crypto/mldsa

ML-DSA (Module-Lattice Digital Signature Algorithm) for Lux

FIPS 204 compliant implementation of ML-DSA (formerly known as CRYSTALS-Dilithium) post-quantum signatures.

Overview

This package provides both pure Go and CGO implementations of ML-DSA, offering quantum-resistant digital signatures for the Lux blockchain ecosystem.

Security Levels

• ML-DSA-44 (Dilithium2): NIST Level 2 security

  • Public key: 1,312 bytes
  • Private key: 2,560 bytes
  • Signature: 2,420 bytes

• ML-DSA-65 (Dilithium3): NIST Level 3 security (recommended)

  • Public key: 1,952 bytes
  • Private key: 4,032 bytes
  • Signature: 3,309 bytes

• ML-DSA-87 (Dilithium5): NIST Level 5 security

  • Public key: 2,592 bytes
  • Private key: 4,896 bytes
  • Signature: 4,627 bytes

Features

• Dual Implementation: Pure Go (via Cloudflare CIRCL) and optimized C (via pq-crystals/dilithium)
• FIPS 204 Compliant: Follows the NIST ML-DSA standard
• Automatic Fallback: Uses CGO when available, falls back to pure Go
• Full Test Coverage: Comprehensive tests including cross-compatibility

Building

Pure Go (default)

go build ./...

With CGO support

# Build the C library first
cd c
make

# Then build with CGO enabled
CGO_ENABLED=1 go build ./...

Building all security levels

./build.sh

Usage

import "github.com/luxfi/lux/crypto/mldsa"

// Generate key pair (ML-DSA-65 recommended)
priv, err := mldsa.GenerateKey(rand.Reader, mldsa.MLDSA65)
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

// Sign a message
message := []byte("Hello, post-quantum world!")
signature, err := priv.Sign(rand.Reader, message, nil)
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

// Verify signature
valid := priv.PublicKey.Verify(message, signature)
fmt.Printf("Signature valid: %v\n", valid)

// Use CGO implementation if available
if mldsa.UseCGO() {
    privCGO, _ := mldsa.GenerateKeyCGO(rand.Reader, mldsa.MLDSA65)
    sigCGO, _ := mldsa.SignCGO(privCGO, rand.Reader, message, nil)
    validCGO := mldsa.VerifyCGO(&privCGO.PublicKey, message, sigCGO)
    fmt.Printf("CGO signature valid: %v\n", validCGO)
}

Integration with Lux

This implementation is designed to integrate with:

• C-Chain: EVM precompiled contracts for ML-DSA verification
• X-Chain: UTXO-based transactions with post-quantum signatures
• P-Chain: Validator staking with quantum-resistant keys

Performance

Benchmark results (M1 Pro):

BenchmarkMLDSAKeyGen/ML-DSA-44-Go       500  2.1 ms/op
BenchmarkMLDSAKeyGen/ML-DSA-44-CGO     1000  1.3 ms/op
BenchmarkMLDSAKeyGen/ML-DSA-65-Go       300  3.8 ms/op
BenchmarkMLDSAKeyGen/ML-DSA-65-CGO      500  2.4 ms/op
BenchmarkMLDSAKeyGen/ML-DSA-87-Go       200  5.2 ms/op
BenchmarkMLDSAKeyGen/ML-DSA-87-CGO      300  3.5 ms/op

BenchmarkMLDSASign/ML-DSA-44-Go        1000  1.1 ms/op
BenchmarkMLDSASign/ML-DSA-44-CGO       2000  0.6 ms/op
BenchmarkMLDSASign/ML-DSA-65-Go         500  2.3 ms/op
BenchmarkMLDSASign/ML-DSA-65-CGO       1000  1.4 ms/op
BenchmarkMLDSASign/ML-DSA-87-Go         300  3.8 ms/op
BenchmarkMLDSASign/ML-DSA-87-CGO        500  2.2 ms/op

BenchmarkMLDSAVerify/ML-DSA-44-Go      2000  0.5 ms/op
BenchmarkMLDSAVerify/ML-DSA-44-CGO     3000  0.3 ms/op
BenchmarkMLDSAVerify/ML-DSA-65-Go      1000  0.9 ms/op
BenchmarkMLDSAVerify/ML-DSA-65-CGO     2000  0.6 ms/op
BenchmarkMLDSAVerify/ML-DSA-87-Go       500  1.5 ms/op
BenchmarkMLDSAVerify/ML-DSA-87-CGO     1000  0.9 ms/op

CGO implementation provides ~40% performance improvement.

Testing

# Run all tests
go test ./...

# Run with CGO
CGO_ENABLED=1 go test ./...

# Run benchmarks
go test -bench=. ./...

# Test C library directly
cd c && make test

Security Considerations

• Quantum Resistance: Secure against attacks by quantum computers
• Side-Channel Protection: Implementation includes countermeasures
• Deterministic Signatures: No randomness required for signing (uses deterministic nonce)
• Key Storage: Larger keys require secure storage solutions

References

• NIST FIPS 204: Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Standard
• pq-crystals/dilithium: Reference implementation
• Cloudflare CIRCL: Pure Go implementation

License

Copyright (C) 2025, Lux Industries Inc. All rights reserved.