Chosen plaintext attack on JPEG image encryption with adaptive key and run consistency

Abstract

A JPEG image encryption with the adaptive key and run consistency of MCUs is proposed. The chosen-plaintext attack (CPA) is given here on this encryption scheme. First, the adaptive key can be reproduced from the encrypted image, so that the plaintext images with the same adaptive key can be constructed. Second, the existence of run consistency of MCUs (RCM) between the original image and the encrypted image facilitates rapid estimation. In addition, the single swap for the runs of MCUs with RCM is designed for more accurate estimation. Detailed cryptanalytic results suggest that this encryption scheme can only be used to realize perceptual encryption but not to provide content protection for digital images. Furthermore, applications of the CPA to break other encryption schemes with RCM are presented.