GenerateMac - Amazon Key Management Service
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GenerateMac

Generates a hash-based message authentication code (HMAC) for a message using an HMAC KMS key and a MAC algorithm that the key supports. HMAC KMS keys and the HMAC algorithms that Amazon KMS uses conform to industry standards defined in RFC 2104.

You can use value that GenerateMac returns in the VerifyMac operation to demonstrate that the original message has not changed. Also, because a secret key is used to create the hash, you can verify that the party that generated the hash has the required secret key. You can also use the raw result to implement HMAC-based algorithms such as key derivation functions. This operation is part of Amazon KMS support for HMAC KMS keys. For details, see HMAC keys in Amazon KMS in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide .

Note

Best practices recommend that you limit the time during which any signing mechanism, including an HMAC, is effective. This deters an attack where the actor uses a signed message to establish validity repeatedly or long after the message is superseded. HMAC tags do not include a timestamp, but you can include a timestamp in the token or message to help you detect when its time to refresh the HMAC.

The KMS key that you use for this operation must be in a compatible key state. For details, see Key states of Amazon KMS keys in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide.

Cross-account use: Yes. To perform this operation with a KMS key in a different Amazon Web Services account, specify the key ARN or alias ARN in the value of the KeyId parameter.

Required permissions: kms:GenerateMac (key policy)

Related operations: VerifyMac

Eventual consistency: The Amazon KMS API follows an eventual consistency model. For more information, see Amazon KMS eventual consistency.

Request Syntax

{ "DryRun": boolean, "GrantTokens": [ "string" ], "KeyId": "string", "MacAlgorithm": "string", "Message": blob }

Request Parameters

For information about the parameters that are common to all actions, see Common Parameters.

The request accepts the following data in JSON format.

Note

In the following list, the required parameters are described first.

KeyId

The HMAC KMS key to use in the operation. The MAC algorithm computes the HMAC for the message and the key as described in RFC 2104.

To identify an HMAC KMS key, use the DescribeKey operation and see the KeySpec field in the response.

Type: String

Length Constraints: Minimum length of 1. Maximum length of 2048.

Required: Yes

MacAlgorithm

The MAC algorithm used in the operation.

The algorithm must be compatible with the HMAC KMS key that you specify. To find the MAC algorithms that your HMAC KMS key supports, use the DescribeKey operation and see the MacAlgorithms field in the DescribeKey response.

Type: String

Valid Values: HMAC_SHA_224 | HMAC_SHA_256 | HMAC_SHA_384 | HMAC_SHA_512

Required: Yes

Message

The message to be hashed. Specify a message of up to 4,096 bytes.

GenerateMac and VerifyMac do not provide special handling for message digests. If you generate an HMAC for a hash digest of a message, you must verify the HMAC of the same hash digest.

Type: Base64-encoded binary data object

Length Constraints: Minimum length of 1. Maximum length of 4096.

Required: Yes

DryRun

Checks if your request will succeed. DryRun is an optional parameter.

To learn more about how to use this parameter, see Testing your Amazon KMS API calls in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide.

Type: Boolean

Required: No

GrantTokens

A list of grant tokens.

Use a grant token when your permission to call this operation comes from a new grant that has not yet achieved eventual consistency. For more information, see Grant token and Using a grant token in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide.

Type: Array of strings

Array Members: Minimum number of 0 items. Maximum number of 10 items.

Length Constraints: Minimum length of 1. Maximum length of 8192.

Required: No

Response Syntax

{ "KeyId": "string", "Mac": blob, "MacAlgorithm": "string" }

Response Elements

If the action is successful, the service sends back an HTTP 200 response.

The following data is returned in JSON format by the service.

KeyId

The HMAC KMS key used in the operation.

Type: String

Length Constraints: Minimum length of 1. Maximum length of 2048.

Mac

The hash-based message authentication code (HMAC) that was generated for the specified message, HMAC KMS key, and MAC algorithm.

This is the standard, raw HMAC defined in RFC 2104.

Type: Base64-encoded binary data object

Length Constraints: Minimum length of 1. Maximum length of 6144.

MacAlgorithm

The MAC algorithm that was used to generate the HMAC.

Type: String

Valid Values: HMAC_SHA_224 | HMAC_SHA_256 | HMAC_SHA_384 | HMAC_SHA_512

Errors

For information about the errors that are common to all actions, see Common Errors.

DisabledException

The request was rejected because the specified KMS key is not enabled.

HTTP Status Code: 400

DryRunOperationException

The request was rejected because the DryRun parameter was specified.

HTTP Status Code: 400

InvalidGrantTokenException

The request was rejected because the specified grant token is not valid.

HTTP Status Code: 400

InvalidKeyUsageException

The request was rejected for one of the following reasons:

  • The KeyUsage value of the KMS key is incompatible with the API operation.

  • The encryption algorithm or signing algorithm specified for the operation is incompatible with the type of key material in the KMS key (KeySpec).

For encrypting, decrypting, re-encrypting, and generating data keys, the KeyUsage must be ENCRYPT_DECRYPT. For signing and verifying messages, the KeyUsage must be SIGN_VERIFY. For generating and verifying message authentication codes (MACs), the KeyUsage must be GENERATE_VERIFY_MAC. To find the KeyUsage of a KMS key, use the DescribeKey operation.

To find the encryption or signing algorithms supported for a particular KMS key, use the DescribeKey operation.

HTTP Status Code: 400

KeyUnavailableException

The request was rejected because the specified KMS key was not available. You can retry the request.

HTTP Status Code: 500

KMSInternalException

The request was rejected because an internal exception occurred. The request can be retried.

HTTP Status Code: 500

KMSInvalidStateException

The request was rejected because the state of the specified resource is not valid for this request.

This exceptions means one of the following:

  • The key state of the KMS key is not compatible with the operation.

    To find the key state, use the DescribeKey operation. For more information about which key states are compatible with each Amazon KMS operation, see Key states of Amazon KMS keys in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide .

  • For cryptographic operations on KMS keys in custom key stores, this exception represents a general failure with many possible causes. To identify the cause, see the error message that accompanies the exception.

HTTP Status Code: 400

NotFoundException

The request was rejected because the specified entity or resource could not be found.

HTTP Status Code: 400

See Also

For more information about using this API in one of the language-specific Amazon SDKs, see the following: