Ascon is standardized as NIST SP 800-232: https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/sp/800/232/final

Ascon is a family of lightweight cryptographic algorithms and consists of:

• Authenticated encryption schemes with associated data (AEAD)
• Hash functions (HASH) and extendible output functions (XOF)
• Message authentication codes (MAC) and pseudo-random functions (PRF)

For more information on Ascon visit: https://ascon.isec.tugraz.at/

Most implementations in this repository use the "ECRYPT Benchmarking of Cryptographic Systems (eBACS)" interface:

• https://bench.cr.yp.to/call-aead.html for AEAD (Ascon-AEAD128)
• https://bench.cr.yp.to/call-hash.html for HASH and XOF (Ascon-Hash256, Ascon-XOF128)
• https://nacl.cr.yp.to/auth.html for MAC and PRF (Ascon-Mac, Ascon-Prf, Ascon-PrfShort)
• Except CXOF, which uses the interface defined in tests/crypto_cxof.h (Ascon-CXOF128)

New KAT files (known answer tests) for all NIST SP 800-232 algorithms can be found in crypto_*/*/LWC*.txt.

Old KAT files can still be found in the same path at v1.3.0 for NIST SP 800-232 and at v1.2.8 for Ascon v1.2.

If you do not know where to start, use the reference implementations (self-contained, portable, very fast):

• Ascon-AEAD128: crypto_aead/asconaead128/ref
• Ascon-Hash256: crypto_hash/asconhash256/ref
• Ascon-XOF128: crypto_hash/asconxof128/ref

An implementation can be built and run manually using the following commands (more details below):

gcc -march=native -O3 -Icrypto_aead/asconaead128/ref crypto_aead/asconaead128/ref/*.c -Itests tests/genkat_aead.c -o genkat && ./genkat
gcc -march=native -O3 -Icrypto_aead/asconaead128/ref crypto_aead/asconaead128/ref/*.c -DCRYPTO_AEAD -Itests tests/getcycles.c -o getcycles && ./getcycles

gcc -march=native -O3 -Icrypto_hash/asconhash256/ref crypto_hash/asconhash256/ref/*.c -Itests tests/genkat_hash.c -o genkat && ./genkat
gcc -march=native -O3 -Icrypto_hash/asconhash256/ref crypto_hash/asconhash256/ref/*.c -DCRYPTO_HASH -Itests tests/getcycles.c -o getcycles && ./getcycles

gcc -march=native -O3 -Icrypto_hash/asconxof128/ref crypto_hash/asconxof128/ref/*.c -Itests tests/genkat_hash.c -o genkat && ./genkat
gcc -march=native -O3 -Icrypto_hash/asconxof128/ref crypto_hash/asconxof128/ref/*.c -DCRYPTO_HASH -Itests tests/getcycles.c -o getcycles && ./getcycles

This repository contains implementations of the following NIST SP 800-232 standards:

• crypto_aead/asconaead128: Ascon-AEAD128 (authenticated encryption, formerly Ascon-128a)
• crypto_hash/asconhash256: Ascon-Hash256 (hash function, formerly Ascon-Hash)
• crypto_hash/asconxof128: Ascon-XOF128 (extendable output function, formerly Ascon-Xof)

and combined algorithm implementations supporting both AEAD and XOF:

• crypto_aead_hash/asconaeadxof128: Ascon-AEAD128 combined with Ascon-XOF128

We also provide the following Ascon MAC and PRF algorithms (not standardized yet):

• crypto_auth/asconmacv13: Ascon-Mac (message authentication code)
• crypto_auth/asconprfv13: Ascon-Prf (pseudo-random function)
• crypto_auth/asconprfsv13: Ascon-PrfShort (pseudo-random function for very short messages)

Note that for the NIST standard, the following changes have been made compared to the Ascon submission:

• The endianness has been switched from big endian to little endian
• The initial values have been updated to accommodate potential extensions

Other Ascon variants and versions can be found in different branches of this repository:

