Network Working Group D. Shaw
Request for Comments: 5581 June 2009
Updates: 4880
Category: Informational
The Camellia Cipher in OpenPGP
Shaw Informational [Page 1]
RFC 5581 The Camellia Cipher in OpenPGP June 2009 1. IntroductionThe OpenPGP protocol [RFC4880] can support many different symmetric ciphers. This document presents the necessary information to use the Camellia [RFC3713] symmetric cipher in the OpenPGP protocol.
2. Requirements Notation
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].
3. Camellia
Camellia is specified in [RFC3713]. It is a 128-bit symmetric block cipher (as are AES and Twofish in OpenPGP) that supports 128-bit, 192-bit, and 256-bit keys. This document defines the use of Camellia in OpenPGP.
+---------------------+----------------------------------------+
| Camellia Key Length | OpenPGP Symmetric-Key Algorithm Number |
+---------------------+----------------------------------------+
| 128 | 11 |
| 192 | 12 |
| 256 | 13 |
+---------------------+----------------------------------------+
OpenPGP applications MAY implement Camellia. If implemented, Camellia may be used in any place in OpenPGP where a symmetric cipher is usable, and it is subject to the same usage requirements (such as its presence in the Preferred Symmetric Algorithms signature subpacket) as the other symmetric ciphers in OpenPGP.
4. Security Considerations
At publication time, there are no known weak keys for Camellia, and the Camellia algorithm is believed to be strong. However, as with any technology involving cryptography, implementers should check the current literature, as well as the Camellia home page at http://info.isl.ntt.co.jp/camellia/ to determine if Camellia has been found to be vulnerable to attack.
Shaw Informational [Page 2]
RFC 5581 The Camellia Cipher in OpenPGP June 2009 5. IANA ConsiderationsIANA assigned three algorithm numbers from the registry of OpenPGP Symmetric-Key Algorithms that was created by [RFC4880].
6. Normative References
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate