Merge #701: Make ec_ arithmetic more consistent and add documentation

7e3952a Clarify documentation of tweak functions. (Jonas Nick)
89853a0 Make tweak function documentation more consistent. (Jonas Nick)
41fc785 Make ec_privkey functions aliases for ec_seckey_negate, ec_seckey_tweak_add and ec_seckey_mul (Jonas Nick)
22911ee Rename private key to secret key in public API (with the exception of function names) (Jonas Nick)
5a73f14 Mention that value is unspecified for In/Out parameters if the function returns 0 (Jonas Nick)
f03df0e Define valid ECDSA keys in the documentation of seckey_verify (Jonas Nick)
5894e1f Return 0 if the given seckey is invalid in privkey_negate, privkey_tweak_add and privkey_tweak_mul (Jonas Nick)
8f814cd Add test for boundary conditions of scalar_set_b32 with respect to overflows (Jonas Nick)
3fec982 Use scalar_set_b32_seckey in ecdsa_sign, pubkey_create and seckey_verify (Jonas Nick)
9ab2cbe Add scalar_set_b32_seckey which does the same as scalar_set_b32 and also returns whether it's a valid secret key (Jonas Nick)

Pull request description:

  Fixes #671. Supersedes #668.

  This PR unifies handling of invalid secret keys by introducing a new function `scalar_set_b32_secret` which returns false if the b32 overflows or is 0. By using this in `privkey_{negate, tweak_add, tweak_mul}` these function will now return 0 if the secret key is invalid which matches the behavior of `ecdsa_sign` and `pubkey_create`.

  Instead of deciding whether to zeroize the secret key on failure, I only added documentation for now that the value is undefined on failure.

ACKs for top commit:
  real-or-random:
    ACK 7e3952a I read the diff carefully and tested the changes
  apoelstra:
    ACK 7e3952a

Tree-SHA512: 8e9a66799cd3b6ec1c3acb731d6778035417e3dca9300d840e2437346ff0ac94f0c9be4de20aa2fac9bb4ae2f8a36d4e6a34795a640b9cfbfee8311decb102f0

Author: real-or-random

include/secp256k1.h

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ extern "C" {
  * 2. Array lengths always immediately the follow the argument whose length
  *    they describe, even if this violates rule 1.
  * 3. Within the OUT/OUTIN/IN groups, pointers to data that is typically generated
- *    later go first. This means: signatures, public nonces, private nonces,
+ *    later go first. This means: signatures, public nonces, secret nonces,
  *    messages, public keys, secret keys, tweaks.
  * 4. Arguments that are not data pointers go last, from more complex to less
  *    complex: function pointers, algorithm names, messages, void pointers,
@@ -531,7 +531,7 @@ SECP256K1_API extern const secp256k1_nonce_function secp256k1_nonce_function_def
 /** Create an ECDSA signature.
  *
  *  Returns: 1: signature created
- *           0: the nonce generation function failed, or the private key was invalid.
+ *           0: the nonce generation function failed, or the secret key was invalid.
  *  Args:    ctx:    pointer to a context object, initialized for signing (cannot be NULL)
  *  Out:     sig:    pointer to an array where the signature will be placed (cannot be NULL)
  *  In:      msg32:  the 32-byte message hash being signed (cannot be NULL)
@@ -552,6 +552,11 @@ SECP256K1_API int secp256k1_ecdsa_sign(
 ) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(1) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(2) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(3) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(4);
 
 /** Verify an ECDSA secret key.
+ *
+ *  A secret key is valid if it is not 0 and less than the secp256k1 curve order
+ *  when interpreted as an integer (most significant byte first). The
+ *  probability of choosing a 32-byte string uniformly at random which is an
+ *  invalid secret key is negligible.
  *
  *  Returns: 1: secret key is valid
  *           0: secret key is invalid
@@ -569,20 +574,32 @@ SECP256K1_API SECP256K1_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT int secp256k1_ec_seckey_verify(
  *           0: secret was invalid, try again
  *  Args:   ctx:        pointer to a context object, initialized for signing (cannot be NULL)
  *  Out:    pubkey:     pointer to the created public key (cannot be NULL)
- *  In:     seckey:     pointer to a 32-byte private key (cannot be NULL)
+ *  In:     seckey:     pointer to a 32-byte secret key (cannot be NULL)
  */
 SECP256K1_API SECP256K1_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT int secp256k1_ec_pubkey_create(
     const secp256k1_context* ctx,
     secp256k1_pubkey *pubkey,
     const unsigned char *seckey
 ) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(1) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(2) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(3);
 
