Issue #17276: MD5 as default digestmod for HMAC is deprecated. The HMAC

module supports digestmod names, e.g. hmac.HMAC('sha1').

2 files changed, 12 insertions, 2 deletions

diff --git a/Doc/library/hmac.rst b/Doc/library/hmac.rst
index 1d928ea..8fa1435 100644
--- a/Doc/library/hmac.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/hmac.rst
@@ -18,13 +18,20 @@ This module implements the HMAC algorithm as described by :rfc:`2104`.
 
    Return a new hmac object.  *key* is a bytes or bytearray object giving the
    secret key.  If *msg* is present, the method call ``update(msg)`` is made.
-   *digestmod* is the digest constructor or module for the HMAC object to use.
-   It defaults to the :data:`hashlib.md5` constructor.
+   *digestmod* is the digest name, digest constructor or module for the HMAC
+   object to use. It supports any name suitable to :func:`hashlib.new` and
+   defaults to the :data:`hashlib.md5` constructor.
 
    .. versionchanged:: 3.4
       Parameter *key* can be a bytes or bytearray object. Parameter *msg* can
       be of any type supported by :mod:`hashlib`.
 
+      Paramter *digestmod* can be the name of a hash algorithm.
+
+   .. deprecated:: 3.4
+      MD5 as implicit default digest for *digestmod* is deprecated.
+
+
 An HMAC object has the following methods:
 
 .. method:: HMAC.update(msg)
diff --git a/Doc/whatsnew/3.4.rst b/Doc/whatsnew/3.4.rst
index 19b20bf..42a6fef 100644
--- a/Doc/whatsnew/3.4.rst
+++ b/Doc/whatsnew/3.4.rst
@@ -842,6 +842,9 @@ Deprecated Python modules, functions and methods
 * The :mod:`formatter` module is pending deprecation and is slated for removal
   in Python 3.6.
 
+* MD5 as default digestmod for :mod:`hmac` is deprecated. Python 3.6 will
+  require an explicit digest name or constructor as *digestmod* argument.
+
 
 Deprecated functions and types of the C API
 -------------------------------------------