Ecng.Security

A comprehensive .NET library providing cryptography helpers for hashing, encryption, and secure password storage. This library simplifies common cryptographic scenarios such as AES encryption, RSA key handling, digital signatures, and password verification.

Table of Contents

• Installation
• Features
• Quick Start
• API Reference
  • Hashing
  • AES Encryption
  • Password Storage
  • RSA Encryption
  • Digital Signatures
  • X.509 Certificates
  • Authorization
• Usage Examples
• Best Practices

Installation

Add a reference to the Ecng.Security assembly in your project.

<PackageReference Include="Ecng.Security" Version="x.x.x" />

Features

• Simple Hashing Extensions: MD5, SHA256, SHA512 with one-liner syntax
• AES Symmetric Encryption: Easy-to-use AES encryption with PBKDF2 key derivation
• RSA Asymmetric Encryption: RSA encryption/decryption with parameter conversion utilities
• Digital Signatures: Create and verify RSA/DSA signatures
• Secure Password Storage: Salted password hashing with the Secret class
• X.509 Certificate Support: Simplified cryptography using X.509 certificates
• Authorization Helpers: Built-in authorization modules for login validation
• Cross-Platform: Supports .NET Standard 2.0, .NET 6.0, and .NET 10.0

Quick Start

Hash a String

using Ecng.Security; using Ecng.Common; byte[] data = "Hello, World!".UTF8(); string hash = data.Sha256(); Console.WriteLine(hash); // Outputs the SHA256 hash as a hex string

Encrypt and Decrypt Data

using Ecng.Security; using Ecng.Common; // Prepare encryption parameters byte[] plainText = "Sensitive data".UTF8(); string password = "MySecretPassword"; byte[] salt = TypeHelper.GenerateSalt(CryptoHelper.DefaultSaltSize); byte[] iv = new byte[16]; // 16 bytes for AES // Encrypt byte[] encrypted = plainText.EncryptAes(password, salt, iv); // Decrypt byte[] decrypted = encrypted.DecryptAes(password, salt, iv); string result = decrypted.UTF8(); Console.WriteLine(result); // Outputs: "Sensitive data"

Store and Validate Passwords

using Ecng.Security; // Create a password hash Secret secret = "MyPassword123".CreateSecret(CryptoAlgorithm.Create(AlgorithmTypes.Hash)); // Validate password bool isValid = secret.IsValid("MyPassword123", CryptoAlgorithm.Create(AlgorithmTypes.Hash)); Console.WriteLine(isValid); // Outputs: True bool isInvalid = secret.IsValid("WrongPassword", CryptoAlgorithm.Create(AlgorithmTypes.Hash)); Console.WriteLine(isInvalid); // Outputs: False

API Reference

Hashing

The library provides extension methods for common hashing algorithms:

Md5(byte[] value)

Computes the MD5 hash of the input data.

using Ecng.Security; using Ecng.Common; byte[] data = "Hello".UTF8(); string md5Hash = data.Md5();

Sha256(byte[] value)

Computes the SHA256 hash of the input data.

byte[] data = "Hello".UTF8(); string sha256Hash = data.Sha256();

Sha512(byte[] value)

Computes the SHA512 hash of the input data.

byte[] data = "Hello".UTF8(); string sha512Hash = data.Sha512();

Comparison with Standard .NET:

Standard .NET approach:

using var md5 = MD5.Create(); var hash = Convert.ToHexString(md5.ComputeHash(data));

With Ecng.Security:

var hash = data.Md5();

AES Encryption

AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) is a symmetric encryption algorithm. The library uses PBKDF2 for key derivation and CBC mode with PKCS7 padding.

EncryptAes(byte[] plain, string passPhrase, byte[] salt, byte[] iv)

Encrypts data using AES with a password-based key.

