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From: Brandon Williams <bmwill@google.com>
To: Johannes Schindelin <Johannes.Schindelin@gmx.de>
Cc: "brian m. carlson" <sandals@crustytoothpaste.net>,
	Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>,
	Jonathan Nieder <jrnieder@gmail.com>,
	Git Mailing List <git@vger.kernel.org>,
	Stefan Beller <sbeller@google.com>,
	jonathantanmy@google.com, Jeff King <peff@peff.net>,
	Junio Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Subject: Re: Which hash function to use, was Re: RFC: Another proposed hash function transition plan
Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2017 10:36:16 -0700	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20170615173616.GA176947@google.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <alpine.DEB.2.21.1.1706151122180.4200@virtualbox>

On 06/15, Johannes Schindelin wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I thought it better to revive this old thread rather than start a new
> thread, so as to automatically reach everybody who chimed in originally.
> 
> On Mon, 6 Mar 2017, Brandon Williams wrote:
> 
> > On 03/06, brian m. carlson wrote:
> >
> > > On Sat, Mar 04, 2017 at 06:35:38PM -0800, Linus Torvalds wrote:
> > >
> > > > Btw, I do think the particular choice of hash should still be on the
> > > > table. sha-256 may be the obvious first choice, but there are
> > > > definitely a few reasons to consider alternatives, especially if
> > > > it's a complete switch-over like this.
> > > > 
> > > > One is large-file behavior - a parallel (or tree) mode could improve
> > > > on that noticeably. BLAKE2 does have special support for that, for
> > > > example. And SHA-256 does have known attacks compared to SHA-3-256
> > > > or BLAKE2 - whether that is due to age or due to more effort, I
> > > > can't really judge. But if we're switching away from SHA1 due to
> > > > known attacks, it does feel like we should be careful.
> > > 
> > > I agree with Linus on this.  SHA-256 is the slowest option, and it's
> > > the one with the most advanced cryptanalysis.  SHA-3-256 is faster on
> > > 64-bit machines (which, as we've seen on the list, is the overwhelming
> > > majority of machines using Git), and even BLAKE2b-256 is stronger.
> > > 
> > > Doing this all over again in another couple years should also be a
> > > non-goal.
> > 
> > I agree that when we decide to move to a new algorithm that we should
> > select one which we plan on using for as long as possible (much longer
> > than a couple years).  While writing the document we simply used
> > "sha256" because it was more tangible and easier to reference.
> 
> The SHA-1 transition *requires* a knob telling Git that the current
> repository uses a hash function different from SHA-1.
> 
> It would make *a whole of a lot of sense* to make that knob *not* Boolean,
> but to specify *which* hash function is in use.

100% agree on this point.  I believe the current plan is to have the
hashing function used for a repository be a repository format extension
which would be a value (most likely a string like 'sha1', 'sha256',
'black2', etc) stored in a repository's .git/config.  This way, upon
startup git will die or ignore a repository which uses a hashing
function which it does not recognize or does not compiled to handle.

I hope (and expect) that the end produce of this transition is a nice,
clean hashing API and interface with sufficient abstractions such that
if I wanted to switch to a different hashing function I would just need
to implement the interface with the new hashing function and ensure that
'verify_repository_format' allows the new function.

> 
> That way, it will be easier to switch another time when it becomes
> necessary.
> 
> And it will also make it easier for interested parties to use a different
> hash function in their infrastructure if they want.
> 
> And it lifts part of that burden that we have to consider *very carefully*
> which function to pick. We still should be more careful than in 2005, when
> Git was born, and when, incidentally, when the first attacks on SHA-1
> became known, of course. We were just lucky for almost 12 years.
> 
> Now, with Dunning-Kruger in mind, I feel that my degree in mathematics
> equips me with *just enough* competence to know just how little *even I*
> know about cryptography.
> 
> The smart thing to do, hence, was to get involved in this discussion and
> act as Lt Tawney Madison between us Git developers and experts in
> cryptography.
> 
> It just so happens that I work at a company with access to excellent
> cryptographers, and as we own the largest Git repository on the planet, we
> have a vested interest in ensuring Git's continued success.
> 
> After a couple of conversations with a couple of experts who I cannot
> thank enough for their time and patience, let alone their knowledge about
> this matter, it would appear that we may not have had a complete enough
> picture yet to even start to make the decision on the hash function to
> use.
> 

