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keytools: document stateful LMS/XMSS signing as demo/development only - #982
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LMS/HSS and XMSS/XMSS^MT are stateful hash-based signature schemes: each signature consumes one-time key material, and reusing it breaks the whole key. The key tools store the private key in a plain local file and sign rewrites it in place, a pattern that does not meet production storage requirements (atomic, durable, protected). - keygen: print a warning after generating an LMS/XMSS key - sign: print a warning (once per run) after a successful LMS/XMSS signature; other algorithms are unaffected - docs/Signing.md: new "Stateful signatures" section explaining the statefulness, the file-based demo/development pattern, and the production guidance (stateless algorithm, or protected storage) Verification: - make -C tools/keytools: builds clean - keygen --lms / --xmss: warning printed, rc=0; keygen --ed25519: none - sign --lms / --xmss: warning printed once, rc=0; sign --ed25519: none - sign --lms --delta (two signatures per run): warning printed once - make -C tools/unit-tests run: exit 0
anhu
approved these changes
Nov 11, 2026
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LMS/HSS and XMSS/XMSS^MT are stateful hash-based signature schemes: each signature consumes one-time key material, and reusing it breaks the whole key. The key tools store the private key in a plain local file and sign rewrites it in place, a pattern that does not meet production storage requirements (atomic, durable, protected).
Verification: