blowfish.h usage in a simple client/server application - c++

Question

I am trying to write an application which amongst other things uses the openssl blowfish implementation (blowfish.h) to transport files over a simple server/client pair.
However, whilst some files are encrypted, transported, received and decrypted correctly, some end up being corrupted, after the final decryption stage. This leads me to think that the encryption routines are not being called correctly (since I have also tried with equivalent DES library calls, with the same 'intermittent corruption' results).
The relevant code is pasted below.
Basically, it starts with the function send_file (called by a connected client). This splits the file into chunks. Each 1024 byte chunk is encrypted separately and then sent. Each chunk is then received by the server in the receive_file function, decrypted and saved to disc.
Any idea what the problem could be? (Note if necessary, I will add the code for the whole application).
Cheers,
Ben.
void encryptHelper(const char*,int);
void decryptHelper(const char*,int);
inline void blowfish(unsigned char *data, int data_len, char* key, int enc)
{
// hash the key first!
unsigned char obuf[20];
bzero(obuf,20);
SHA1((const unsigned char*)key, strlen(key), obuf);
BF_KEY bfkey;
int keySize = strlen(key);
BF_set_key(&bfkey, 16, (const unsigned char*)obuf);
unsigned char ivec[8];
memset(ivec, 0, 8);
unsigned char out[1024];// = (unsigned char*) malloc(1024);
bzero(out,1024);
int num = 0;
BF_cfb64_encrypt(data, out, data_len, &bfkey, ivec, &num, enc);
data=out;
//memcpy(data, out, data_len);
//free(out);
}
void MyFrame::encryptHelper(char* orig, int inlength)
{
char *pb=(char*)(std::string((passInput->GetValue()).mb_str()).c_str());
blowfish((unsigned char*)orig, inlength, pb, DES_ENCRYPT);
}
void MyFrame::decryptHelper(char* orig, int inlength)
{
char *pb=(char*)(std::string((passInput->GetValue()).mb_str()).c_str());
blowfish((unsigned char*)orig, inlength, pb, DES_DECRYPT);
}
int MyFrame::send_file(int fd)
{
char rec[10];
struct stat stat_buf;
fstat (fd, &stat_buf);
int size=stat_buf.st_size;
int remSize=size;
int value=0;
while(size > 0)
{
char buffer[1030];
bzero(buffer,1030);
bzero(rec,10);
int n;
if(size>=1024)
{
value+=1024;
n=read(fd, buffer, 1024);
// encrypt is necessary
if(encButtonOn->GetValue()) encryptHelper(buffer,1024);
// Send a chunk of data
n=send(sockFile_, buffer, 1024, 0 );
// Wait for an acknowledgement
n = recv(sockFile_, rec, 10, 0 );
}
else // reamining file bytes
{
value+=size;
n=read(fd, buffer, size);
if(encButtonOn->GetValue()) encryptHelper(buffer,size);
buffer[size]='\0';
n=send(sockFile_,buffer, size, 0 );
n=recv(sockFile_, rec, 10, 0 );
}
MyFooEvent event( 0, 992 );
double firstBit = (double)value/remSize;
firstBit=firstBit*100.0;
event.adouble=firstBit;
wxPostEvent (this, event);
size -= 1024;
}
// Send a completion string
int n = send(sockFile_, "COMP",strlen("COMP"), 0 );
char buf[10];
bzero(buf,10);
// Receive an acknowledgemnt
n = recv(sockFile_, buf, 10, 0 );
return(0);
}
int MyFrame::receive_file()
{
// receive file size and send ack
char sizeBuffer[50];
bzero(sizeBuffer,50);
int n;
//read(This->sockpw,buffer,bufferSize);
n=read(sockFile_, sizeBuffer, 50);
n=send(sockFile_,"OK", strlen("OK"), 0 );
int size = atoi(sizeBuffer);
//std::cout<<size<<std::endl;
// receive file name and send ack
char saveName[256];
bzero(saveName,256);
n=read(sockFile_, saveName, 256);
n=send(sockFile_,"OK",strlen("OK"), 0 );
//std::cout<<saveName_<<std::endl;
// start file writing process to local disk
// decrypt first if necessary
std::cout<<arraySize(saveName)<<std::endl;
std::cout<<strlen(saveName)<<std::endl;
if(encButtonOn->GetValue()) decryptHelper(saveName,strlen(saveName));
ofstream outFile(saveName,ios::out|ios::binary|ios::app);
// vars for status gauge
int remSize=size;
int value=0;
while(size > 0)
{
// buffer for storing incoming data
char buf[1030];
bzero(buf,1030);
if(size>=1024)
{
value+=1024; // for status gauge
// receive chunk of data
n=recv(sockFile_, buf, 1024, 0 );
// decrypt if necessary
if(encButtonOn->GetValue()) decryptHelper(buf,1024);
// write chunk of data to disk
outFile.write(buf,1024);
// send acknowledgement
n = send(sockFile_, "OK", strlen("OK"), 0 );
}
else
{
value+=size;
n=recv(sockFile_, buf, size, 0 );
if(encButtonOn->GetValue()) decryptHelper(buf,size);
buf[size]='\0';
outFile.write(buf,size);
n = send(sockFile_, "OK", strlen("OK"), 0 );
}
// Update status gauge
MyFooEvent event( 0, 992 );
double firstBit = (double)value/remSize;
firstBit=firstBit*100.0;
event.adouble=firstBit;
wxPostEvent (this, event);
size -= 1024;
}
outFile.close();
// Receive 'COMP' and send acknowledgement
// ---------------------------------------
char buf[10];
bzero(buf,10);
n = recv(sockFile_, buf, 10, 0 );
n = send(sockFile_, "OK", strlen("OK"), 0 );
std::cout<<"File received..."<<std::endl;
// Display image event
MyFooEvent eventF( 0, 995 );
eventF.SetText(wxString(saveName, wxConvUTF8));
wxPostEvent (this, eventF);
return(0);
}

