crypto-js vs node-forge
JavaScript Cryptography Libraries
crypto-jsnode-forgeSimilar Packages:

JavaScript Cryptography Libraries

JavaScript cryptography libraries are essential tools for implementing secure data encryption, decryption, hashing, and other cryptographic functions in web applications. They help developers protect sensitive information, ensure data integrity, and authenticate users. These libraries provide a range of cryptographic algorithms and utilities that can be used to secure communications, store passwords safely, and generate secure tokens. The choice between libraries like Crypto-JS and Node-Forge often depends on specific project requirements, such as performance, ease of use, and the types of cryptographic operations needed.

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crypto-js016,397487 kB2772 years agoMIT
node-forge05,2841.65 MB4558 days ago(BSD-3-Clause OR GPL-2.0)

Feature Comparison: crypto-js vs node-forge

Supported Algorithms

  • crypto-js:

    Crypto-JS supports a variety of standard cryptographic algorithms including AES, DES, Rabbit, SHA-1, SHA-256, HMAC, and more. It is optimized for performance and is particularly useful for symmetric encryption and hashing tasks.

Ease of Use

  • crypto-js:

    Crypto-JS is designed for simplicity and ease of integration. Its API is straightforward, making it easy for developers to implement encryption and hashing with minimal setup. This makes it a great choice for quick implementations.

Advanced Features

  • node-forge:

    Node-Forge offers advanced cryptographic features such as support for asymmetric encryption, certificate generation, and secure random number generation. It is suitable for applications that require more than just basic encryption, such as secure communications and digital signatures.

Performance

  • crypto-js:

    Crypto-JS is lightweight and optimized for performance, making it suitable for client-side applications where speed is essential. It is designed to work efficiently in browsers and Node.js environments.

Community and Support

  • node-forge:

    Node-Forge has a strong community and is actively maintained, which means it receives regular updates and improvements. It also has comprehensive documentation, making it easier for developers to find support and resources.

How to Choose: crypto-js vs node-forge

  • crypto-js:

    Choose Crypto-JS if you need a lightweight library focused on standard cryptographic algorithms like AES, SHA, and HMAC. It is easy to use in both client-side and server-side applications and is suitable for projects that require basic encryption and hashing functionalities without complex dependencies.

  • node-forge:

    Choose Node-Forge if you require a more comprehensive cryptographic toolkit that includes support for advanced features like PKI (Public Key Infrastructure), X.509 certificates, and TLS. Node-Forge is ideal for applications that need extensive cryptographic operations and a broader set of functionalities.

README for crypto-js

crypto-js

JavaScript library of crypto standards.

Discontinued

Active development of CryptoJS has been discontinued. This library is no longer maintained.

Nowadays, NodeJS and modern browsers have a native Crypto module. The latest version of CryptoJS already uses the native Crypto module for random number generation, since Math.random() is not crypto-safe. Further development of CryptoJS would result in it only being a wrapper of native Crypto. Therefore, development and maintenance has been discontinued, it is time to go for the native crypto module.

Node.js (Install)

Requirements:

  • Node.js
  • npm (Node.js package manager)
npm install crypto-js

Usage

ES6 import for typical API call signing use case:

import sha256 from 'crypto-js/sha256';
import hmacSHA512 from 'crypto-js/hmac-sha512';
import Base64 from 'crypto-js/enc-base64';

const message, nonce, path, privateKey; // ...
const hashDigest = sha256(nonce + message);
const hmacDigest = Base64.stringify(hmacSHA512(path + hashDigest, privateKey));

Modular include:

var AES = require("crypto-js/aes");
var SHA256 = require("crypto-js/sha256");
...
console.log(SHA256("Message"));

Including all libraries, for access to extra methods:

var CryptoJS = require("crypto-js");
console.log(CryptoJS.HmacSHA1("Message", "Key"));

Client (browser)

Requirements:

  • Node.js
  • Bower (package manager for frontend)
bower install crypto-js

Usage

Modular include:

require.config({
    packages: [
        {
            name: 'crypto-js',
            location: 'path-to/bower_components/crypto-js',
            main: 'index'
        }
    ]
});

require(["crypto-js/aes", "crypto-js/sha256"], function (AES, SHA256) {
    console.log(SHA256("Message"));
});

Including all libraries, for access to extra methods:

// Above-mentioned will work or use this simple form
require.config({
    paths: {
        'crypto-js': 'path-to/bower_components/crypto-js/crypto-js'
    }
});

require(["crypto-js"], function (CryptoJS) {
    console.log(CryptoJS.HmacSHA1("Message", "Key"));
});

