Libgcrypt is a cryptography library developed as a separated module of
GnuPG.
It can also be used independently of GnuPG, but depends on its error-reporting library Libgpg-error.
It provides functions for all fundamental cryptographic building blocks:
Libgcrypt features its own
''multiple precision arithmetic'' implementation, with assembler implementations for a variety of processors, including Alpha, AMD64, HP PA-RISC, i386, i586, M68K, MIPS 3, PowerPC, and SPARC. It also features an ''
entropy
Entropy is a scientific concept, as well as a measurable physical property, that is most commonly associated with a state of disorder, randomness, or uncertainty. The term and the concept are used in diverse fields, from classical thermodyna ...
gathering'' utility, coming in different versions for Unix-like and Windows machines.
Usually multiple, stable branches of Libgcrypt are maintained in parallel; since 2022-03-28 this is the Libgrypt 1.10 branch as
stable branch, plus the 1.8 branch as
LTS ("long-term support") branch, which will be maintained at least until 2024-12-31.
See also
*
Comparison of cryptography libraries
References
{{GNU
Cryptographic software
Free security software
GNU Project software
OpenPGP
2020 software