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Vol. 1 · Ed. 2026
CyberGlossary
Entry № 767

ML-DSA (FIPS 204)

Qu'est-ce que ML-DSA (FIPS 204) ?

ML-DSA (FIPS 204)NIST's standardized post-quantum digital signature algorithm, derived from CRYSTALS-Dilithium and published as FIPS 204 in August 2024 — the default lattice-based PQ signature for code signing, X.509, and DNSSEC over time.


ML-DSA (Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Algorithm), standardized as FIPS 204 on 13 August 2024, is NIST's primary lattice-based post-quantum signature scheme, derived from CRYSTALS-Dilithium. It defines three parameter sets — ML-DSA-44, ML-DSA-65, and ML-DSA-87 — providing security comparable to AES-128/192/256 under standard lattice assumptions. Signatures are roughly 2.4 to 4.6 KB and public keys 1.3 to 2.6 KB, which is substantially larger than Ed25519 or ECDSA but small enough to fit comfortably in X.509 certificates, code-signing manifests, and DNSSEC records. ML-DSA is the default lattice-based PQ signature for use cases that cannot tolerate the much larger but more conservative SLH-DSA (FIPS 205, hash-based). Implementations are appearing in the BoringSSL/OpenSSL family, in Linux distributions' code-signing pipelines, and in hardware tokens. Migration strategies include hybrid certificates (classical ECDSA + ML-DSA, both signatures verified) and gradual rollouts on long-lived signing keys (root CAs, firmware update keys) where quantum resilience matters most.

Exemples

  1. 01

    A code-signing CA issues hybrid ECDSA + ML-DSA-65 certificates so that signatures verify on both classical and post-quantum verifiers during the migration window.

  2. 02

    A firmware-update key for a 15-year-lifetime IoT device is rotated to ML-DSA-87 to ensure quantum-resilience across the device's deployed life.

Questions fréquentes

Qu'est-ce que ML-DSA (FIPS 204) ?

NIST's standardized post-quantum digital signature algorithm, derived from CRYSTALS-Dilithium and published as FIPS 204 in August 2024 — the default lattice-based PQ signature for code signing, X.509, and DNSSEC over time. Cette notion relève de la catégorie Cryptographie en cybersécurité.

Que signifie ML-DSA (FIPS 204) ?

NIST's standardized post-quantum digital signature algorithm, derived from CRYSTALS-Dilithium and published as FIPS 204 in August 2024 — the default lattice-based PQ signature for code signing, X.509, and DNSSEC over time.

Comment fonctionne ML-DSA (FIPS 204) ?

ML-DSA (Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Algorithm), standardized as FIPS 204 on 13 August 2024, is NIST's primary lattice-based post-quantum signature scheme, derived from CRYSTALS-Dilithium. It defines three parameter sets — ML-DSA-44, ML-DSA-65, and ML-DSA-87 — providing security comparable to AES-128/192/256 under standard lattice assumptions. Signatures are roughly 2.4 to 4.6 KB and public keys 1.3 to 2.6 KB, which is substantially larger than Ed25519 or ECDSA but small enough to fit comfortably in X.509 certificates, code-signing manifests, and DNSSEC records. ML-DSA is the default lattice-based PQ signature for use cases that cannot tolerate the much larger but more conservative SLH-DSA (FIPS 205, hash-based). Implementations are appearing in the BoringSSL/OpenSSL family, in Linux distributions' code-signing pipelines, and in hardware tokens. Migration strategies include hybrid certificates (classical ECDSA + ML-DSA, both signatures verified) and gradual rollouts on long-lived signing keys (root CAs, firmware update keys) where quantum resilience matters most.

Comment se défendre contre ML-DSA (FIPS 204) ?

Les défenses contre ML-DSA (FIPS 204) combinent habituellement des contrôles techniques et des pratiques opérationnelles, comme détaillé dans la définition ci-dessus.

Quels sont les autres noms de ML-DSA (FIPS 204) ?

Noms alternatifs courants : FIPS 204, Dilithium (standardized), Module-Lattice DSA.

Termes liés