pqblocks-fips-check

FIPS 203/204 boundary validator and hybrid post-quantum key exchange (X25519 + ML-KEM-768) with ML-DSA-65 signatures and CBOM reporting.

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Overview

pqblocks-fips-check is a post-quantum cryptographic SDK and boundary validator implementing:

• Hybrid Key Exchange: Combines classical X25519 with NIST FIPS 203 ML-KEM-768 (X-Wing style combiner with HKDF-SHA256 fallback).
• Digital Signatures: NIST FIPS 204 ML-DSA-65 with strict context binding.
• CBOM Reporting: Generates composite bills of materials in SPDX 2.2 format with NIST algorithm OIDs and NSA CNSA 2.0 grading annotations.
• Boundary Validation: Enforces strict cryptographic boundary compliance, throwing PQCUnavailableError when post-quantum components are missing or degraded.

Regulatory & Standards Alignment

• NIST FIPS 203: Module-Lattice-Based Key-Encapsulation Mechanism Standard (ML-KEM-768).
• NIST FIPS 204: Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Standard (ML-DSA-65).
• NSA CNSA 2.0: Commercial National Security Algorithm Suite 2.0 mandates.
• SPDX 2.2: Software Package Data Exchange Specification with Cryptographic Asset Extensions.

Warning

Regulatory Disclaimer: pqblocks-fips-check is an independent open-source library. This software has not been certified under FIPS 140-3 and has not been submitted to NIST's Cryptographic Module Validation Program (CMVP).

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Installation

pip install pqblocks-fips-check

System Dependencies

pqblocks-fips-check delegates low-level lattice operations to liboqs (C reference library) and elliptic curve operations to cryptography (OpenSSL-backed):

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install liboqs-dev

# macOS (Homebrew)
brew install liboqs

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Quickstart

from pqblocks_fips_check import (
    hybrid_encap,
    hybrid_decap,
    sign,
    verify_sig,
    generate_cbom,
    PQCUnavailableError,
)
from pqblocks_fips_check.hybrid import hybrid_keygen

# 1. Hybrid key exchange (X25519 + ML-KEM-768)
alice_pk, alice_sk = hybrid_keygen()
bob_pk, bob_sk = hybrid_keygen()

# Alice encapsulates shared secret for Bob
ct, ss_alice = hybrid_encap(bob_pk, b"session-context")

# Bob decapsulates the ciphertext
_, ss_bob = hybrid_decap(bob_sk, ct)
assert ss_alice == ss_bob

# 2. ML-DSA-65 signature with context binding
sig = sign(b"Critical message payload", context=b"audit-auth")
assert verify_sig(b"Critical message payload", sig, context=b"audit-auth")

# 3. Export SPDX CBOM
cbom_json = generate_cbom()
assert "ML-KEM-768" in cbom_json and "ML-DSA-65" in cbom_json

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Performance Summary

Measured on Linux x86_64 across 500 timed runs per operation:

Operation	Algorithm	Median Latency	P99 Latency	Throughput
Key Generation	X25519 + ML-KEM-768	0.076 ms	0.096 ms	~12,980 ops/sec
Encapsulation	X25519 + ML-KEM-768	0.172 ms	0.252 ms	~5,670 ops/sec
Decapsulation	X25519 + ML-KEM-768	0.148 ms	0.172 ms	~6,680 ops/sec
Sign	ML-DSA-65	0.098 ms	0.345 ms	~8,760 ops/sec
Verify	ML-DSA-65	0.044 ms	0.058 ms	~22,550 ops/sec
CBOM Generation	SPDX 2.2 JSON Export	0.033 ms	0.049 ms	~29,460 ops/sec

For complete benchmark methodology and profiling charts, see BENCHMARKS.md.

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Security & Verification

• Official ACVP & Wycheproof Test Vectors: Tested against official NIST ACVP server test vectors for ML-DSA-65 (ML-DSA-sigVer-FIPS204), ML-KEM-768 (ML-KEM-encapDecap-FIPS203), and Google Wycheproof vectors (mldsa_65_verify).
• Cryptographic Boundary Protection: Boundary errors are surfaced explicitly via PQCUnavailableError with zero silent downgrade to insecure classical fallbacks.
• Constant-Time Primitives: Underlying lattice operations are delegated to liboqs constant-time implementations.

For in-depth analysis and security considerations, see SECURITY_NOTES.md and TESTING.md.

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License

Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE and NOTICE for details.