vms) so
that they are simpler.

Only require 128 bits of seeding material.

Many document improvements, including why to not use RAND_add() and the
limitations around using load_file/write_file.
Document RAND_poll().

Cleanup Windows RAND_poll and return correct status

More completely initialize the default DRBG.

Reviewed-by: Paul Dale <paul.dale@oracle.com>
(Merged from https://github.com/openssl/openssl/pull/3965)
2017-07-22 14:00:07 -04:00

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=pod
=head1 NAME
RAND_add, RAND_poll, RAND_seed, RAND_status, RAND_event, RAND_screen
- add randomness to the PRNG or get its status
=head1 SYNOPSIS
#include <openssl/rand.h>
int RAND_status(void);
int RAND_poll()
void RAND_add(const void *buf, int num, double randomness);
void RAND_seed(const void *buf, int num);
Deprecated:
#if OPENSSL_API_COMPAT < 0x10100000L
int RAND_event(UINT iMsg, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam);
void RAND_screen(void);
#endif
=head1 DESCRIPTION
Random numbers are a vital part of cryptography, including key generation,
creating salts, etc., and software-based
generators must be "seeded" with external randomness before they can be
used as a cryptographically-secure pseudo-random number generator (CSPRNG).
The availability of common hardware with special instructions and
modern operating systems, which may use items such as interrupt jitter
and network packet timings, can be reasonable sources of seeding material.
RAND_status() indicates whether or not the CSPRNG has been sufficiently
seeded. If not, functions such as RAND_bytes(3) will fail.
RAND_poll() uses the current capabilities to seed the CSPRNG. The
exact features used depends on how OpenSSL was configured, and can
be displayed with the OpenSSL L<version(1)> command. This function is
normally called automatically during OpenSSL initialization, but
can be called by the application to reseed the CSPRNG.
RAND_add() mixes the B<num> bytes at B<buf> into the PRNG state.
The B<randomness> argument is an estimate of how much randomness is
contained in
B<buf>, in bytes, and should be a number between zero and B<num>.
Details about sources of randomness and how to estimate their randomness
can be found in the literature; for example NIST SP 800-90B.
The content of B<buf> cannot be recovered from subsequent CSPRNG output.
This function will not normally be needed, as RAND_poll() should have been
configured to do the appropriate seeding for the local platform.
Applications that need to keep random state in an external file should
use L<RAND_load_file(3)>.
RAND_seed() is equivalent to RAND_add() with B<randomness> set to B<num>.
RAND_event() and RAND_screen() are equivalent to RAND_poll().
=head1 RETURN VALUES
RAND_status() returns 1 if the CSPRNG has been seeded
with enough data, 0 otherwise.
RAND_poll() returns 1 if it generated seed data, 0 otherwise.
RAND_event() returns RAND_status().
The other functions do not return values.
=head1 HISTORY
RAND_event() and RAND_screen() were deprecated in OpenSSL 1.1.0 and should
not be used.
=head1 SEE ALSO
L<RAND_bytes(3)>, L<RAND_egd(3)>,
L<RAND_load_file(3)>
=head1 COPYRIGHT
Copyright 2000-2017 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
Licensed under the OpenSSL license (the "License"). You may not use
this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy
in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at
L<https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.
=cut