Parameters:

• plain: The plaintext data to encrypt
• passPhrase: The password/passphrase for key derivation
• salt: Salt for PBKDF2 (recommended: 128 bytes)
• iv: Initialization vector (16 bytes for AES)

Returns: Encrypted bytes

using Ecng.Security; using Ecng.Common; byte[] plainText = "Confidential information".UTF8(); string password = "StrongPassword!"; byte[] salt = TypeHelper.GenerateSalt(128); byte[] iv = new byte[16]; byte[] encrypted = plainText.EncryptAes(password, salt, iv);

DecryptAes(byte[] cipherText, string passPhrase, byte[] salt, byte[] iv)

Decrypts AES-encrypted data.

Parameters:

• cipherText: The encrypted data
• passPhrase: The password/passphrase used for encryption
• salt: Salt used during encryption
• iv: Initialization vector used during encryption

Returns: Decrypted bytes

byte[] decrypted = encrypted.DecryptAes(password, salt, iv); string original = decrypted.UTF8();

Important Notes:

• Store the salt and iv securely alongside the encrypted data
• Use TypeHelper.GenerateSalt(size) to generate cryptographically secure random salt
• The IV must be exactly 16 bytes for AES
• The same salt, iv, and passPhrase must be used for both encryption and decryption

Complete Example:

using Ecng.Security; using Ecng.Common; // Setup byte[] plainText = "Top Secret Data".UTF8(); string password = "SecureP@ssw0rd"; byte[] salt = TypeHelper.GenerateSalt(CryptoHelper.DefaultSaltSize); // 128 bytes byte[] iv = new byte[16]; // Encrypt byte[] encrypted = plainText.EncryptAes(password, salt, iv); // In real applications, store encrypted, salt, and iv // For example, in a database or file // Decrypt byte[] decrypted = encrypted.DecryptAes(password, salt, iv); Console.WriteLine(decrypted.UTF8()); // Outputs: "Top Secret Data"

Password Storage

The Secret class provides secure password storage using salted hashing.

CreateSecret(string plainText, CryptoAlgorithm algo)

Creates a new Secret from a plaintext password.

Parameters:

• plainText: The password to hash
• algo: The cryptographic algorithm to use (typically a hash algorithm)

Returns: A Secret object containing the salt and hash

using Ecng.Security; // Create hash algorithm var hashAlgo = CryptoAlgorithm.Create(AlgorithmTypes.Hash); // Create secret from password Secret secret = "UserPassword123".CreateSecret(hashAlgo); // Store secret.Salt and secret.Hash in your database

IsValid(Secret secret, string password, CryptoAlgorithm algo)

Validates a password against a stored Secret.

Parameters:

• secret: The stored secret
• password: The password to validate
• algo: The algorithm used to create the secret

Returns: true if the password is valid, false otherwise

var hashAlgo = CryptoAlgorithm.Create(AlgorithmTypes.Hash); // Later, when validating login bool isValid = secret.IsValid("UserPassword123", hashAlgo); if (isValid) { Console.WriteLine("Login successful!"); } else { Console.WriteLine("Invalid password!"); }

Overloads with SecureString:

using System.Security; SecureString securePassword = new SecureString(); foreach (char c in "password") securePassword.AppendChar(c); securePassword.MakeReadOnly(); Secret secret = securePassword.CreateSecret(hashAlgo); bool isValid = secret.IsValid(securePassword, hashAlgo);

Complete Password Storage Example:

using Ecng.Security; public class UserService { private readonly CryptoAlgorithm _hashAlgo = CryptoAlgorithm.Create(AlgorithmTypes.Hash); public void RegisterUser(string username, string password) { // Create secret from password Secret secret = password.CreateSecret(_hashAlgo); // Store in database // db.Save(new User // { // Username = username, // PasswordHash = secret.Hash, // PasswordSalt = secret.Salt // }); } public bool ValidateLogin(string username, string password) { // Retrieve from database // var user = db.GetUser(username); // var storedSecret = new Secret // { // Hash = user.PasswordHash, // Salt = user.PasswordSalt // }; // Validate password // return storedSecret.IsValid(password, _hashAlgo); return false; // Placeholder } }

RSA Encryption

RSA is an asymmetric encryption algorithm using public/private key pairs.

