AES-ES

A pure JavaScript implementation of the AES block cipher algorithm and all common modes of operation (CBC, CFB, CTR, ECB and OFB).

Features

• Pure JavaScript (with no dependencies)
• Supports all key sizes (128-bit, 192-bit and 256-bit)
• Supports all common modes of operation (CBC, CFB, CTR, ECB and OFB)
• Works in either node.js or web browsers

API

To install aes-es in your node.js project:

npm install aes-es

And to access it from within node, simply add:

var aesjs = require('aes-es');

Following examples use utf8-encoding to encode text to octets and decode back.

var utf8 = require('utf8-encoding');
var encoder = new utf8.TextEncoder();
var decoder = new utf8.TextDecoder();

Data format

All API parameters considered as octet sequences. Any array-like object containing octets (e. g. Array, Uint8Array, Buffer) can be passed.

Keys

All keys must be 128 bits (16 bytes), 192 bits (24 bytes) or 256 bits (32 bytes) long.

// 128-bit, 192-bit and 256-bit keys
var key_128 = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15];
var key_192 = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15,
               16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23];
var key_256 = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15,
               16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28,
               29, 30, 31];

To generate keys from simple-to-remember passwords, consider using a password-based key-derivation function such as scrypt or bcrypt.

Common Modes of Operation

There are several modes of operations, each with various pros and cons. In general though, the CBC and CTR modes are recommended. The ECB is NOT recommended., and is included primarily for completeness.

CTR - Counter (recommended)

var key = encoder.encode("Example128BitKey");
 
// Convert text to bytes
var text = 'Text may be any length you wish, no padding is required.';
var textBytes = encoder.encode(text);
var encryptedBytes = new Uint8Array(textBytes.length);
 
// The counter is optional, and if omitted will begin at 0
var aesCtr = new aesjs.CTR(key, new aesjs.Counter(5));
aesCtr.encrypt(textBytes, encryptedBytes);
 
// The counter mode of operation maintains internal state, so to
// decrypt a new instance must be instantiated.
var aesCtr = new aesjs.CTR(key, new aesjs.Counter(5));
var decryptedBytes = new Uint8Array(encryptedBytes.length);
aesCtr.decrypt(encryptedBytes, decryptedBytes);
 
// Convert our bytes back into text
var decryptedText = decoder.decode(decryptedBytes);
console.log(decryptedText);
// "Text may be any length you wish, no padding is required."

CBC - Cipher-Block Chaining (recommended)

var key = encoder.encode("Example128BitKey");
 
// The initialization vector, which must be 16 bytes
var iv = encoder.encode("IVMustBe16Bytes.");
 
// Convert text to bytes
var text = 'TextMustBe16Byte';
var textBytes = encoder.encode(text);
 
var aesCbc = new aesjs.CBC(key, iv);
var encryptedBytes = new Uint8Array(textBytes.length);
aesCbc.encrypt(textBytes, encryptedBytes);
 
// The cipher-block chaining mode of operation maintains internal
// state, so to decrypt a new instance must be instantiated.
var aesCbc = new aesjs.CBC(key, iv);
var decryptedBytes = new Uint8Array(encryptedBytes.length);
aesCbc.decrypt(encryptedBytes, decryptedBytes);
 
// Convert our bytes back into text
var decryptedText = decoder.decode(decryptedBytes);
console.log(decryptedText);
// "TextMustBe16Byte"

CFB - Cipher Feedback

var key = encoder.encode("Example128BitKey");
 
// The initialization vector, which must be 16 bytes
var iv = encoder.encode("IVMustBe16Bytes.");
 
// Convert text to bytes
var text = 'TextMustBeAMultipleOfSegmentSize';
var textBytes = encoder.encode(text);
 
// The segment size is optional, and defaults to 1
var aesCfb = new aesjs.CFB(key, iv, 8);
var encryptedBytes = new Uint8Array(textBytes.length);
aesCfb.encrypt(textBytes, encryptedBytes);
 
