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+# MSC4048: Authenticated key backup
+
+The [server-side key
+backups](https://spec.matrix.org/unstable/client-server-api/#server-side-key-backups)
+allows clients to store event decryption keys so that when the user logs in to
+a new device, they can decrypt old messages.  The current algorithm encrypts
+the event keys using an asymmetric algorithm, allowing clients to upload keys to
+the backup without necessarily giving them the ability to read from the
+backup.  For example, this allows for a partially-trusted client to be able to
+read (and save the keys for) current messages, but not read old messages.
+
+However, since the event decryption keys are encrypted using an asymmetric
+algorithm, this allows anyone who knows the public key to write to the backup.
+As a result, keys loaded from the backup must be marked as unauthenticated,
+leading to [usability
+issues](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/14323).
+
+[MSC3270](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-spec-proposals/pull/3270) tries
+to fix this issue by using a symmetric, authenticated encryption algorithm,
+which ensures that only someone who knows the secret key can write to the
+backup.  However this removes the ability for a client to be able to write to
+the backup without being able to read from it.
+
+We propose to continue using an asymmetric encryption algorithm in the backup,
+but to ensure authenticity by producing a MAC using a key derived from the
+backup's decryption key.
+
+## Proposal
+
+A user who has a key backup derives a new backup MAC key by performing HKDF on
+the backup decryption key (as raw unencoded bytes) with no salt and an info
+parameter of `"MATRIX_BACKUP_MAC_KEY"` and generating 32 bytes (256 bits):
+
+    backup_mac_key = HKDF("", decryption_key, "MATRIX_BACKUP_MAC_KEY", 32)
+
+The backup MAC key can be shared using [the Secrets
+module](https://spec.matrix.org/unstable/client-server-api/#secrets) using the
+name `m.megolm_backup.v1.mac`.  Note that if the backup decryption key (the
+secret using the name `m.megolm_backup.v1`) is shared, then the backup MAC key
+does not need to be shared as it can be derived from the backup decryption
+key.  Since the backup decryption key is usually stored in Secret Storage, the
+backup MAC key does not need to be stored.
+
+### `m.backup.v2.curve25519-aes-sha2`
+
+A new backup algorithm is defined, identified by the name
+"`m.backup.v2.curve25519-aes-sha2`".  In addition to incrementing the version
+number, this name drops the "megolm", as it is expected that other types of
+keys may be stored in it, for example [MLS
+groups](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-spec-proposals/pull/4038).
+
+The intention of creating a new backup algorithm is to prevent an attacker from
+uploading additional keys that cannot be authenticated.
+
+The `auth_data` is the same as with `m.megolm_backup.v1.curve25519-aes-sha2`.
+
+The `session_data` is constructed as follows:
+
+1. Encode the session key to be backed up as a JSON object using the
+   `SessionDataV2` format defined below.
+2. Generate an ephemeral curve25519 key, and perform an ECDH with the ephemeral
+   key and the backup’s public key to generate a shared secret. The public half
+   of the ephemeral key, encoded using unpadded base64, becomes the `ephemeral`
+   property of the `session_data`.
+3. Using the shared secret, generate 80 bytes by performing an HKDF using
+   SHA-256 as the hash, with a salt of 32 bytes of 0, and with the empty string
+   as the info. The first 32 bytes are used as the AES key, the next 32 bytes
+   are discarded, and the last 16 bytes are used as the AES initialization
+   vector.  (This is the same as the key generation for
+   `m.megolm_backup.v1.curve25519-aes-sha2`, except that the generated MAC key
+   is discarded since it is unused.)
+4. Stringify the JSON object, and encrypt it using AES-CBC-256 with PKCS#7
+   padding. This encrypted data, encoded using unpadded base64, becomes the
+   `ciphertext` property of the `session_data`.
+5. Encode the `session_data` as canonical JSON, as would be done when [signing
+   JSON](https://spec.matrix.org/unstable/appendices/#signing-details), and
+   calculate the HMAC-SHA-256 MAC using the backup MAC key.  The MAC is
+   base64-encoded (unpadded), and becomes the `backup_mac` property of the
+   `unsigned` property of `session_data`.
+
+Thus the `session_data` property has `ephemeral`, `ciphertext`, and `unsigned`
+properties, with the `unsigned` property having a `backup_mac` property.
+Keys without an `unsigned`.`backup_mac` property, or with an incorrect MAC,
+must be ignored.
+
+When verifying the MAC, the `session_data` is encoded as canonical JSON,
+following the procedure as when signing JSON.  That is, any additional
+properties, other than `signatures` and `unsigned`, are included.  By putting
+the MAC in `unsigned` this allows clients to reuse existing code used for
+serializing JSON for signing.
