January 2016, Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Bursa Technical University

Hash Functions
Mustafa Alper BALIM 1 and Ismail Butun 2

Abstract A hashing function is the mathematically complex

algorithm that compresses an arbitrary input message into a fixedlength value, that may serve for providing integrity and user
message authentication service in computer communications.
Secure hashing function have one-wayness, collision-free
properties and high-speedy behavior. In this paper, we propose
more detail about hash functions as an overview for MSc course
Computer Systems and Network Security.

Index Terms hash functions, cryptography.

I. INTRODUCTION

ash functions have a important role in modern

cryptography. They also commonly used in non-cryptographic

computer applications. Our focus is restricted to cryptographic
hash functions in this paper.
Hash functions take a message as input and produce an output
referred to as a hash-code, hash-result, hash-value, or simply
hash. More precisely, a hash function H maps bit strings of
arbitrary finite length to strings of fixed length, say n bits.
The basic idea of cryptographic hash functions is that a hashvalue serves as a compact representative image (sometimes
called an imprint, digital fingerprint, or message digest) of
an input string, and can be used as if it were uniquely
identifiable with that string.

message x such that h= H(x). That property is related with

one-way functions. A one-way function is a function that is easy
to compute on every input, but hard(unfeasible) to invert given
the image of a random input.
B. Second Pre-Image Resistance(Weak Collision Resistance)
Given an input x it should be difficult to find different input
y such that H(x) = H(y).
If the hash H(x) of x kept in a safe place, it should be
impossible to create a modified document y with the same
hash, because then the modifications were undetectable..
C. Collision Resistance
It should be hard to find two distinct inputs x != y with the
same output H(x) =H(y). This property is sometimes referred
to as strong collision resistance.
D. Other Properties
Generates fixed length output from given arbitrary
data. (Some hashing functions can be dynamically
resizable by input, because of a necessity
For given input, always produces same output.
Produces well separated hash space.
Computationally efficient: If it is not fast enough to
compute hash, we cannot use it everywhere.
Randomness: Almost same messages must produce
two very different looking ashes.

III. UNKEYED HASH FUNCTIONS (MDCS)

II. DEFINITIONS & PROPERTIES
Cryptographic hash functions are designed to take a data of
any length as input and produce a fixed-length hash value.
A cryptographic hash function must have resistance for all
types of cryptanalytic attack. At least, it must have the
following three properties:
A. One-Wayness(Pre-Image Resistance)
Given a hash value h it should be difficult to find any

This technical report is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the course MCH553 Computer Systems and Network Security (Instructor:
Asst. Prof. Ismail BUTUN)
Mustafa Alper BALIM is a M.Sc. student at Department of Mechatronics
Engineering, Bursa Technical University, Gaziakdemir M. Mudanya C.
No:4/10,
16190
Osmangazi,
Bursa,
Turkey
(e-mail:
[email protected]).

In this section the subclass of unkeyed hash functions known

as modification detection codes (MDCs) is considered. From a
structural viewpoint, these may be categorized based on the
operations comprising their internal compression functions.
From this viewpoint, the three broadest categories are hash
functions based on block ciphers, customized hash functions,
and hash functions based on modular arithmetic. Customized
hash functions are those designed specifically for hashing, with
speed in mind and independent of other system subcomponents.

Asst. Prof. Ismail Butun is with Department of Mechatronics Engineering,

Bursa Technical University, Gaziakdemir M. Mudanya C. No:4/10, 16190
Osmangazi, Bursa, Turkey (e-mail: [email protected]).
Asst. Prof. Ismail Butun was formerly with Department of Electrical
Engineering, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL
33620, USA (e-mail: [email protected]).

January 2016, Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Bursa Technical University

Most unkeyed hash function share designed as iterative
processes which hash arbitrary length inputs by processing
successive fixed-size blocks of the input, as illustrated in
Figure-1.

B. Hash functions based on modular arithmetic

The basic idea of hash functions based on modular arithmetic
is to construct an iterated hash function using mod M arithmetic
as the basis of a compression function. There are two advantage
of hash functions based on modular arithmetic. Re-use of
existing software or hardware (in public-key systems) for
modular arithmetic, and scalability to match required security
levels.
MASH-1 (Modular Arithmetic Secure Hash, algorithm 1) is
a hash function based on modular arithmetic. It has been
proposed for inclusion in a draft ISO/IEC standard. MASH-1
involves use of an RSA-like modulus M, whose bit length
affects the security. M should be difficult to factor, and for M
of unknown factorization, the security is based in part on the
difficulty of extracting modular roots.

