Freigeben über

SHA-2 support on Windows XP

  • Artikel

Hi all,

If you try to use any SHA-2 algorithm (SHA-256, SHA-384 and SHA-512) on Windows XP, you may get the following error when using i.e. CryptCreateHash: NTE_BAD_ALGID or -2146893816 or 0x80090008 or "Invalid algorithm specified" . Same algorithms are supported on Vista, though.

Can we use SHA-2 algorithms in Windows XP at all? The answer is yes, but it will depend on the CSP (Cryptographic Service Provider) that we use to perform the cryptographic operations.

According to our documentation, Windows XP SP3 supports all SHA-2 algorithms except SHA-224: 

Overview of Windows XP Service Pack 3
"
Implements and supports the SHA2 hashing algorithms (SHA256, SHA384, and SHA512) in X.509 certificate validation. This has been added to the crypto module rsaenh.dll.
"

Our "Microsoft Base/Strong/Enhanced Cryptographic Providers" are implemented on Rsaenh.dll. If you try to use CryptCreateHash with any SHA-2 Algid (CALG_SHA_256, CALG_SHA_384, CALG_SHA_512) and any of these CSP, you will still get a NTE_BAD_ALGID error on XP SP3. Why? The issue is that those Algid's are only valid with providers of type PROV_RSA_AES, and these CSP are of type PROV_RSA_FULL.

"Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider" (or "Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider (Prototype)" as it's called on Windows XP SP3) is implemented in rsaenh.dll and is of type PROV_RSA_AES.

Note that technically speaking, Microsoft AES Cryptographic Provider is just Microsoft Enhanced Cryptographic Provider with support for AES encryption algorithms.

 

If you open regedit.exe and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Cryptography\Defaults, you will be able to see the available Providers in the system ("Microsoft Enhanced Cryptographic Provider v1.0", "Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider (Prototype)", etc.) and the Provider Types ("Type 001" which is "RSA Full (Signature and Key Exchange)", "Type 024" which is "RSA Full and AES"). For each Provider you will also see which dll implements (rsaenh.dll, etc.) it and its Provider Type (1, 24, etc.). For each Provider Type you will see the name of the default Provider for that type. On Vista, default Provider for PROV_RSA_AES is "Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider", and on XP is "Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider (Prototype)".

 

Regarding SHA-224 support, SHA-224 offers less security than SHA-256 but takes the same amount of resources. Also SHA-224 is not generally used by protocols and applications. The NSA's Suite B standards also do not include it. We have no plans to add it on future versions of our CSPs.

Fortunately, Microsoft's CryptoAPI is based on a model which allows us to use any CSP which implements any algorithm. So we don't and won't implement SHA-224 in our own CSPs, but that doesn't mean that we can't use SHA-224 at all on Windows. We just need a third-party CSP which implements it, or create our own.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

 

Alex (Alejandro Campos Magencio)

Comments

  • Anonymous
    February 10, 2009
    Alex,Does this mean that both sets of CSPs are implemented in the rsaenh.dll file? Just that within that DLL there are selectable provider types: PROV_RSA_AES(which DOES work with the new algorithms) and PROV_RSA_FULL( which does NOT)? So though the same DLL is responsible for delivering the functionality of the provider you choose, it does make a difference on which one you select?
  • Anonymous
    February 10, 2009
    Yes, that is exactly what it means.
  • Anonymous
    August 25, 2009
    Hi,I need some help on AES supports for XP. I am using XP SP3 with outlook SP2. I tried to choose AES for the email encryption under the Trust Centre setting.I cannot find AES option and there is only 3DES.I also notice that AES option is available on another machine with Vista and Windows 7 for the same outlook 2007 SP2.Wonder if there is any registry that I need to do ? I checked and found that there is an entry for AES in my registry.HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftCryptographyDefaultsProviderMicrosoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider (Prototype)Thank you.
  • Anonymous
    August 25, 2009
    I really have no idea how Outlook 2007 works under the scenes. Maybe the "(Prototype)" part of the name is confusing it... You may want to open a Support case with our Outlook team...
  • Anonymous
    September 29, 2009
    "Fortunately, Microsoft's CryptoAPI is based on a model which allows us to use any CSP which implements any algorithm. So we don't and won't implement SHA-224 in our own CSPs, but that doesn't mean that we can't use SHA-224 at all on Windows. We just need a third-party CSP which implements it, or create our own."This is not true. If you try to use CryptMsgOpenToEncode and specify SHA-224 (for instance), you'll get an error even if your CSP supports the algorithm. The CryptoApi doesn't even check your CSP for supported algorithms (through CryptGetProvParam(PP_ENUMALGS)) it still uses the PROV_RSA_FULL CSP no matter which CSP handle you specified (this is also written in the API documentation on MSDN)
  • Anonymous
    September 29, 2009
    Thx FrizzTheSnail, that is interesting. I don't have a CSP that supports SHA-224, so I cannot try this. Does it happen with basic Crypto functions (not just with CryptMsg*)?Thx,Alex
  • Anonymous
    September 30, 2009
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    December 20, 2009
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    July 05, 2010
    Hi all.I'm trying to use SHA256 on windows xp sp3 but it doesn't work. I would like to use it in digital signature verification with Capicom. As said in previous comment Microsoft is not supporting this type of algorithm on Windows XP.Could it be possible that in short time there will be a patch fixing this?Does anyone know if there is an alternative way to use SHA256 on XP?Thanks
  • Anonymous
    July 05, 2010
    Which CSP are you using? I've been able to use SHA-2 on XP SP3 with "Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider (Prototype)"
  • Anonymous
    July 05, 2010
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    July 05, 2010
    I've never tried SHA-2 with CryptMsg on XP, not sure 100% if it will work. It works with CryptAcquireContext and other CAPI1 functions if you use the proper CSP, but not sure about CAPI2 functions like CryptMsg*.If you use .NET, note that you won't be able to use SHA-2 on Vista and later. Vista and later only support SHA-2 with CNG providers when dealing with CMS, and .NET doesn't support CNG providers yet. So on Vista and later you have to use CryptMsg and a CNG cert. But XP has no CNG, so I don't know for sure if it will work.I would need to try all this to know for sure. If you need help with this, I suggest you open a case with Microsoft Tecnical Support.
  • Anonymous
    December 29, 2010
    hi alejacmawe are using windowsxp and sp3...we are using java methods and using xenroll.dll....we want to generate sha256 request and we hav chosen Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider.we are getiing error in requets generationPlzz help
  • Anonymous
    January 06, 2012
    How to detect SHA-2 algorithm supported OS.
  • Anonymous
    September 08, 2014
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    December 30, 2014
    I have managed to install SHA256 certificate into Windows XP SP3. I install this certificate using Proxy application. But when I browse SSL sites, they do not load. It gives the error as "ERR_CONNECTION_CLOSED", can you please help me, what I am doing wrong ?