+
+The `SessionDataV2` has algorithm-dependent and algorithm-independent
+properties.  The algorithm-independent properties are:
+
+- `algorithm`: (required string) the end-to-end message encryption algorithm that the
+  key is for.  The values are the same as for the `algorithm` property in the
+  `m.room_key` event.  For example, for Megolm keys, this is
+  `m.megolm.v1.aes-sha2`.
+- `unauthenticated`: (optional string) if not present, the key is considered to
+  be authenticated, that is, the device that uploaded the key to the backup
+  believes that the key belongs to the recorded sender, as defined by the key
+  algorithm (with `m.megolm.v1.aes-sha2`, the sender is given in the
+  `sender_key` property).  A key is considered to be authenticated if: a) the
+  key was received via an Olm-encrypted `m.room_key` event from the
+  `sender_key`, b) the key was received via a trusted key forward
+  ([MSC3879](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-spec-proposals/pull/3879)),
+  or c) the key was downloaded from the key backup where it is marked as
+  authenticated, and the data can be authenticated (for example using the
+  method from this proposal).
+
+  If the key is not considered to be authenticated, this property indicates the
+  source of the key.  Currently defined values are: `m.undefined`, which
+  indicates that the source is not specified; `m.legacy-v1`, which indicates
+  that the key was an unauthenticated key from a
+  `m.megolm_backup.v1.curve25519-aes-sha2` backup ([see
+  below](#migrating-keys)); and `m.forwarded_room_key`, which indicates that
+  the key came from an untrusted key forward.  (FIXME: do we also want to
+  encode the source of the key forward?)  Clients may create other values to
+  specify other sources, using the Java package naming convention; clients
+  should treat unknown values as `m.undefined`.
+
+For the `m.megolm.v1.aes-sha2` algorithm, the algorithm-dependent properties
+are the `forwarding_curve25519_key_chain`, `sender_claimed_keys`, `sender_key`,
+and `session_key` properties defined for
+`m.megolm_backup.v1.curve25519-aes-sha2`.
+
+### `m.megolm_backup.v1.curve25519-aes-sha2`
+
+Megolm keys may be uploaded to a `m.megolm_backup.v1.curve25519-aes-sha2`
+backup using the `m.backup.v2.curve25519-aes-sha2` format, provided the
+`session_data` also contains the `mac` property as required for the
+`m.megolm_backup.v1.curve25519-aes-sha2` algorithm.
+
+The [construction of the `session_data`
+property](https://spec.matrix.org/unstable/client-server-api/#backup-algorithm-mmegolm_backupv1curve25519-aes-sha2)
+thus becomes:
+
+1. Encode the session key to be backed up as a JSON object using the
+   `SessionData`.
+2. Generate an ephemeral Curve25519 key, and perform an ECDH with the ephemeral
+   key and the backup’s public key to generate a shared secret. The public half
+   of the ephemeral key, encoded using unpadded base64, becomes the `ephemeral`
+   property of the `session_data`.
+3. Using the shared secret, generate 80 bytes by performing an HKDF using
+   SHA-256 as the hash, with a salt of 32 bytes of 0, and with the empty string
+   as the info. The first 32 bytes are used as the AES key, the next 32 bytes
+   are used as the MAC key, and the last 16 bytes are used as the AES
+   initialization vector.
+4. Stringify the JSON object, and encrypt it using AES-CBC-256 with PKCS#7
+   padding. This encrypted data, encoded using unpadded base64, becomes the
+   `ciphertext` property of the `session_data`.
+5. Pass the raw encrypted data (prior to base64 encoding) through HMAC-SHA-256
+   using the MAC key generated above. The first 8 bytes of the resulting MAC
+   are base64-encoded, and become the `mac` property of the `session_data`.
+6. Encode the `session_data` as canonical JSON, as would be done when [signing
+   JSON](https://spec.matrix.org/unstable/appendices/#signing-details), and
+   calculate the HMAC-SHA-256 MAC using the backup MAC key.  The MAC is
+   base64-encoded (unpadded), and becomes the `backup_mac` property of the
+   `unsigned` property of `session_data`.
+
+FIXME: should the server compare the `unsigned`.`backup_mac` property when a
+client uploads a key to the backup, when deciding whether to keep the existing
+key or replace it with a new key?
+
+To simplify logic, clients may treat `m.backup.v2.curve25519-aes-sha2`-format
+keys with the same semantics as `m.megolm_backup.v1.curve25519-aes-sha2` keys
+when they are in a `m.megolm_backup.v1.curve25519-aes-sha2` backup.  That is,
+clients may treat all keys in a `m.megolm_backup.v1.curve25519-aes-sha2` backup
+as being unauthenticated, regardless of the presence or absence of the
+`unsigned`.`backup_mac` property in the cleartext `session_data` property.
