Botan: Crypto and TLS for C++11
========================================

Botan (Japanese for peony) is a C++ cryptography library
released under the permissive
`Simplified BSD <http://botan.randombit.net/license.txt>`_ license.
It provides useful things like TLS, X.509 certificates, ECDSA, AES,
GCM, ChaCha20Poly1305, and bcrypt, plus a kitchen sink of other crypto
algorithms of various utility; see the full list below.

Development is coordinated on `GitHub <https://github.com/randombit/botan>`_
and contributions are welcome.

.. highlight:: none

For all the details on building the library, read the
`users manual <http://botan.randombit.net/manual>`_, but basically::

  $ ./configure.py --help
  $ ./configure.py [probably some options]
  $ make
  $ ./botan-test
  # lots of output...
  Tests all ok
  $ ./botan
  # shows available commands
  $ make install

If you need help or have questions, send a mail to the
`mailing list <http://lists.randombit.net/mailman/listinfo/botan-devel/>`_
or open a ticket on
`GitHub Issues <https://github.com/randombit/botan/issues>`_.

The `GitHub wiki <https://github.com/randombit/botan/wiki>`_
and `Doxygen docs <https://botan.randombit.net/doxygen>`_
may also prove useful resources.

In addition to C++ there are (partial, in-progress) bindings for C89,
Python and OCaml included along with the library, and
`Node.js <https://github.com/justinfreitag/node-botan>`_ wrapper also
exists.

There is also a third party open source implementation of
`SSHv2 <https://github.com/cdesjardins/cppssh>`_ using the library.

.. image:: https://travis-ci.org/randombit/botan.svg?branch=master
    :target: https://travis-ci.org/randombit/botan

.. image:: https://ci.appveyor.com/api/projects/status/n9f94dljd03j2lce?svg=true
    :target: https://ci.appveyor.com/project/randombit/botan/branch/master

.. image:: https://botan-ci.kullo.net/badge/build
    :target: https://botan-ci.kullo.net/

.. image:: https://botan-ci.kullo.net/badge/tests
    :target: https://botan-ci.kullo.net/

.. image:: https://coveralls.io/repos/randombit/botan/badge.svg?branch=master
    :target: https://coveralls.io/r/randombit/botan?branch=master

Download
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The 1.11 branch is highly recommended, especially for new development.
But be warned the API is still subject to some change before the 2.0
stable release.

All releases are signed with a
`PGP key <http://botan.randombit.net/pgpkey.txt>`_::

  pub   2048R/EFBADFBC 2004-10-30
        Key fingerprint = 621D AF64 11E1 851C 4CF9  A2E1 6211 EBF1 EFBA DFBC
  uid                  Botan Distribution Key

Botan may already be included in your favorite distribution, such as
`Fedora <https://admin.fedoraproject.org/pkgdb/packages/botan>`_,
`EPEL <http://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/7/SRPMS/repoview/botan.html>`_ (for RHEL/CentOS),
`Debian <http://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=libbotan>`_,
`Ubuntu <http://packages.ubuntu.com/search?keywords=botan>`_,
`Gentoo <http://packages.gentoo.org/package/botan>`_,
`Arch <http://www.archlinux.org/packages/community/x86_64/botan/>`_,
`Slackbuild <http://slackbuilds.org/result/?search=Botan>`_,
`FreeBSD ports <http://www.freshports.org/security/botan110>`_, or
`MacPorts <http://www.macports.org/ports.php?by=name&substr=botan>`_.

Current Development Series (1.11)
----------------------------------------

The latest development release is
`1.11.18 <http://botan.randombit.net/releases/Botan-1.11.18.tgz>`_
`(sig) <http://botan.randombit.net/releases/Botan-1.11.18.tgz.asc>`_
released 2015-07-05

Botan 1.11 requires a working C++11 compiler; GCC 4.8 and later,
Clang 3.4 and later, and MSVC 2013 are regularly tested.

Current Stable Series (1.10)
----------------------------------------

The latest stable branch release is
`1.10.9 <http://botan.randombit.net/releases/Botan-1.10.9.tgz>`_
`(sig) <http://botan.randombit.net/releases/Botan-1.10.9.tgz.asc>`_
released 2014-12-13

Botan 1.10 is the last version written in C++98.

