# CREATE and CREATED cells{#CREATE}
Users set up circuits incrementally, one hop at a time. To create a
new circuit, OPs send a CREATE/CREATE2 cell to the first node, with
the first half of an authenticated handshake; that node responds with
a CREATED/CREATED2 cell with the second half of the handshake. To
extend a circuit past the first hop, the OP sends an EXTEND/EXTEND2
relay message (see [EXTEND and EXTENDED messages](#EXTEND) which instructs the last
node in the circuit to send a CREATE/CREATE2 cell to extend the circuit.
There are two kinds of CREATE and CREATED cells: The older
"CREATE/CREATED" format, and the newer "CREATE2/CREATED2" format. The
newer format is extensible by design; the older one is not.
A CREATE2 cell contains:
| Field | Description | Size |
| ----- | ----------- | ---- |
| `HTYPE` | Client Handshake Type | 2 bytes |
| `HLEN` | Client Handshake Data Len | 2 bytes |
| `HDATA` | Client Handshake Data | `HLEN` bytes |
A CREATED2 cell contains:
| Field | Description | Size |
| ----- | ----------- | ---- |
| `HLEN` | Server Handshake Data Len | 2 bytes |
| `HDATA` | Server Handshake Data | `HLEN` bytes |
Recognized HTYPEs (handshake types) are:
| Value | Description |
| ----- | ----------- |
| 0x0000 | TAP -- the original Tor handshake; see [The "TAP" handshake](#TAP) |
| 0x0001 | reserved |
| 0x0002 | ntor -- the ntor+curve25519+sha256 handshake; see [The "ntor" handshake](#ntor) |
| 0x0003 | ntor-v3 -- ntor extended with extra data; see [The "ntor-v3" handshake](#ntor-v3) |
The format of a CREATE cell is one of the following:
| Field | Description | Size |
| ----- | ----------- | ---- |
| `HDATA` | Client Handshake Data | `TAP_C_HANDSHAKE_LEN` bytes |
or
| Field | Description | Size |
| ----- | ----------- | ---- |
| `HTAG` | Client Handshake Type Tag | 16 bytes |
| `HDATA` | Client Handshake Data | `TAP_C_HANDSHAKE_LEN`-16 bytes |
The first format is equivalent to a CREATE2 cell with HTYPE of 'tap'
and length of `TAP_C_HANDSHAKE_LEN`. The second format is a way to
encapsulate new handshake types into the old CREATE cell format for
migration. See ["EXTEND and EXTENDED messages"](#EXTEND) below. Recognized HTAG values are:
| Value | Description |
| ----- | ----------- |
| 'ntorNTORntorNTOR' | ntor |
The format of a CREATED cell is:
| Field | Description | Size |
| ----- | ----------- | ---- |
| `HDATA` | Server Handshake Data | `TAP_S_HANDSHAKE_LEN` bytes |
(It's equivalent to a CREATED2 cell with length of `TAP_S_HANDSHAKE_LEN`.)
As usual with DH, `x` and `y` MUST be generated randomly.
In general, clients SHOULD use CREATE whenever they are using the TAP
handshake, and CREATE2 otherwise. Clients SHOULD NOT send the
second format of CREATE cells (the one with the handshake type tag)
to a server directly.
Servers always reply to a successful CREATE with a CREATED, and to a
successful CREATE2 with a CREATED2. On failure, a server sends a
DESTROY cell to tear down the circuit.
\[CREATE2 is handled by Tor 0.2.4.7-alpha and later.\]
## Choosing circuit IDs in create cells {#choosing-circid}
The CircID for a CREATE/CREATE2 cell is a nonzero integer, selected
by the node (OP or OR) that sends the CREATE/CREATED2 cell.
Depending on the link protocol version, there are certain rules for
choosing the value of CircID which MUST be obeyed, as implementations
MAY decide to refuse in case of a violation. In link protocol 3 or
lower, CircIDs are 2 bytes long; in protocol 4 or higher, CircIDs are
4 bytes long.