GenerateRsa()

Generates a new RSA key pair.

using Ecng.Security; using System.Security.Cryptography; // Generate new RSA key pair (includes both public and private keys) RSAParameters keyPair = CryptoHelper.GenerateRsa();

FromRsa(RSAParameters param) / ToRsa(byte[] key)

Converts RSA parameters to/from byte arrays for storage.

using Ecng.Security; // Generate key pair RSAParameters privateKey = CryptoHelper.GenerateRsa(); // Convert to bytes for storage byte[] privateKeyBytes = privateKey.FromRsa(); // Later, restore from bytes RSAParameters restoredKey = privateKeyBytes.ToRsa();

PublicPart(RSAParameters param)

Extracts only the public key portion from an RSA key pair.

// Generate private key (which includes public key) RSAParameters privateKey = CryptoHelper.GenerateRsa(); // Extract public key only RSAParameters publicKey = privateKey.PublicPart(); // Convert to bytes for sharing byte[] publicKeyBytes = publicKey.FromRsa();

RSA Encryption/Decryption

using Ecng.Security; using Ecng.Security.Cryptographers; using System.Security.Cryptography; using Ecng.Common; // Generate key pair RSAParameters privateKey = CryptoHelper.GenerateRsa(); RSAParameters publicKey = privateKey.PublicPart(); // Convert to bytes byte[] publicKeyBytes = publicKey.FromRsa(); byte[] privateKeyBytes = privateKey.FromRsa(); // Encrypt with public key using (var encryptor = new AsymmetricCryptographer(RSA.Create(), publicKeyBytes, null)) { byte[] plainText = "Secret message".UTF8(); byte[] encrypted = encryptor.Encrypt(plainText); // Decrypt with private key using (var decryptor = new AsymmetricCryptographer(RSA.Create(), null, privateKeyBytes)) { byte[] decrypted = decryptor.Decrypt(encrypted); Console.WriteLine(decrypted.UTF8()); // Outputs: "Secret message" } }

Using CryptoAlgorithm:

using Ecng.Security; using Ecng.Common; // Generate keys RSAParameters keyPair = CryptoHelper.GenerateRsa(); byte[] publicKey = keyPair.PublicPart().FromRsa(); byte[] privateKey = keyPair.FromRsa(); // Create algorithm instance using (var algo = CryptoAlgorithm.Create(AlgorithmTypes.Asymmetric, publicKey, privateKey)) { byte[] plainText = "Sensitive data".UTF8(); // Encrypt byte[] encrypted = algo.Encrypt(plainText); // Decrypt byte[] decrypted = algo.Decrypt(encrypted); Console.WriteLine(decrypted.UTF8()); // Outputs: "Sensitive data" }

Digital Signatures

Digital signatures verify data authenticity and integrity.

Creating a Signature

using Ecng.Security; using Ecng.Common; using System.Security.Cryptography; // Generate key pair RSAParameters keyPair = CryptoHelper.GenerateRsa(); byte[] privateKeyBytes = keyPair.FromRsa(); // Data to sign byte[] data = "Important document".UTF8(); // Create signature with private key using (var algo = CryptoAlgorithm.Create(AlgorithmTypes.Asymmetric, null, privateKeyBytes)) { byte[] signature = algo.CreateSignature(data, () => SHA256.Create()); }

Verifying a Signature

using Ecng.Security; // Extract public key RSAParameters publicKey = keyPair.PublicPart(); byte[] publicKeyBytes = publicKey.FromRsa(); // Verify signature with public key using (var verifier = CryptoAlgorithm.CreateAsymmetricVerifier(publicKeyBytes)) { bool isValid = verifier.VerifySignature(data, signature); if (isValid) Console.WriteLine("Signature is valid!"); else Console.WriteLine("Signature is invalid!"); }

