Interface CryptoContext

All Superinterfaces:
AutoCloseable, Closeable
All Known Subinterfaces:
AgreementContext, DigestContext, EncryptionContext, KemContext, MacContext, MessageAgreementContext, SignatureContext
All Known Implementing Classes:
AesCipherContext, BikeKemContext, ChaChaCipherContext, CmceKemContext, CommonEdDSASignatureContext, Ed25519SignatureContext, Ed448SignatureContext, ElgamalCipherContext, FrodoKemContext, GenericJcaAgreementContext, GenericJcaMessageAgreementContext, GenericJcaSignatureContext, HmacMacContext, HqcKemContext, HybridKexContext, JcaDigestContext, KemMessageAgreementAdapter, KyberKemContext, LmsSignatureContext, MldsaSignatureContext, NtruKemContext, NtrulPrimeKemContext, RsaCipherContext, RsaSignatureContext, SaberKemContext, SlhDsaSignatureContext, SntruPrimeKemContext, SphincsPlusSignatureContext, XmssSignatureContext, XWingKemContext
public sealed interface CryptoContext extends Closeable permits DigestContext, EncryptionContext, KemContext, MacContext, SignatureContext, AgreementContext
Common interface for all cryptographic operation contexts.

A CryptoContext represents the active state of an algorithm bound to a specific key and optional parameters. Contexts encapsulate resources such as cipher instances, digest engines, or signature state machines. They are created by a CryptoAlgorithm for a particular KeyUsage role and remain valid until close() is called.

Lifecycle

  • Contexts are created via ZeroEchoSession#createContext(...).
  • They may wrap native or provider-managed resources that must be released.
  • Callers must stop using a context after closing it. This is a caller lifecycle obligation, not a guarantee that subsequent calls are rejected; some implementations have no context-owned resources and close is a no-op.

Security considerations

  • Bound keys are borrowed from the caller and are never destroyed by context closure.
  • Applications should call close() promptly. Closing is not a guarantee of erasing provider-managed key material or Java heap copies.
  • Contexts are not guaranteed to be thread-safe; concurrent use should be avoided unless explicitly documented by the implementation.

Subtypes

Concrete context kinds are represented by specialized subinterfaces:
Since:
1.0

  • Method Summary

    Modifier and Type
    Method
    Description
    CryptoAlgorithm
    algorithm()
    Returns the algorithm that created this context.
    void
    close()
    Completes the context's implementation-specific cleanup.
    Key
    key()
    Returns the key bound to this context.

  • Method Details

    • algorithm

      CryptoAlgorithm algorithm()
      Returns the algorithm that created this context.
      Returns:
      the algorithm definition that owns this context

    • key

      Key key()
      Returns the key bound to this context.

      For unkeyed contexts such as digests, this may be NullKey.INSTANCE.

      Returns:
      the cryptographic key or sentinel bound to this context

    • close

      void close() throws IOException
      Completes the context's implementation-specific cleanup.

      Implementations release resources they explicitly own; cleanup can be a no-op for contexts holding only borrowed or garbage-collected state. The bound key remains caller-owned: closing a context never destroys the key. Callers that own a destroyable key must destroy it explicitly after all contexts and other consumers have released it. Streams returned by the context have independent lifecycles: callers must complete and close those streams before closing the context. This method does not promise to finalize stream output or verify authentication tags.

      Specified by:
      close in interface AutoCloseable
      Specified by:
      close in interface Closeable
      Throws:
      IOException - if the underlying provider encounters an I/O error during cleanup