In link protocol version 3 or lower, the nodes choose from only one
half of the possible values based on the ORs' public identity keys,
in order to avoid collisions. If the sending node has a lower key,
it chooses a CircID with an MSB of 0; otherwise, it chooses a CircID
with an MSB of 1. (Public keys are compared numerically by modulus.)
A client with no public key MAY choose any CircID it wishes, since
clients never need to process CREATE/CREATE2 cells.
In link protocol version 4 or higher, whichever node initiated the
connection MUST set its MSB to 1, and whichever node didn't initiate
the connection MUST set its MSB to 0.
The CircID value 0 is specifically reserved for cells that do not
belong to any circuit: CircID 0 MUST not be used for circuits. No
other CircID value, including 0x8000 or 0x80000000, is reserved.
Existing Tor implementations choose their CircID values at random from
among the available unused values. To avoid distinguishability, new
implementations should do the same. Implementations MAY give up and stop
attempting to build new circuits on a channel, if a certain number of
randomly chosen CircID values are all in use (today's Tor stops after 64).
## EXTEND and EXTENDED messagess {#EXTEND}
To extend an existing circuit, the client sends an EXTEND or EXTEND2
message, in a RELAY_EARLY cell, to the last node in the circuit.
The body of an EXTEND2 message contains:
| Field | Description | Size |
| ----- | ----------- | ---- |
| `NSPEC` | Number of link specifiers | 1 byte
| `NSPEC` times: |
| - `LSTYPE` | Link specifier type | 1 byte
| - `LSLEN` | Link specifier length | 1 byte
| - `LSPEC` | Link specifier | LSLEN bytes
| `HTYPE` | Client Handshake Type | 2 bytes
| `HLEN` | Client Handshake Data Len | 2 bytes
| `HDATA` | Client Handshake Data | HLEN bytes
Link specifiers describe the next node in the circuit and how to
connect to it. Recognized specifiers are:
| Value | Description
| ----- | -----------
| \[00\] | TLS-over-TCP, IPv4 address. A four-byte IPv4 address plus two-byte ORPort.
| \[01\] | TLS-over-TCP, IPv6 address. A sixteen-byte IPv6 address plus two-byte ORPort.
| \[02\] | Legacy identity. A 20-byte SHA1 identity fingerprint. At most one may be listed.
| \[03\] | Ed25519 identity. A 32-byte Ed25519 identity fingerprint. At most one may be listed.
Nodes MUST ignore unrecognized specifiers, and MUST accept multiple
instances of specifiers other than 'legacy identity' and
'Ed25519 identity'. (Nodes SHOULD reject link specifier lists
that include multiple instances of either one of those specifiers.)
For purposes of indistinguishability, implementations SHOULD send
these link specifiers, if using them, in this order: \[00\], \[02\], \[03\],
\[01\].
The body for an EXTEND relay message consists of:
| Field | Size
| ----- | ----
| Address | 4 bytes
| Port | 2 bytes
| Onion skin | `TAP_C_HANDSHAKE_LEN` bytes
| Identity fingerprint | `HASH_LEN` bytes
The "legacy identity" and "identity fingerprint" fields are the
SHA1 hash of the PKCS#1 ASN1 encoding of the next onion router's
identity (signing) key. (See ["Preliminaries » Ciphers"](./preliminaries.md#ciphers))
The "Ed25519 identity"
field is the Ed25519 identity key of the target node. Including
this key information allows the extending OR verify that it is
indeed connected to the correct target OR, and prevents certain
man-in-the-middle attacks.
Extending ORs MUST check _all_ provided identity keys (if they
recognize the format), and and MUST NOT extend the circuit if the
target OR did not prove its ownership of any such identity key.
If only one identity key is provided, but the extending OR knows
the other (from directory information), then the OR SHOULD also
enforce the key in the directory.
If an extending OR has a channel with a given Ed25519 ID and RSA
identity, and receives a request for that Ed25519 ID and a
different RSA identity, it SHOULD NOT attempt to make another
connection: it should just fail and DESTROY the circuit.
The client MAY include multiple IPv4 or IPv6 link specifiers in an
EXTEND message; current OR implementations only consider the first
of each type.
