312-50V10 · Question #119
Which of the following Secure Hashing Algorithm (SHA) produces a 160-bit digest from a message with a maximum length of (264-1) bits and resembles the MD5 algorithm?
The correct answer is C. SHA-1. SHA-1 is the SHA variant that produces a 160-bit message digest from messages up to (2^64 - 1) bits in length and was designed with structural similarities to the MD5 algorithm.
Question
Which of the following Secure Hashing Algorithm (SHA) produces a 160-bit digest from a message with a maximum length of (264-1) bits and resembles the MD5 algorithm?
Options
- ASHA-2
- BSHA-3
- CSHA-1
- DSHA-0
How the community answered
(43 responses)- A2% (1)
- C93% (40)
- D5% (2)
Why each option
SHA-1 is the SHA variant that produces a 160-bit message digest from messages up to (2^64 - 1) bits in length and was designed with structural similarities to the MD5 algorithm.
SHA-2 is a family of hash functions producing digests of 224, 256, 384, or 512 bits, none of which equal the 160-bit output specified in the question.
SHA-3 uses a fundamentally different sponge construction rather than the Merkle-Damgard structure of MD5, and does not specifically resemble MD5 in design.
SHA-1, defined in FIPS PUB 180-4, produces a fixed 160-bit (20-byte) hash digest and accepts messages of up to (2^64 - 1) bits. It was developed by NIST and NSA and explicitly modeled after MD5's Merkle-Damgard construction, using similar compression functions and word operations, which is why the question notes it 'resembles' MD5.
SHA-0 also produced a 160-bit digest but was withdrawn by NSA before publication due to an undisclosed flaw; SHA-1 is the corrected successor and is the version that formally resembles MD5 and matches the maximum message length described.
Concept tested: SHA-1 hash output size and MD5 resemblance
Source: https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/fips/180/4/final
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