Complete Signature Example:

using Ecng.Security; using Ecng.Common; using System.Security.Cryptography; // Generate key pair RSAParameters keyPair = CryptoHelper.GenerateRsa(); byte[] publicKeyBytes = keyPair.PublicPart().FromRsa(); byte[] privateKeyBytes = keyPair.FromRsa(); // Document to sign byte[] document = "This is an important contract.".UTF8(); // Sign the document byte[] signature; using (var signer = CryptoAlgorithm.Create(AlgorithmTypes.Asymmetric, null, privateKeyBytes)) { signature = signer.CreateSignature(document, () => SHA256.Create()); } // Verify the signature (can be done by anyone with the public key) using (var verifier = CryptoAlgorithm.CreateAsymmetricVerifier(publicKeyBytes)) { bool isAuthentic = verifier.VerifySignature(document, signature); Console.WriteLine($"Document is authentic: {isAuthentic}"); } // Try to verify tampered document byte[] tamperedDocument = "This is an modified contract.".UTF8(); using (var verifier = CryptoAlgorithm.CreateAsymmetricVerifier(publicKeyBytes)) { bool isAuthentic = verifier.VerifySignature(tamperedDocument, signature); Console.WriteLine($"Tampered document is authentic: {isAuthentic}"); // False }

X.509 Certificates

Use X.509 certificates for encryption and signing.

X509Cryptographer

Wrapper around X.509 certificates for cryptographic operations.

using Ecng.Security.Cryptographers; using System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates; using Ecng.Common; // Load certificate from file X509Certificate2 cert = new X509Certificate2("mycert.pfx", "password"); // Create cryptographer using (var cryptographer = new X509Cryptographer(cert)) { byte[] plainText = "Encrypted with certificate".UTF8(); // Encrypt byte[] encrypted = cryptographer.Encrypt(plainText); // Decrypt byte[] decrypted = cryptographer.Decrypt(encrypted); Console.WriteLine(decrypted.UTF8()); }

Signing with Certificates:

using Ecng.Security.Cryptographers; using System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates; using System.Security.Cryptography; using Ecng.Common; X509Certificate2 cert = new X509Certificate2("mycert.pfx", "password"); using (var cryptographer = new X509Cryptographer(cert)) { byte[] data = "Document to sign".UTF8(); // Create signature byte[] signature = cryptographer.CreateSignature(data, () => SHA256.Create()); // Verify signature bool isValid = cryptographer.VerifySignature(data, signature); Console.WriteLine($"Signature valid: {isValid}"); }

Authorization

The library includes authorization interfaces and implementations for login validation.

IAuthorization

Interface for implementing custom authorization logic.

public interface IAuthorization { ValueTask<string> ValidateCredentials( string login, SecureString password, IPAddress clientAddress, CancellationToken cancellationToken); }

AnonymousAuthorization

Allows unrestricted access (useful for testing).

using Ecng.Security; var auth = new AnonymousAuthorization(); string sessionId = await auth.ValidateCredentials( "anyuser", null, IPAddress.Loopback, CancellationToken.None); Console.WriteLine($"Session ID: {sessionId}"); // Always succeeds

SimpleAuthorization

Validates against a single username/password pair.

using Ecng.Security; using System.Security; using System.Net; // Create secure password var securePassword = new SecureString(); foreach (char c in "MyPassword") securePassword.AppendChar(c); securePassword.MakeReadOnly(); // Setup authorization var auth = new SimpleAuthorization { Login = "admin", Password = securePassword }; // Validate credentials try { string sessionId = await auth.ValidateCredentials( "admin", securePassword, IPAddress.Parse("192.168.1.1"), CancellationToken.None); Console.WriteLine($"Login successful! Session: {sessionId}"); } catch (UnauthorizedAccessException) { Console.WriteLine("Invalid credentials!"); }

UnauthorizedAuthorization

Denies all access (useful for disabling endpoints).

