This document is a Mac OS X manual page. Manual pages are a command-line technology for providing documentation. You can view these manual pages locally using the man(1) command. These manual pages come from many different sources, and thus, have a variety of writing styles.

For more information about the manual page format, see the manual page for manpages(5).

blowfish(3)                                        OpenSSL                                       blowfish(3)



NAME
       blowfish, BF_set_key, BF_encrypt, BF_decrypt, BF_ecb_encrypt, BF_cbc_encrypt, BF_cfb64_encrypt,
       BF_ofb64_encrypt, BF_options - Blowfish encryption

SYNOPSIS
        #include <openssl/blowfish.h>

        void BF_set_key(BF_KEY *key, int len, const unsigned char *data);

        void BF_ecb_encrypt(const unsigned char *in, unsigned char *out,
                BF_KEY *key, int enc);
        void BF_cbc_encrypt(const unsigned char *in, unsigned char *out,
                long length, BF_KEY *schedule, unsigned char *ivec, int enc);
        void BF_cfb64_encrypt(const unsigned char *in, unsigned char *out,
                long length, BF_KEY *schedule, unsigned char *ivec, int *num,
                int enc);
        void BF_ofb64_encrypt(const unsigned char *in, unsigned char *out,
                long length, BF_KEY *schedule, unsigned char *ivec, int *num);
        const char *BF_options(void);

        void BF_encrypt(BF_LONG *data,const BF_KEY *key);
        void BF_decrypt(BF_LONG *data,const BF_KEY *key);

DESCRIPTION
       This library implements the Blowfish cipher, which was invented and described by Counterpane (see
       http://www.counterpane.com/blowfish.html ).

       Blowfish is a block cipher that operates on 64 bit (8 byte) blocks of data.  It uses a variable size
       key, but typically, 128 bit (16 byte) keys are considered good for strong encryption.  Blowfish can
       be used in the same modes as DES (see des_modes(7)).  Blowfish is currently one of the faster block
       ciphers.  It is quite a bit faster than DES, and much faster than IDEA or RC2.

       Blowfish consists of a key setup phase and the actual encryption or decryption phase.

       BF_set_key() sets up the BF_KEY key using the len bytes long key at data.

       BF_ecb_encrypt() is the basic Blowfish encryption and decryption function.  It encrypts or decrypts
       the first 64 bits of in using the key key, putting the result in out.  enc decides if encryption
       (BF_ENCRYPT) or decryption (BF_DECRYPT) shall be performed.  The vector pointed at by in and out must
       be 64 bits in length, no less.  If they are larger, everything after the first 64 bits is ignored.

       The mode functions BF_cbc_encrypt(), BF_cfb64_encrypt() and BF_ofb64_encrypt() all operate on
       variable length data.  They all take an initialization vector ivec which needs to be passed along
       into the next call of the same function for the same message.  ivec may be initialized with anything,
       but the recipient needs to know what it was initialized with, or it won't be able to decrypt.  Some
       programs and protocols simplify this, like SSH, where ivec is simply initialized to zero.
       BF_cbc_encrypt() operates on data that is a multiple of 8 bytes long, while BF_cfb64_encrypt() and
       BF_ofb64_encrypt() are used to encrypt an variable number of bytes (the amount does not have to be an
       exact multiple of 8).  The purpose of the latter two is to simulate stream ciphers, and therefore,
       they need the parameter num, which is a pointer to an integer where the current offset in ivec is
       stored between calls.  This integer must be initialized to zero when ivec is initialized.

       BF_cbc_encrypt() is the Cipher Block Chaining function for Blowfish.  It encrypts or decrypts the 64
       bits chunks of in using the key schedule, putting the result in out.  enc decides if encryption
       (BF_ENCRYPT) or decryption (BF_DECRYPT) shall be performed.  ivec must point at an 8 byte long
       initialization vector.

       BF_cfb64_encrypt() is the CFB mode for Blowfish with 64 bit feedback.  It encrypts or decrypts the
       bytes in in using the key schedule, putting the result in out.  enc decides if encryption
       (BF_ENCRYPT) or decryption (BF_DECRYPT) shall be performed.  ivec must point at an 8 byte long
       initialization vector. num must point at an integer which must be initially zero.

       BF_ofb64_encrypt() is the OFB mode for Blowfish with 64 bit feedback.  It uses the same parameters as
       BF_cfb64_encrypt(), which must be initialized the same way.

       BF_encrypt() and BF_decrypt() are the lowest level functions for Blowfish encryption.  They
       encrypt/decrypt the first 64 bits of the vector pointed by data, using the key key.  These functions
       should not be used unless you implement 'modes' of Blowfish.  The alternative is to use
       BF_ecb_encrypt().  If you still want to use these functions, you should be aware that they take each
       32-bit chunk in host-byte order, which is little-endian on little-endian platforms and big-endian on
       big-endian ones.

RETURN VALUES
       None of the functions presented here return any value.

NOTE
       Applications should use the higher level functions EVP_EncryptInit(3) etc. instead of calling the
       blowfish functions directly.

SEE ALSO
       des_modes(7)

HISTORY
       The Blowfish functions are available in all versions of SSLeay and OpenSSL.



0.9.7l                                           2005-02-19                                      blowfish(3)