MTProto 2.0

MTProto 2.0 protocol implementation guide for Telegram backend development. Use when implementing MTProto encryption, handshake, message serialization, or building Telegram-compatible servers. Covers DH key exchange, AES-256-IGE encryption, TL language, and security best practices.

MTProto 2.0 Protocol

Complete implementation guide for Telegram's MTProto 2.0 encryption protocol.

⚠️ IMPORTANT SECURITY NOTICE

This skill provides educational guidance on MTProto 2.0 protocol. Before using in production:

1. Verify Auth Key ID size: Ensure 8-byte alignment throughout your implementation
2. Use crypto/rand: Never use math/rand for cryptographic operations
3. Test against official vectors: Validate against Telegram's reference implementations
4. Audit by experts: Have cryptographers review before handling real keys
5. Check off-by-one errors: Carefully validate all buffer sizes and offsets

See references/security-notice.md for detailed corrections.

Quick Reference

Core Components

• Auth Key: 256-bit symmetric key from DH exchange
• Server Salt: 64-bit anti-replay nonce
• Message Key: 128-bit message identifier
• AES-256-IGE: Encryption mode with error propagation

When to Use

Use this skill when:

1. Implementing MTProto handshake (req_pq → req_DH_params → set_client_DH_params)
2. Encrypting/decrypting MTProto messages
3. Serializing TL objects
4. Building Telegram-compatible gateways
5. Debugging connection issues

Handshake Flow

text

Client                              Server
  |                                    |
  | 1. req_pq                        |
  |----------------------------------->|
  |                                    |
  | 2. server_public_key_fingerprints|
  |<-----------------------------------|
  |                                    |
  | 3. req_DH_params                 |
  |----------------------------------->|
  |                                    |
  | 4. server_DH_params              |
  |<-----------------------------------|
  |                                    |
  | 5. set_client_DH_params          |
  |----------------------------------->|
  |                                    |
  | 6. dh_gen_ok                     |
  |<-----------------------------------|

See references/handshake.md for detailed implementation.

Encryption

AES-256-IGE Mode

go

// Key derivation from Auth Key + Message Key
func deriveKeys(authKey, msgKey []byte) (aesKey, aesIV []byte) {
    x := sha256.Sum256(append(msgKey, authKey[:36]...))
    y := sha256.Sum256(append(authKey[40:76], msgKey...))
    
    aesKey = append(x[:8], y[8:24]...)
    aesIV = append(y[:8], x[24:32]...)
    return
}

See references/encryption.md for complete algorithm.

Message Format

Encrypted Message Structure

text

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Auth Key ID     │ 8 bytes  │ SHA1(authKey)[96:128]      │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Message Key     │ 16 bytes │ SHA256(plaintext)[8:24]    │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Encrypted Data  │ Variable │ AES-256-IGE encrypted      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Plaintext Structure

text

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Salt            │ 8 bytes  │ Server Salt                │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Session ID      │ 8 bytes  │ Unique session ID          │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Message ID      │ 8 bytes  │ Timestamp + sequence       │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Sequence No     │ 4 bytes  │ Packet sequence            │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Length          │ 4 bytes  │ Message body length        │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Message Body    │ Variable │ TL-serialized data         │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Padding         │ 0-15 B   │ Random padding             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

See references/message-format.md for details.

TL Language

Type Serialization

tl

// Constructor with ID
user#938458c1 id:long first_name:string = User;

// Method definition
checkPhone#6fe51dfb phone_number:string = Bool;

See references/tl-language.md for TL schema reference.

Security Features

Forward Secrecy

• Auth Key derived from ephemeral DH exchange
• Keys rotated periodically
• Old key compromise doesn't expose history

Anti-Replay Protection

• Server Salt changes per connection
• Message ID includes timestamp
• Sequence number verification
• Time window validation

Integrity Verification

• Message Key from SHA256 hash
• AES-IGE error propagation
• Length field validation

Go Implementation

Basic Connection

go

type MTProtoConn struct {
    conn      net.Conn
    authKey   []byte
    salt      int64
    sessionID int64
    seqNo     int32
}

func (m *MTProtoConn) Send(msg TLObject) error {
    // 1. Serialize
    plaintext := msg.Encode()
    
    // 2. Calculate Message Key
    msgKey := calcMsgKey(plaintext, m.authKey)
    
    // 3. Derive AES keys
    aesKey, aesIV := deriveKeys(m.authKey, msgKey)
    
    // 4. Encrypt
    encrypted := encryptAESIGE(plaintext, aesKey, aesIV)
    
    // 5. Construct packet
    packet := constructPacket(m.authKey, msgKey, encrypted)
    
    // 6. Send
    _, err := m.conn.Write(packet)
    return err
}

References

• Handshake Details - Complete DH exchange
• Encryption Algorithm - AES-256-IGE
• Message Format - Binary protocol
• TL Language - Type serialization
• ⚠️ Security Notice - CRITICAL FIXES FOR PRODUCTION

Official Resources

• MTProto Official
• TL Schema
• Telegram API