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A cryptographic library gives an application an API for operations such as encryption, hashing, key agreement and random-number generation. Choosing one is not a security guarantee: the right fit depends on the language, required algorithms and protocols, deployment environment, implementation selected at runtime, and any compliance requirements.
What is a cryptographic library?
It is a software dependency that exposes cryptographic operations to an application. OpenSSL’s libcrypto, for example, documents APIs for symmetric and public-key cryptography, key agreement, certificates, hashes, cryptographically secure random generation, message authentication codes (MACs) and key derivation functions (KDFs).
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The library is one part of a larger system. Secure use also depends on how an application selects algorithms, handles keys, configures protocols and deploys its dependencies. A library’s name alone does not show which implementation will run: OpenSSL can offer different implementations through providers, including default and FIPS-oriented providers.
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How should you choose a library?
Start with the application’s concrete requirements, then verify them against the library’s documentation and the build you will deploy.
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- Language and API: Decide whether you need a native API, a language binding, or a higher-level interface. Check which operations are easy to use safely and which require low-level control.
- Required functionality: Confirm support for the exact algorithms, protocols, certificate and key formats, and interoperability requirements—not just a broad claim that the library supports cryptography.
- Implementation and provider: Determine which backend or provider supplies each operation, whether selection is explicit, and whether the dependency is bundled or supplied by the system.
- Platform and build: Check target operating systems and processor architectures, compiler and toolchain constraints, packaging, and dependency-management requirements.
- Maintenance and assurance: Review security policies, vulnerability response, project governance, release information and any audit evidence. Popularity or reputation is not proof of an independent audit.
- Deployment constraints: Account for operating conditions and regulatory requirements. Verify claims against the exact module, version, configuration and deployment environment.
For example, pyca/cryptography provides both high-level recipes and lower-level interfaces, and its documentation says it depends on the OpenSSL C library for cryptographic operations. That means the Python package and its backend are relevant to deployment: confirm the package version, linked backend, platform support and operations exposed in the environment you intend to use. Its documentation also states that the project has not been subjected to an external audit of its code or documentation; that is a specific disclosure, not a general measure of the package’s security.
How do OpenSSL, pyca/cryptography and BoringSSL differ?
These projects occupy different API and deployment contexts, so they should not be treated as interchangeable choices or ranked as universally “best.” The table summarizes only what their cited official documentation establishes.
| Project | What the documentation establishes | What to check for your application |
|---|---|---|
| OpenSSL libcrypto | A broad API covering common cryptographic primitives and supporting functions, including encryption, public-key operations, key agreement, certificates, hashes, secure random generation, MACs and KDFs. | Which provider and implementation are selected, which APIs your application uses, and whether the required operations are available in the target build. |
| pyca/cryptography | A Python package with high- and low-level interfaces that depends on the OpenSSL C library for cryptographic operations. Its documentation says it has not had an external audit of its code or documentation. | Package version, linked OpenSSL backend, platform support, exposed operations and the limits of available assurance evidence. |
| BoringSSL | The project says BoringSSL as a whole is not FIPS validated. Its documentation distinguishes it from BoringCrypto, a core module with validation records; some listed entries are pending NIST review. | Whether the particular BoringCrypto module, version and configuration meet the need. Check the relevant validation record and security policy rather than generalizing from the project name. |
What does “the standard library for cryptographic operations in Rust” mean?
“Standard library” can mean a language’s bundled library or an idiomatic dependency in its wider ecosystem; those are different claims. A cryptographic library is an API or dependency, and the appropriate choice depends on required operations, platform, implementation and deployment constraints. The evidence here does not establish one Rust library as a universal standard, so treat that phrase as a request for a project-specific choice rather than proof that Rust has a single required cryptography package.
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FIPS 140-3 specifies requirements for cryptographic modules. Those requirements include the module boundary and interfaces, roles and services, authentication, software and firmware security, operating environment, management of sensitive security parameters, self-tests, lifecycle assurance and mitigation of other attacks. Validation applies to a defined module; it does not mean every application using a library is “FIPS certified.”
For OpenSSL 3.0, the FIPS module guide advises applications intended to use the module not to use legacy APIs or features that bypass it, calling out low-level APIs, engines and custom method functions. It recommends high-level APIs such as EVP. OpenSSL’s provider documentation describes provider=fips as a property query for selecting that provider for cryptographic operations. These details make API and provider selection important, but they do not by themselves establish that a deployment meets a compliance requirement. That conclusion depends on the exact module, version, build, configuration, operating conditions and applicable security policy.
BoringSSL’s project documentation makes a similarly important distinction: the whole library is not FIPS validated, while BoringCrypto is a core module for which validation records exist. The documentation also lists entries pending NIST review; a pending entry is not a completed validation. Check the relevant current CMVP record and security policy for the module and deployment at issue.
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What should you verify before deployment?
- Write down the requirement. Specify the algorithms, protocols, formats, platforms and any regulatory or interoperability constraints the application actually needs.
- Check the intended build. Confirm the dependency version, backend or provider, build configuration and available operations for the target environment.
- Review how the application calls the API. Where compliance depends on a particular module, check that the application uses the approved module and does not route operations through excluded APIs or features.
- Match assurance evidence to the claim. Distinguish project statements, audit scope, module validation records and deployment-specific requirements. Do not treat one as proof of another.
- Test the actual workload and configuration. Performance depends on the workload, hardware, build options and configuration; a general library ranking is not a substitute for measurement in the target environment.
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