Number: SLIP-0021
Title: Hierarchical derivation of symmetric keys
Type: Standard
Status: Final
Authors: Andrew R. Kozlik <[email protected]>
Ondrej Vejpustek <[email protected]>
Pavol Rusnak <[email protected]>
Created: 2019-06-25
This document describes a method of deriving a hierarchy of symmetric keys from a master secret, such as the recovery seed used in cryptocurrency wallets.
The BIP-0032 and SLIP-0010 specifications define how to derive a hierarchy of private/public key pairs from a master seed for the elliptic curves secp256k1, NIST P-256 and ed25519. However, there does not exist any similar specification for the derivation of keys for symmetric-key algorithms, which are needed for example in password encryption or encryption of Bitcoin metadata. SLIP-0011 deals with this problem by first using BIP-0032 to derive a secp256k1 private key and then deriving the symmetric key from this private key. However, BIP-0032 was not designed to be used in this way and it also implies that an implementation of SLIP-0011 requires secp256k1 arithmetic, which should not be needed for symmetric key derivation. The purpose of this specification is to lay down a common framework for the deterministic derivation of a hierarchy of symmetric keys from a master seed.
We adapt the master node generation from BIP-0032 and SLIP-0010. To achieve proper domain separation from the secp256k1, NIST P-256 and ed25519 key hierarchies, we use the string “Symmetric key seed” instead of the curve name. Let S be the master secret, such as that defined in SLIP-0039 or the binary seed defined in BIP-0039. Then the master node m is derived as follows:
m = HMAC-SHA512(key = b"Symmetric key seed", msg = S)
The master node is used to derive child nodes, each of which can in turn be used to derive lower-level child nodes of their own and so on. Each node is associated with a 256-bit symmetric key. The master node is thus the root of a key tree.
The child nodes of a parent node N are identified by a variable-length byte string called a label. The labels of all nodes which are derived from the master node, i.e., the first-level labels, MUST identify the purpose of the subordinate nodes. The purpose determines the further structure beneath the node. This label must be sufficiently unique to avoid collisions between applications. Examples include the ASCII encoding of the strings "BIP-9999", "SLIP-9999" or "FIDO2 Trezor Credential ID".
The derivation function is defined as:
ChildNode(N, label) = HMAC-SHA512(key = N[0:32], msg = b"\x00" + label),
where N[0:32] is the first 32 bytes of node data. The key for a given node is defined as the last 32 bytes of the node data:
Key(N) = N[32:64]
This example shows several keys derived from the master secret
S = c76c4ac4f4e4a00d6b274d5c39c700bb4a7ddc04fbc6f78e85ca75007b5b495f74a9043eeb77bdd53aa6fc3a0e31462270316fa04b8c19114c8798706cd02ac8
which is the binary seed obtained from the BIP-0039 mnemonic "all all all all all all all all all all all all" with an empty passphrase.
Key(m) = dbf12b44133eaab506a740f6565cc117228cbf1dd70635cfa8ddfdc9af734756
Key(m/"SLIP-0021") = 1d065e3ac1bbe5c7fad32cf2305f7d709dc070d672044a19e610c77cdf33de0d
Key(m/"SLIP-0021"/"Master encryption key") = ea163130e35bbafdf5ddee97a17b39cef2be4b4f390180d65b54cf05c6a82fde
Key(m/"SLIP-0021"/"Authentication key") = 47194e938ab24cc82bfa25f6486ed54bebe79c40ae2a5a32ea6db294d81861a6
This standard is designed in accordance with NIST SP 800-108 Recommendation for Key Derivation Using Pseudorandom Functions.
Each node is associated with a 256-bit symmetric key. This key length is considered sufficiently secure for a number of years to come, see keylength.com. It is also compatible with all major symmetric-key algorithms in use today, such as AES-256, ChaCha20Poly1305 or HMAC. The key derivation functions specified in NIST SP 800-108 allow for the derivation of variable length keys. Nevertheless, since such a feature appears to be of little use, a fixed key length was chosen to keep the implementation of this SLIP as simple as possible.
The fact that each node is associated with a key of its own and uses a separate key for the derivation of child nodes is based on the principle that a single key should be used for only one purpose, e.g., encryption, integrity authentication, key derivation. The reasoning behind this principle is well known:
- The use of the same key for two different cryptographic processes may weaken the security provided by one or both of the processes.
- Limiting the use of a key limits the damage that could be done if the key is compromised.
- Some uses of keys interfere with each other.
Most importantly, the scheme is designed so that the knowledge of Key(N) is independent of the ability to derive child nodes of N. Thus the compromise of Key(N) does not jeopardize any child keys of N.
In the BIP-0032 specification child nodes are indexed by a 31-bit integer. This is well suited for hierarchical wallets, but there are instances where it would be more convenient to be able to specify the derived key using a randomly generated value with sufficient entropy to avoid collisions. For such purposes a 31-bit index is insufficient. A variable-length byte string allows maximum flexibility in labeling nodes, for example by using a printable string, an encoded integer index or a 256-bit random value.
Since this derivation scheme is intended to be fully deterministic once the master secret is known, the context and separator as defined in NIST SP 800-108 are omitted from the HMAC-SHA512 input. The counter and the length of the derived key are also omitted from the input, because they are constant.
The value of the message entering the HMAC-SHA512 function is a null byte followed by the label of the child node. The reason for this is that the first byte of the message value is reserved for future use. It can be used for domain separation in case support for other types of labels is desired.