After checking relay identities, extending ORs generate a
CREATE/CREATE2 cell from the contents of the EXTEND/EXTEND2 message.
See [Creating circuits](./creating-circuits.md#creating-circuits)
for details.
The body of an EXTENDED message is the same as the body of a
CREATED cell.
The body of an EXTENDED2 message is the same as the body of a
CREATED2 cell.
\[Support for EXTEND2/EXTENDED2 was added in Tor 0.2.4.8-alpha.\]
Clients SHOULD use the EXTEND format whenever sending a TAP
handshake, and MUST use it whenever the EXTEND message will be handled
by a node running a version of Tor too old to support EXTEND2. In
other cases, clients SHOULD use EXTEND2.
When generating an EXTEND2 message, clients SHOULD include the target's
Ed25519 identity whenever the target has one, and whenever the
target supports LinkAuth subprotocol version "3". (See [LinkAuth](./subprotocol-versioning.md#link-auth)).
When encoding a non-TAP handshake in an EXTEND message, clients SHOULD
use the format with 'client handshake type tag'.
## The "TAP" handshake {#TAP}
This handshake uses Diffie-Hellman in Zp and RSA to compute a set of
shared keys which the client knows are shared only with a particular
server, and the server knows are shared with whomever sent the
original handshake (or with nobody at all). It's not very fast and
not very good. (See Goldberg's "On the Security of the Tor
Authentication Protocol".)
Define `TAP_C_HANDSHAKE_LEN` as `DH_LEN+KEY_LEN+KP_PAD_LEN`.
Define `TAP_S_HANDSHAKE_LEN` as `DH_LEN+HASH_LEN`.
The body for a CREATE cell is an 'onion skin', which consists of
the first step of the DH handshake data (also known as `g^x`). This
value is encrypted using the "legacy hybrid encryption" algorithm
(see ["Preliminaries » A bad hybrid encryption algorithm..."](./preliminaries.md#legacy-hybrid-encryption))
to the server's onion key, giving a client handshake:
| Field | Size
| ----- | ----
| KP-encrypted:
| - Padding | `KP_PAD_LEN` bytes
| - Symmetric key | `KEY_LEN` bytes
| - First part of `g^x` | `KP_ENC_LEN-KP_PAD_LEN-KEY_LEN` bytes
| Symmetrically encrypted
| - Second part of `g^x` | `DH_LEN-(KP_ENC_LEN-KP_PAD_LEN-KEY_LEN)` bytes
The body for a CREATED cell, or the body for an
EXTENDED relay message, contains:
| Field | Size
| ----- | ----
| DH data (`g^y`) | `DH_LEN` bytes
| Derivative key data (`KH`) | `HASH_LEN` bytes (see ["Setting Circuit Keys"](./setting-circuit-keys.md))
Once the handshake between the OP and an OR is completed, both can
now calculate `g^xy` with ordinary DH. Before computing `g^xy`, both parties
MUST verify that the received `g^x` or `g^y` value is not degenerate;
that is, it must be strictly greater than `1` and strictly less than `p-1`
where `p` is the DH modulus. Implementations MUST NOT complete a handshake
with degenerate keys. Implementations MUST NOT discard other "weak"
`g^x` values.
(Discarding degenerate keys is critical for security; if bad keys
are not discarded, an attacker can substitute the OR's CREATED
cell's `g^y` with `0` or `1`, thus creating a known `g^xy` and impersonating
the OR. Discarding other keys may allow attacks to learn bits of
the private key.)
Once both parties have `g^xy`, they derive their shared circuit keys
and 'derivative key data' value via the
[KDF-TOR function](./setting-circuit-keys.md#kdf-tor).
## The "ntor" handshake {#ntor}
This handshake uses a set of DH handshakes to compute a set of
shared keys which the client knows are shared only with a particular
server, and the server knows are shared with whomever sent the
original handshake (or with nobody at all). Here we use the
"curve25519" group and representation as specified in "Curve25519:
new Diffie-Hellman speed records" by D. J. Bernstein.
\[The ntor handshake was added in Tor 0.2.4.8-alpha.\]
In this section, define:
```text
H(x,t) as HMAC_SHA256 with message x and key t.
