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Search Search CSRC MENU Search Search Projects Publications Expand or Collapse Drafts for Public Comment All Public Drafts Final Pubs FIPS (standards) Special Publications (SP s ) IR (interagency/internal reports) CSWP (cybersecurity white papers) ITL Bulletins Project Descriptions Journal Articles Conference Papers Books Topics Expand or Collapse Security & Privacy Applications Technologies Sectors Laws & Regulations Activities & Products News & Updates Events Glossary About CSRC Expand or Collapse Computer Security Division Cryptographic Technology Software Security Group Hardware Security Group Security Engineering and Risk Management Applied Cybersecurity Division Cybersecurity and Privacy Applications National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Contact Us Information Technology Laboratory Computer Security Resource Center Publications NIST SP 800-230 (Initial Public Draft) Additional SLH-DSA Parameter Sets for Limited Signature Use Cases Share to Facebook Share to X Share to LinkedIn Share ia Email Documentation Topics Date Published: 04/13/2026 Comments Due: June 12, 2026 (public comment period is CLOSED) Email Questions to: [email protected] Planning Note ( 07/01/2026 ): The public comments received are now available. Author(s) Dustin Moody (NIST) , Quynh Dang (NIST) Announcement NIST is seeking public comments on the initial public draft (ipd) of Special Publication (SP) 800-230, Additional SLH-DSA Parameter Sets for Limited-Signature Use Cases . This document serves as a technical extension to FIPS 205 by specifying six additional parameter sets for security levels 1, 3, and 5. These variants are specifically tailored for use cases that require fast verification and reduced signature sizes, such as the signing of software, firmware, and digital certificates. These optimizations are achieved by establishing a strict limit of 2^24 signatures per signing key; therefore, these sets are not approved for general-purpose use. NIST requests feedback on the suitability of these additional parameter sets, specifically asking reviewers to identify applications for which these variants might incur unacceptable performance or to suggest alternative sets that are better suited for such use cases. Users must perform a thorough evaluation to ensure that the signature limit is never exceeded during a key's lifetime. Please submit comments to [email protected] by June 12, 2026 Abstract This Special Publication serves as a technical extension of FIPS 205, the specification for the Stateless Hash-based Digital Signature Algorithm (SLHsig). While standard SLHsig parameter sets are designed to maintain full security for up to 2^64 signatures, the resulting signature sizes and/or verification times are undesirable or prohibitive for certain applications. To address these performance constraints, this document specifies six additional SLHsig parameter sets for security levels 1, 3, and 5. These new variants are specifically tailored for use cases that require fast verification and reduced signature sizes, such as the signing of software, firmware, and digital certificates. These optimizations are achieved by establishing a strict limit of 2^24 signatures per signing key. Because of this operational limit, these parameter sets are not approved for general-purpose use, and users must perform a thorough evaluation to ensure that the signature limit is never exceeded during any signing key's lifetime. This Special Publication serves as a technical extension of FIPS 205, the specification for the Stateless Hash-based Digital Signature Algorithm (SLHsig). While standard SLHsig parameter sets are designed to maintain full security for up to 2^64 signatures, the resulting signature sizes and/or... See full abstract This Special Publication serves as a technical extension of FIPS 205, the specification for the Stateless Hash-based Digital Signature Algorithm (SLHsig). While standard SLHsig parameter sets are designed to maintain full security for up to 2^64 signatures, the resulting signature sizes and/or verification times are undesirable or prohibitive for certain applications. To address these performance constraints, this document specifies six additional SLHsig parameter sets for security levels 1, 3, and 5. These new variants are specifically tailored for use cases that require fast verification and reduced signature sizes, such as the signing of software, firmware, and digital certificates. These optimizations are achieved by establishing a strict limit of 2^24 signatures per signing key. Because of this operational limit, these parameter sets are not approved for general-purpose use, and users must perform a thorough evaluation to ensure that the signature limit is never exceeded during any signing key's lifetime. Hide full abstract Keywords cryptography ; digital signatures ; FIPS 205 ; hash-based signatures ; post-quantum ; post-quantum digital signatures ; public-key cryptography ; SLHsig ; \sphincsp ; stateless hash-based signatures Control Families None selected Documentation Publication: https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-230.ipd Download URL Supplemental Material: Public comments received (pdf) Related NIST Publications: FIPS 205 Document History: 04/13/26: SP 800-230 (Draft) Topics Security and Privacy digital signatures , post-quantum cryptography HEADQUARTERS 100 Bureau Drive Gaithersburg, MD 20899 X (link is external) facebook (link is external) linkedin (link is external) instagram (link is external) youtube (link is external) rss govdelivery (link is external) Want updates about CSRC and our publications? 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