RFC 1186 INFORMATIONAL CRYPTOGRAPHY · HASHING

MD4 Message Digest Algorithm

A fast 128-bit cryptographic message digest algorithm for signing and checksums.

On rfc-editor.org ↗
PUBLISHED
October 1990
AUTHORS
R.L. Rivest
STREAM
Legacy
OBSOLETED BY
RFC 1320 — MD4
OUTPUT SIZE
128 bits (16 bytes)
BLOCK SIZE
512 bits (16 32-bit words)
BUFFER REGISTERS
4 (A, B, C, D), each 32 bits
PROCESSING ROUNDS
3 per block
SPEED ON SUN SPARC
1,450,000 bytes/second
REPLACED BY
MD5 (RFC 1320)
DOI
10.17487/RFC1186
LINEAGE · FROM THE RFC INDEXOpen full graph →

RFC text

Contents
Original text · RFC Editor View on rfc-editor.org ↗
Network Working Group                                         R. Rivest
Request for Comments: 1186          MIT Laboratory for Computer Science
                                                           October 1990


                    The MD4 Message Digest Algorithm

Status of this Memo

   This RFC is the specification of the MD4 Digest Algorithm.  If you
   are going to implement MD4, it is suggested you do it this way.  This
   memo is for informational use and does not constitute a standard.
   Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Table of Contents

   1.  Abstract ....................................................    1
   2.  Terminology and Notation ....................................    2
   3.  MD4 Algorithm Description ...................................    2
   4.  Extensions ..................................................    6
   5.  Summary .....................................................    7
   6.  Acknowledgements ............................................    7
   APPENDIX - Reference Implementation .............................    7
   Security Considerations..........................................   18
   Author's Address.................................................   18

1. Abstract

   This note describes the MD4 message digest algorithm.  The algorithm
   takes as input an input message of arbitrary length and produces as
   output a 128-bit "fingerprint" or "message digest" of the input.  It
   is conjectured that it is computationally infeasible to produce two
   messages having the same message digest, or to produce any message
   having a given prespecified target message digest.  The MD4 algorithm
   is thus ideal for digital signature applications, where a large file
   must be "compressed" in a secure manner before being signed with the
   RSA public-key cryptosystem.

   The MD4 algorithm is designed to be quite fast on 32-bit machines.
   On a SUN Sparc station, MD4 runs at 1,450,000 bytes/second.  On a DEC
   MicroVax II, MD4 runs at approximately 70,000 bytes/second.  On a
   20MHz 80286, MD4 runs at approximately 32,000 bytes/second.  In
   addition, the MD4 algorithm does not require any large substitution
   tables; the algorithm can be coded quite compactly.

   The MD4 algorithm is being placed in the public domain for review and
   possible adoption as a standard.

   (Note: The document supersedes an earlier draft.  The algorithm
   described here is a slight modification of the one described in the
   draft.)

2.  Terminology and Notation

   In this note a "word" is a 32-bit quantity and a byte is an 8-bit
   quantity.  A sequence of bits can be interpreted in a natural manner
   as a sequence of bytes, where each consecutive group of 8 bits is
   interpreted as a byte with the high-order (most significant) bit of
   each byte listed first.  Similarly, a sequence of bytes can be
   interpreted as a sequence of 32-bit words, where each consecutive
   group of 4 bytes is interpreted as a word with the low-order (least
   significant) byte given first.

   Let x_i denote "x sub i".  If the subscript is an expression, we
   surround it in braces, as in x_{i+1}.  Similarly, we use ^ for
   superscripts (exponentiation), so that x^i denotes x to the i-th
   power.

   Let the symbol "+" denote addition of words (i.e., modulo- 2^32
   addition). Let X <<< s denote the 32-bit value obtained by circularly
   shifting (rotating) X left by s bit positions.  Let not(X) denote the
   bit-wise complement of X, and let X v Y denote the bit-wise OR of X
   and Y.  Let X xor Y denote the bit-wise XOR of X and Y, and let XY
   denote the bit-wise AND of X and Y.

3.  MD4 Algorithm Description

   We begin by supposing that we have a b-bit message as input, and that
   we wish to find its message digest.  Here b is an arbitrary
   nonnegative integer; b may be zero, it need not be a multiple of 8,
   and it may be arbitrarily large.  We imagine the bits of the message
   written down as follows:

                m_0 m_1 ... m_{b-1} .

   The following five steps are performed to compute the message digest
   of the message.

      Step 1. Append padding bits

         The message is "padded" (extended) so that its length (in bits)
         is congruent to 448, modulo 512.  That is, the message is
         extended so that it is just 64 bits shy of being a multiple of
         512 bits long.  Padding is always performed, even if the length
         of the message is already congruent to 448, modulo 512 (in
         which case 512 bits of padding are added).