H_LENGTH = 32.
ID_LENGTH = 20.
G_LENGTH = 32
PROTOID = "ntor-curve25519-sha256-1"
t_mac = PROTOID | ":mac"
t_key = PROTOID | ":key_extract"
t_verify = PROTOID | ":verify"
G = The preferred base point for curve25519 ([9])
KEYGEN() = The curve25519 key generation algorithm, returning
a private/public keypair.
m_expand = PROTOID | ":key_expand"
KEYID(A) = A
EXP(a, b) = The ECDH algorithm for establishing a shared secret.
```
To perform the handshake, the client needs to know an identity key
digest for the server, and an ntor onion key (a curve25519 public
key) for that server. Call the ntor onion key `B`. The client
generates a temporary keypair:
```text
x,X = KEYGEN()
```
and generates a client-side handshake with contents:
| Field | Value | Size
| ----- | ----- | ----
| `NODEID` | Server identity digest | `ID_LENGTH` bytes
| `KEYID` | KEYID(B) | `H_LENGTH` bytes
| `CLIENT_KP` | X | `G_LENGTH` bytes
The server generates a keypair of `y,Y = KEYGEN()`, and uses its ntor
private key `b` to compute:
```text
secret_input = EXP(X,y) | EXP(X,b) | ID | B | X | Y | PROTOID
KEY_SEED = H(secret_input, t_key)
verify = H(secret_input, t_verify)
auth_input = verify | ID | B | Y | X | PROTOID | "Server"
```
The server's handshake reply is:
| Field | Value | Size
| ----- | ----- | ----
| `SERVER_KP` | `Y` | `G_LENGTH` bytes
| `AUTH` | `H(auth_input, t_mac)` | `H_LENGTH` bytes
The client then checks `Y` is in G* \[see NOTE below\], and computes
```text
secret_input = EXP(Y,x) | EXP(B,x) | ID | B | X | Y | PROTOID
KEY_SEED = H(secret_input, t_key)
verify = H(secret_input, t_verify)
auth_input = verify | ID | B | Y | X | PROTOID | "Server"
```
The client verifies that `AUTH == H(auth_input, t_mac)`.
Both parties check that none of the `EXP()` operations produced the
point at infinity. \[NOTE: This is an adequate replacement for
checking `Y` for group membership, if the group is curve25519.\]
Both parties now have a shared value for `KEY_SEED`. They expand this
into the keys needed for the Tor relay protocol, using the KDF
described in ["KDF-RFC5869"](./setting-circuit-keys.md#kdf-rfc5869)
and the tag `m_expand`.
### The "ntor-v3" handshake {#ntor-v3}
This handshake extends the ntor handshake to include support
for extra data transmitted as part of the handshake. Both
the client and the server can transmit extra data; in both cases,
the extra data is encrypted, but only server data receives
forward secrecy.
To advertise support for this handshake, servers advertise the
"Relay=4" subprotocol version. To select it, clients use the
'ntor-v3' HTYPE value in their CREATE2 cells.
In this handshake, we define:
```text
PROTOID = "ntor3-curve25519-sha3_256-1"
t_msgkdf = PROTOID | ":kdf_phase1"
t_msgmac = PROTOID | ":msg_mac"
t_key_seed = PROTOID | ":key_seed"
t_verify = PROTOID | ":verify"
t_final = PROTOID | ":kdf_final"
t_auth = PROTOID | ":auth_final"
`ENCAP(s)` -- an encapsulation function. We define this
as `htonll(len(s)) | s`. (Note that `len(ENCAP(s)) = len(s) + 8`).
`PARTITION(s, n1, n2, n3, ...)` -- a function that partitions a
bytestring `s` into chunks of length `n1`, `n2`, `n3`, and so
on. Extra data is put into a final chunk. If `s` is not long
enough, the function fails.
