- NAME
- SYNOPSIS
- DESCRIPTION
  - Context Management Functions
  - Encryption/Decryption Functions
  - Mac Parameters
- NOTES
- RETURN VALUES
- SEE ALSO
- HISTORY
- COPYRIGHT

# NAME

provider-mac - The mac library <-> provider functions

# SYNOPSIS

     #include <openssl/core_dispatch.h>
     #include <openssl/core_names.h>

     /*
      * None of these are actual functions, but are displayed like this for
      * the function signatures for functions that are offered as function
      * pointers in OSSL_DISPATCH arrays.
      */

     /* Context management */
     void *OSSL_FUNC_mac_newctx(void *provctx);
     void OSSL_FUNC_mac_freectx(void *mctx);
     void *OSSL_FUNC_mac_dupctx(void *src);

     /* Encryption/decryption */
     int OSSL_FUNC_mac_init(void *mctx, unsigned char *key, size_t keylen,
                            const OSSL_PARAM params[]);
     int OSSL_FUNC_mac_init_skey(void *mctx, const void *key, const OSSL_PARAM params[]);
     int OSSL_FUNC_mac_update(void *mctx, const unsigned char *in, size_t inl);
     int OSSL_FUNC_mac_final(void *mctx, unsigned char *out, size_t *outl, size_t outsize);

     /* MAC parameter descriptors */
     const OSSL_PARAM *OSSL_FUNC_mac_gettable_params(void *provctx);
     const OSSL_PARAM *OSSL_FUNC_mac_gettable_ctx_params(void *mctx, void *provctx);
     const OSSL_PARAM *OSSL_FUNC_mac_settable_ctx_params(void *mctx, void *provctx);

     /* MAC parameters */
     int OSSL_FUNC_mac_get_params(OSSL_PARAM params[]);
     int OSSL_FUNC_mac_get_ctx_params(void *mctx, OSSL_PARAM params[]);
     int OSSL_FUNC_mac_set_ctx_params(void *mctx, const OSSL_PARAM params[]);

# DESCRIPTION

This documentation is primarily aimed at provider authors. See provider(7) for further information.

The MAC operation enables providers to implement mac algorithms and make them available to applications via the API functions EVP_MAC_init(3), EVP_MAC_update(3) and EVP_MAC_final(3).

All "functions" mentioned here are passed as function pointers between libcrypto and the provider in OSSL_DISPATCH(3) arrays via OSSL_ALGORITHM(3) arrays that are returned by the provider's provider_query_operation() function (see "Provider Functions" in provider-base(7)).

All these "functions" have a corresponding function type definition named OSSL_FUNC_{name}_fn, and a helper function to retrieve the function pointer from an OSSL_DISPATCH(3) element named OSSL_FUNC_{name}. For example, the "function" OSSL_FUNC_mac_newctx() has these:

     typedef void *(OSSL_FUNC_mac_newctx_fn)(void *provctx);
     static ossl_inline OSSL_FUNC_mac_newctx_fn
         OSSL_FUNC_mac_newctx(const OSSL_DISPATCH *opf);

OSSL_DISPATCH(3) arrays are indexed by numbers that are provided as macros in openssl-core_dispatch.h(7), as follows:

     OSSL_FUNC_mac_newctx               OSSL_FUNC_MAC_NEWCTX
     OSSL_FUNC_mac_freectx              OSSL_FUNC_MAC_FREECTX
     OSSL_FUNC_mac_dupctx               OSSL_FUNC_MAC_DUPCTX

     OSSL_FUNC_mac_init                 OSSL_FUNC_MAC_INIT
     OSSL_FUNC_mac_init_skey            OSSL_FUNC_MAC_INIT_SKEY
     OSSL_FUNC_mac_update               OSSL_FUNC_MAC_UPDATE
     OSSL_FUNC_mac_final                OSSL_FUNC_MAC_FINAL

     OSSL_FUNC_mac_get_params           OSSL_FUNC_MAC_GET_PARAMS
     OSSL_FUNC_mac_get_ctx_params       OSSL_FUNC_MAC_GET_CTX_PARAMS
     OSSL_FUNC_mac_set_ctx_params       OSSL_FUNC_MAC_SET_CTX_PARAMS

     OSSL_FUNC_mac_gettable_params      OSSL_FUNC_MAC_GETTABLE_PARAMS
     OSSL_FUNC_mac_gettable_ctx_params  OSSL_FUNC_MAC_GETTABLE_CTX_PARAMS
     OSSL_FUNC_mac_settable_ctx_params  OSSL_FUNC_MAC_SETTABLE_CTX_PARAMS

A mac algorithm implementation may not implement all of these functions. In order to be a consistent set of functions, at least the following functions must be implemented: OSSL_FUNC_mac_newctx(), OSSL_FUNC_mac_freectx(), at least one of OSSL_FUNC_mac_init() or OSSL_FUNC_mac_init_skey(), OSSL_FUNC_mac_update(), OSSL_FUNC_mac_final(). All other functions are optional.

## Context Management Functions

OSSL_FUNC_mac_newctx() should create and return a pointer to a provider side structure for holding context information during a mac operation. A pointer to this context will be passed back in a number of the other mac operation function calls. The parameter provctx is the provider context generated during provider initialisation (see provider(7)).

OSSL_FUNC_mac_freectx() is passed a pointer to the provider side mac context in the mctx parameter. If it receives NULL as mctx value, it should not do anything other than return. This function should free any resources associated with that context.

OSSL_FUNC_mac_dupctx() should duplicate the provider side mac context in the mctx parameter and return the duplicate copy.