• git branch v1.2: Many other Ascon algorithms as submitted to the NIST and CAESAR competitions
• git branch v1.3: Many other Ascon algorithms using little endian notation and updated initial values

For most algorithms, we provide the following pure C implementations:

• ref: reference implementation
• opt64: 64-bit speed-optimized
• opt32: 32-bit speed-optimized
• opt64_lowsize: 64-bit size-optimized
• opt32_lowsize: 32-bit size-optimized
• bi32: 32-bit speed-optimized bit-interleaved
• bi32_lowreg: 32-bit speed-optimized bit-interleaved (low register usage)
• bi32_lowsize: 32-bit size-optimized bit-interleaved
• esp32: 32-bit ESP32 optimized
• opt8: 8-bit size- and speed-optimized
• bi8: 8-bit optimized bit-interleaved

the following C with inline or partial ASM implementations:

• avx512: 320-bit speed-optimized AVX512
• neon: 64-bit speed-optimized ARM NEON
• armv6: 32-bit speed-optimized ARMv6, ARMv7-A
• armv6m: 32-bit speed-optimized ARMv6-M
• armv7m: 32-bit speed-optimized ARMv7-M, ARMv8, ARMv9
• armv6_lowsize: 32-bit size-optimized ARMv6, ARMv7-A
• armv6m_lowsize: 32-bit size-optimized ARMv6-M
• armv7m_lowsize: 32-bit size-optimized ARMv7-M, ARMv8, ARMv9
• armv7m_small: 32-bit small speed-optimized ARMv7-M, ARMv8, ARMv9
• bi32_armv6: 32-bit speed-optimized bit-interleaved ARMv6, ARMv7-A
• bi32_armv6m: 32-bit speed-optimized bit-interleaved ARMv6-M
• bi32_armv7m: 32-bit speed-optimized bit-interleaved ARMv7-M, ARMv8, ARMv9
• bi32_armv7m_small: 32-bit small bit-interleaved ARMv7-M, ARMv8, ARMv9
• avr: 8-bit size- and speed-optimized AVR
• avr_lowsize: 8-bit size-optimized AVR

the following ASM implementations (only asm_rv32i has been updated to NIST SP 800-232 so far):

• asm_esp32: 32-bit optimized ESP32 using funnel-shift instructions
• asm_rv32i: 32-bit optimized RV32I using the base instruction set
• asm_rv32b: 32-bit optimized RV32B using bitmanip base (Zbb)
• asm_fsr_rv32b: 32-bit optimized funnel-shift RV32B using bitmanip base and bitmanip terniary (ZbbZbt)
• asm_bi32_rv32b: 32-bit optimized bit-interleaved RV32B using bitmanip base and bitmanip permutations (ZbbZbp)

and the following high-level masked (shared) C with inline ASM implementations:

• protected_bi32_armv6: 32-bit masked bit-interleaved ARMv6, ARMv7
• protected_bi32_armv6_leveled: 32-bit masked and leveled bit-interleaved ARMv6, ARMv7

The masked C implementations can be used as a starting point to generate device specific C/ASM implementations. Note that the masked C implementations require a minimum amount of ASM instructions. Otherwise, the compiler may heavily optimize the code and even combine shares. Obviously, the output generated is very sensitive to compiler and environment changes and any generated output needs to be security evaluated. A preliminary evaluation of these implementations has been performed on some ChipWhisperer devices. The setup and preliminary results can found at: https://github.com/ascon/simpleserial-ascon

This table can be re-generated by running the following scripts (requires gcc, clang and picolibc variants to be installed):

scripts/size-all.sh asconaead128 asconxof128 asconaeadxof128 asconprfv13 asconprfsv13

* Results taken from eBACS for Ascon v1.2: http://bench.cr.yp.to/

Performance results for other Ascon variants and versions can be found in git branch v1.2 and v1.3.

