How deeply does Real-World Cryptography cover pre-shared key?

Defines PSKs and sketches TLS 1.3 negotiation, but stops short of key-derivation internals and provisioning guidance.

Pre-shared key

A secret key provisioned to communicating parties before a protocol session begins and shared for use in cryptographic operations.

A pre-shared key (PSK) is a secret that both communicating parties know before a session begins. In TLS 1.3, it can derive symmetric session keys without requiring public-key infrastructure or a fresh key exchange. section 9.2.1

A TLS 1.3 PSK handshake proceeds like this:

The client advertises PSK identifiers in ClientHello. section 9.2.1
The server recognizes an identifier and confirms it in ServerHello. section 9.2.1
Both parties may skip the key exchange and derive symmetric session keys from the PSK. section 9.2.1
Because authentication is skipped, the Finished message helps prevent man-in-the-middle attacks. section 9.2.1

A direct machine-to-machine link

Two machines that connect only to each other can use a provisioned PSK to secure their TLS communications without managing a public-key infrastructure. section 9.2.1

How Real-World Cryptography covers it

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Also explained in

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Hacking CryptographySecret keying material configured in advance and shared by the communicating parties.
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Acing the CCNA Exam: Volume 2 Advanced Networking and SecurityA pre-shared key is a secret value configured in advance on wireless clients and access points for shared-key authentication.

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Related concepts

WPA-Personalused by · WPA-Personal is a wireless security mode that authenticates clients with a shared passphrase or pre-shared key.
four-way handshakeused by · A four-way handshake is a protocol exchange consisting of four messages for terminating a TCP connection or establishing WPA encryption keys.
password authenticationproduced by · Password authentication is an authentication method that verifies a claimed identity or access by checking a supplied secret password or passphrase.
802.1xalternative to · IEEE 802.1X is a port-based network access-control standard that requires device or user authentication before network access is granted.
key exchangealternative to · Key exchange is a cryptographic protocol by which communicating parties establish a shared secret over a communication channel without directly transmitting that secret.

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Real-World Cryptography. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.