H(s, t) = SHA3_256(ENCAP(t) | s)
MAC(k, msg, t) = SHA3_256(ENCAP(t) | ENCAP(k) | s)
KDF(s, t) = SHAKE_256(ENCAP(t) | s)
ENC(k, m) = AES_256_CTR(k, m)
EXP(pk,sk), KEYGEN: defined as in curve25519
DIGEST_LEN = MAC_LEN = MAC_KEY_LEN = ENC_KEY_LEN = PUB_KEY_LEN = 32
ID_LEN = 32 (representing an ed25519 identity key)
For any tag "t_foo":
H_foo(s) = H(s, t_foo)
MAC_foo(k, msg) = MAC(k, msg, t_foo)
KDF_foo(s) = KDF(s, t_foo)
```
Other notation is as in the [ntor description above](#ntor).
The client begins by knowing:
```text
B, ID -- The curve25519 onion key and Ed25519 ID of the server that it
wants to use.
CM -- A message it wants to send as part of its handshake.
VER -- An optional shared verification string:
```
The client computes:
```text
x,X = KEYGEN()
Bx = EXP(B,x)
secret_input_phase1 = Bx | ID | X | B | PROTOID | ENCAP(VER)
phase1_keys = KDF_msgkdf(secret_input_phase1)
(ENC_K1, MAC_K1) = PARTITION(phase1_keys, ENC_KEY_LEN, MAC_KEY_LEN)
encrypted_msg = ENC(ENC_K1, CM)
msg_mac = MAC_msgmac(MAC_K1, ID | B | X | encrypted_msg)
```
The client then sends, as its CREATE handshake:
| Field | Value | Size
| ----- | ----- | ----
| `NODEID` | `ID` | `ID_LEN` bytes
| `KEYID` | `B` | `PUB_KEY_LEN` bytes
| `CLIENT_PK` | `X` | `PUB_KEY_LEN` bytes
| `MSG` | `encrypted_msg` | `len(CM)` bytes
| `MAC` | `msg_mac` | `MAC_LEN` bytes
The client remembers `x`, `X`, `B`, `ID`, `Bx`, and `msg_mac`.
When the server receives this handshake, it checks whether `NODEID` is as
expected, and looks up the `(b,B)` keypair corresponding to `KEYID`. If the
keypair is missing or the `NODEID` is wrong, the handshake fails.
Now the relay uses `X=CLIENT_PK` to compute:
```text
Xb = EXP(X,b)
secret_input_phase1 = Xb | ID | X | B | PROTOID | ENCAP(VER)
phase1_keys = KDF_msgkdf(secret_input_phase1)
(ENC_K1, MAC_K1) = PARTITION(phase1_keys, ENC_KEY_LEN, MAC_KEY_LEN)
expected_mac = MAC_msgmac(MAC_K1, ID | B | X | MSG)
```
If `expected_mac` is not `MAC`, the handshake fails. Otherwise
the relay computes `CM` as:
```text
CM = DEC(MSG, ENC_K1)
```
The relay then checks whether `CM` is well-formed, and in response
composes `SM`, the reply that it wants to send as part of the
handshake. It then generates a new ephemeral keypair:
```text
y,Y = KEYGEN()
```
and computes the rest of the handshake:
```text
Xy = EXP(X,y)
secret_input = Xy | Xb | ID | B | X | Y | PROTOID | ENCAP(VER)
ntor_key_seed = H_key_seed(secret_input)
verify = H_verify(secret_input)
RAW_KEYSTREAM = KDF_final(ntor_key_seed)
(ENC_KEY, KEYSTREAM) = PARTITION(RAW_KEYSTREAM, ENC_KEY_LKEN, ...)