Build and test all Ascon C targets using release flags (-O2 -fomit-frame-pointer -march=native -mtune=native):

mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
cmake --build .
ctest

Build and test all Ascon C targets on Windows:

mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
cmake --build . --config Release
ctest -C Release

To print input/output values and intermediate Ascon states, add -DASCON_PRINT_STATE to the build via the cmake -DCOMPILE_DEFS option:

mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCOMPILE_DEFS="-DASCON_PRINT_STATE"
cmake --build .
ctest

Build and test all Ascon C targets using debug flags (with NIST defined flags and sanitizers):

mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug
cmake --build .
ctest

Manually set the compiler and/or release flags (e.g. to disable -march=native -mtune=native).

mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=clang -DREL_FLAGS="-O2;-fomit-frame-pointer"
cmake --build .
ctest

Build and run only specific algorithms, implementations and tests:

mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DALG_LIST="asconaead128;asconhash256" -DIMPL_LIST="opt64;bi32" -DTEST_LIST="genkat"
cmake --build .
ctest

Note that cmake stores variables in a cache. Therefore, variables can be set one-by-one, unset using e.g. cmake . -UIMPL_LIST and shown using cmake . -L:

mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
cmake . -DALG_LIST="asconaead128;asconhash256"
cmake . -DIMPL_LIST="opt64;bi32"
cmake . -DTEST_LIST="genkat"
cmake . -L
cmake --build .
ctest

Compile and test using Intel SDE (use full path to sde or add to path variable):

mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=gcc -DIMPL_LIST=avx512 -DEMULATOR="sde;--" \
         -DREL_FLAGS="-O2;-fomit-frame-pointer;-march=icelake-client"
cmake --build .
ctest

Cross compile and test with custom emulator using e.g. qemu-arm:

mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER="arm-linux-gnueabi-gcc" \
         -DREL_FLAGS="-O2;-fomit-frame-pointer;-march=armv7;-mtune=cortex-m4" \
         -DEMULATOR="qemu-arm;-L;/usr/arm-linux-gnueabi" \
         -DALG_LIST="asconaead128;asconhash256" -DIMPL_LIST="armv7m;bi32_armv7m"
cmake --build .
ctest

Compile and test for ARMv6-M on bare metal using picolibc and qemu-system-arm:

mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER="arm-none-eabi-gcc" -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER_FORCED=ON \
         -DREL_FLAGS="-O2;-mcpu=cortex-m0;--specs=picolibc.specs;--oslib=semihost;-T../tests/microbit.ld" \
         -DEMULATOR="qemu-system-arm;-semihosting;-nographic;-machine;microbit;-kernel" \
         -DALG_LIST="asconaead128;asconhash256" -DIMPL_LIST="armv6m;armv6m_lowsize"
cmake --build .
ctest

Compile and test for RV32 on bare metal using picolibc and qemu-system-riscv32:

mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER="riscv64-unknown-elf-gcc" -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER_FORCED=ON \
         -DREL_FLAGS="-O2;-march=rv32i;-mabi=ilp32;--specs=picolibc.specs;--oslib=semihost;-T../tests/rv32.ld" \
         -DEMULATOR="qemu-system-riscv32;-semihosting;-nographic;-machine;virt;-cpu;rv32;-bios;none;-kernel" \
         -DALG_LIST="asconaead128;asconhash256" -DIMPL_LIST="asm_rv32i"
cmake --build .
ctest

Build the getcycles test:

mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DALG_LIST="asconaead128;asconhash256" -DIMPL_LIST="opt32;opt32_lowsize" -DTEST_LIST="getcycles"
cmake --build .

Get the CPU cycle performance:

./getcycles_crypto_aead_asconaead128_opt32
./getcycles_crypto_aead_asconaead128_opt32_lowsize
./getcycles_crypto_hash_asconhash256_opt32
./getcycles_crypto_hash_asconhash256_opt32_lowsize

Get the implementation size:

size -t libcrypto_aead_asconaead128_opt32.a
size -t libcrypto_aead_asconaead128_opt32_lowsize.a
size -t libcrypto_hash_asconhash256_opt32.a
size -t libcrypto_hash_asconhash256_opt32_lowsize.a

