Re: [PATCH v8 0/4] crypto: add algif_akcipher user space API

Am Sonntag, 13. August 2017, 10:52:00 CEST schrieb Gilad Ben-Yossef:

Hi Gilad,

While I don't have anything to contribute to the choice between
keyctl() vs ALG_IF as interfaces for asymmetric  cryptography, I would
like to point out that there is both interest and HW support for
private symmetric key operations as well, for example for storage
encryption via DM-Crypt and fscrypt, so I do hope (and will work on)
adding some sort of HW key support the crypto API, community
acceptance withstanding of course.

So I hope we won't treat the idea of crypto API lack of support for HW
keys as a long standing immutable argument.

See the patch set that was offered by Tudor regarding the in-kernel or in-
hardware generation of the ECDH private keys. There is nothing that prevents 
us having such API for akcipher. In fact, it would even be more or less a 
copy-n-paste job.

Exporting that logic to user space could be done as follows:

- keyctl API is used to trigger the key generation process and to obtain a 
handle

- AF_ALG to perform the asym operation where the key handle from keyctl is 
handed into the kernel. I am aware that this link between AF_ALG and keyctl is 
yet missing. But it on my desk and I am willing to integrate it. The 
integration should even not be specific to algif_akcipher, but to all cipher 
types.

Ciao
Stephan