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.rnd issues

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This commit is contained in:
Bodo Möller 2001-05-03 09:28:19 +00:00
parent c8913d8e8a
commit 99bd4baa54
2 changed files with 51 additions and 10 deletions
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9
CHANGES
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@ -4,6 +4,15 @@
Changes between 0.9.6a and 0.9.6b [XX xxx XXXX]
*) In versions up to 0.9.6, RAND_file_name() resorted to file ".rnd"
in the current directory if neither $RANDFILE nor $HOME was set.
RAND_file_name() in 0.9.6a returned NULL in this case. This has
caused some confusion to Windows users who haven't defined $HOME.
Thus RAND_file_name() is changed again: e_os.h can define a
DEFAULT_HOME, which will be used if $HOME is not set.
For Windows, we use "C:"; on other platforms, we still require
environment variables.
*) Move 'if (!initialized) RAND_poll()' into regions protected by
CRYPTO_LOCK_RAND. This is not strictly necessary, but avoids
having multiple threads call RAND_poll() concurrently.

52
FAQ
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@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ OpenSSL - Frequently Asked Questions
[USER] Questions on using the OpenSSL applications
* Why do I get a "PRNG not seeded" error message?
* Why do I get an "unable to write 'random state'" error message?
* How do I create certificates or certificate requests?
* Why can't I create certificate requests?
* Why does <SSL program> fail with a certificate verify error?
@ -161,6 +162,7 @@ correctly. Many open source operating systems provide a "randomness
device" that serves this purpose. On other systems, applications have
to call the RAND_add() or RAND_seed() function with appropriate data
before generating keys or performing public key encryption.
(These functions initialize the pseudo-random number generator, PRNG.)
Some broken applications do not do this. As of version 0.9.5, the
OpenSSL functions that need randomness report an error if the random
@ -170,18 +172,36 @@ application you are using. It is likely that it never worked
correctly. OpenSSL 0.9.5 and later make the error visible by refusing
to perform potentially insecure encryption.
On systems without /dev/urandom, it is a good idea to use the Entropy
Gathering Demon; see the RAND_egd() manpage for details.
On systems without /dev/urandom and /dev/random, it is a good idea to
use the Entropy Gathering Demon (EGD); see the RAND_egd() manpage for
details. Starting with version 0.9.7, OpenSSL will automatically look
for an EGD socket at /var/run/egd-pool, /dev/egd-pool, /etc/egd-pool and
/etc/entropy.
Most components of the openssl command line tool try to use the
file $HOME/.rnd (or $RANDFILE, if this environment variable is set)
for seeding the PRNG. If this file does not exist or is too short,
the "PRNG not seeded" error message may occur.
Most components of the openssl command line utility automatically try
to seed the random number generator from a file. The name of the
default seeding file is determined as follows: If environment variable
RANDFILE is set, then it names the seeding file. Otherwise if
environment variable HOME is set, then the seeding file is $HOME/.rnd.
If neither RANDFILE nor HOME is set, versions up to OpenSSL 0.9.6 will
use file .rnd in the current directory while OpenSSL 0.9.6a uses no
default seeding file at all. OpenSSL 0.9.6b and later will behave
similarly to 0.9.6a, but will use a default of "C:" for HOME on
Windows systems if the environment variable has not been set.
[Note to OpenSSL 0.9.5 users: The command "openssl rsa" in version
0.9.5 does not do this and will fail on systems without /dev/urandom
when trying to password-encrypt an RSA key! This is a bug in the
library; try a later version instead.]
If the default seeding file does not exist or is too short, the "PRNG
not seeded" error message may occur.
The openssl command line utility will write back a new state to the
default seeding file (and create this file if necessary) unless
there was no sufficient seeding.
Pointing $RANDFILE to an Entropy Gathering Daemon socket does not work.
Use the "-rand" option of the OpenSSL command line tools instead.
The $RANDFILE environment variable and $HOME/.rnd are only used by the
OpenSSL command line tools. Applications using the OpenSSL library
provide their own configuration options to specify the entropy source,
please check out the documentation coming the with application.
For Solaris 2.6, Tim Nibbe <tnibbe@sprint.net> and others have suggested
installing the SUNski package from Sun patch 105710-01 (Sparc) which
@ -191,6 +211,18 @@ versions. However, be warned that /dev/random is usually a blocking
device, which may have some effects on OpenSSL.
* Why do I get an "unable to write 'random state'" error message?
Sometimes the openssl command line utility does not abort with
a "PRNG not seeded" error message, but complains that it is
"unable to write 'random state'". This message refers to the
default seeding file (see previous answer). A possible reason
is that no default filename is known because neither RANDFILE
nor HOME is set. (Versions up to 0.9.6 used file ".rnd" in the
current directory in this case, but this has changed with 0.9.6a.)
* How do I create certificates or certificate requests?
Check out the CA.pl(1) manual page. This provides a simple wrapper round