Build example for AEAD algorithms:

gcc -march=native -O3 -Icrypto_aead/asconaead128/opt64 crypto_aead/asconaead128/opt64/*.c -Itests tests/genkat_aead.c -o genkat
gcc -march=native -O3 -Icrypto_aead/asconaead128/opt64 crypto_aead/asconaead128/opt64/*.c -DCRYPTO_AEAD -Itests tests/getcycles.c -o getcycles

Build example for HASH/XOF algorithms:

gcc -march=native -O3 -Icrypto_hash/asconhash256/opt64 crypto_hash/asconhash256/opt64/*.c -Itests tests/genkat_hash.c -o genkat
gcc -march=native -O3 -Icrypto_hash/asconhash256/opt64 crypto_hash/asconhash256/opt64/*.c -DCRYPTO_HASH -Itests tests/getcycles.c -o getcycles

Build example for MAC/PRF algorithms:

gcc -march=native -O3 -Icrypto_auth/asconprfv13/opt64 crypto_auth/asconprfv13/opt64/*.c -Itests tests/genkat_auth.c -o genkat
gcc -march=native -O3 -Icrypto_auth/asconprfv13/opt64 crypto_auth/asconprfv13/opt64/*.c -DCRYPTO_AUTH -Itests tests/getcycles.c -o getcycles

Generate KATs and get CPU cycles:

./genkat
./getcycles

To print input/output values and intermediate Ascon states, add -DASCON_PRINT_STATE to the build:

gcc -DASCON_PRINT_STATE -Icrypto_aead/asconaead128/opt64 crypto_aead/asconaead128/opt64/*.c -Itests tests/genkat_aead.c -o genkat && ./genkat | less

Build example for AEAD algorithms:

arm-linux-gnueabi-gcc -march=armv7 -O2 -Icrypto_aead/asconaead128/armv7m crypto_aead/asconaead128/armv7m/*.c -Itests tests/genkat_aead.c -o genkat
arm-linux-gnueabi-gcc -march=armv7 -O2 -Icrypto_aead/asconaead128/armv7m crypto_aead/asconaead128/armv7m/*.c -DCRYPTO_AEAD -Itests tests/getcycles.c -o getcycles

Build example for HASH/XOF algorithms:

arm-linux-gnueabi-gcc -march=armv7 -O2 -Icrypto_aead/asconaead128/armv7m crypto_aead/asconaead128/armv7m/*.c -Itests tests/genkat_hash.c -o genkat
arm-linux-gnueabi-gcc -march=armv7 -O2 -Icrypto_aead/asconaead128/armv7m crypto_aead/asconaead128/armv7m/*.c -DCRYPTO_HASH -Itests tests/getcycles.c -o getcycles

Generate KATs and get CPU cycles:

qemu-arm -L /usr/arm-linux-gnueabi ./genkat
qemu-arm -L /usr/arm-linux-gnueabi ./getcycles

Setup:

sudo apt install gcc-arm-none-eabi picolibc-arm-none-eabi qemu-system-arm

Example to build, run and test an AEAD/HASH algorithm using gcc, picolibc and qemu:

arm-none-eabi-gcc -O2 -mcpu=cortex-m0 --specs=picolibc.specs --oslib=semihost -Ttests/microbit.ld \
    -Icrypto_aead/asconaead128/armv6m crypto_aead/asconaead128/armv6m/*.[cS] -Itests tests/genkat_aead.c -o genkat
qemu-system-arm -semihosting -nographic -machine microbit -kernel genkat
diff LWC_AEAD_KAT_128_128.txt crypto_aead/asconaead128/LWC_AEAD_KAT_128_128.txt

arm-none-eabi-gcc -O2 -mcpu=cortex-m0 --specs=picolibc.specs --oslib=semihost -Ttests/microbit.ld \
    -Icrypto_hash/asconhash256/opt32 crypto_hash/asconhash256/opt32/*.[cS] -Itests tests/genkat_hash.c -o genkat
qemu-system-arm -semihosting -nographic -machine microbit -kernel genkat
diff LWC_HASH_KAT_256.txt crypto_hash/asconhash256/LWC_HASH_KAT_256.txt