         Padding is performed as follows: a single "1" bit is appended
         to the message, and then enough zero bits are appended so that
         the length in bits of the padded message becomes congruent to
         448, modulo 512.

      Step 2. Append length

         A 64-bit representation of b (the length of the message before
         the padding bits were added) is appended to the result of the
         previous step.  In the unlikely event that b is greater than
         2^64, then only the low-order 64 bits of b are used.  (These
         bits are appended as two 32-bit words and appended low-order
         word first in accordance with the previous conventions.)

         At this point the resulting message (after padding with bits
         and with b) has a length that is an exact multiple of 512 bits.
         Equivalently, this message has a length that is an exact
         multiple of 16 (32-bit) words.  Let M[0 ... N-1] denote the
         words of the resulting message, where N is a multiple of 16.

      Step 3. Initialize MD buffer

         A 4-word buffer (A,B,C,D) is used to compute the message
         digest.  Here each of A,B,C,D are 32-bit registers.  These
         registers are initialized to the following values in
         hexadecimal, low-order bytes first):

            word A:    01 23 45 67
            word B:    89 ab cd ef
            word C:    fe dc ba 98
            word D:    76 54 32 10

      Step 4. Process message in 16-word blocks

         We first define three auxiliary functions that each take
         as input three 32-bit words and produce as output one
         32-bit word.

            f(X,Y,Z)  =  XY v not(X)Z
            g(X,Y,Z)  =  XY v XZ v YZ
            h(X,Y,Z)  =  X xor Y xor Z

         In each bit position f acts as a conditional: if x then y else
         z.  (The function f could have been defined using + instead of
         v since XY and not(X)Z will never have 1's in the same bit
         position.)  In each bit position g acts as a majority function:
         if at least two of x, y, z are on, then g has a one in that bit
         position, else g has a zero. It is interesting to note that if
         the bits of X, Y, and Z are independent and unbiased, the each
         bit of f(X,Y,Z) will be independent and unbiased, and similarly
         each bit of g(X,Y,Z) will be independent and unbiased.  The
         function h is the bit-wise "xor" or "parity" function; it has
         properties similar to those of f and g.

         Do the following:

         For i = 0 to N/16-1 do  /* process each 16-word block */
                 For j = 0 to 15 do: /* copy block i into X */
                   Set X[j] to M[i*16+j].
                 end /* of loop on j */
                 Save A as AA, B as BB, C as CC, and D as DD.

                 [Round 1]
                   Let [A B C D i s] denote the operation
                         A = (A + f(B,C,D) + X[i]) <<< s  .
                   Do the following 16 operations:
                         [A B C D 0 3]
                         [D A B C 1 7]
                         [C D A B 2 11]
                         [B C D A 3 19]
                         [A B C D 4 3]
                         [D A B C 5 7]
                         [C D A B 6 11]
                         [B C D A 7 19]
                         [A B C D 8 3]
                         [D A B C 9 7]
                         [C D A B 10 11]
                         [B C D A 11 19]
                         [A B C D 12 3]
                         [D A B C 13 7]
                         [C D A B 14 11]
                         [B C D A 15 19]

                 [Round 2]
                   Let [A B C D i s] denote the operation
                         A = (A + g(B,C,D) + X[i] + 5A827999) <<< s .
                   (The value 5A..99 is a hexadecimal 32-bit
                   constant, written with the high-order digit
                   first. This constant represents the square
                   root of 2.  The octal value of this constant
                   is 013240474631.  See Knuth, The Art of
                   Programming, Volume 2 (Seminumerical
                   Algorithms), Second Edition (1981),
                   Addison-Wesley.  Table 2, page 660.)
                   Do the following 16 operations:
                         [A B C D 0  3]
                         [D A B C 4  5]
                         [C D A B 8  9]
                         [B C D A 12 13]
                         [A B C D 1  3]
                         [D A B C 5  5]
                         [C D A B 9  9]
                         [B C D A 13 13]
                         [A B C D 2  3]
                         [D A B C 6  5]
                         [C D A B 10 9]
                         [B C D A 14 13]
                         [A B C D 3  3]
                         [D A B C 7  5]
                         [C D A B 11 9]
                         [B C D A 15 13]

                 [Round 3]
                   Let [A B C D i s] denote the operation
                         A = (A + h(B,C,D) + X[i] + 6ED9EBA1) <<< s .
                   (The value 6E..A1 is a hexadecimal 32-bit
                   constant, written with the high-order digit
                   first.  This constant represents the square
                   root of 3.  The octal value of this constant
                   is 015666365641.  See Knuth, The Art of
                   Programming, Volume 2 (Seminumerical
                   Algorithms), Second Edition (1981),
                   Addison-Wesley.  Table 2, page 660.)
                   Do the following 16 operations:
                         [A B C D 0  3]
                         [D A B C 8  9]
                         [C D A B 4  11]
                         [B C D A 12 15]
                         [A B C D 2  3]
                         [D A B C 10 9]
                         [C D A B 6  11]
                         [B C D A 14 15]
                         [A B C D 1  3]
                         [D A B C 9  9]
                         [C D A B 5  11]
                         [B C D A 13 15]
                         [A B C D 3  3]
                         [D A B C 11 9]
                         [C D A B 7  11]
                         [B C D A 15 15]