-/** Negates a private key in place.
+/** Negates a secret key in place.
  *
- *  Returns: 1 always
- *  Args:   ctx:        pointer to a context object
- *  In/Out: seckey:     pointer to the 32-byte private key to be negated (cannot be NULL)
+ *  Returns: 0 if the given secret key is invalid according to
+ *           secp256k1_ec_seckey_verify. 1 otherwise
+ *  Args:   ctx:    pointer to a context object
+ *  In/Out: seckey: pointer to the 32-byte secret key to be negated. If the
+ *                  secret key is invalid according to
+ *                  secp256k1_ec_seckey_verify, this function returns 0 and
+ *                  seckey will be set to some unspecified value. (cannot be
+ *                  NULL)
  */
+SECP256K1_API SECP256K1_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT int secp256k1_ec_seckey_negate(
+    const secp256k1_context* ctx,
+    unsigned char *seckey
+) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(1) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(2);
+
+/** Same as secp256k1_ec_seckey_negate, but DEPRECATED. Will be removed in
+ *  future versions. */
 SECP256K1_API SECP256K1_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT int secp256k1_ec_privkey_negate(
     const secp256k1_context* ctx,
     unsigned char *seckey
@@ -599,57 +616,93 @@ SECP256K1_API SECP256K1_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT int secp256k1_ec_pubkey_negate(
     secp256k1_pubkey *pubkey
 ) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(1) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(2);
 
-/** Tweak a private key by adding tweak to it.
- * Returns: 0 if the tweak was out of range (chance of around 1 in 2^128 for
- *          uniformly random 32-byte arrays, or if the resulting private key
- *          would be invalid (only when the tweak is the complement of the
- *          private key). 1 otherwise.
- * Args:    ctx:    pointer to a context object (cannot be NULL).
- * In/Out:  seckey: pointer to a 32-byte private key.
- * In:      tweak:  pointer to a 32-byte tweak.
- */
+/** Tweak a secret key by adding tweak to it.
+ *
+ *  Returns: 0 if the arguments are invalid or the resulting secret key would be
+ *           invalid (only when the tweak is the negation of the secret key). 1
+ *           otherwise.
+ *  Args:    ctx:   pointer to a context object (cannot be NULL).
+ *  In/Out: seckey: pointer to a 32-byte secret key. If the secret key is
+ *                  invalid according to secp256k1_ec_seckey_verify, this
+ *                  function returns 0. seckey will be set to some unspecified
+ *                  value if this function returns 0. (cannot be NULL)
+ *  In:      tweak: pointer to a 32-byte tweak. If the tweak is invalid according to
+ *                  secp256k1_ec_seckey_verify, this function returns 0. For
+ *                  uniformly random 32-byte arrays the chance of being invalid
+ *                  is negligible (around 1 in 2^128) (cannot be NULL).
+ */
+SECP256K1_API SECP256K1_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT int secp256k1_ec_seckey_tweak_add(
+    const secp256k1_context* ctx,
+    unsigned char *seckey,
+    const unsigned char *tweak
+) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(1) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(2) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(3);
+
+/** Same as secp256k1_ec_seckey_tweak_add, but DEPRECATED. Will be removed in
+ *  future versions. */
 SECP256K1_API SECP256K1_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT int secp256k1_ec_privkey_tweak_add(
     const secp256k1_context* ctx,
     unsigned char *seckey,
     const unsigned char *tweak
 ) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(1) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(2) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(3);
 