using Ecng.Security; var auth = new UnauthorizedAuthorization(); try { await auth.ValidateCredentials("user", null, null, CancellationToken.None); } catch (UnauthorizedAccessException) { Console.WriteLine("Access denied!"); // Always throws }

Usage Examples

Example 1: Secure File Encryption

using Ecng.Security; using Ecng.Common; using System.IO; public class SecureFileManager { private readonly string _password; private readonly byte[] _salt; public SecureFileManager(string password) { _password = password; _salt = TypeHelper.GenerateSalt(CryptoHelper.DefaultSaltSize); } public void EncryptFile(string inputPath, string outputPath) { byte[] plainText = File.ReadAllBytes(inputPath); byte[] iv = new byte[16]; byte[] encrypted = plainText.EncryptAes(_password, _salt, iv); // Store salt and IV with the encrypted data using (var fs = File.Create(outputPath)) { fs.Write(_salt, 0, _salt.Length); fs.Write(iv, 0, iv.Length); fs.Write(encrypted, 0, encrypted.Length); } } public void DecryptFile(string inputPath, string outputPath) { byte[] fileData = File.ReadAllBytes(inputPath); // Extract salt, IV, and encrypted data byte[] salt = new byte[CryptoHelper.DefaultSaltSize]; byte[] iv = new byte[16]; byte[] encrypted = new byte[fileData.Length - salt.Length - iv.Length]; Buffer.BlockCopy(fileData, 0, salt, 0, salt.Length); Buffer.BlockCopy(fileData, salt.Length, iv, 0, iv.Length); Buffer.BlockCopy(fileData, salt.Length + iv.Length, encrypted, 0, encrypted.Length); // Decrypt byte[] decrypted = encrypted.DecryptAes(_password, salt, iv); File.WriteAllBytes(outputPath, decrypted); } }

Example 2: API Request Signing

using Ecng.Security; using Ecng.Common; using System.Security.Cryptography; public class ApiClient { private readonly RSAParameters _privateKey; private readonly byte[] _publicKeyBytes; public ApiClient() { // Generate or load keys _privateKey = CryptoHelper.GenerateRsa(); _publicKeyBytes = _privateKey.PublicPart().FromRsa(); } public (byte[] data, byte[] signature) SignRequest(string requestBody) { byte[] data = requestBody.UTF8(); using (var signer = CryptoAlgorithm.Create( AlgorithmTypes.Asymmetric, null, _privateKey.FromRsa())) { byte[] signature = signer.CreateSignature(data, () => SHA256.Create()); return (data, signature); } } public byte[] GetPublicKey() => _publicKeyBytes; } public class ApiServer { public bool VerifyRequest(byte[] data, byte[] signature, byte[] clientPublicKey) { using (var verifier = CryptoAlgorithm.CreateAsymmetricVerifier(clientPublicKey)) { return verifier.VerifySignature(data, signature); } } }

Example 3: User Authentication System

using Ecng.Security; using System; using System.Collections.Generic; public class User { public string Username { get; set; } public Secret PasswordSecret { get; set; } } public class AuthenticationService { private readonly Dictionary<string, User> _users = new(); private readonly CryptoAlgorithm _hashAlgo; public AuthenticationService() { _hashAlgo = CryptoAlgorithm.Create(AlgorithmTypes.Hash); } public void RegisterUser(string username, string password) { if (_users.ContainsKey(username)) throw new InvalidOperationException("User already exists"); var user = new User { Username = username, PasswordSecret = password.CreateSecret(_hashAlgo) }; _users[username] = user; Console.WriteLine($"User '{username}' registered successfully"); } public bool Login(string username, string password) { if (!_users.TryGetValue(username, out var user)) { Console.WriteLine("User not found"); return false; } bool isValid = user.PasswordSecret.IsValid(password, _hashAlgo); if (isValid) Console.WriteLine($"User '{username}' logged in successfully"); else Console.WriteLine("Invalid password"); return isValid; } } // Usage var authService = new AuthenticationService(); authService.RegisterUser("alice", "SecurePass123!"); authService.RegisterUser("bob", "AnotherPass456@"); authService.Login("alice", "SecurePass123!"); // Success authService.Login("alice", "WrongPassword"); // Failure