         Then perform the following additions:
                         A = A + AA
                         B = B + BB
                         C = C + CC
                         D = D + DD
         (That is, each of the four registers is incremented by
         the value it had before this block was started.)

         end /* of loop on i */

      Step 5. Output

         The message digest produced as output is A,B,C,D.  That is, we
         begin with the low-order byte of A, and end with the high-order
         byte of D.

         This completes the description of MD4.  A reference
         implementation in C is given in the Appendix.

4.  Extensions

   If more than 128 bits of output are required, then the following
   procedure is recommended to obtain a 256-bit output.  (There is no
   provision made for obtaining more than 256 bits.)

   Two copies of MD4 are run in parallel over the input.  The first copy
   is standard as described above.  The second copy is modified as
   follows.

   The initial state of the second copy is:
                    word A:    00 11 22 33
                    word B:    44 55 66 77
                    word C:    88 99 aa bb
                    word D:    cc dd ee ff

   The magic constants in rounds 2 and 3 for the second copy of MD4 are
   changed from sqrt(2) and sqrt(3) to cuberoot(2) and cuberoot(3):

                                    Octal           Hex
            Round 2 constant        012050505746    50a28be6
            Round 3 constant        013423350444    5c4dd124

   Finally, after every 16-word block is processed (including the last
   block), the values of the A registers in the two copies are
   exchanged.

   The final message digest is obtaining by appending the result of the
   second copy of MD4 to the end of the result of the first copy of MD4.

5.  Summary

   The MD4 message digest algorithm is simple to implement, and provides
   a "fingerprint" or message digest of a message of arbitrary length.

   It is conjectured that the difficulty of coming up with two messages
   having the same message digest is on the order of 2^64 operations,
   and that the difficulty of coming up with any message having a given
   message digest is on the order of 2^128 operations.  The MD4
   algorithm has been carefully scrutinized for weaknesses.  It is,
   however, a relatively new algorithm and further security analysis is
   of course justified, as is the case with any new proposal of this
   sort.  The level of security provided by MD4 should be sufficient for
   implementing very high security hybrid digital signature schemes
   based on MD4 and the RSA public-key cryptosystem.

6.  Acknowledgements

   I'd like to thank Don Coppersmith, Burt Kaliski, Ralph Merkle, and
   Noam Nisan for numerous helpful comments and suggestions.

APPENDIX - Reference Implementation

This appendix contains the following files:

         md4.h        -- header file for using MD4 implementation
         md4.c        -- the source code for MD4 routines
         md4driver.c  -- a sample "user" routine
         session      -- sample results of running md4driver

 /*
 ** ********************************************************************
 ** md4.h -- Header file for implementation of                        **
 ** MD4 Message Digest Algorithm                                      **
 ** Updated: 2/13/90 by Ronald L. Rivest                              **
 ** (C) 1990 RSA Data Security, Inc.                                  **
 ** ********************************************************************
 */

 /* MDstruct is the data structure for a message digest computation.
 */
 typedef struct {
   unsigned int buffer[4]; /* Holds 4-word result of MD computation */
   unsigned char count[8]; /* Number of bits processed so far */
   unsigned int done;      /* Nonzero means MD computation finished */
 } MDstruct, *MDptr;

 /* MDbegin(MD)
 ** Input: MD -- an MDptr
 ** Initialize the MDstruct prepatory to doing a message digest
 ** computation.
 */
 extern void MDbegin();

 /* MDupdate(MD,X,count)
 ** Input: MD -- an MDptr
 **        X -- a pointer to an array of unsigned characters.
 **        count -- the number of bits of X to use (an unsigned int).
 ** Updates MD using the first "count" bits of X.
 ** The array pointed to by X is not modified.
 ** If count is not a multiple of 8, MDupdate uses high bits of
 ** last byte.
 ** This is the basic input routine for a user.
 ** The routine terminates the MD computation when count < 512, so
 ** every MD computation should end with one call to MDupdate with a
 ** count less than 512.  Zero is OK for a count.
 */
 extern void MDupdate();

 /* MDprint(MD)
 ** Input: MD -- an MDptr
 ** Prints message digest buffer MD as 32 hexadecimal digits.
 ** Order is from low-order byte of buffer[0] to high-order byte
 ** of buffer[3].
 ** Each byte is printed with high-order hexadecimal digit first.
 */
 extern void MDprint();

