# Weak Cryptography

For help with compiler errors in qpdf 11.0 or newer, see API-Breaking Changes in qpdf 11.0.

Since 2006, the PDF specification has offered ways to create encrypted PDF files without using weak cryptography, though it took a few years for many PDF readers and writers to catch up. It is still necessary to support weak encryption algorithms to read encrypted PDF files that were created using weak encryption algorithms, including all PDF files created before the modern formats were introduced or widely supported.

Starting with version 10.4, qpdf began taking steps to reduce the likelihood of a user accidentally creating PDF files with insecure cryptography but will continue to allow creation of such files indefinitely with explicit acknowledgment. The restrictions on use of weak cryptography were made stricter with qpdf 11.

## Definition of Weak Cryptographic Algorithm

We divide weak cryptographic algorithms into two categories: weak encryption and weak hashing. Encryption is encoding data such that a key of some sort is required to decode it. Hashing is creating a short value from data in such a way that it is extremely improbable to find two documents with the same hash (known has a hash collision) and extremely difficult to intentionally create a document with a specific hash or two documents with the same hash.

When we say that an encryption algorithm is weak, we either mean that a mathematical flaw has been discovered that makes it inherently insecure or that it is sufficiently simple that modern computer technology makes it possible to use “brute force” to crack. For example, when 40-bit keys were originally introduced, it wasn’t practical to consider trying all possible keys, but today such a thing is possible.

When we say that a hashing algorithm is weak, we mean that, either because of mathematical flaw or insufficient complexity, it is computationally feasible to intentionally construct a hash collision.

While weak encryption should always be avoided, there are cases in which it is safe to use a weak hashing algorithm when security is not a factor. For example, a weak hashing algorithm should not be used as the only mechanism to test whether a file has been tampered with. In other words, you can’t use a weak hash as a digital signature. There is no harm, however, in using a weak hash as a way to sort or index documents as long as hash collisions are tolerated. It is also common to use weak hashes as checksums, which are often used a check that a file wasn’t damaged in transit or storage, though for true integrity, a strong hash would be better.

Note that qpdf must always retain support for weak cryptographic algorithms since this is required for reading older PDF files that use it. Additionally, qpdf will always retain the ability to create files using weak cryptographic algorithms since, as a development tool, qpdf explicitly supports creating older or deprecated types of PDF files since these are sometimes needed to test or work with older versions of software. Even if other cryptography libraries drop support for RC4 or MD5, qpdf can always fall back to its internal implementations of those algorithms, so they are not going to disappear from qpdf.

## Uses of Weak Encryption in qpdf

When PDF files are encrypted using 40-bit encryption or 128-bit encryption without AES, then the weak RC4 algorithm is used. You can avoid using weak encryption in qpdf by always using 256-bit encryption. Unless you are trying to create files that need to be opened with PDF readers from before about 2010 (by which time most readers had added support for the stronger encryption algorithms) or are creating insecure files explicitly for testing or some similar purpose, there is no reason to use anything other than 256-bit encryption.

By default, qpdf refuses to write a file that uses weak encryption. You can explicitly allow this by specifying the `--allow-weak-crypto` option.

In qpdf 11, all library methods that could potentially cause files to be written with weak encryption were deprecated, and methods to enable weak encryption were either given explicit names indicating this or take required arguments to enable the insecure behavior.

There is one exception: when encryption parameters are copied from the input file or another file to the output file, there is no prohibition or even warning against using insecure encryption. The reason is that many qpdf operations simply preserve whatever encryption is there, and requiring confirmation to preserve insecure encryption would cause qpdf to break when non-encryption-related operations were performed on files that happened to be encrypted. Failing or generating warnings in this case would likely have the effect of making people use the `--allow-weak-crypto` option blindly, which would be worse than just letting those files go so that explicit, conscious selection of weak crypto would be more likely to be noticed. Why, you might ask, does this apply to `--copy-encryption` as well as to the default behavior preserving encryption? The answer is that `--copy-encryption` works with an unencrypted file as input, which enables workflows where one may start with a file, decrypt it just in case, perform a series of operations, and then reapply the original encryption, if any. Also, one may have a template used for encryption that one may apply to a variety of output files, and it would be annoying to be warned about it for every output file.

## Uses of Weak Hashing In qpdf

The PDF specification makes use the weak MD5 hashing algorithm in several places. While it is used in the encryption algorithms, breaking MD5 would not be adequate to crack an encrypted file when 256-bit encryption is in use, so using 256-bit encryption is adequate for avoiding the use of MD5 for anything security-sensitive.

MD5 is used in the following non-security-sensitive ways:

- Generation of the document ID. The document ID is an input parameter to the document encryption but is not itself considered to be secure. They are supposed to be unique, but they are not tamper-resistant in non-encrypted PDF files, and hash collisions must be tolerated.

  The PDF specification recommends but does not require the use of MD5 in generation of document IDs. Usually there is also a random component to document ID generation. There is a qpdf-specific feature of generating a deterministic ID (see `--deterministic-id`) which also uses MD5. While it would certainly be possible to change the deterministic ID algorithm to not use MD5, doing so would break all previous deterministic IDs (which would render the feature useless for many cases) and would offer very little benefit since even a securely generated document ID is not itself a security-sensitive value.

- Checksums in embedded file streams – the PDF specification specifies the use of MD5.

It is therefore not possible completely avoid the use of MD5 with qpdf, but as long as you are using 256-bit encryption, it is not used in a security-sensitive fashion.

## API-Breaking Changes in qpdf 11.0

In qpdf 11, several deprecated functions and methods were removed. These methods provided an incomplete API. Alternatives were added in qpdf 8.4.0. The removed functions are

- C API: `qpdf_set_r3_encryption_parameters`, `qpdf_set_r4_encryption_parameters`, `qpdf_set_r5_encryption_parameters`, `qpdf_set_r6_encryption_parameters`

- `QPDFWriter`: overloaded versions of these methods with fewer arguments: `setR3EncryptionParameters`, `setR4EncryptionParameters`, `setR5EncryptionParameters`, and `setR6EncryptionParameters`

Additionally, remaining functions/methods had their names changed to signal that they are insecure and to force developers to make a decision. If you intentionally want to continue to use insecure cryptographic algorithms and create insecure files, you can change your code just add `_insecure` or `Insecure` to the end of the function as needed. (Note the disappearance of `2` in some of the C functions as well.) Better, you should migrate your code to use more secure encryption as documented in `QPDFWriter.hh`. Use the `R6` methods (or their corresponding C functions) to create files with 256-bit encryption.

Renamed Functions
Old Name | New Name
--- | ---
qpdf_set_r2_encryption_parameters | qpdf_set_r2_encryption_parameters_insecure
qpdf_set_r3_encryption_parameters2 | qpdf_set_r3_encryption_parameters_insecure
qpdf_set_r4_encryption_parameters2 | qpdf_set_r2_encryption_parameters_insecure
QPDFWriter::setR2EncryptionParameters | QPDFWriter::setR2EncryptionParametersInsecure
QPDFWriter::setR3EncryptionParameters | QPDFWriter::setR3EncryptionParametersInsecure
QPDFWriter::setR4EncryptionParameters | QPDFWriter::setR4EncryptionParametersInsecure