Setup:

sudo apt install gcc-riscv64-unknown-elf picolibc-riscv64-unknown-elf qemu-system-misc

Example to build, run and test an AEAD/HASH algorithm using gcc, picolibc and qemu:

riscv64-unknown-elf-gcc -O2 -march=rv32i -mabi=ilp32 --specs=picolibc.specs --oslib=semihost -Ttests/rv32.ld \
    -Icrypto_aead/asconaead128/asm_rv32i crypto_aead/asconaead128/asm_rv32i/*.[cS] -Itests tests/genkat_aead.c -o genkat
qemu-system-riscv32 -semihosting -nographic -machine virt -cpu rv32 -bios none -kernel genkat
diff LWC_AEAD_KAT_128_128.txt crypto_aead/asconaead128/LWC_AEAD_KAT_128_128.txt

riscv64-unknown-elf-gcc -O2 -march=rv32i -mabi=ilp32 --specs=picolibc.specs --oslib=semihost -Ttests/rv32.ld \
    -Icrypto_hash/asconhash256/opt32 crypto_hash/asconhash256/opt32/*.[cS] -Itests tests/genkat_hash.c -o genkat
qemu-system-riscv32 -semihosting -nographic -machine virt -cpu rv32 -bios none -kernel genkat
diff LWC_HASH_KAT_256.txt crypto_hash/asconhash256/LWC_HASH_KAT_256.txt

Example to build, run and test an AEAD algorithm using avr-gcc, avr-libc and simavr.

Setup:

sudo apt install gcc-avr avr-libc simavr
git clone https://github.com/JohannCahier/avr_uart.git

Single test vector using demo and performance measurement using getcycles:

avr-gcc -mmcu=atmega128 -std=c99 -Os -Icrypto_aead/asconaead128/opt8 crypto_aead/asconaead128/opt8/*.[cS] \
    -DAVR_UART -Iavr_uart avr_uart/avr_uart.c -Wno-incompatible-pointer-types -Wno-cpp \
    -DCRYPTO_AEAD -Itests tests/demo.c -o demo
simavr -m atmega128 ./demo

avr-gcc -mmcu=atmega128 -std=c99 -Os -Icrypto_aead/asconaead128/opt8 crypto_aead/asconaead128/opt8/*.[cS] \
    -DAVR_UART -Iavr_uart avr_uart/avr_uart.c -Wno-incompatible-pointer-types -Wno-cpp \
    -DCRYPTO_AEAD -Itests tests/getcycles.c -o getcycles
simavr -t -m atmega128 ./getcycles

Generate all test vectors for AEAD/HASH and write result to a file. Press Ctrl-C to quit simavr after about a minute:

avr-gcc -mmcu=atmega128 -std=c99 -Os -Icrypto_aead/asconaead128/opt8 crypto_aead/asconaead128/opt8/*.[cS] \
    -DAVR_UART -Iavr_uart avr_uart/avr_uart.c -Wno-incompatible-pointer-types -Wno-cpp \
    -Itests tests/genkat_aead.c -o genkat_aead
echo "Press Ctrl-C to quit simavr after about a minute"
simavr -t -m atmega128 ./genkat_aead 2> LWC_AEAD_KAT_128_128.txt
sed -i -e 's/\x1b\[[0-9;]*m//g' -e 's/\.\.$//' LWC_AEAD_KAT_128_128.txt
diff LWC_AEAD_KAT_128_128.txt crypto_aead/asconaead128/LWC_AEAD_KAT_128_128.txt

avr-gcc -mmcu=atmega128 -std=c99 -Os -Icrypto_hash/asconhash256/opt8 crypto_hash/asconhash256/opt8/*.[cS] \
    -DAVR_UART -Iavr_uart avr_uart/avr_uart.c -Wno-incompatible-pointer-types -Wno-cpp \
    -Itests tests/genkat_hash.c -o genkat_hash
echo "Press Ctrl-C to quit simavr after about a minute"
simavr -t -m atmega128 ./genkat_hash 2> LWC_HASH_KAT_256.txt
sed -i -e 's/\x1b\[[0-9;]*m//g' -e 's/\.\.$//' LWC_HASH_KAT_256.txt
diff LWC_HASH_KAT_256.txt crypto_hash/asconhash256/LWC_HASH_KAT_256.txt