 /** Tweak a public key by adding tweak times the generator to it.
- * Returns: 0 if the tweak was out of range (chance of around 1 in 2^128 for
- *          uniformly random 32-byte arrays, or if the resulting public key
- *          would be invalid (only when the tweak is the complement of the
- *          corresponding private key). 1 otherwise.
- * Args:    ctx:    pointer to a context object initialized for validation
+ *
+ *  Returns: 0 if the arguments are invalid or the resulting public key would be
+ *           invalid (only when the tweak is the negation of the corresponding
+ *           secret key). 1 otherwise.
+ *  Args:    ctx:   pointer to a context object initialized for validation
  *                  (cannot be NULL).
- * In/Out:  pubkey: pointer to a public key object.
- * In:      tweak:  pointer to a 32-byte tweak.
+ *  In/Out: pubkey: pointer to a public key object. pubkey will be set to an
+ *                  invalid value if this function returns 0 (cannot be NULL).
+ *  In:      tweak: pointer to a 32-byte tweak. If the tweak is invalid according to
+ *                  secp256k1_ec_seckey_verify, this function returns 0. For
+ *                  uniformly random 32-byte arrays the chance of being invalid
+ *                  is negligible (around 1 in 2^128) (cannot be NULL).
  */
 SECP256K1_API SECP256K1_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT int secp256k1_ec_pubkey_tweak_add(
     const secp256k1_context* ctx,
     secp256k1_pubkey *pubkey,
     const unsigned char *tweak
 ) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(1) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(2) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(3);
 
-/** Tweak a private key by multiplying it by a tweak.
- * Returns: 0 if the tweak was out of range (chance of around 1 in 2^128 for
- *          uniformly random 32-byte arrays, or equal to zero. 1 otherwise.
- * Args:   ctx:    pointer to a context object (cannot be NULL).
- * In/Out: seckey: pointer to a 32-byte private key.
- * In:     tweak:  pointer to a 32-byte tweak.
+/** Tweak a secret key by multiplying it by a tweak.
+ *
+ *  Returns: 0 if the arguments are invalid. 1 otherwise.
+ *  Args:   ctx:    pointer to a context object (cannot be NULL).
+ *  In/Out: seckey: pointer to a 32-byte secret key. If the secret key is
+ *                  invalid according to secp256k1_ec_seckey_verify, this
+ *                  function returns 0. seckey will be set to some unspecified
+ *                  value if this function returns 0. (cannot be NULL)
+ *  In:      tweak: pointer to a 32-byte tweak. If the tweak is invalid according to
+ *                  secp256k1_ec_seckey_verify, this function returns 0. For
+ *                  uniformly random 32-byte arrays the chance of being invalid
+ *                  is negligible (around 1 in 2^128) (cannot be NULL).
  */
+SECP256K1_API SECP256K1_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT int secp256k1_ec_seckey_tweak_mul(
+    const secp256k1_context* ctx,
+    unsigned char *seckey,
+    const unsigned char *tweak
+) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(1) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(2) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(3);
+
+/** Same as secp256k1_ec_seckey_tweak_mul, but DEPRECATED. Will be removed in
+ *  future versions. */
 SECP256K1_API SECP256K1_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT int secp256k1_ec_privkey_tweak_mul(
     const secp256k1_context* ctx,
     unsigned char *seckey,
     const unsigned char *tweak
 ) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(1) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(2) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(3);
 
 /** Tweak a public key by multiplying it by a tweak value.
- * Returns: 0 if the tweak was out of range (chance of around 1 in 2^128 for
- *          uniformly random 32-byte arrays, or equal to zero. 1 otherwise.
- * Args:    ctx:    pointer to a context object initialized for validation
- *                 (cannot be NULL).
- * In/Out:  pubkey: pointer to a public key object.
- * In:      tweak:  pointer to a 32-byte tweak.
+ *
+ *  Returns: 0 if the arguments are invalid. 1 otherwise.
+ *  Args:    ctx:   pointer to a context object initialized for validation
+ *                  (cannot be NULL).
+ *  In/Out: pubkey: pointer to a public key object. pubkey will be set to an
+ *                  invalid value if this function returns 0 (cannot be NULL).
+ *  In:      tweak: pointer to a 32-byte tweak. If the tweak is invalid according to
+ *                  secp256k1_ec_seckey_verify, this function returns 0. For
+ *                  uniformly random 32-byte arrays the chance of being invalid
+ *                  is negligible (around 1 in 2^128) (cannot be NULL).
  */
 SECP256K1_API SECP256K1_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT int secp256k1_ec_pubkey_tweak_mul(
     const secp256k1_context* ctx,
@@ -688,6 +741,7 @@ SECP256K1_API SECP256K1_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT int secp256k1_context_randomize(
 ) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(1);
 