// The cipher feedback mode of operation maintains internal state,
// so to decrypt a new instance must be instantiated.
var aesCfb = new aesjs.CFB(key, iv, 8);
var decryptedBytes = new Uint8Array(encryptedBytes.length);
aesCfb.decrypt(encryptedBytes, decryptedBytes);
 
// Convert our bytes back into text
var decryptedText = decoder.decode(decryptedBytes);
console.log(decryptedText);
// "TextMustBeAMultipleOfSegmentSize"

OFB - Output Feedback

var key = encoder.encode("Example128BitKey");
 
// The initialization vector, which must be 16 bytes
var iv = encoder.encode("IVMustBe16Bytes.");
 
// Convert text to bytes
var text = 'Text may be any length you wish, no padding is required.';
var textBytes = encoder.encode(text);
 
var aesOfb = new aesjs.OFB(key, iv);
var encryptedBytes = new Uint8Array(textBytes.length);
aesOfb.encrypt(textBytes, encryptedBytes);
 
// The output feedback mode of operation maintains internal state,
// so to decrypt a new instance must be instantiated.
var aesOfb = new aesjs.OFB(key, iv);
var decryptedBytes = new Uint8Array(encryptedBytes.length);
aesOfb.decrypt(encryptedBytes, decryptedBytes);
 
// Convert our bytes back into text
var decryptedText = decoder.decode(decryptedBytes);
console.log(decryptedText);
// "Text may be any length you wish, no padding is required."

ECB - Electronic Codebook (NOT recommended)

This mode is not recommended. Since, for a given key, the same plaintext block in produces the same ciphertext block out, this mode of operation can leak data, such as patterns. For more details and examples, see the Wikipedia article, Electronic Codebook.

var key = encoder.encode("Example128BitKey");
 
// Convert text to bytes
var text = 'TextMustBe16Byte';
var textBytes = encoder.encode(text);
 
var aesEcb = new aesjs.ECB(key);
var encryptedBytes = new Uint8Array(textBytes.length);
aesEcb.encrypt(textBytes, encryptedBytes);
 
// Since electronic codebook does not store state, we can
// reuse the same instance.
//var aesEcb = new aesjs.ECB(key);
var decryptedBytes = new Uint8Array(encryptedBytes.length);
aesEcb.decrypt(encryptedBytes, decryptedBytes);
 
// Convert our bytes back into text
var decryptedText = decoder.decode(decryptedBytes);
console.log(decryptedText);
// "TextMustBe16Byte"

Block Cipher

You should usually use one of the above common modes of operation. Using the block cipher algorithm directly is also possible using ECB as that mode of operation is merely a thin wrapper.

Notes

What is a Key

This seems to be a point of confusion for many people new to using encryption. You can think of the key as the "password". However, these algorithms require the "password" to be a specific length.

With AES, there are three possible key lengths, 128-bit (16 bytes), 192-bit (24 bytes) or 256-bit (32 bytes). When you create an AES object, the key size is automatically detected, so it is important to pass in a key of the correct length.

Often, you wish to provide a password of arbitrary length, for example, something easy to remember or write down. In these cases, you must come up with a way to transform the password into a key of a specific length. A Password-Based Key Derivation Function (PBKDF) is an algorithm designed for this exact purpose.

Here is an example, using the popular (possibly obsolete?) pbkdf2:

var pbkdf2 = require('pbkdf2');
 
var key_128 = pbkdf2.pbkdf2Sync('password', 'salt', 1, 128 / 8, 'sha512');
var key_192 = pbkdf2.pbkdf2Sync('password', 'salt', 1, 192 / 8, 'sha512');
var key_256 = pbkdf2.pbkdf2Sync('password', 'salt', 1, 256 / 8, 'sha512');

Another possibility, is to use a hashing function, such as SHA256 to hash the password, but this method is vulnerable to Rainbow Attacks, unless you use a salt.

Performance

Todo...

Tests

A test suite has been generated (spec/fixtures/test-vectors.json) from a known correct implementation, pycrypto. To generate new test vectors, run npm run generate-tests.

To run the test suite:

npm test