 /*
 ** End of md4.h
 ****************************(cut)***********************************/

 /*
 ** ********************************************************************
 ** md4.c -- Implementation of MD4 Message Digest Algorithm           **
 ** Updated: 2/16/90 by Ronald L. Rivest                              **
 ** (C) 1990 RSA Data Security, Inc.                                  **
 ** ********************************************************************
 */

 /*
 ** To use MD4:
 **   -- Include md4.h in your program
 **   -- Declare an MDstruct MD to hold the state of the digest
 **          computation.
 **   -- Initialize MD using MDbegin(&MD)
 **   -- For each full block (64 bytes) X you wish to process, call
 **          MDupdate(&MD,X,512)
 **      (512 is the number of bits in a full block.)
 **   -- For the last block (less than 64 bytes) you wish to process,
 **          MDupdate(&MD,X,n)
 **      where n is the number of bits in the partial block. A partial
 **      block terminates the computation, so every MD computation
 **      should terminate by processing a partial block, even if it
 **      has n = 0.
 **   -- The message digest is available in MD.buffer[0] ...
 **      MD.buffer[3].  (Least-significant byte of each word
 **      should be output first.)
 **   -- You can print out the digest using MDprint(&MD)
 */

 /* Implementation notes:
 ** This implementation assumes that ints are 32-bit quantities.
 ** If the machine stores the least-significant byte of an int in the
 ** least-addressed byte (e.g., VAX and 8086), then LOWBYTEFIRST
 ** should be set to TRUE.  Otherwise (e.g., SUNS), LOWBYTEFIRST
 ** should be set to FALSE.  Note that on machines with LOWBYTEFIRST
 ** FALSE the routine MDupdate modifies has a side-effect on its input
 ** array (the order of bytes in each word are reversed).  If this is
 ** undesired a call to MDreverse(X) can reverse the bytes of X back
 ** into order after each call to MDupdate.

 */
 #define TRUE  1
 #define FALSE 0
 #define LOWBYTEFIRST FALSE

 /* Compile-time includes
 */
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include "md4.h"

 /* Compile-time declarations of MD4 "magic constants".
 */
 #define I0  0x67452301       /* Initial values for MD buffer */
 #define I1  0xefcdab89
 #define I2  0x98badcfe
 #define I3  0x10325476
 #define C2  013240474631     /* round 2 constant = sqrt(2) in octal */
 #define C3  015666365641     /* round 3 constant = sqrt(3) in octal */
 /* C2 and C3 are from Knuth, The Art of Programming, Volume 2
 ** (Seminumerical Algorithms), Second Edition (1981), Addison-Wesley.
 ** Table 2, page 660.
 */
 #define fs1  3               /* round 1 shift amounts */
 #define fs2  7
 #define fs3 11
 #define fs4 19
 #define gs1  3               /* round 2 shift amounts */
 #define gs2  5
 #define gs3  9
 #define gs4 13
 #define hs1  3               /* round 3 shift amounts */
 #define hs2  9
 #define hs3 11
 #define hs4 15

 /* Compile-time macro declarations for MD4.
 ** Note: The "rot" operator uses the variable "tmp".
 ** It assumes tmp is declared as unsigned int, so that the >>
 ** operator will shift in zeros rather than extending the sign bit.
 */
 #define f(X,Y,Z)             ((X&Y) | ((~X)&Z))
 #define g(X,Y,Z)             ((X&Y) | (X&Z) | (Y&Z))
 #define h(X,Y,Z)             (X^Y^Z)
 #define rot(X,S)             (tmp=X,(tmp<<S) | (tmp>>(32-S)))
 #define ff(A,B,C,D,i,s)      A = rot((A + f(B,C,D) + X[i]),s)
 #define gg(A,B,C,D,i,s)      A = rot((A + g(B,C,D) + X[i] + C2),s)
 #define hh(A,B,C,D,i,s)      A = rot((A + h(B,C,D) + X[i] + C3),s)

 /* MDprint(MDp)
 ** Print message digest buffer MDp as 32 hexadecimal digits.
 ** Order is from low-order byte of buffer[0] to high-order byte of
 ** buffer[3].
 ** Each byte is printed with high-order hexadecimal digit first.
 ** This is a user-callable routine.
 */
 void
 MDprint(MDp)
 MDptr MDp;
 { int i,j;
   for (i=0;i<4;i++)
     for (j=0;j<32;j=j+8)
       printf("%02x",(MDp->buffer[i]>>j) & 0xFF);
 }

