# $Id: Random.pm,v 1.5 2007/04/12 14:53:28 drhyde Exp $
package Net::Random;
use strict;
local $^W = 1;
use vars qw($VERSION %randomness);
$VERSION = '2.0';
require LWP::UserAgent;
use Sys::Hostname;
use Data::Dumper;
my $ua = LWP::UserAgent->new(
agent => 'perl-Net-Random/'.$VERSION,
from => "userid_$<\@".hostname(),
timeout => 120,
keep_alive => 1,
env_proxy => 1
);
%randomness = (
'fourmilab.ch' => { pool => [], retrieve => sub {
my $response = $ua->get(
'http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/uncgi/Hotbits?nbytes=1024&fmt=hex'
);
unless($response->is_success) {
warn "Net::Random: Error talking to fourmilab.ch\n";
return ();
}
my $content = $response->content();
if($content =~ /Error Generating HotBits/) {
warn("Net::Random: fourmilab.ch ran out of randomness for us\n");
return ();
}
map { map { hex } /(..)/g } grep { /^[0-9A-F]+$/ } split(/\s+/, $content);
} },
'random.org' => { pool => [], retrieve => sub {
my $response = $ua->get(
'http://random.org/cgi-bin/randbyte?nbytes=1024&format=hex'
);
if(!$response->is_success) {
warn "Net::Random: Error talking to random.org\n";
return ();
}
$response = $response->content();
if($response =~ /quota/i) {
warn("Net::Random: random.org ran out of randomness for us\n");
return ();
}
map { hex } split(/\s+/, $response);
} }
);
# recharges the randomness pool
sub _recharge {
my $self = shift;
$randomness{$self->{src}}->{pool} = [
@{$randomness{$self->{src}}->{pool}},
&{$randomness{$self->{src}}->{retrieve}}
];
}
=head1 NAME
Net::Random - get random data from online sources
=head1 SYNOPSIS
my $rand = Net::Random->new( # use fourmilab.ch's randomness source,
src => 'fourmilab.ch', # and return results from 1 to 2000
min => 1,
max => 2000
);
@numbers = $rand->get(5); # get 5 numbers
my $rand = Net::Random->new( # use random.org's randomness source,
src => 'random.org', # with no explicit range - so values will
); # be in the default range from 0 to 255
$number = $rand->get(); # get 1 random number
=head1 OVERVIEW
The two sources of randomness above correspond to
L<http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/uncgi/Hotbits?nbytes=1024&fmt=hex> and
L<http://random.org/cgi-bin/randbyte?nbytes=1024&format=hex>. We always
get chunks of 1024 bytes at a time, storing it in a pool which is used up
as and when needed. The pool is shared between all objects using the
same randomness source. When we run out of randomness we go back to the
source for more juicy random goodness.
If you have set a http_proxy variable in your environment, this will be
honoured.
While we always fetch 1024 bytes, data can be used up one, two, three or
four bytes at a time, depending on the range between the minimum and
maximum desired values. There may be a noticeable delay while more
random data is fetched.
The maintainers of both randomness sources claim that their data is
*truly* random. A some simple tests show that they are certainly more
random than the C<rand()> function on this 'ere machine.
=head1 METHODS
=over 4
=item new
The constructor returns a Net::Random object. It takes named parameters,
of which one - 'src' - is compulsory, telling the module where to get its
random data from. The 'min' and 'max' parameters are optional, and default
to 0 and 255 respectively. Both must be integers, and 'max' must be at
least min+1. The maximum value of 'max'
is 2^32-1, the largest value that can be stored in a 32-bit int, or
0xFFFFFFFF. The range between min and max can not be greater than
0xFFFFFFFF either.
Currently, the only valid values of 'src' are 'fourmilab.ch' and
'random.org'.
