OpenSSL 4.1 Released With More AVX-512 Optimizations
OpenSSL 4.1 stable has been released today, featuring new AVX-512 optimizations, performance improvements, and the retirement of Windows on Itanium and Windows CE support.
The release marks a significant update to the widely-used cryptographic library, with DTLS 1.3 support providing greater security, much faster handshakes, forward secrecy, built-in support for post-quantum cryptography, and an optimized header format. This enhancement strengthens the security protocols for network communications.
GREASE Implementation
OpenSSL 4.1 introduces support for Generate Random Extensions And Sustain Extensibility (GREASE), which sends random, meaningless values in TLS network connections during handshakes for protocol codes that will never be used. This random data helps spot failures earlier and ensures more robust handling in the TLS ecosystem by verifying peers correctly handle unknown values.
Performance Optimizations
The version brings AVX-512-optimized SHAKE x4 operations for ML-DSA on x86_64 systems, along with additional AVX-512 and AES optimizations for AES-CBC decryption. These improvements build on existing AVX-512 support in the OpenSSL library, enhancing computational efficiency for cryptographic operations.
Benchmarks of the OpenSSL 4.1 Alpha release with these optimizations on various CPUs can be found via the OpenBenchmarking.org result page, while downloads and more details on the OpenSSL 4.1 release are available through GitHub.
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