undefined

points

[-]

I think one of the main motivators was supporting the new module framework that replaced engines. The FIPS module specifically is OpenSSL's gravy train, and at the time the FIPS certification and compliance mandate effectively required the ability to maintain ABI compatibility of a compiled FIPS module across multiple major OpenSSL releases, so end users could easily upgrade OpenSSL for bug fixes and otherwise stay current. But OpenSSL also didn't want that ability to inhibit evolution of its internal and external APIs and ABIs.

Though, while the binary certification issue nominally remains, there's much more wiggle room today when it comes to compliance and auditing. You can typically maintain compliance when using modules built from updated sources of a previously certified module, and which are in the pipeline for re-certification. So the ABI dilemma is arguably less onerous today than it was when the OSSL_PARAM architecture took shape. Today, like with Go, you can lean on process, i.e. constant cycling of the implementation through the certification pipeline, more than technical solutions. The real unforced error was committing to OSSL_PARAMs for the public application APIs, letting the backend design choices (flexibility, etc) bleed through to the frontend. The temptation is understandable, but the ergonomics are horrible. I think performance problems are less a consequence of OSSL_PARAMS, per se, but about the architecture of state management between the library and module contexts.

by nulltrace1 hours ago|

parent|

[-]

Fair, but from the user side it still hurts. Setting up an Ed25519 signing context used to be maybe ten lines. Now you're constructing OSSL_PARAM arrays, looking up providers by string name, and hoping you got the key type right because nothing checks at compile time.

by wahern28 minutes ago|

parent|

[-]

Yeah. Some of the more complex EVP interfaces from before and around the time of the forks had design flaws, and with PQC that problem is only going to grow. Capturing the semantics of complex modes is difficult, and maybe that figured into motivations. But OSSL_PARAMs on the frontend feels more like a punt than a solution, and to maintain API compatibility you still end up with all the same cruft in both the library and application, it's just more opaque and confusing figuring out which textual parameter names to use and not use, when to refactor, etc. You can't tag a string parameter key with __attribute__((deprecated)). With the module interface decoupled, and faster release cadence, exploring and iterating more strongly typed and structured EVP interfaces should be easier, I would think. That's what the forks seem to do. There are incompatibilities across BoringSSL, libressl, etc, but also cross pollination and communication, and over time interfaces are refined and unified.

by PunchyHamster2 hours ago|

parent|

prev|

[-]

Sensible way would be dropping FIPS security threathre entirely and let it rot in the stupid corner companies dug themselves into, but of course the problem is OpenSSL's main income source...

I really wish Linux Foundation or some other big OSS founded complete replacement of it, then just write a shim that translates ABI calls from this to openssl 1.1 lookalike