Layer: L5 Session · Build flags: none (uses the always-compiled SSH crypto primitives)

What this example teaches

This is not a server - it is a power-on self-test. It runs the SSH stack's streaming SHA-256, HMAC-SHA-256, and AES-256-CTR primitives against published known-answer vectors and prints PASS/FAIL over Serial. On the ESP32 those primitives route through mbedTLS and the hardware accelerator, so this confirms the device's hardware crypto path actually matches the specifications. It runs on the host too (native tests use the same vectors), which is why verifying expected vectors against real tools matters.

Known-answer testing (KAT). Each block sets up an input with a known output from an authoritative source, runs the primitive, and compares bytes:

SHA-256("abc") - FIPS 180-4
HMAC-SHA-256 - RFC 4231 test case 1 ("Hi There", key = 0x0b * 20)
AES-256-CTR - NIST SP 800-38A F.5.5 (first block)

Streaming is exercised on purpose. The SHA test feeds the message in two chunks ("a" then "bc") so the incremental init/update/final path is covered, not just a one-shot hash:

protocore_sha256_init(&c);
protocore_sha256_update(&c, (const uint8_t *)"a", 1);
protocore_sha256_update(&c, (const uint8_t *)"bc", 2); // chunked -> exercises streaming
protocore_sha256_final(&c, out);
report("sha256 streaming", eq(out, want, 32), all_ok);

Keys are wiped. The stateless AES-256-CTR primitive rebuilds its key schedule in the shared crypto scratch (crypto_work) and wipes it after each call - the same hygiene the SSH server uses for session keys, with no key material left on the stack or in BSS.

This is the test to run after enabling or changing the hardware crypto paths: if it prints ALL TESTS PASSED, the primitives are byte-correct on your silicon.

Build and run

No feature flags needed:

pio ci --board=esp32dev --project-option="framework=arduino" \

--lib="." examples/L5-Session/SSHCryptoSelfTest/SSHCryptoSelfTest.ino

Flash, open Serial at 115200, and expect ALL TESTS PASSED.

Annotated source

The complete sketch (SSHCryptoSelfTest.ino), reproduced verbatim with added explanatory comments:

// Copyright (C) 2026 Douglas Quigg (dstroy0) <dquigg123@gmail.com>
// SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
 
#include "protocore.h" // discovers the library (adds src/ to the include path) - MUST come first
 
#include "crypto/cipher/aes256ctr/aes256ctr.h"
#include "crypto/mac/hmac_sha256/hmac_sha256.h"
#include "crypto/hash/sha256/sha256.h"
 
 
// Byte-equality helper used by every check below.
static bool eq(const uint8_t *a, const uint8_t *b, size_t n)
{
    return memcmp(a, b, n) == 0;
}
 
// Print "name PASS/FAIL" and AND the result into all_ok.
static void report(const char *name, bool ok, bool &all_ok)
{
    Serial.printf("  %-22s %s\n", name, ok ? "PASS" : "FAIL");
    if (!ok)
        all_ok = false;
}
 
void setup()
{
    Serial.begin(115200);
    delay(500);
    Serial.println("\nSSH HW crypto self-test");
 
    bool all_ok = true;
 
    // --- SHA-256("abc") streaming (FIPS 180-4 known answer) ---
    {
        static const uint8_t want[32] = {0xba, 0x78, 0x16, 0xbf, 0x8f, 0x01, 0xcf, 0xea, 0x41, 0x41, 0x40,
                                         0xde, 0x5d, 0xae, 0x22, 0x23, 0xb0, 0x03, 0x61, 0xa3, 0x96, 0x17,
                                         0x7a, 0x9c, 0xb4, 0x10, 0xff, 0x61, 0xf2, 0x00, 0x15, 0xad};
        protocore_sha256_ctx c;
        uint8_t out[32];
        protocore_sha256_init(&c);
        protocore_sha256_update(&c, (const uint8_t *)"a", 1);
        protocore_sha256_update(&c, (const uint8_t *)"bc", 2); // two chunks -> streaming path
        protocore_sha256_final(&c, out);
        report("sha256 streaming", eq(out, want, 32), all_ok);
    }
 
    // --- HMAC-SHA-256 RFC 4231 test case 1 ---
    {
        uint8_t key[20];
        memset(key, 0x0b, sizeof(key));
        static const uint8_t want[32] = {0xb0, 0x34, 0x4c, 0x61, 0xd8, 0xdb, 0x38, 0x53, 0x5c, 0xa8, 0xaf,
                                         0xce, 0xaf, 0x0b, 0xf1, 0x2b, 0x88, 0x1d, 0xc2, 0x00, 0xc9, 0x83,
                                         0x3d, 0xa7, 0x26, 0xe9, 0x37, 0x6c, 0x2e, 0x32, 0xcf, 0xf7};
        uint8_t mac[32];
        protocore_hmac_sha256(key, sizeof(key), (const uint8_t *)"Hi There", 8, mac);
        report("hmac-sha256 rfc4231", eq(mac, want, 32), all_ok);
    }
 
    // --- AES-256-CTR NIST SP 800-38A F.5.5 (first block) ---
    {
        static const uint8_t key[32] = {0x60, 0x3d, 0xeb, 0x10, 0x15, 0xca, 0x71, 0xbe, 0x2b, 0x73, 0xae,
                                        0xf0, 0x85, 0x7d, 0x77, 0x81, 0x1f, 0x35, 0x2c, 0x07, 0x3b, 0x61,
                                        0x08, 0xd7, 0x2d, 0x98, 0x10, 0xa3, 0x09, 0x14, 0xdf, 0xf4};
        static const uint8_t iv[16] = {0xf0, 0xf1, 0xf2, 0xf3, 0xf4, 0xf5, 0xf6, 0xf7,
                                       0xf8, 0xf9, 0xfa, 0xfb, 0xfc, 0xfd, 0xfe, 0xff};
        static const uint8_t pt[16] = {0x6b, 0xc1, 0xbe, 0xe2, 0x2e, 0x40, 0x9f, 0x96,
                                       0xe9, 0x3d, 0x7e, 0x11, 0x73, 0x93, 0x17, 0x2a};
        static const uint8_t want[16] = {0x60, 0x1e, 0xc3, 0x13, 0x77, 0x57, 0x89, 0xa5,
                                         0xb7, 0xa7, 0xf5, 0x04, 0xbb, 0xf3, 0xd2, 0x28};
        uint8_t counter[16]; // stateless API advances the counter in place, so copy the IV out of const storage
        memcpy(counter, iv, sizeof(counter));
        uint8_t out[16];
        // Key schedule and keystream ride the wiped crypto scratch; no cipher state persists on the stack.
        protocore_aes256ctr_crypt(key, counter, pt, out, 16);
        report("aes256-ctr nist", eq(out, want, 16), all_ok);
    }
 
    Serial.println(all_ok ? "ALL TESTS PASSED" : "SOME TESTS FAILED");
}
 
void loop()
{
    delay(1000);
}