encrypted_msg = ENC(ENC_KEY, SM)
auth_input = verify | ID | B | Y | X | MAC | ENCAP(encrypted_msg) |
PROTOID | "Server"
AUTH = H_auth(auth_input)
```
The relay then sends as its CREATED handshake:
| Field | Value | Size
| ----- | ----- | ----
| `Y` | `Y` | `PUB_KEY_LEN` bytes
| `AUTH` | `AUTH` | `DIGEST_LEN` bytes
| `MSG` | `encrypted_msg` | `len(SM)` bytes, up to end of the message
Upon receiving this handshake, the client computes:
```text
Yx = EXP(Y, x)
secret_input = Yx | Bx | ID | B | X | Y | PROTOID | ENCAP(VER)
ntor_key_seed = H_key_seed(secret_input)
verify = H_verify(secret_input)
auth_input = verify | ID | B | Y | X | MAC | ENCAP(MSG) |
PROTOID | "Server"
AUTH_expected = H_auth(auth_input)
```
If `AUTH_expected` is equal to `AUTH`, then the handshake has
succeeded. The client can then calculate:
```text
RAW_KEYSTREAM = KDF_final(ntor_key_seed)
(ENC_KEY, KEYSTREAM) = PARTITION(RAW_KEYSTREAM, ENC_KEY_LKEN, ...)
SM = DEC(ENC_KEY, MSG)
```
SM is the message from the relay, and the client uses KEYSTREAM to
generate the shared secrets for the newly created circuit.
Now both parties share the same KEYSTREAM, and can use it to generate
their circuit keys.
## CREATE_FAST/CREATED_FAST cells {#create_fast}
When creating a one-hop circuit, the OP has already
established the OR's identity and negotiated a secret key using TLS.
Because of this, it is not necessary for the OP to perform the
public key operations to create a circuit.
In this case, the OP MAY send a CREATE_FAST cell instead of a CREATE cell.
The OR responds with a CREATED_FAST cell, and the circuit is
created.
A CREATE_FAST cell contains:
| Field | Size
| ----- | ----
| Key material (`X`) | `HASH_LEN` bytes
A CREATED_FAST cell contains:
| Field | Size
| ----- | ----
| Key material (`Y`) | `HASH_LEN` bytes
| Derivative key data | `HASH_LEN` bytes (See [KDF-TOR](./setting-circuit-keys.md#kdf-tor))
The values of `X` and `Y` must be generated randomly.
Once both parties have `X` and `Y`, they derive their shared circuit keys
and 'derivative key data' value via the [KDF-TOR function](./setting-circuit-keys.md#kdf-tor).
Parties SHOULD NOT use CREATE_FAST except for creating one-hop circuits.
## Additional data in CREATE/CREATED cells {#additional-data}
Some handshakes (currently ntor-v3 defined above) allow the client or the
relay to send additional data as part of the handshake. When used in a
CREATE/CREATED handshake, this additional data must have the following
format:
| Field | Size
| ----- | ----
| `N_EXTENSIONS` | one byte
| `N_EXTENSIONS` times: |
| - `EXT_FIELD_TYPE` | one byte
| - `EXT_FIELD_LEN` | one byte
| - `EXT_FIELD` | `EXT_FIELD_LEN` bytes
(`EXT_FIELD_LEN` may be zero, in which case `EXT_FIELD` is absent.)
All parties MUST reject messages that are not well-formed per the
rules above.
We do not specify specific TYPE semantics here; we leave those for
other proposals and specifications.
Parties MUST ignore extensions with `EXT_FIELD_TYPE` bodies they do not
recognize.
Unless otherwise specified in the documentation for an extension type:
* Each extension type SHOULD be sent only once in a message.
* Parties MUST ignore any occurrences all occurrences of an extension
with a given type after the first such occurrence.
* Extensions SHOULD be sent in numerically ascending order by type.
(The above extension sorting and multiplicity rules are only defaults;
they may be overridden in the description of individual extensions.)
Currently supported extensions are:
* 1 -- `CC_FIELD_REQUEST` \[Client to server\]
Contains an empty body. Signifies that the client
wants to use the extended congestion control described
in [proposal 324].
* 2 -- `CC_FIELD_RESPONSE` \[Server to client\]
Indicates that the relay will use the congestion control
of [proposal 324], as requested by the client. One byte
in length:
`sendme_inc [1 byte]`
* 3 -- Subprotocol Request \[Client to Server\]
(RESERVED) Tells the endpoint what protocol version to use on the
circuit ([proposal 346]).
[proposal 324]: ../proposals/324-rtt-congestion-control.txt
[proposal 346]: ../proposals/346-protovers-again.md