 /* MDbegin(MDp)
 ** Initialize message digest buffer MDp.
 ** This is a user-callable routine.
 */
 void
 MDbegin(MDp)
 MDptr MDp;
 { int i;
   MDp->buffer[0] = I0;
   MDp->buffer[1] = I1;
   MDp->buffer[2] = I2;
   MDp->buffer[3] = I3;
   for (i=0;i<8;i++) MDp->count[i] = 0;
   MDp->done = 0;
 }

 /* MDreverse(X)
 ** Reverse the byte-ordering of every int in X.
 ** Assumes X is an array of 16 ints.
 ** The macro revx reverses the byte-ordering of the next word of X.
 */
 #define revx { t = (*X << 16) | (*X >> 16); \
      *X++ = ((t & 0xFF00FF00) >> 8) | ((t & 0x00FF00FF) << 8); }
 MDreverse(X)
 unsigned int *X;
 { register unsigned int t;
   revx; revx; revx; revx; revx; revx; revx; revx;
   revx; revx; revx; revx; revx; revx; revx; revx;
 }

 /* MDblock(MDp,X)
 ** Update message digest buffer MDp->buffer using 16-word data block X.
 ** Assumes all 16 words of X are full of data.
 ** Does not update MDp->count.
 ** This routine is not user-callable.
 */
 static void
 MDblock(MDp,X)
 MDptr MDp;
 unsigned int *X;
 {
   register unsigned int tmp, A, B, C, D;
 #if LOWBYTEFIRST == FALSE
   MDreverse(X);
 #endif
   A = MDp->buffer[0];
   B = MDp->buffer[1];
   C = MDp->buffer[2];
   D = MDp->buffer[3];
   /* Update the message digest buffer */
   ff(A , B , C , D ,  0 , fs1); /* Round 1 */
   ff(D , A , B , C ,  1 , fs2);
   ff(C , D , A , B ,  2 , fs3);
   ff(B , C , D , A ,  3 , fs4);

   ff(A , B , C , D ,  4 , fs1);
   ff(D , A , B , C ,  5 , fs2);
   ff(C , D , A , B ,  6 , fs3);
   ff(B , C , D , A ,  7 , fs4);
   ff(A , B , C , D ,  8 , fs1);
   ff(D , A , B , C ,  9 , fs2);
   ff(C , D , A , B , 10 , fs3);
   ff(B , C , D , A , 11 , fs4);
   ff(A , B , C , D , 12 , fs1);
   ff(D , A , B , C , 13 , fs2);
   ff(C , D , A , B , 14 , fs3);
   ff(B , C , D , A , 15 , fs4);
   gg(A , B , C , D ,  0 , gs1); /* Round 2 */
   gg(D , A , B , C ,  4 , gs2);
   gg(C , D , A , B ,  8 , gs3);
   gg(B , C , D , A , 12 , gs4);
   gg(A , B , C , D ,  1 , gs1);
   gg(D , A , B , C ,  5 , gs2);
   gg(C , D , A , B ,  9 , gs3);
   gg(B , C , D , A , 13 , gs4);
   gg(A , B , C , D ,  2 , gs1);
   gg(D , A , B , C ,  6 , gs2);
   gg(C , D , A , B , 10 , gs3);
   gg(B , C , D , A , 14 , gs4);
   gg(A , B , C , D ,  3 , gs1);
   gg(D , A , B , C ,  7 , gs2);
   gg(C , D , A , B , 11 , gs3);
   gg(B , C , D , A , 15 , gs4);
   hh(A , B , C , D ,  0 , hs1); /* Round 3 */
   hh(D , A , B , C ,  8 , hs2);
   hh(C , D , A , B ,  4 , hs3);
   hh(B , C , D , A , 12 , hs4);
   hh(A , B , C , D ,  2 , hs1);
   hh(D , A , B , C , 10 , hs2);
   hh(C , D , A , B ,  6 , hs3);
   hh(B , C , D , A , 14 , hs4);
   hh(A , B , C , D ,  1 , hs1);
   hh(D , A , B , C ,  9 , hs2);
   hh(C , D , A , B ,  5 , hs3);
   hh(B , C , D , A , 13 , hs4);
   hh(A , B , C , D ,  3 , hs1);
   hh(D , A , B , C , 11 , hs2);
   hh(C , D , A , B ,  7 , hs3);
   hh(B , C , D , A , 15 , hs4);
   MDp->buffer[0] += A;
   MDp->buffer[1] += B;
   MDp->buffer[2] += C;
   MDp->buffer[3] += D;