=cut
sub new {
my($class, %params) = @_;
exists($params{min}) or $params{min} = 0;
exists($params{max}) or $params{max} = 255;
die("Bad parameters to Net::Random->new():\n".Dumper(\@_)) if(
(grep {
$_ !~ /^(src|min|max)$/
} keys %params) ||
!exists($params{src}) ||
$params{src} !~ /^(fourmilab\.ch|random\.org)$/ ||
$params{min} !~ /^-?\d+$/ ||
$params{max} !~ /^-?\d+$/ ||
# $params{min} < 0 ||
$params{max} > 0xFFFFFFFF ||
$params{min} >= $params{max} ||
$params{max} - $params{min} > 0xFFFFFFFF
);
bless({ %params }, $class);
}
=item get
Takes a single optional parameter, which must be a positive integer.
This determines how many random numbers are to be returned and, if not
specified, defaults to 1.
If it fails to retrieve data, we return undef. Note that both sources
ration their random data. If you hit your quota, we spit out a warning.
See the section on ERROR HANDLING below.
=cut
sub get {
my($self, $results) = @_;
defined($results) or $results = 1;
die("Bad parameter to Net::Random->get()") if($results =~ /\D/);
my $bytes = 5; # MAXBYTES + 1
foreach my $bits (32, 24, 16, 8) {
$bytes-- if($self->{max} - $self->{min} < 2 ** $bits);
}
die("Out of cucumber error") if($bytes == 5);
my @results = ();
while(@results < $results) {
$self->_recharge() if(@{$randomness{$self->{src}}->{pool}} < $bytes);
return undef if(@{$randomness{$self->{src}}->{pool}} < $bytes);
my $random_number = 0;
$random_number = ($random_number << 8) + $_ foreach (splice(
@{$randomness{$self->{src}}->{pool}}, 0, $bytes
));
$random_number += $self->{min};
push @results, $random_number unless($random_number > $self->{max});
}
@results;
}
=back
=head1 BUGS
Doesn't handle really BIGNUMs. Patches are welcome to make it use
Math::BigInt internally. Note that you'll need to calculate how many
random bytes to use per result. I strongly suggest only using BigInts
when absolutely necessary, because they are slooooooow.
Tests are a bit lame. Really needs to test the results to make sure
they're as random as the input (to make sure I haven't introduced any
bias).
=head1 SECURITY CONCERNS
True randomness is very useful for cryptographic applications. Unfortunately,
I can not recommend using this module to produce such random data. While
some simple testing shows that we can be fairly confident that it is random,
and the published methodologies on both sites used looks sane, you can not,
unfortunately, trust that you are getting unique data (ie, someone else might
get the same bytes as you) or that they don't log who gets what data.
Be aware that if you use an http_proxy - or if your upstream uses a transparent
proxy like some of the more shoddy consumer ISPs do - then that is another place
that your randomness could be compromised.
I should stress that I *do* trust both site maintainers to give me data that
is sufficiently random and unique for my own uses, but I can not recommend
that you do too. As in any security situation, you need to perform your own
risk analysis.
=head1 ERROR HANDLING
There are two types of error that this module can emit which aren't your
fault. Those are network
errors, in which case it emits a warning:
Net::Random: Error talking to [your source]
and errors generated by the randomness sources, which look like:
Net::Random: [your source] [message]
Once you hit either of these errors, it means that either you have run
out of randomness and can't get any more, or you are very close to
running out of randomness. Because this module's raison d'être
is to provide a source of truly random data when you don't have your
own one available, it does not provide any pseudo-random fallback.
If you want to implement your own fallback, you can catch those warnings
by using C<$SIG{__WARN__}>. See C<perldoc perlvar> for details.
=head1 FEEDBACK
I welcome feedback about my code, especially constructive criticism.
=head1 AUTHOR
David Cantrell E<lt>F<david@cantrell.org.uk>E<gt>
Thanks are also due to the maintainers of the randomness sources. See
their web sites for details on how to praise them.
Suggestions from the following people have been included:
Rich Rauenzahn, for using an http_proxy;
Wiggins d Anconia suggested I mutter in the docs about security concerns
=head1 COPYRIGHT and LICENCE
Copyright 2003 - 2007 David Cantrell
This module is free-as-in-speech software, and may be used, distributed,
and modified under the same terms as Perl itself.
=cut
1;