AddonSDKCryptoAPI

Status

Team

Open issues/risks

• Need to create a platform API that is thread safe
• Need to create a ChromeWorker and JSM as the "internal API"
  • keeping this work off of main thread
  • need to keep e10s (mobile Firefox and desktop) in mind with this implementation
• Need to expose this internal API via an AddonSDK API

Stage 1: Definition

1. Feature overview

The Mozilla Identity project will need a very high-level, chrome-privileged API to generate keypairs, sign and verify data. Ideally, this API will also provide PublicKey encrytpion, symmetric encryption hashing and HMAC. The initial Identity-in-the-browser effort for Firefox itself will use the Addon SDK to iterate the UX and functionality. An API like this will also be useful in other ways to Addon developers. This project is the Addon SDK's integration with the DOMCrypt API: Privacy/Features/DOMCryptAPISpec/Latest

2. Users & use cases

Labs will need to create prototype Addons that handle generateKeypair(), sign() and verify() in order to support Identity in the browser.

A addon author needs to allow users to easily sign or encrypt then verify or decrypt data that is submitted to a service or exchanged between users online.

3. Dependencies

bug 649154 bug 665057

4. Requirements

`

Non-goals

Anything resembling a low-level crypto API.

Stage 2: Design

5. Functional specification

The spec will follow closely with the DOMCrypt API, which is content-focused. In this case we want essentially the same API for the Addon SDK: Privacy/Features/DOMCryptAPISpec/Latest

The basic idea is an Addon SDK API for key generation, signing and verification.

Let's cal the API 'crypto'. We will start with the functionality required by Identity.

 
[Supplemental]
interface Crypto {
  readonly attribute CryptoPk pk;
};

[Callback=FunctionOnly, NoInterfaceObject] interface GenerateKeypairCallback {
  void onsuccess(DOMString pubKey);
};

[Callback=FunctionOnly, NoInterfaceObject] interface PKSignCallback {
  void onsuccess(DOMString signature);
};

[Callback=FunctionOnly, NoInterfaceObject] interface PKVerifyCallback {
  void onsuccess(boolean verified);
};

interface CryptoPk {

  attribute DOMString algorithm;

  void generateKeypair(DOMString ID, GenerateKeypairCallback callback);

  void getPublicKey(DOMString ID, GetPublicKeyCallback callback);

  void sign(DOMString plainText, PKSignCallback callback);

  void verify(DOMString signature, DOMString pubKey, DOMString plainText, PKVerifyCallback callback);

};

6. User experience design

There *may* be a single prompt (to ask for an initial passphrase or an occasional re-typing of this passphrase) that UX will need to give input on. TBD. This is based on current prototype designs, and may not be an issue at all.

Stage 3: Planning

7. Implementation plan

Implementation plan is being worked on now (July 6 2011)

8. Reviews

Security review

TBD

Privacy review

TBD

Localization review

TBD

Accessibility

TBD

Quality Assurance review

TBD

Operations review

`

Stage 4: Development

9. Implementation

Much of this implementation will be guided by what has been implemented in the DOMCrypt project. There will be newer, cleaner platform APIs written to avoid the use of js-ctypes.

The basic design will be to create a JSM that makes all calls to crypto APIs off main thread via a ChromeWorker. The AddonSDK's API will import this JSM and require callbacks of the Addon author for all operations.

Stage 5: Release

10. Landing criteria

`

 
[Supplemental]
interface Crypto {
  readonly attribute CryptoPk pk;
};

[Callback=FunctionOnly, NoInterfaceObject] interface GenerateKeypairCallback {
  void onsuccess(DOMString pubKey);
};

[Callback=FunctionOnly, NoInterfaceObject] interface PKSignCallback {
  void onsuccess(DOMString signature);
};

[Callback=FunctionOnly, NoInterfaceObject] interface PKVerifyCallback {
  void onsuccess(boolean verified);
};

interface CryptoPk {

  attribute DOMString algorithm;

  void generateKeypair(DOMString ID, GenerateKeypairCallback callback);

  void getPublicKey(DOMString ID, GetPublicKeyCallback callback);

  void sign(DOMString plainText, PKSignCallback callback);

  void verify(DOMString signature, DOMString pubKey, DOMString plainText, PKVerifyCallback callback);

};

Feature details

Team status notes