 }

 /* MDupdate(MDp,X,count)
 ** Input: MDp -- an MDptr
 **        X -- a pointer to an array of unsigned characters.
 **        count -- the number of bits of X to use.
 **          (if not a multiple of 8, uses high bits of last byte.)
 ** Update MDp using the number of bits of X given by count.
 ** This is the basic input routine for an MD4 user.
 ** The routine completes the MD computation when count < 512, so
 ** every MD computation should end with one call to MDupdate with a
 ** count less than 512.  A call with count 0 will be ignored if the
 ** MD has already been terminated (done != 0), so an extra call with
 ** count 0 can be given as a "courtesy close" to force termination
 ** if desired.
 */
 void
 MDupdate(MDp,X,count)
 MDptr MDp;
 unsigned char *X;
 unsigned int count;
 { unsigned int i, tmp, bit, byte, mask;
   unsigned char XX[64];
   unsigned char *p;
   /* return with no error if this is a courtesy close with count
   ** zero and MDp->done is true.
   */
   if (count == 0 && MDp->done) return;
   /* check to see if MD is already done and report error */
   if (MDp->done)
          { printf("\nError: MDupdate MD already done."); return; }
   /* Add count to MDp->count */
   tmp = count;
   p = MDp->count;
   while (tmp)
     { tmp += *p;
       *p++ = tmp;
       tmp = tmp >> 8;
     }
   /* Process data */
   if (count == 512)
     { /* Full block of data to handle */
       MDblock(MDp,(unsigned int *)X);
     }
   else if (count > 512) /* Check for count too large */
     { printf("\nError: MDupdate called with illegal count value %d."
              ,count);
       return;

     }
   else /* partial block -- must be last block so finish up */
     { /* Find out how many bytes and residual bits there are */
       byte = count >> 3;
       bit =  count & 7;
       /* Copy X into XX since we need to modify it */
       for (i=0;i<=byte;i++)   XX[i] = X[i];
       for (i=byte+1;i<64;i++) XX[i] = 0;
       /* Add padding '1' bit and low-order zeros in last byte */
       mask = 1 << (7 - bit);
       XX[byte] = (XX[byte] | mask) & ~( mask - 1);
       /* If room for bit count, finish up with this block */
       if (byte <= 55)
         { for (i=0;i<8;i++) XX[56+i] = MDp->count[i];
           MDblock(MDp,(unsigned int *)XX);
         }
       else /* need to do two blocks to finish up */
         { MDblock(MDp,(unsigned int *)XX);
           for (i=0;i<56;i++) XX[i] = 0;
           for (i=0;i<8;i++)  XX[56+i] = MDp->count[i];
           MDblock(MDp,(unsigned int *)XX);
         }
       /* Set flag saying we're done with MD computation */
       MDp->done = 1;
     }
 }

 /*
 ** End of md4.c
 ****************************(cut)***********************************/

 /*
 ** ********************************************************************
 ** md4driver.c -- sample routines to test                            **
 ** MD4 message digest algorithm.                                     **
 ** Updated: 2/16/90 by Ronald L. Rivest                              **
 ** (C) 1990 RSA Data Security, Inc.                                  **
 ** ********************************************************************
 */

 #include <stdio.h>
 #include "md4.h"

 /* MDtimetrial()
 ** A time trial routine, to measure the speed of MD4.
 ** Measures speed for 1M blocks = 64M bytes.
 */
 MDtimetrial()
 { unsigned int X[16];
   MDstruct MD;
   int i;
   double t;
   for (i=0;i<16;i++) X[i] = 0x01234567 + i;
   printf
   ("MD4 time trial. Processing 1 million 64-character blocks...\n");
   clock();
   MDbegin(&MD);
   for (i=0;i<1000000;i++) MDupdate(&MD,X,512);
   MDupdate(&MD,X,0);
   t = (double) clock(); /* in microseconds */
   MDprint(&MD); printf(" is digest of 64M byte test input.\n");
   printf("Seconds to process test input:   %g\n,t/1e6);
   printf("Characters processed per second: %ld.\n,(int)(64e12/t));
 }

 /* MDstring(s)
 ** Computes the message digest for string s.
 ** Prints out message digest, a space, the string (in quotes) and a
 ** carriage return.
 */
 MDstring(s)
 unsigned char *s;
 { unsigned int i, len = strlen(s);
   MDstruct MD;
   MDbegin(&MD);
   for (i=0;i+64<=len;i=i+64) MDupdate(&MD,s+i,512);
   MDupdate(&MD,s+i,(len-i)*8);
   MDprint(&MD);
   printf(" \"%s\"\n",s);
 }

 /* MDfile(filename)
 ** Computes the message digest for a specified file.
 ** Prints out message digest, a space, the file name, and a
 ** carriage return.
 */
 MDfile(filename)
 char *filename;
 { FILE *f = fopen(filename,"rb");
   unsigned char X[64];
   MDstruct MD;
   int b;
   if (f == NULL)
      { printf("%s can't be opened.\n",filename); return; }
   MDbegin(&MD);
   while ((b=fread(X,1,64,f))!=0) MDupdate(&MD,X,b*8);