Answer 1

I'm assuming that:
char *pb=(char*)(std::string((passInput->GetValue()).mb_str()).c_str());
blowfish((unsigned char*)orig, inlength, pb, DES_DECRYPT);
decrypts into pb, which is actually the buffer of a temporary string. You simply cannot use std::string like this. The fact that you had to use so many casrs to do this shouldhave been a warning - good C and C++ code does not normally require casts at all. Basically, you need to rethink what you are doing.

Answer 2

not sure, could be a buffer overrun somewhere or memory corruption...
you could use valgrind to detect the issue or perhaps try simplifying the conversions/...

Answer 3

Having fixed a few bugs by asking a few other questions, I have gotten the file encryption process working, but only when the client and server are both on the same localhost machine. When they reside on different machines, the file still ends up being corrupted. I think it is due to the fact that send_file and receive file are called from threads as follows:
void
*MyFrame::send_fileT(void* tid)
{
accessHelper* ah = static_cast<accessHelper*>(tid);
MyFrame* This = ah->This;
This->send_file(fileSendID);
pthread_exit(NULL);
}
void
*MyFrame::receive_fileT(void* tid)
{
accessHelper* ah = static_cast<accessHelper*>(tid);
MyFrame* This = ah->This;
This->receive_file();
pthread_exit(NULL);
}
....and then the receive_file or send_file functions are calling the blowfish function to carry out the encryption. Now if a function is called within a pthread (i.e. send_file and receive_file), then if that function calls another function (i.e. encryptHelper -- blowfish), is it possible that the calling function will not 'properly' wait for the called function to finish correctly?

Answer 4

Fixed:
n=read(fd, buffer, 2048);
if(enc)encryptHelper(buffer,n);
n=send(sockFile_, buffer, n, 0 );
[called in a loop]
The problem was, was that it cannot be ensured that all n bytes of the encrypted buffer are transferred. Thus only some of the encrypted bytes are sent leading to inconsistent decryption on the receiving end.