• Determine the processor base frequency (also called design frequency):

  • e.g. using the Intel/AMD website
  • or using lscpu listed under model name

• Disable turbo boost (this should lock the frequency to the next value below the processor base frequency):

  echo 1 | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/intel_pstate/no_turbo
  

• If the above does not work, manually set the frequency using e.g. cpufreq-set.

• Determine the actual frequency (under load):

  • e.g. by watching the frequency using lscpu or cpufreq-info

• Determine the scaling factor between the actual and base frequency:

  • factor = actual_frequency / base_frequency

• Run a getcycles program using the frequency factor and watch the results:

  while true; do ./getcycles_crypto_aead_asconaead128_opt64 $factor; done
  

• Run the benchmark-getcycles.sh script with the frequency factor and a specific algorithm to benchmark all corresponding getcycles implementations:

  scripts/benchmark-getcycles.sh $factor asconaead
  

• First try to install linux-tools and see if it works.

• On many ARM platforms, the PMU has to be enabled using a kernel module:

  • Source code for Armv6 (32-bit): http://sandsoftwaresound.net/raspberry-pi/raspberry-pi-gen-1/performance-counter-kernel-module/
  • Source code for Armv7 (32-bit): https://github.com/thoughtpolice/enable_arm_pmu
  • Source code for Armv8/Aarch64 (64-bit): https://github.com/rdolbeau/enable_arm_pmu

• Steps to compile the kernel module on the raspberry pi:

  • Find out the kernel version using uname -a
  • Download the kernel header files, e.g. raspberrypi-kernel-header
  • Download the source code for the Armv6 kernel module
  • Build, install and load the kernel module

Download supercop according to the website: http://bench.cr.yp.to/supercop.html

To test only Ascon, just run the following commands:

./do-part init
./do-part crypto_aead asconaead128
./do-part crypto_hash asconhash256
./do-part crypto_hash asconxof128

Show the cycles/Byte for a 1536 Byte long message:

cat bench/*/data | grep '_cycles 1536 ' | awk '{printf "%.1f\t%s\t%s\n", $9/$8, $6, $7}' | sort -nr

The script build-test.sh quickly test builds all implementations of an algorithm for a given compiler with compile flags:

scripts/build-test.sh asconaead128 arm-none-eabi-gcc -march=armv6-m -O2
scripts/build-test.sh asconaead128 arm-linux-gnueabi-gcc -march=armv7-m -O2
scripts/build-test.sh asconaead128 clang --target=riscv32-unknown-elf -march=rv32i -mabi=ilp32 -I/usr/lib/picolibc/arm-none-eabi/include

The size-build.sh script builds and sorts the size of all implementations of an algorithm for a given compiler with compile flags:

scripts/size-build.sh asconaead128 arm-none-eabi-gcc -march=armv6-m
scripts/size-build.sh asconaead128 arm-linux-gnueabi-gcc -march=armv7-m
scripts/size-build.sh asconaead128 clang --target=riscv32-unknown-elf -march=rv32i -mabi=ilp32 -I/usr/lib/picolibc/arm-none-eabi/include

The ascon-c code allows to set compile-time parameters ASCON_INLINE_MODE (IM), ASCON_INLINE_PERM (IP), ASCON_UNROLL_LOOPS (UL), ASCON_INLINE_BI (IB), via command line or in the crypto_*/ascon*/*/config.h files.

Use the benchmark-config.sh script to evaluate all combinations of these parameters for a given list of Ascon implementations. The script is called with a frequency factor, output file, the algorithm, and a list of implementations to test:

scripts/benchmark-config.sh $factor results-config.md asconaead128 ref opt64 opt64_lowsize

The results-config.md file then contains a markup table with size and cycles for each implementation and parameter set to evaluate several time-area trade-offs.