   MDupdate(&MD,X,0);
   MDprint(&MD);
   printf(" %s\n",filename);
   fclose(f);
 }

 /* MDfilter()
 ** Writes the message digest of the data from stdin onto stdout,
 ** followed by a carriage return.
 */
 MDfilter()
 { unsigned char X[64];
   MDstruct MD;
   int b;
   MDbegin(&MD);
   while ((b=fread(X,1,64,stdin))!=0) MDupdate(&MD,X,b*8);
   MDupdate(&MD,X,0);
   MDprint(&MD);
   printf("\n");
 }

 /* MDtestsuite()
 ** Run a standard suite of test data.
 */
 MDtestsuite()
 {
   printf("MD4 test suite results:\n");
   MDstring("");
   MDstring("a");
   MDstring("abc");
   MDstring("message digest");
   MDstring("abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz");
   MDstring
   ("ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789");
   MDfile("foo"); /* Contents of file foo are "abc" */
 }

 main(argc,argv)
 int argc;
 char *argv[];
 { int i;
   /* For each command line argument in turn:
   ** filename          -- prints message digest and name of file
   ** -sstring          -- prints message digest and contents of string
   ** -t                -- prints time trial statistics for 64M bytes
   ** -x                -- execute a standard suite of test data
   ** (no args)         -- writes messages digest of stdin onto stdout
   */
   if (argc==1) MDfilter();
   else
     for (i=1;i<argc;i++)
       if (argv[i][0]=='-' && argv[i][1]=='s') MDstring(argv[i]+2);
       else if (strcmp(argv[i],"-t")==0)       MDtimetrial();
       else if (strcmp(argv[i],"-x")==0)       MDtestsuite();
       else                                    MDfile(argv[i]);
 }

 /*
 ** end of md4driver.c
 ****************************(cut)***********************************/


 --------------------------------------------------------------------
 --- Sample session.  Compiling and using MD4 on SUN Sparcstation ---
 --------------------------------------------------------------------
 >ls
 total 66
 -rw-rw-r--  1 rivest          3 Feb 14 17:40 abcfile
 -rwxrwxr-x  1 rivest      24576 Feb 17 12:28 md4
 -rw-rw-r--  1 rivest       9347 Feb 17 00:37 md4.c
 -rw-rw-r--  1 rivest      25150 Feb 17 12:25 md4.doc
 -rw-rw-r--  1 rivest       1844 Feb 16 21:21 md4.h
 -rw-rw-r--  1 rivest       3497 Feb 17 12:27 md4driver.c
 >
 >cc -o md4 -O4 md4.c md4driver.c
 md4.c:
 md4driver.c:
 Linking:
 >
 >md4 -x
 MD4 test suite results:
 31d6cfe0d16ae931b73c59d7e0c089c0 ""
 bde52cb31de33e46245e05fbdbd6fb24 "a"
 a448017aaf21d8525fc10ae87aa6729d "abc"
 d9130a8164549fe818874806e1c7014b "message digest"
 d79e1c308aa5bbcdeea8ed63df412da9 "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz"
 043f8582f241db351ce627e153e7f0e4
      "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789"
 a448017aaf21d8525fc10ae87aa6729d abcfile
 >
 >md4 -sabc -shi
 a448017aaf21d8525fc10ae87aa6729d "abc"
 cfaee2512bd25eb033236f0cd054e308 "hi"
 >
 >md4 *
 a448017aaf21d8525fc10ae87aa6729d abcfile
 d316f994da0e951cf9502928a1f73300 md4
 379adb39eada0dfdbbdfdcd0d9def8c4 md4.c
 9a3f73327c65954198b1f45a3aa12665 md4.doc
 37fe165ac177b461ff78b86d10e4ff33 md4.h
 7dcba2e2dc4d8f1408d08beb17dabb2a md4.o
 08790161bfddc6f5788b4353875cb1c3 md4driver.c
 1f84a7f690b0545d2d0480d5d3c26eea md4driver.o
 >
 >cat abcfile | md4
 a448017aaf21d8525fc10ae87aa6729d
 >
 >md4 -t
 MD4 time trial. Processing 1 million 64-character blocks...
 6325bf77e5891c7c0d8104b64cc6e9ef is digest of 64M byte test input.
 Seconds to process test input:   44.0982
 Characters processed per second: 1451305.
 >
 >
 ------------------------ end of sample session --------------------

      Note:  A version of this document including the C source code is
      available for FTP from THEORY.LSC.MIT.EDU in the file "md4.doc".

Security Considerations

   The level of security discussed in this memo by MD4 is considered to
   be sufficient for implementing very high security hybrid digital
   signature schemes based on MD4 and the RSA public-key cryptosystem.