 /** Add a number of public keys together.
+ *
  *  Returns: 1: the sum of the public keys is valid.
  *           0: the sum of the public keys is not valid.
  *  Args:   ctx:        pointer to a context object

include/secp256k1_ecdh.h

@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ SECP256K1_API extern const secp256k1_ecdh_hash_function secp256k1_ecdh_hash_func
  *  Out:     output:     pointer to an array to be filled by hashfp
  *  In:      pubkey:     a pointer to a secp256k1_pubkey containing an
  *                       initialized public key
- *           privkey:    a 32-byte scalar with which to multiply the point
+ *           seckey:     a 32-byte scalar with which to multiply the point
  *           hashfp:     pointer to a hash function. If NULL, secp256k1_ecdh_hash_function_sha256 is used
  *                       (in which case, 32 bytes will be written to output)
  *           data:       arbitrary data pointer that is passed through to hashfp
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ SECP256K1_API SECP256K1_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT int secp256k1_ecdh(
   const secp256k1_context* ctx,
   unsigned char *output,
   const secp256k1_pubkey *pubkey,
-  const unsigned char *privkey,
+  const unsigned char *seckey,
   secp256k1_ecdh_hash_function hashfp,
   void *data
 ) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(1) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(2) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(3) SECP256K1_ARG_NONNULL(4);

include/secp256k1_recovery.h

@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ SECP256K1_API int secp256k1_ecdsa_recoverable_signature_serialize_compact(
 /** Create a recoverable ECDSA signature.
  *
  *  Returns: 1: signature created
- *           0: the nonce generation function failed, or the private key was invalid.
+ *           0: the nonce generation function failed, or the secret key was invalid.
  *  Args:    ctx:    pointer to a context object, initialized for signing (cannot be NULL)
  *  Out:     sig:    pointer to an array where the signature will be placed (cannot be NULL)
  *  In:      msg32:  the 32-byte message hash being signed (cannot be NULL)

src/eckey_impl.h

@@ -54,10 +54,7 @@ static int secp256k1_eckey_pubkey_serialize(secp256k1_ge *elem, unsigned char *p
 
 static int secp256k1_eckey_privkey_tweak_add(secp256k1_scalar *key, const secp256k1_scalar *tweak) {
     secp256k1_scalar_add(key, key, tweak);
-    if (secp256k1_scalar_is_zero(key)) {
-        return 0;
-    }
-    return 1;
+    return !secp256k1_scalar_is_zero(key);
 }
 
 static int secp256k1_eckey_pubkey_tweak_add(const secp256k1_ecmult_context *ctx, secp256k1_ge *key, const secp256k1_scalar *tweak) {

src/scalar.h

@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@ static unsigned int secp256k1_scalar_get_bits_var(const secp256k1_scalar *a, uns
  */
 static void secp256k1_scalar_set_b32(secp256k1_scalar *r, const unsigned char *bin, int *overflow);
 
+/** Set a scalar from a big endian byte array and returns 1 if it is a valid
+ *  seckey and 0 otherwise. */
+static int secp256k1_scalar_set_b32_seckey(secp256k1_scalar *r, const unsigned char *bin);
+
 /** Set a scalar to an unsigned integer. */
 static void secp256k1_scalar_set_int(secp256k1_scalar *r, unsigned int v);
 

src/scalar_impl.h

@@ -55,6 +55,12 @@ static void secp256k1_scalar_order_get_num(secp256k1_num *r) {
 }
 #endif
 
+static int secp256k1_scalar_set_b32_seckey(secp256k1_scalar *r, const unsigned char *bin) {
+    int overflow;
+    secp256k1_scalar_set_b32(r, bin, &overflow);
+    return (!overflow) & (!secp256k1_scalar_is_zero(r));
+}
+
 static void secp256k1_scalar_inverse(secp256k1_scalar *r, const secp256k1_scalar *x) {
 #if defined(EXHAUSTIVE_TEST_ORDER)
     int i;