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key schedule
The step-by-step process that derives the actual encryption keys used in a session from an initial shared secret.
After two parties agree on a secret during a handshake, they don't use it directly — they run it through a defined chain of derivations to produce distinct keys for encrypting, authenticating, and different phases of the conversation. That chain is the key schedule. In TLS 1.3 it's a precisely specified sequence from handshake secrets down to the traffic keys that protect real data.
See also
- key materialThe actual secret bytes that make up a cryptographic key.
- leaf certificateThe specific certificate that proves a single website's identity, at the bottom of a chain of trust.
- MD5An old hash function, now considered broken for security, that turns data into a short fixed-size fingerprint.
Referenced by
key material · leaf certificate · low-order-point rejection · MD5