On 11/4/19 11:26 pm, schlifka@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
However Due nature of RSA-algorithm in case of 1024bit this might
result in a key length of 1023 or 1024 bit.
I've been confused by this and am astounded by the information I've
found. For example,
Q: I am receiving warning messages regarding key lengths. What do
these messages mean, and how can I prevent them?
A: The key-length warning messages you are seeing are sent by
OpenSSH when it encounters certain defective RSA or DSA keys that
are sometimes generated by a bug in the ssh-keygen program (in
commercial SSH). These defective keys are Pubkey Authentication
keys whose Most Significant Bit (MSB) is not set. Thus, these keys
ar efrequently half as long as advertised (they advertise as full
length.) ...
Next Generation SSH2 Implementation: Securing Data in Moption,
Chapter 6, Dale Liu
The problem with this answer is that a random key can have MSB zero or
one. If MSB is known to be one, then the key is 1023-bits prefixed with
a constant one.
When picking random prime 512-bit numbers, the number 2 is a valid
choice. If you disallow that choice then you're not picking from the
full 512-bit space.
Tragically, as I understand, the logic that Dale espouses is entrenched
and we have only half the key space that's advertised. (The key space is
the upper-half of the 1024-bit range.)
In RSA keys, the key is the product of two 512-bit prime numbers. If
those numbers are selected on the basis that both have their MSB set,
then the key space is only 1022 bits.
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