Author's Address

   Ronald L. Rivest
   Massachusetts Institute of Technology
   Laboratory for Computer Science
   NE43-324
   545 Technology Square
   Cambridge, MA 02139-1986

   Phone: (617) 253-5880

   EMail: rivest@theory.lcs.mit.edu

AI ELI5

On this page
PROBLEMDigital signatures and data integrity checks require a way to compress a large file into a small fixed-size fingerprint that can be signed with RSA, and this must be fast on contemporary hardware.
MECHANISMMD4 takes a message of arbitrary length and computes a 128-bit message digest (fingerprint) by padding the input, processing it in 16-word blocks through three rounds of operations using bitwise functions, and outputting four 32-bit words.
WHY IT FADEDMD4 became widely used for digital signatures and integrity checking but was later found to have cryptographic weaknesses and was replaced by MD5 (RFC 1320), which is also now considered broken.

§1Why Message Digests Matter

A message digest (also called a hash or fingerprint) is a small fixed-size number computed from a message of any length such that:

  • Different messages almost always produce different digests (collision resistance)
  • It is computationally infeasible to find any two messages with the same digest
  • It is computationally infeasible to find a message with a pre-specified target digest

Message digests are essential for digital signature schemes where a large file must be compressed before being signed with RSA public-key cryptography. Instead of signing the entire file (which would be slow), you sign the small digest, and anyone can verify the signature matches.

MD4 was designed by Ron Rivest to be fast on 32-bit machines: it ran at approximately 1.45 million bytes per second on a SUN Sparc workstation, 70,000 bytes per second on a DEC MicroVax II, and 32,000 bytes per second on a 20MHz 80286 processor.

A message digest turns any document into a short code. If you change even one word, the code changes completely. You can sign the code instead of the whole document, and that proves you wrote the document. MD4 was fast enough to use with very big files.

§2How MD4 Works

MD4 processes a message in five steps:

Step 1: Padding. The message is padded so that its length (in bits) is congruent to 448, modulo 512. A single "1" bit is appended, followed by zero bits, ensuring the result is exactly 64 bits short of a multiple of 512 bits.

Step 2: Append length. A 64-bit representation of the original message length is appended, making the total length a multiple of 512 bits (or 16 words of 32 bits each).

Step 3: Initialize buffer. Four 32-bit registers (A, B, C, D) are initialized to constant values: A = 0x67452301, B = 0xefcdab89, C = 0x98badcfe, D = 0x10325476.

Step 4: Process blocks. The message is processed as 16-word blocks. For each block, three rounds of operations are performed. Each round uses a different bitwise function (f, g, h) applied to the registers with left-rotate shifts and message word inputs. Specific magic constants derived from the square roots of 2 and 3 are used in rounds 2 and 3.

Step 5: Output. After processing all blocks, the final values of A, B, C, D form the 128-bit message digest.

MD4 chops the message into pieces, mixes them through three rounds of bit-twiddling, and outputs a tiny fingerprint. The same message always gives the same fingerprint, but changing one bit makes a completely different fingerprint.

§3Design and Extension

MD4 does not require large substitution tables and can be implemented compactly. The algorithm's auxiliary functions are mathematically interesting: function f is a bitwise conditional (if-then-else), function g acts as a majority function (outputting 1 if at least two of three inputs are 1), and function h is the bitwise XOR (parity) function. When the input bits are independent and unbiased, the output bits remain independent and unbiased.

The RFC includes an option for obtaining 256-bit output by running two copies of MD4 in parallel with modified initial states and magic constants representing the cube roots of 2 and 3. The A register values are exchanged after every 16-word block in the two copies.

The document includes a complete reference implementation in C with detailed comments on endianness (byte ordering) considerations, macros for the core operations, and sample output.

MD4 is designed to be simple and fast, with no giant lookup tables. You can also run two MD4 machines in parallel and glue their results together if you need a bigger fingerprint.

§4Security Properties and Limitations

The RFC documents security properties at the time of publication. It conjectures that finding two messages with the same digest requires on the order of 2^64 operations (the birthday attack bound for a 128-bit digest), and finding any message with a pre-specified digest requires on the order of 2^128 operations. The RFC states that MD4 should be sufficient for implementing very high-security hybrid digital signature schemes with RSA.

However, the RFC acknowledges that it is "a relatively new algorithm and further security analysis is of course justified." Subsequent cryptanalysis revealed significant weaknesses: collisions were found in MD4 within years, and the algorithm is now considered cryptographically broken. MD4 was replaced by MD5 and then by more secure algorithms such as SHA-1, SHA-2, and SHA-3. Modern systems should not use MD4 or MD5 for cryptographic purposes.

When MD4 was created, people thought it was impossible to break. But mathematicians found tricks to forge the fingerprint, so it turned out the machine had a secret back door. Now we use better fingerprint machines.

§5References