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Double Ratchet Algorithm
In cryptography, the Double Ratchet Algorithm (previously referred to as the Axolotl Ratchet) is a key management algorithm that was developed by Trevor Perrin and Moxie Marlinspike in 2013. It can be used as part of a cryptographic protocol to provide end-to-end encryption for instant messaging. After an initial key exchange it manages the ongoing renewal and maintenance of short-lived session keys. It combines a cryptographic ratchet based on the Diffie–Hellman key exchange (DH) and a ratchet based on a key derivation function (KDF) like e.g. a hash function and is therefore called a double ratchet.
The developers refer to the algorithm as self-healing because it automatically disables an attacker from accessing the cleartext of later messages after having compromised a session key. The protocol provides confidentiality, integrity, authentication, participant consistency, destination validation, forward secrecy, backward secrecy (aka future secrecy), causality preservation, message unlinkability, message repudiation, participation repudiation, and asynchronicity.
Functioning
A client renews session key material in interaction with the remote peer using Diffie–Hellman ratchet whenever possible, otherwise independently by using a hash ratchet. Therefore, with every message a client using the double ratchet advances one of two hash ratchets (one for sending, one receiving) which get seeded with a common secret from a DH ratchet. At the same time it tries to use every opportunity to provide the remote peer with a new public DH value and advance the DH ratchet whenever a new DH value from the remote peer arrives. As soon as a new common secret is established, a new hash ratchet gets initialized.
As cryptographic primitives, the Double Ratchet Algorithm uses
- for the DH ratchet
- Elliptic curve Diffie–Hellman (ECDH) with Curve25519,
- for message authentication codes (MAC, authentication)
- Keyed-Hash Message Authentication Code (HMAC) based on SHA-256,
- for symmetric encryption
- the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), partially in Cipher Block Chaining mode (CBC) with padding as per PKCS#5 and partially in Counter mode (CTR) without padding,
- for the hash ratchet
- HMAC.
Applications
The following is a list of applications that use the Double Ratchet Algorithm or a custom implementation of it:
- ChatSecure
- Conversations
- Cryptocat
- Facebook Messenger
- G Data Secure Chat
- Gajim
- Google Allo
- Pond
- Signal
- Wire
Other:
- In May 2016, Viber said that their encryption protocol is a custom implementation that "uses the same concepts" as the Signal Protocol.
