javaencryptionaes

Size of data after AES/CBC and AES/ECB encryption


I would like to know the size of data after AES encryption so that I can avoid buffering my post-AES data(on disk or memory) mainly for knowing the size.

I use 128 bit AES and javax.crypto.Cipher and javax.crypto.CipherInputStream for encryption.

A few tests performed with various input sizes show that, the post encryption size calculated as below is correct:

long size = input_Size_In_Bytes; 
long post_AES_Size = size + (16 - (size % 16));

But I am not sure whether the above formula is applicable for all possible input sizes.

Is there a way to calculate the size of data after applying AES encryption – in advance without having to buffer the encrypted data(on disk or memory) to know its post-encryption size?


Solution

  • AES has a fixed block size of 16 bytes regardless of key size. Assuming you use PKCS 5/7 padding, use this formula:

     cipherLen = clearLen + 16 - (clearLen mod 16)
    

    Please note that if the clear-text is a multiple of the block size then a whole new block is needed for padding. For example, if your clear-text is 16 bytes then the cipher-text will take 32 bytes.

    You might want to store the IV (Initial Vector) with the cipher-text. In that case, you need to add 16 more bytes for the IV.