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Encrypt String Help

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    #1

    Encrypt String Help

    I am trying to have a user make a request to my A5 server with an encrypted value. He is encrypting the value using blowfish which is what I told him to use based on the Alpha manual. I also gave hime the key that I used.

    I tested the value with A5_encrypt_string and A5_decrypt_string and it works fine based on the encrypted value Alpha returns to me.

    When he encrypts the value using 2 different blowfish libraries he gets the same encrypted value from both, but it's completely different than what Alpha gives me.

    I don't know a lot about the blowfish algorithm. Are there different versions? Does Alpha have any further info about their use of the Blowfish algorithm? (I've look in the manual and can't find anything.)

    Any input would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.
    Tags: None
    #2
    Re: Encrypt String Help

    Actually when I try to force it to use the blowfish algorithm it errors out:

    pdf = a5_encrypt_string(pdf,"atg","Blowfish")
    Error encrypting string.
    OpenSSL Description: error:0607B083:digital envelope routines:EVP_CipherInit_ex:no cipher set

    So if it's erroring out like this, what encryption method is it using by default?? The manual says blowfish is default??

    Comment

      #3
      Re: Encrypt String Help

      Hi Eric,
      I have not ever used this function....but you have
      pdf = a5_encrypt_string(pdf,"atg","Blowfish")

      Strange to have the encoded string equal to the plain text string (pdf) for one thing (unless I am completely off here) and unless the plain text string is a variable it should be inside of double quotes. And if it is a variable to begin with(set sometime prior) then even I am(and am sure Alpha is) confused as the aforementioned code would then set the variable pdf to equal something it cannot in the way you have it (would have to have double quotes if a character (or even have eval() used maybe).

      So for others who may know more, correct these discrepancies so it is more easily understood maybe?? :)
      Mike
      __________________________________________
      It is only when we forget all our learning that we begin to know.
      It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.
      Henry David Thoreau
      __________________________________________



      Comment

        #4
        Re: Encrypt String Help

        You are correct, pdf is a variable. I'm little confused by your response because in the interactive code editor it works just fine without quotes...see below

        Also, I just got it to work by making the 'B' in blowfish lowercase...lovely.

        Here it is working:

        pdf = "MYFILE.PDF"
        pdf = a5_encrypt_string(pdf,"atg","blowfish")
        ?pdf
        = "p3lZOukVDuEBEyGK+C7Dxw=="

        Now the funny thing is, the encrypt string ("p3lZOukVDuEBEyGK+C7Dxw==") is different that the first go around using:

        pdf = a5_encrypt_string(pdf,"atg")

        which means that Blowfish is not the default. (At least that's what I deduce from this.) Furthermore, it's still not the same as the encrypted string my user is generating using the blowfish algorithm. In doing some research online, I see there are different encryption methods within blowfish:

        BF_ecb_encrypt
        BF_cbc_encrypt
        BF_cfb64_encrypt
        BF_ofb64_encrypt

        It appears you can use ecb, cbc, cfb64 or ofb64 as the initializer and that changes the encrypted string as well. I think I just need to line these parameters up with my user as it seems that there a few variables to deal with.

        I would really appreciate it if Alpha could shed some light on their use of the blowfish algorithm and why the manual appears to be wrong. I think it defaults to base64encode and not blowfish.

        Comment

          #5
          Re: Encrypt String Help

          Eric,
          It comes out the same here--

          Code:
          pdf = "MYFILE.PDF"
pdf = a5_encrypt_string(pdf,"atg","blowfish")
?pdf
= "p3lZOukVDuEBEyGK+C7Dxw=="
pdf2="MYFILE.PDF"
pdf2 = a5_encrypt_string(pdf2,"atg")
?pdf2
= "p3lZOukVDuEBEyGK+C7Dxw=="
          Mike
          __________________________________________
          It is only when we forget all our learning that we begin to know.
          It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.
          Henry David Thoreau
          __________________________________________



          Comment

            #6
            Re: Encrypt String Help

            You're right. I screwed something up messing around with the interactive screen....my bad.

            Anyway, this does change it:

            pdf = a5_encrypt_string(pdf,"atg","blowfish","ecb")

            Thank you for your time. I appreciate the help.

            Comment

              #7
              Re: Encrypt String Help

              :) So...is it working now? Really shows my lack of knowledge as I cannot even tell if this is resolved yet! :D
              Mike
              __________________________________________
              It is only when we forget all our learning that we begin to know.
              It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.
              Henry David Thoreau
              __________________________________________



              Comment

                #8
                Re: Encrypt String Help

                Well, it's working in that I know blowfish is encrypting the string using 'ecb'. But, it still doesn't match what my user is getting, so I need to work with him to see if he's doing something wrong on his end (He's not using Alpha).

                I consider this working on the Alpha side. If I have pertinent feedback from my user, I'll post again.

                Thank you again for your time.

                Comment

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