Books and other resources
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You should have some knowledge of cryptography *before* trying to use
the library. This is an area where it is very easy to make mistakes,
and where things are often subtle and/or counterintuitive. Obviously
the library tries to provide things at a high level precisely to
minimize the number of ways things can go wrong, but naive use will
almost certainly not result in a secure system.

Especially recommended are:

- *Cryptography Engineering*
  by Niels Ferguson, Bruce Schneier, and Tadayoshi Kohno

- *Security Engineering -- A Guide to Building Dependable Distributed Systems*
  by Ross Anderson

- *Handbook of Applied Cryptography*
  by Alfred J. Menezes, Paul C. Van Oorschot, and Scott A. Vanstone
  (`available online <http://www.cacr.math.uwaterloo.ca/hac/>`_)

If you're doing something non-trivial or unique, you might want to at
the very least ask for review/input on a mailing list such as the
`metzdowd <http://www.metzdowd.com/mailman/listinfo/cryptography>`_ or
`randombit <http://lists.randombit.net/mailman/listinfo/cryptography>`_
crypto lists. And (if possible) pay a professional cryptographer or
security company to review your design and code.

Supported Algorithms/Protocols/RFCs
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

TLS/Public Key Infrastructure
----------------------------------------

* TLS/DTLS (v1.0 to v1.2), including using preshared keys (TLS-PSK)
  or passwords (TLS-SRP) and most important extensions (including
  secure renegotiation, session tickets, SNI, and ALPN)
* X.509 certificates (including generating new self-signed and CA
  certs) and CRLs
* PKIX certificate path validation, OCSP requests, PKCS #10 CSRs

Public Key Cryptography
----------------------------------------

* Encryption algorithms RSA and ElGamal (with OAEP or PKCS #1 v1.5)
* Signature algorithms RSA, DSA, ECDSA, GOST 34.10-2001, Nyberg-Rueppel,
  Rabin-Williams (with PSS, PKCS #1 v1.5, or X9.31)
* Diffie-Hellman, ECDH using NIST/Brainpool prime groups, Curve25519
* McEliece code based encryption providing a KEM scheme

Ciphers and cipher modes
----------------------------------------

* Authenticated cipher modes EAX, OCB, GCM, SIV, CCM, and ChaCha20Poly1305
* Unauthenticated cipher modes CTR, CBC, XTS, CFB, OFB, and ECB
* AES (including constant time SSSE3 and AES-NI versions)
* AES candidates Serpent, Twofish, MARS, CAST-256, RC6
* Stream ciphers Salsa20/XSalsa20, ChaCha20, and RC4
* DES, 3DES and DESX
* National/telecom block ciphers SEED, KASUMI, MISTY1, GOST 28147
* Other block ciphers including Threefish-512, Blowfish, CAST-128, IDEA,
  Noekeon, TEA, XTEA, RC2, RC5, SAFER-SK
* Large block cipher construction Lion

Hash functions and MACs
----------------------------------------

* SHA-1, SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384, and SHA-512
* SHA-3 winner Keccak-1600
* SHA-3 candidate Skein-512
* Authentication codes HMAC, CMAC, Poly1305, SipHash
* RIPEMD-160, RIPEMD-128, Tiger, Whirlpool
* Hash function combiners (Parallel and Comb4P)
* National standard hashes HAS-160 and GOST 34.11
* Non-cryptographic checksums Adler32, CRC24, CRC32
* Obsolete algorithms MD5, MD4, MD2, CBC-MAC, X9.19 DES-MAC

Other Useful Things
----------------------------------------

* Key derivation functions for passwords, including PBKDF2
* Password hashing functions, including bcrypt
* General key derivation functions KDF1 and KDF2 from IEEE 1363

Recommended Algorithms
----------------------------------------

If your application is protecting network traffic, seriously consider
using TLS v1.2 as a pre built, standard and well studied protocol.

Otherwise, if you simply *must* do something custom, the developers
currently recommend using:

* Message encryption: AES or Serpent in GCM mode, or ChaCha20Poly1305

* General hash functions: SHA-256 or SHA-384

* Message authentication: HMAC with SHA-256

* Public Key Encryption: RSA, 2048+ bit keys, with OAEP and SHA-256

* Public Key Signatures: RSA, 2048+ bit keys with PSS and SHA-512,
  or ECDSA with P-256/SHA-256 or P-384/SHA-384

* Key Agreement: ECDH P-256 or Curve25519, with KDF2(SHA-256)