## Encryption/Decryption Functions

OSSL_FUNC_mac_init() initialises a mac operation given a newly created provider side mac context in the mctx parameter. The params are set before setting the MAC key of keylen bytes.

OSSL_FUNC_mac_init_skey() is similar but uses an opaque provider-specific object to initialize the MAC context.

OSSL_FUNC_mac_update() is called to supply data for MAC computation of a previously initialised mac operation. The mctx parameter contains a pointer to a previously initialised provider side context. OSSL_FUNC_mac_update() may be called multiple times for a single mac operation.

OSSL_FUNC_mac_final() completes the MAC computation started through previous OSSL_FUNC_mac_init() and OSSL_FUNC_mac_update() calls. The mctx parameter contains a pointer to the provider side context. The resulting MAC should be written to out and the amount of data written to *outl, which should not exceed outsize bytes. The same expectations apply to outsize as documented for EVP_MAC_final(3).

## Mac Parameters

See OSSL_PARAM(3) for further details on the parameters structure used by these functions.

OSSL_FUNC_mac_get_params() gets details of parameter values associated with the provider algorithm and stores them in params.

OSSL_FUNC_mac_set_ctx_params() sets mac parameters associated with the given provider side mac context mctx to params. Any parameter settings are additional to any that were previously set. Passing NULL for params should return true.

OSSL_FUNC_mac_get_ctx_params() gets details of currently set parameter values associated with the given provider side mac context mctx and stores them in params. Passing NULL for params should return true.

OSSL_FUNC_mac_gettable_params(), OSSL_FUNC_mac_gettable_ctx_params(), and OSSL_FUNC_mac_settable_ctx_params() all return constant OSSL_PARAM(3) arrays as descriptors of the parameters that OSSL_FUNC_mac_get_params(), OSSL_FUNC_mac_get_ctx_params(), and OSSL_FUNC_mac_set_ctx_params() can handle, respectively. OSSL_FUNC_mac_gettable_ctx_params() and OSSL_FUNC_mac_settable_ctx_params() will return the parameters associated with the provider side context mctx in its current state if it is not NULL. Otherwise, they return the parameters associated with the provider side algorithm provctx.

All MAC implementations are expected to handle the following parameters:

with OSSL_FUNC_set_ctx_params():
  "key" (OSSL_MAC_PARAM_KEY) <octet string>

    Sets the key in the associated MAC ctx. This is identical to passing a key argument to the OSSL_FUNC_mac_init() function.

with OSSL_FUNC_get_params():
  "size" (OSSL_MAC_PARAM_SIZE) <integer>

    Can be used to get the default MAC size (which might be the only allowable MAC size for the implementation).

    Note that some implementations allow setting the size that the resulting MAC should have as well, see the documentation of the implementation.

  "size" (OSSL_MAC_PARAM_BLOCK_SIZE) <integer>

    Can be used to get the MAC block size (if supported by the algorithm).

The OpenSSL FIPS provider may support the following parameters:

"fips-indicator" (OSSL_MAC_PARAM_FIPS_APPROVED_INDICATOR) <int>

  A getter that returns 1 if the operation is FIPS approved, or 0 otherwise. This may be used after calling the final function. It may return 0 if either "no-short-mac" or "key-check" are set to 0.

"no-short-mac" (OSSL_MAC_PARAM_FIPS_NO_SHORT_MAC) <integer>

  If required this parameter should be set early via an init function. The default value of 1 causes an error when too short MAC output is asked for. Setting this to 0 will ignore the error and set the approved "fips-indicator" to 0. This option breaks FIPS compliance if it causes the approved "fips-indicator" to return 0.

"key-check" (OSSL_MAC_PARAM_FIPS_KEY_CHECK) <integer>

  If required this parameter should be set before OSSL_FUNC_mac_init. The default value of 1 causes an error when small key sizes are asked for. Setting this to 0 will ignore the error and set the approved "fips-indicator" to 0. This option breaks FIPS compliance if it causes the approved "fips-indicator" to return 0.

# NOTES

The MAC life-cycle is described in life_cycle-rand(7). Providers should ensure that the various transitions listed there are supported. At some point the EVP layer will begin enforcing the listed transitions.

# RETURN VALUES

OSSL_FUNC_mac_newctx() and OSSL_FUNC_mac_dupctx() should return the newly created provider side mac context, or NULL on failure.

OSSL_FUNC_mac_init(), OSSL_FUNC_mac_init_skey(), OSSL_FUNC_mac_update(), OSSL_FUNC_mac_final(), OSSL_FUNC_mac_get_params(), OSSL_FUNC_mac_get_ctx_params() and OSSL_FUNC_mac_set_ctx_params() should return 1 for success or 0 on error.

OSSL_FUNC_mac_gettable_params(), OSSL_FUNC_mac_gettable_ctx_params() and OSSL_FUNC_mac_settable_ctx_params() should return a constant OSSL_PARAM(3) array, or NULL if none is offered.

# SEE ALSO

provider(7), EVP_MAC-BLAKE2(7), EVP_MAC-CMAC(7), EVP_MAC-GMAC(7), EVP_MAC-HMAC(7), EVP_MAC-KMAC(7), EVP_MAC-Poly1305(7), EVP_MAC-Siphash(7), life_cycle-mac(7), EVP_MAC(3)

# HISTORY

The provider MAC interface was introduced in OpenSSL 3.0. The parameters "no-short-mac" and "fips-indicator" were added in OpenSSL 3.4.

The function OSSL_FUNC_mac_init_skey() was introduced in OpenSSL 3.5.

# COPYRIGHT

Copyright 2019-2025 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.

Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (the "License"). You may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html.