Skip to content
Snippets Groups Projects
Commit 49c117c6 authored by Mark Haines's avatar Mark Haines
Browse files

Start writing protocol spec for olm

parent 41a8fb61
No related branches found
No related tags found
No related merge requests found
Olm: A Crytographic Ratchet
===========================
An implementation of the cryptographic ratchet described by
https://github.com/trevp/axolotl/wiki.
The Olm Algorithm
-----------------
.. figure:: Axolotl.svg
Initial setup
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The setup takes four Curve25519 inputs: Identity keys for Alice and Bob,
:math:`I_A` and :math:`I_B`, and emphemeral keys for Alice and Bob,
:math:`E_A` and :math:`E_B`. A shared secret, :math:`S`, is generated using
Triple Diffie-Hellman. The initial 256 bit root key, :math:`R_0`, and 256 bit
chain key, :math:`C_{0,0}`, are derived from the shared secret using an
HMAC-based Key Derivation Function (HKDF).
.. math::
\begin{align}
S&=ECDH\left(I_A,\,E_B\right)\;\parallel\;ECDH\left(E_A,\,I_B\right)\;
\parallel\;ECDH\left(E_A,\,E_B\right)\\
R_0\;\parallel\;C_{0,0}&=HKDF(S,\,\text{"OLM\_ROOT"})
\end{align}
Advancing the root key
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Advancing a root key takes the previous root key, :math:`R_{i-1}`, and two
Curve25519 inputs: The previous ratchet key, :math:`T_{i-1}`, and the current
ratchet key :math:`T_{i}`. The even ratchet keys are generated by Alice.
The odd ratchet keys are generated by Bob. A shared secret, `S` is generated
using Diffie-Hellman on the ratchet keys. The next root key, :math:`R_o`, and
chain key, :math:`C_{i,0}`, are derived from the shared secret using an
HMAC-based Key Derivation Function (HKDF).
0% Loading or .
You are about to add 0 people to the discussion. Proceed with caution.
Finish editing this message first!
Please register or to comment