SPHINCS+ (SLH-DSA)
SPHINCS+ is the original name of the stateless hash-based signature scheme that NIST standardized as SLH-DSA in FIPS 205. It was submitted to the NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization process and selected in 2022 as a signature algorithm whose security depends only on the properties of hash functions rather than on structured lattices.
From SPHINCS+ to SLH-DSA
NIST renamed the scheme SLH-DSA (Stateless Hash-Based Digital Signature Algorithm) and published it as FIPS 205 in August 2024. The standardized version is based on the SPHINCS+ submission with some adjustments, so the two names denote the same design family. As a hash-based signature, SLH-DSA is valued as a conservative backup to lattice signatures: it produces a Digital signature scheme whose only security assumption is a secure hash function. Older references use SPHINCS+; standards-compliant deployments use SLH-DSA.
Sources
- FIPS 205, Stateless Hash-Based Digital Signature Standard (NIST, 2024)
- SPHINCS+ (SPHINCS+ team, 2024)
Cite this entry
"SPHINCS+ (SLH-DSA)." postquantum.wiki. Updated July 11, 2026. https://postquantum.wiki/sphincs-plus@misc{pqwiki-sphincs-plus,
title = {SPHINCS+ (SLH-DSA)},
howpublished = {\url{https://postquantum.wiki/sphincs-plus}},
year = {2026},
note = {postquantum.wiki, updated 2026-07-11}
}