Usage without RequireJS

<script type="text/javascript" src="path-to/bower_components/crypto-js/crypto-js.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
    var encrypted = CryptoJS.AES(...);
    var encrypted = CryptoJS.SHA256(...);
</script>

API

See: https://cryptojs.gitbook.io/docs/

AES Encryption

Plain text encryption

var CryptoJS = require("crypto-js");

// Encrypt
var ciphertext = CryptoJS.AES.encrypt('my message', 'secret key 123').toString();

// Decrypt
var bytes  = CryptoJS.AES.decrypt(ciphertext, 'secret key 123');
var originalText = bytes.toString(CryptoJS.enc.Utf8);

console.log(originalText); // 'my message'

Object encryption

var CryptoJS = require("crypto-js");

var data = [{id: 1}, {id: 2}]

// Encrypt
var ciphertext = CryptoJS.AES.encrypt(JSON.stringify(data), 'secret key 123').toString();

// Decrypt
var bytes  = CryptoJS.AES.decrypt(ciphertext, 'secret key 123');
var decryptedData = JSON.parse(bytes.toString(CryptoJS.enc.Utf8));

console.log(decryptedData); // [{id: 1}, {id: 2}]

List of modules

  • crypto-js/core
  • crypto-js/x64-core
  • crypto-js/lib-typedarrays

  • crypto-js/md5
  • crypto-js/sha1
  • crypto-js/sha256
  • crypto-js/sha224
  • crypto-js/sha512
  • crypto-js/sha384
  • crypto-js/sha3
  • crypto-js/ripemd160

  • crypto-js/hmac-md5
  • crypto-js/hmac-sha1
  • crypto-js/hmac-sha256
  • crypto-js/hmac-sha224
  • crypto-js/hmac-sha512
  • crypto-js/hmac-sha384
  • crypto-js/hmac-sha3
  • crypto-js/hmac-ripemd160

  • crypto-js/pbkdf2

  • crypto-js/aes
  • crypto-js/tripledes
  • crypto-js/rc4
  • crypto-js/rabbit
  • crypto-js/rabbit-legacy
  • crypto-js/evpkdf

  • crypto-js/format-openssl
  • crypto-js/format-hex

  • crypto-js/enc-latin1
  • crypto-js/enc-utf8
  • crypto-js/enc-hex
  • crypto-js/enc-utf16
  • crypto-js/enc-base64

  • crypto-js/mode-cfb
  • crypto-js/mode-ctr
  • crypto-js/mode-ctr-gladman
  • crypto-js/mode-ofb
  • crypto-js/mode-ecb

  • crypto-js/pad-pkcs7
  • crypto-js/pad-ansix923
  • crypto-js/pad-iso10126
  • crypto-js/pad-iso97971
  • crypto-js/pad-zeropadding
  • crypto-js/pad-nopadding

Release notes

4.2.0

Change default hash algorithm and iteration's for PBKDF2 to prevent weak security by using the default configuration.

Custom KDF Hasher

Blowfish support

4.1.1

Fix module order in bundled release.

Include the browser field in the released package.json.

4.1.0

Added url safe variant of base64 encoding. 357

Avoid webpack to add crypto-browser package. 364

4.0.0

This is an update including breaking changes for some environments.

In this version Math.random() has been replaced by the random methods of the native crypto module.

For this reason CryptoJS might not run in some JavaScript environments without native crypto module. Such as IE 10 or before or React Native.

3.3.0

Rollback, 3.3.0 is the same as 3.1.9-1.

The move of using native secure crypto module will be shifted to a new 4.x.x version. As it is a breaking change the impact is too big for a minor release.

3.2.1

The usage of the native crypto module has been fixed. The import and access of the native crypto module has been improved.

3.2.0

In this version Math.random() has been replaced by the random methods of the native crypto module.

For this reason CryptoJS might does not run in some JavaScript environments without native crypto module. Such as IE 10 or before.

If it's absolute required to run CryptoJS in such an environment, stay with 3.1.x version. Encrypting and decrypting stays compatible. But keep in mind 3.1.x versions still use Math.random() which is cryptographically not secure, as it's not random enough.

This version came along with CRITICAL BUG.

DO NOT USE THIS VERSION! Please, go for a newer version!

3.1.x

The 3.1.x are based on the original CryptoJS, wrapped in CommonJS modules.