Hello all,
This question is for Jari.
In the loop-AES.README file, in section 7.2. Example 2 is the following instruction that makes a
uuencoded key file that gets piped through gpg (on the second line of this command):
head -c 2925 /dev/random | uuencode -m - | head -n 66 | tail -n 65
This key file has 45 bytes of uuencoded random data per line. How does loop-AES use the data on
each line?:
1) does loop-AES use the data as read from the key file, thereby limiting AES disk keys to only
printable characters instead of the full possible values from 0 to 255 per byte, or
2) does loop-AES uudecode the data thereby using the original, raw randomly generated data, or
3) some other way (please describe)
I ask because I would like to know if the range of possible values per AES disk key is
artificially reduced by the uuencoding process, and the possibility of introducing a weakness into
the encryption system through the patterned process of uuencoding.
Also, if loop-AES uses method number 2 above, then each line contains 360 bits of random data.
So, does loop-AES discard the "excess" bits it does not use? For example, if 256 bit AES is used,
does loop-AES discard 104 bits of data from each line of the key file?
Could loop-AES use a key file that contains binary or hex data instead of the uuencoded data?
Thank you in advance,
Anon
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Linux-crypto: cryptography in and on the Linux system
Archive: http://mail.nl.linux.org/linux-crypto/