+
+#### Migrating keys
+
+When migrating keys from a `m.megolm_backup.v1.curve25519-aes-sha2` backup to a
+`m.backup.v2.curve25519-aes-sha2` backup, keys without a
+`unsigned`.`backup_mac` property in the cleartext `session_data` property, or
+with an invalid MAC, must have the `unauthenticated` property set to
+`m.legacy-v1` in the encrypted `SessionData`, regardless of whether the key
+originally had an `unauthenticated` property, and a `unsigned`.`backup_mac`
+property added to the cleartext `session_data`.  If the same backup decryption
+key is used for the old and new backups, keys that have an existing
+`unsigned`.`backup_mac` property with a valid MAC may be uploaded to the new
+backup unchanged, as they will be valid
+`m.backup.v2.curve25519-aes-sha2`-format keys.
+
+## Potential issues
+
+For users with existing backups, in order to start storing backup keys using
+this format, the user may need to enter their Secret Storage key so that the
+client can obtain the backup decryption key, if it does not already have it
+cached, in order to derive the backup MAC key.  If a user has multiple clients,
+one client may try to obtain the backup MAC key from other clients using Secret
+Sharing, but it does not have a way of knowing which clients, if any, have the
+backup MAC key.
+
+## Alternatives
+
+As mentioned above, we could switch to using a symmetric encryption algorithm
+for the key backup.  However, this is not backwards-compatible, and does not
+allow for clients that can write to the backup without reading.
+
+Rather than using a new MAC key, we could use an existing signing key, such as
+one of the cross-signing keys.  This would remove the need for users to enter
+their Secret Storage key to add the new signing key.  However, this means that
+a user cannot create a key backup without also using cross-signing.  Using a
+separate key also allows the user to give someone else (such as a bot)
+permission to write to their backups without allowing them to perform any
+cross-signing operations.
+
+A previous version of this MSC used a signing key that was generated randomly.
+The method presented in the current version has the following advantages:
+
+- No changes to `AuthData` are necessary, so a new backup version is not
+  required.
+- A MAC is faster to calculate.  The main advantage of a signature is that it
+  allows one to verify the signature without knowing the private key, but in
+  this case, reading is a more privileged action than writing, and writers
+  already need to know the private/secret key.
+- Since the MAC key is derived from the decryption key, two clients can be
+  upgraded at the same time without interfering with each other, as they will
+  derive the same MAC key.
+- The MAC is calculated after encryption, and hence is verified before
+  decryption, so we know that it is authenticated before we do any processing
+  on it.
+
+A disadvantage of the currently-proposed method versus the previous proposal is
+that migration requires that the user gives the client access to the backup
+decryption key in order to derive the MAC key.  However, in both proposals,
+most clients would require that the user enter their default SSSS key, which
+would give them access to the decryption key anyways.
+
+## Security considerations
+
+Being able to prove authenticity of keys may affect the deniability of
+messages: if a user has a Megolm session in their key backup that is MAC'ed by
+their backup MAC key, and the session data indicates that it originated from
+one of their devices, this could be used as evidence that the Megolm session
+did in fact come from them.
+
+This is somewhat mitigated by the fact that obtaining the Megolm session
+requires the decryption key for the backup.  In addition, the deniability
+property mainly refers to the fact that a recipient cannot prove the
+authenticity of the message to a third party, and usually is not concerned with
+preventing self-incrimination.  And in fact, a confiscated device may already
+have enough information to sufficiently prove that the device's owner sent a
+message.
+
+## Unstable prefix
+
+Until this MSC is accepted, the following unstable names should be used:
+
+- the algorithm name `org.matrix.msc4048.curve25519-aes-sha2` should
+  be used in place of the name `m.backup.v2.curve25519-aes-sha2`.
+- the property name `org.matrix.msc4048.unauthenticated` should be used in place
+  of `unauthenticated` in the `SessionData` object,
+- the property name `org.matrix.msc4048.backup_mac` should be used in place of
+  the `backup_mac` property in the `unsigned` property,
+- the SSSS identifier `org.matrix.msc4048.mac` should be used in place of
+  `m.megolm_backup.v1.mac`.
+
+### Migration to stable names
+
+After this MSC is accepted, clients that understand the
+`org.matrix.msc4048.curve25519-aes-sha2` algorithm name should
+migrate the user to a backup using the accepted version of the
+`m.backup.v2.curve25519-aes-sha2` algorithm.  Keys that use the unstable
+property names should be re-uploaded using the stable names.
+
+This includes migrating
+`org.matrix.msc4048.curve25519-aes-sha2`-format keys uploaded to
+`m.megolm_backup.v1.curve25519-aes-sha2` backups.
+
+## Dependencies
+
+None