wolfCrypt has removed its remaining dependency on liboqs. No wolfCrypt algorithm now depends on the external library, so its wrapper layer, build integration, and link dependency are no longer required.
This completes wolfSSL’s transition to native post-quantum cryptography implementations designed for embedded, RTOS, Linux kernel, server, secure boot, and hardware-backed deployments.
Why liboqs Is No Longer Needed
liboqs provided a useful way to experiment with post-quantum algorithms while standards and implementations were still evolving.
As the post-quantum ecosystem matured, wolfSSL replaced those integrations with optimized native wolfCrypt implementations. The NIST-standardized algorithms had already moved to native code, and wolfCrypt already provided native stateful hash-based signatures.
Falcon was the final remaining liboqs consumer. With Falcon now implemented directly in wolfCrypt, no module is left that requires liboqs.
Recent Addition: Native FrodoKEM
FrodoKEM is one of the latest additions to wolfCrypt’s native post-quantum portfolio.
It provides an alternative lattice-based key encapsulation mechanism alongside ML-KEM and is particularly relevant to organizations seeking cryptographic diversity in their post-quantum migration plans.
wolfCrypt supports FrodoKEM-640, FrodoKEM-976, and FrodoKEM-1344, including AES, SHAKE, and ephemeral eFrodoKEM variants. The implementation includes reduced-memory options and optimized paths for x86-64 and ARM platforms, making FrodoKEM more practical for embedded and resource-constrained systems.
Falcon Closes the Last Gap
Falcon was the last experimental wolfCrypt algorithm still routed through liboqs.
The new native implementation supports Falcon-512 and Falcon-1024 across platforms ranging from accelerated x86-64 and AArch64 systems to Linux kernel modules and Cortex-M microcontrollers.
Falcon is also the basis of FN-DSA, the post-quantum digital signature algorithm being developed by NIST as FIPS 206. Until that standard is finalized, the current Falcon API remains experimental.
Native Falcon also improves embedded portability. During testing on a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M33, wolfCrypt completed Falcon-1024 key generation, signing, and verification. The PQClean clean implementation used by liboqs could generate keys on the same target, but could not complete signing because every generated private key was rejected during validation.
With Falcon now native, liboqs can be removed without reducing wolfCrypt’s post-quantum algorithm coverage.
A Complete Native PQC Portfolio
The core of wolfCrypt’s post-quantum offering is built around the algorithms standardized by NIST in 2024:
- ML-KEM — FIPS 203, for post-quantum key establishment
- ML-DSA — FIPS 204, for lattice-based digital signatures
- SLH-DSA — FIPS 205, for stateless hash-based signatures
These FIPS-standardized algorithms provide the foundation for production post-quantum TLS, secure communications, certificate systems, firmware signing, and other long-term deployments.
wolfCrypt also includes native implementations of the stateful hash-based signature algorithms approved in NIST SP 800-208:
- LMS and HSS
- XMSS and XMSS-MT
These are particularly well suited to secure boot, firmware authentication, and other controlled signing systems.
The native portfolio is completed by additional algorithms for specialized requirements and future standards:
- FrodoKEM, as an alternative post-quantum KEM
- Falcon, preparing applications for future FN-DSA
From Experimentation to Deployment
liboqs continues to play an important role as a broad research, interoperability, and prototyping platform. Its own project documentation describes it as software for experimenting with quantum-resistant cryptography and does not recommend relying on it to protect sensitive production data.
Production deployments have different requirements. Embedded systems, secure boot environments, RTOS applications, kernel modules, and hardware-backed products need controlled footprints, platform-specific optimizations, predictable memory behavior, focused testing, and direct integration with the surrounding cryptographic library.
Native wolfCrypt implementations provide that integration, including:
- Hardware and secure-element offload through crypto callbacks
- Small-memory, small-stack, and verify-only configurations
- Architecture-specific acceleration
- Kernel-compatible execution paths
- A single wolfCrypt API and testing infrastructure
One Native Post-Quantum Strategy
With liboqs retired, wolfCrypt now provides one integrated native portfolio covering:
- FIPS 203 ML-KEM
- FIPS 204 ML-DSA
- FIPS 205 SLH-DSA
- NIST SP 800-208 LMS/HSS and XMSS/XMSS-MT
- Native FrodoKEM
- Native Falcon and future FN-DSA
For teams moving post-quantum cryptography from evaluation into embedded, IoT, secure boot, TLS, kernel, and production deployments, wolfCrypt now offers complete native coverage without requiring liboqs.
For questions about post-quantum cryptography with wolfSSL, contact us at facts@wolfssl.com or call +1 425 245 8247.
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