mbed TLS

mbed TLS
Name	mbed TLS
Developer	ARM Holdings
Released	2006
Operating system	Cross-platform
Genre	Cryptographic library
License	Apache License 2.0

mbed TLS mbed TLS is a portable open-source cryptographic library designed for embedded systems and constrained environments. It emphasizes small code size, modularity, and ease of integration for devices and applications created by companies such as ARM Holdings, STMicroelectronics, NXP Semiconductors, Texas Instruments, and Intel. The project has been used in products and projects alongside ecosystems like Zephyr Project, FreeRTOS, Ubuntu, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and Android.

Overview

mbed TLS provides implementations of cryptographic primitives, transport-layer security, and helper utilities used in products developed by ARM Holdings, Apache Software Foundation, Eclipse Foundation, Microsoft, and Google. The library targets platforms ranging from microcontrollers produced by Microchip Technology and Espressif Systems to servers built by Dell Technologies and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Its design aims to serve use cases in industries represented by Siemens, Bosch, General Electric, Schneider Electric, and Honeywell while interacting with ecosystems like OpenSSL, GnuTLS, WolfSSL, LibreSSL, and BoringSSL.

History and Development

Development began under projects led by embedded initiatives at ARM Holdings and contributors from companies like Atmel Corporation and Cypress Semiconductor. Over time, stewardship involved organizations such as Linaro, Canonical Ltd., and universities like Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of California, Berkeley. Community contributions came from engineers with backgrounds at Cisco Systems, Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm, and Broadcom Inc.. The project evolved alongside standards work by bodies including Internet Engineering Task Force, International Organization for Standardization, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Architecture and Features

mbed TLS is written in the C programming language, with a modular architecture enabling selective inclusion of components by developers at companies such as ARM Holdings, NXP Semiconductors, and Microchip Technology. The library provides APIs for cryptographic primitives used in projects related to OpenSSL and replacement efforts like LibreSSL; its codebase is influenced by interoperability requirements from implementations made by Microsoft and Google. Features include support for asymmetric algorithms developed in research at institutions like Princeton University, Stanford University, and University of Cambridge, and for hardware acceleration found in processors from ARM Cortex-M, x86_64, RISC-V, and MIPS Technologies.

Supported Protocols and Algorithms

mbed TLS implements protocols and algorithms aligned with standards produced by Internet Engineering Task Force, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and European Telecommunications Standards Institute. Supported protocols include implementations of TLS versions used in deployments by Cloudflare, Akamai Technologies, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. Algorithms include symmetric ciphers, public-key algorithms, and hash functions originating from work associated with RSA Laboratories, Diffie–Hellman, Elliptic Curve Cryptography research groups at NEC Corporation, Hitachi, and universities such as ETH Zurich. Interoperability testing involved vendors like Broadcom Inc., Intel Corporation, AMD, ARM Holdings, and Qualcomm.

Implementations and Platform Support

The library runs on microcontrollers and processors provided by STMicroelectronics, NXP Semiconductors, Texas Instruments, Espressif Systems, and Microchip Technology. It is integrated into operating systems and platforms maintained by organizations like The Linux Foundation, Free Software Foundation, Microsoft, Google, and Canonical Ltd.. Porting efforts have been contributed by teams at Siemens, Bosch, Schneider Electric, and research labs at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories. Continuous integration and testing involve services and vendors such as Travis CI, GitHub, GitLab, Jenkins, and CircleCI.

Security and Auditing

Security review and audits have been performed by firms and groups such as Trail of Bits, Cure53, NCC Group, and teams with backgrounds at CERT Coordination Center and National Institute of Standards and Technology. Vulnerability reporting channels have been coordinated with organizations including MITRE Corporation and disclosure processes informed by standards from FIRST. The project has responded to security incidents and advisories in contexts involving vendors like Cisco Systems, Juniper Networks, Arista Networks, and cloud operators such as Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform.

Licensing and Community Projects

mbed TLS is distributed under the Apache License 2.0, facilitating adoption by companies including ARM Holdings, STMicroelectronics, NXP Semiconductors, Intel Corporation, and Microsoft. Community projects building on the library include integrations with Zephyr Project, FreeRTOS, OpenWrt, Yocto Project, and PlatformIO. Academic and industry collaboration has involved institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of Cambridge, ETH Zurich, and Carnegie Mellon University.

Category:Cryptographic libraries