-- 
Brandon Williams

  parent reply	other threads:[~2017-06-15 17:36 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 113+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2017-03-04  1:12 RFC: Another proposed hash function transition plan Jonathan Nieder
2017-03-05  2:35 ` Linus Torvalds
2017-03-06  0:26   ` brian m. carlson
2017-03-06 18:24     ` Brandon Williams
2017-06-15 10:30       ` Which hash function to use, was " Johannes Schindelin
2017-06-15 11:05         ` Mike Hommey
2017-06-15 13:01           ` Jeff King
2017-06-15 16:30             ` Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason
2017-06-15 19:34               ` Johannes Schindelin
2017-06-15 21:59                 ` Adam Langley
2017-06-15 22:41                   ` brian m. carlson
2017-06-15 23:36                     ` Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason
2017-06-16  0:17                       ` brian m. carlson
2017-06-16  6:25                         ` Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason
2017-06-16 13:24                           ` Johannes Schindelin
2017-06-16 17:38                             ` Adam Langley
2017-06-16 20:52                               ` Junio C Hamano
2017-06-16 21:12                                 ` Junio C Hamano
2017-06-16 21:24                                   ` Jonathan Nieder
2017-06-16 21:39                                     ` Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason
2017-06-16 20:42                             ` Jeff King
2017-06-19  9:26                               ` Johannes Schindelin
2017-06-15 21:10             ` Mike Hommey
2017-06-16  4:30               ` Jeff King
2017-06-15 17:36         ` Brandon Williams [this message]
2017-06-15 19:20           ` Junio C Hamano
2017-06-15 19:13         ` Jonathan Nieder
2017-03-07  0:17   ` RFC v3: " Jonathan Nieder
2017-03-09 19:14     ` Shawn Pearce
2017-03-09 20:24       ` Jonathan Nieder
2017-03-10 19:38         ` Jeff King
2017-03-10 19:55           ` Jonathan Nieder
2017-09-28  4:43       ` [PATCH v4] technical doc: add a design doc for hash function transition Jonathan Nieder
2017-09-29  6:06         ` Junio C Hamano
2017-09-29  8:09           ` Junio C Hamano
2017-09-29 17:34           ` Jonathan Nieder
2017-10-02  8:25             ` Junio C Hamano
2017-10-02 19:41             ` Jason Cooper
2017-10-02  9:02         ` Junio C Hamano
2017-10-02 19:23         ` Jason Cooper
2017-10-03  5:40         ` Junio C Hamano
2017-10-03 13:08           ` Jason Cooper
2017-10-04  1:44         ` Junio C Hamano
2017-09-06  6:28     ` RFC v3: Another proposed hash function transition plan Junio C Hamano
2017-09-08  2:40       ` Junio C Hamano
2017-09-08  3:34         ` Jeff King
2017-09-11 18:59         ` Brandon Williams
2017-09-13 12:05           ` Johannes Schindelin
2017-09-13 13:43             ` demerphq
2017-09-13 22:51               ` Jonathan Nieder
2017-09-14 18:26                 ` Johannes Schindelin
2017-09-14 18:40                   ` Jonathan Nieder
2017-09-14 22:09                     ` Johannes Schindelin
2017-09-13 23:30               ` Linus Torvalds
2017-09-14 18:45                 ` Johannes Schindelin
2017-09-18 12:17                   ` Gilles Van Assche
2017-09-18 22:16                     ` Johannes Schindelin
2017-09-19 16:45                       ` Gilles Van Assche
2017-09-29 13:17                         ` Johannes Schindelin
2017-09-29 14:54                           ` Joan Daemen
2017-09-29 22:33                             ` Johannes Schindelin
2017-09-30 22:02                               ` Joan Daemen
2017-10-02 14:26                                 ` Johannes Schindelin
2017-09-18 22:25                     ` Jonathan Nieder
2017-09-26 17:05                   ` Jason Cooper
2017-09-26 22:11                     ` Johannes Schindelin
2017-09-26 22:25                       ` [PATCH] technical doc: add a design doc for hash function transition Stefan Beller
2017-09-26 23:38                         ` Jonathan Nieder
2017-09-26 23:51                       ` RFC v3: Another proposed hash function transition plan Jonathan Nieder
2017-10-02 14:54                         ` Jason Cooper
2017-10-02 16:50                           ` Brandon Williams
2017-10-02 14:00                       ` Jason Cooper
2017-10-02 17:18                         ` Linus Torvalds
2017-10-02 19:37                           ` Jeff King
2017-09-13 16:30             ` Jonathan Nieder
2017-09-13 21:52               ` Junio C Hamano
2017-09-13 22:07                 ` Stefan Beller
2017-09-13 22:18                   ` Jonathan Nieder
2017-09-14  2:13                     ` Junio C Hamano
2017-09-14 15:23                       ` Johannes Schindelin
2017-09-14 15:45                         ` demerphq
2017-09-14 22:06                           ` Johannes Schindelin
2017-09-13 22:15                 ` Junio C Hamano
2017-09-13 22:27                   ` Jonathan Nieder
2017-09-14  2:10                     ` Junio C Hamano
2017-09-14 12:39               ` Johannes Schindelin
2017-09-14 16:36                 ` Brandon Williams
2017-09-14 18:49                 ` Jonathan Nieder
2017-09-15 20:42                   ` Philip Oakley
2017-03-05 11:02 ` RFC: " David Lang
     [not found]   ` <CA+dhYEXHbQfJ6KUB1tWS9u1MLEOJL81fTYkbxu4XO-i+379LPw@mail.gmail.com>
2017-03-06  9:43     ` Jeff King
2017-03-06 23:40   ` Jonathan Nieder
2017-03-07  0:03     ` Mike Hommey
2017-03-06  8:43 ` Jeff King
2017-03-06 18:39   ` Jonathan Tan
2017-03-06 19:22     ` Linus Torvalds
2017-03-06 19:59       ` Brandon Williams
2017-03-06 21:53       ` Junio C Hamano
2017-03-07  8:59     ` Jeff King
2017-03-06 18:43   ` Junio C Hamano
2017-03-07 18:57 ` Ian Jackson
2017-03-07 19:15   ` Linus Torvalds
2017-03-08 11:20     ` Ian Jackson
2017-03-08 15:37       ` Johannes Schindelin
2017-03-08 15:40       ` Johannes Schindelin
2017-03-20  5:21         ` Use base32? Jason Hennessey
2017-03-20  5:58           ` Michael Steuer
2017-03-20  8:05             ` Jacob Keller
2017-03-21  3:07               ` Michael Steuer
2017-03-13  9:24 ` RFC: Another proposed hash function transition plan The Keccak Team
2017-03-13 17:48   ` Jonathan Nieder
2017-03-13 18:34     ` ankostis
2017-03-17 11:07       ` Johannes Schindelin

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