About

cryptopp-modern is an actively maintained fork of Crypto++ 8.9.0, providing a modern cryptographic library with contemporary algorithms, better code organisation, and regular security updates.

Project Overview

cryptopp-modern builds upon the solid foundation of Wei Dai’s Crypto++ library, adding modern cryptographic algorithms and maintaining active development with regular releases. The project maintains full backward compatibility with Crypto++ 8.9.0 while introducing improvements that benefit both new and existing users.

Current Version

2025.12.0 - Major release with complete source reorganisation, BLAKE3 SIMD acceleration, and modern CMake build system.

2025.11.0 - First release with BLAKE3 and Argon2 support.

Why Fork Crypto++?

The upstream Crypto++ project has served the community well for over two decades. However, several factors motivated the creation of cryptopp-modern:

Technical Limitations

Version Encoding Issue: The upstream versioning system encodes versions as (MAJOR * 100) + (MINOR * 10) + PATCH. This creates a technical limitation where version 8.10.0 cannot be properly represented. cryptopp-modern solves this with calendar versioning (YEAR.MONTH.INCREMENT).

Active Maintenance

Regular Releases: cryptopp-modern commits to regular, predictable releases following a calendar-based schedule. This ensures timely security patches and feature additions.

Modern Algorithms: The fork actively integrates modern cryptographic algorithms as they become standardized and widely adopted:

BLAKE3 (modern hash function)
Argon2 (RFC 9106 password hashing)
Future additions as cryptographic best practices evolve

Better Organisation

Source Code Structure: Version 2025.12.0 reorganises 204+ source files into categorised directories (core, hash, symmetric, pubkey, kdf, etc.), making the codebase easier to navigate while maintaining backward compatibility through a flat include structure.

Key Features

Modern Cryptographic Algorithms

BLAKE3: High-performance cryptographic hash function
Argon2: Password hashing (Argon2d, Argon2i, Argon2id) per RFC 9106
All Crypto++ 8.9.0 algorithms: Complete compatibility with existing code

Security Enhancements

Security patches including fixes for CVE-2023-50979 (Marvin attack)
ESIGN improvements
Regular security audits and updates

Quality Assurance

45+ build configurations tested across platforms
Windows (Visual Studio, MinGW, nmake)
Linux (GCC, Clang)
macOS (Xcode, Clang)
Sanitizer testing (AddressSanitizer, UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer)
Continuous integration with automated testing

Comprehensive Algorithm Support

Hash Functions: SHA-2, SHA-3, BLAKE2b/s, BLAKE3, MD5, RIPEMD, Tiger, Whirlpool

Symmetric Encryption: AES, ChaCha20, Serpent, Twofish, Camellia, ARIA with modes GCM, CCM, EAX, CBC, CTR, CFB, OFB

Public Key Cryptography: RSA, DSA, ECDSA, Ed25519, Diffie-Hellman, ECDH, ECIES, ElGamal

Key Derivation: Argon2, PBKDF2, HKDF, Scrypt

Message Authentication: HMAC, CMAC, GMAC, Poly1305, SipHash

Project Goals

Compatibility First

Maintain 100% backward compatibility with Crypto++ 8.9.0. Existing code should work without modification.

Modern Standards

Implement modern cryptographic standards (RFCs, NIST recommendations) as they emerge.

Active Development

Regular releases with security patches, bug fixes, and new features. Responsive to community needs.

Quality Code

Well-organised, maintainable code structure. Comprehensive testing across platforms.

Open Source

Free and open source under the Boost Software License 1.0. No restrictions on commercial use.

Project History

October 2023: Crypto++ 8.9.0 released (upstream)

2024: Development of cryptopp-modern begins, addressing version encoding limitations

November 2025: First release - cryptopp-modern 2025.11.0

Calendar versioning introduced
BLAKE3 support added
Argon2 implementation included

December 2025: cryptopp-modern 2025.12.0

Complete source reorganisation (204 files in categorised directories)
BLAKE3 SIMD acceleration (SSE4.1/AVX2/NEON)
Modern CMake build system with presets and find_package() support
Enhanced CI/CD pipeline (50+ build configurations)

Maintainers

CoraleSoft maintains cryptopp-modern, building upon:

Wei Dai’s original Crypto++ implementation
Contributions from the Crypto++ community
Modern cryptographic research and standards

Contributing

We welcome contributions from the community:

Ways to Contribute

Bug Reports: Report issues on GitHub Issues
Bug Fixes: Submit pull requests for bug fixes
New Algorithms: Propose and implement modern cryptographic algorithms
Documentation: Improve documentation and examples
Testing: Test on different platforms and configurations
Performance: Optimise existing implementations

Contribution Guidelines

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch
Make your changes with clear commit messages
Ensure all tests pass
Submit a pull request

See the GitHub repository for detailed contribution guidelines.

Relationship with Crypto++

cryptopp-modern is a fork, not a replacement of Crypto++. We maintain deep respect for the original project and Wei Dai’s work.

Differences

Version numbering: Calendar versioning vs traditional
Release schedule: Regular predictable releases
New algorithms: BLAKE3, Argon2, and future additions
Source organisation: Categorised directory structure

Similarities

Same APIs: Drop-in compatible
Same namespace: CryptoPP
Same license: Boost Software License 1.0
Same quality: Rigorous testing and validation

Upstream Compatibility

Code compatible with Crypto++ 8.9.0 works with cryptopp-modern. Migration is straightforward. See the migration guide for details.

License

cryptopp-modern is licensed under the Boost Software License 1.0, the same license as Crypto++.

This license:

✅ Allows commercial use
✅ Allows modification
✅ Allows distribution
✅ Allows private use
✅ Provides liability limitation
✅ Provides warranty disclaimer
✅ Requires license and copyright notice

No copyleft requirements. Use freely in proprietary and open source projects.

Platform Support

Operating Systems

Linux: Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, RHEL, CentOS, Arch, and others
Windows: Windows 10/11, Windows Server
macOS: macOS 10.15 (Catalina) and later

Compilers

GCC: 4.8 and later
Clang: 3.4 and later
MSVC: Visual Studio 2010 and later
MinGW: MinGW-w64

Architectures

x86_64 (64-bit Intel/AMD)
x86 (32-bit Intel/AMD)
ARM (32-bit and 64-bit)
RISC-V (experimental)

Standards Compliance

cryptopp-modern implements numerous cryptographic standards:

NIST FIPS: SHA-2, SHA-3, AES
RFCs: Argon2 (9106), ChaCha20 (7539), HMAC (2104), and many others
ISO/IEC: Camellia (18033-3), and others
Industry Standards: BLAKE3, Ed25519, and more

Community

Communication Channels

GitHub Issues: Bug reports and feature requests
GitHub Discussions: General questions and discussions
GitHub Repository: cryptopp-modern organization

Getting Help

Check the documentation
Search existing issues
Open a new issue with details
Join discussions in the community

Roadmap

Near Term

Additional modern algorithms as standards emerge
Performance optimisations
Expanded documentation
More code examples

Long Term

Post-quantum cryptography algorithms (as standards stabilize)
Enhanced hardware acceleration
Additional language bindings
Improved cross-platform build system

See the ROADMAP.md in the repository for detailed plans.

Acknowledgments

cryptopp-modern stands on the shoulders of giants:

Wei Dai: Creator of Crypto++, foundational implementation
Crypto++ Contributors: Years of contributions and improvements
Cryptographic Researchers: Algorithm designers and analysts
Standards Bodies: NIST, IETF, ISO for standardization work
Community: Users providing feedback, bug reports, and contributions