IV. KEYED HASH FUNCTIONS (MACS)

Fig. 1. General model for an iterated hash function.

A hash input x of arbitrary finite length is divided into fixedlength r-bit blocks xi. This preprocessing typically involves
appending extra bits (padding) as necessary to attain an overall
bit length which is a multiple of the block length r.

Keyed hash functions whose specific purpose is message

authentication are called message authentication code (MAC)
algorithms. Compared to the large number of MDC algorithms,
prior to 1995 relatively few MAC algorithms had been
proposed, presumably because the original proposals, which
were widely adopted in practice, were adequate.
CBC-based MACs: The most commonly used MAC
algorithm based on a block cipher makes use of cipher blockchaining.

A. Hash function based on a block cipher

A practical motivation for constructing hash functions from
block ciphers is that if an efficient implementation of a block
cipher is already available within a system (in hardware or
software), then using it as a hash function may provide the latter
functionality at little additional cost. A good block cipher may
serve as a building block for the creation of a hash function with
properties suitable for various applications.
Many well-known hash functions, including MD4, MD5,
SHA-1 and SHA-2 are built from block-cipher-like
components.
TABLE I
HASH FUNCTIONS BASED ON A BLOCK CIPHER

Fig. 2. CBC-based MAC algorithm.

V. DATA INTEGRITY AND MESSAGE AUTHENTICATION

This section considers the use of hash functions for data
integrity and message authentication.

Upper bounds on strength of selected hash functions n-bit message blocks

are processed to produce m-bit hash-values.

Data integrity is the property whereby data has not been altered
in an unauthorized manner since the time it was created,
transmitted, or stored by an authorized source.
Data origin authentication is a type of authentication whereby a
party is corroborated as the (original) source of specified data

January 2016, Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Bursa Technical University

created at some (typically unspecified) time in the past. By

definition, data origin authentication includes data integrity.

variables. These focus on the compression function f rather than

the overall hash function h.

Message authentication is a term used analogously with data

origin authentication. It provides data origin authentication with
respect to the original message source (and data integrity, but
no uniqueness and timeliness guarantees).

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Methods for providing data origin authentication include the

following:

I thank Asst. Prof. Ismail Butun who provided insight and

expertise that greatly assisted the research.
REFERENCES
Basic format for books:

1. message authentication codes (MACs)

[1]

2. digital signature schemes

[2]

3. appending (prior to encryption) a secret authenticator value

to encrypted text.

Bart Preneel ESA T-COSIC Laboratory , K.U.Leuven Belgium

VI. ADVANCED ATTACKS ON HASH FUNCTIONS

A deeper understanding of hash function security can be
obtained through consideration of various general attack
strategies. The resistance of a particular hash function to known
general attacks provides a (partial) measure of security.

A. Birthday attacks
Algorithm-independent attacks are those which can be applied
to any hash function, treating it as a black-box whose only
significant characteristics are the output bit length n (andMAC
key bit length for MACs), and the running time for one hash
operation. It is typically assumed the hash output approximates
a uniform random variable.

B. Pseudo-collisions and compression function attacks

The exhaustive or brute force methods, producing preimages,
2nd-preimages, and collisions for hash functions, are always
theoretically possible. They are not considered true attacks
unless the number of operations required is significantly less
than both the strength conjectured by the hash function designer
and that of hash functions of similar parameters with ideal
strength. An attack requiring such a reduced number of
operations is informally said to break the hash function,
whether or not this computational effort is feasible in practice.
Any attack method which demonstrates that conjectured
properties do not hold must be taken seriously; when this
occurs, one must admit the possibility of additional weaknesses.

C. Pseudo-collisions and compression function attacks

Chaining attacks are those which are based on the iterative
nature of hash functions and, in particular, the use of chaining

Handbook of Applied Cryptography, by A. Menezes, P. van

Oorschot, and S. Vanstone, CRC Press, 1996.
CR YPTOGRAPHIC HASH FUNCTIONS:AN OVER VIEW