Example 4: Data Integrity Verification

using Ecng.Security; using Ecng.Common; public class DataIntegrityChecker { public string ComputeChecksum(byte[] data, string algorithm = "sha256") { return algorithm.ToLowerInvariant() switch { "md5" => data.Md5(), "sha256" => data.Sha256(), "sha512" => data.Sha512(), _ => throw new ArgumentException("Unsupported algorithm") }; } public bool VerifyChecksum(byte[] data, string expectedChecksum, string algorithm = "sha256") { string actualChecksum = ComputeChecksum(data, algorithm); return actualChecksum.Equals(expectedChecksum, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase); } } // Usage var checker = new DataIntegrityChecker(); byte[] originalData = "Important data".UTF8(); // Compute checksum string checksum = checker.ComputeChecksum(originalData, "sha256"); Console.WriteLine($"Checksum: {checksum}"); // Verify data hasn't been modified bool isValid = checker.VerifyChecksum(originalData, checksum, "sha256"); Console.WriteLine($"Data is valid: {isValid}"); // True // Verify modified data byte[] modifiedData = "Modified data".UTF8(); bool isModified = checker.VerifyChecksum(modifiedData, checksum, "sha256"); Console.WriteLine($"Modified data is valid: {isModified}"); // False

Best Practices

Security Recommendations

1. Password Storage

   • Always use Secret with salted hashing for password storage
   • Never store passwords in plain text
   • Use SecureString when handling passwords in memory

2. Salt Generation

   • Use TypeHelper.GenerateSalt() to generate cryptographically secure random salts
   • Recommended salt size: 128 bytes (CryptoHelper.DefaultSaltSize)
   • Never reuse salts across different passwords

3. AES Encryption

   • Always generate a new random salt for each encryption operation
   • Store the salt and IV alongside the encrypted data
   • Use strong passwords/passphrases for key derivation
   • Consider using RSA for encrypting the AES key itself (hybrid encryption)

4. RSA Key Management

   • Keep private keys secure and never expose them
   • Use at least 2048-bit RSA keys (default in modern .NET)
   • Share only the public key for encryption and signature verification
   • Store private keys encrypted when persisting to disk

5. Digital Signatures

   • Use SHA256 or stronger hash algorithms for signatures
   • Verify signatures before processing signed data
   • Sign data before encryption for non-repudiation

6. Hashing

   • For password hashing, use Secret class, not direct hash functions
   • For data integrity, SHA256 or SHA512 are recommended
   • MD5 is provided for compatibility but should be avoided for security-critical applications

Performance Tips

1. Dispose Cryptographic Objects

   • Always dispose CryptoAlgorithm instances (use using statements)
   • This ensures keys are properly cleared from memory

2. Reuse Algorithm Instances

   • When performing multiple operations, reuse the same CryptoAlgorithm instance
   • Create once and dispose when all operations are complete

3. Async Operations

   • The IAuthorization interface is async-friendly
   • Use async/await for authorization operations in web applications

4. Memory Management

   • Use SymmetricCryptographer.ZeroOutBytes() to clear sensitive data from memory
   • Be mindful of byte array allocations when processing large files

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

1. Don't hardcode passwords or keys in source code
2. Don't use the same IV for multiple AES encryption operations
3. Don't forget to store salt and IV when encrypting data
4. Don't confuse public and private keys in RSA operations
5. Don't skip signature verification when receiving signed data
6. Don't use MD5 for security-critical applications
7. Don't share private keys or expose them in logs/error messages

License

This library is part of the Ecng toolkit. Please refer to the main repository for licensing information.

Support

For issues, questions, or contributions, please visit the main Ecng repository.