OpenSSL Library Research Articles

Truncated multiplication and batch software SIMD AVX512 implementation for faster Montgomery multiplications and modular exponentiation

This paper presents software implementations of batch computations, dealing with multi-precision integer operations. In this work, we use the Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) AVX512 instruction set of the x86-64 processors, in particular the vectorized fused multiplier-adder VPMADD52. We focus on batch multiplications, squarings, modular multiplications, modular squarings and constant time modular exponentiations of 8 values using a word-slicing storage. We explore the use of Schoolbook and Karatsuba approaches with operands up to 4108 and 4154 bits respectively. We also introduce a truncated multiplication that speeds up the computation of the Montgomery modular reduction in the context of software implementation. Our Truncated Montgomery modular multiplication improvement offers speed gains of almost 20 % over the conventional non-truncated versions. Compared to the state-of-the-art GMP and OpenSSL libraries, our speedup modular operations are more than 4 times faster. Compared to OpenSSL BN_mod_exp_mont_consttimex2 using AVX512 and madd52* (madd52hi or madd52lo) in 256-bit registers, in fixed-window exponentiations of sizes 1024 and 2048 , our 512-bit implementation provides speedups of respectively 1.75 and 1.38, while the 256-bit version speedups are 1.51 and 1.05 for 1024 and 2048 -bit sizes (batch of 4 values in this case).

Creating Secure File Systems in Open-Source Operating Systems

The relevance of this study is determined by insecure data storage on personal computers, as it is the main operating system that performs authentication and file access control. Bypassing these security rules is possible in case of using another open-source operating system on the same personal computer. The aim of this work is the research and development of file encryptors, disk encryptors and file system encryptors. Each of them has its shortcomings which manifest themselves during development. Combining the advantages of file encryptors and file system encryptors helped to overcome those shortcomings. The userspace filesystem library was used for this purpose. The study involved the methods aimed at designing and developing the Udev daemon file system for Linux using the OpenSSL library. The file system design was mathematically modelled and formally verified through a test parser. The file system also has its own authentication and authorization procedures to provide uniform access across multiple operating systems. The Udev daemon file system is the result of this work. Each file is encrypted with a separate key to protect against cryptanalysis. This key is encrypted with the owner’s private key, thereby enabling him/her to change the ownership. The passphrase is used to decrypt the user’s private key. The developed file system has passed authentication and access control testing successfully. The file system shows best performance with file sizes 1 KB to 256 MB. Encryption-caused performance degradation was also measured and found to be within acceptable limits. This Udev daemon stackable file system is available for all Unix clones with OpenSSL libraries. The prospects for further work are the development of a file system using several combined methods from a list of existing design and development methods for file systems.

ПОРІВНЯЛЬНИЙ АНАЛІЗ ФУНКЦІЙ ОБЧИСЛЕННЯ МОДУЛЬНОЇ ЕКСПОНЕНТИ

The computation of the modular exponentiation for big numbers is widely used to find the discrete logarithm, in number-theoretic transforms and in cryptographic algorithms. To efficient compute the modular exponent, new methods, algorithms and means of their implementation are being developed. There are three directions of computational method of modular exponentiation: general modular exponentiation, and computation of the modular exponentiation with a fixed exponent or with a fixed base. Special functions have been developed to perform modular exponentiation in mathematical and cryptographic software libraries. The paper compares the freely available functions of computing the modular exponentiation from the Crypto ++, OpenSSL, Pari / GP and MPIR libraries and developed three functions based on the right-to-left binary shift algorithm. A separate type of numeric data from the MPIR library is used to work with big numbers in the developed functions. The developed functions implement a binary iterative algorithm in one main stream, in two streams and one stream using precomputation. The comparison is based on the average time of execution of the modular exponentiation for pseudo-random data with 1K and 2K bits, which corresponds to the size of about 300 and 600 decimal signs. The runtime results summarized in the table show that the modular exponentiation is computed the fastest by a function from the OpenSSL library, which is almost twice smaller than the function from the Crypto ++ library and three times smaller than the MPIR function in universal computer systems. The implementation of the function of computing the modular exponentiation by mathematical and cryptographic software libraries uses a more optimal modulus multiplication algorithm, the so-called Montgomery multiplication. The developed three functions use multiplication by modulo operations for factors smaller than the module value. The function using precomputation of the remainders for the fixed basis and the module is analyzed separately. After all, in the testing process, the time of precomputation and determination of the periodicity of residues for this function is not taken into account. Further parallelization of the computation of parts of a multi-bit exponent and the use of the Montgomery multiplication algorithm will allow efficient use of the developed function with precomputation for the calculation of the discrete logarithm.

ISAG: IoT-enabled and Secrecy Aware Group-based handover scheme for e-health services in M2M communication network

To provide e-health services in the high-speed advanced/fast-moving medical facility acquainted vehicle by administrating Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication technology is a progressive approach. For accomplishing the robustness and to perceive the security demands of various M2M communication-based services, academicians have discussed group-based handover protocols in the literature. However, the group of medical M2M devices (MMD) suffer from numerous challenges such as privacy-preservation, high signaling congestion at the network, and inadequacy of forward/backward key secrecy at the time of handover authentication. Also, the existing handover schemes are susceptible to network attacks such as Denial of Service (DoS), Man-in-the-Middle (MiTM), etc., and stimulate high network utilization. To avoid the above concerns, we introduce the IoT-enabled and Secrecy Aware Group-based (ISAG) handover authentication and key agreement (AKA) scheme in the LTE-A network for M2M communication. The scheme realizes the mutual authentication between the target base-station and a group of MMDs with a secret session key. Based on message aggregation technology, the ISAG handover protocol averts the communication network congestion and minimizes the bandwidth overhead. The security analysis illustrates that the protocol obtains necessary security requirements such as confidentiality, data integrity, and private key protection. Through performance evaluations, the protocol shows significant improvement in the communication, computation, storage, and transmission overhead compared to the exiting group-based handover protocols. Finally, simulation output by the OpenSSL library of computing bandwidth consumption to network participants illustrates that ISAG handover protocol is appropriate for e-health services.

Використання чат-бота @es_economy_karkas_bot для онлайн консультації з експертною системою

Чат-бот (співрозмовник) – це програма, яка імітує людське спілкування на основі елементів штучного інтелекту. У статті представлені результати інтегрування чат-бота @es_economy_karkas_bot з експертною системою для організації консультування в режимі онлайн. Дано опис архітектури і реалізація імплементації чат-бота месенджера телеграм в експертну систему на базі системи “КАРКАС” – інструментальний засіб для побудови моделей баз знань. Розглянута структура і алгоритм взаємодії чат-бота і агентів експертної системи в онлайн режимі. Виконано аналіз можливостей створення чат-ботів в месенджері ТЕЛЕГРАМ, їх інтеграцію з експертами системи в сфері економіки.

Efficient modular operations using the adapted modular number system

The adapted modular number system (AMNS) is an integer number system which aims to speed up arithmetic operations modulo a prime p. Such a system is defined by a tuple $$(p, n, \gamma , \rho , E)$$, where p, n, $$\gamma $$ and $$\rho $$ are integers and $$E\in \mathbb {Z}[X]$$. In El Mrabet and Gama (in: WAIFI, lecture notes in computer science, Springer, 2012) conditions required to build AMNS with $$E(X)=X^n + 1$$ are provided. In this paper, we generalise their approach and provide a method to generate multiple AMNS for a given prime p with $$E(X)=X^n-\lambda $$ and $$\lambda \in \mathbb {Z}{\setminus }\{0\}$$. Moreover, we propose a complete set of algorithms without conditional branching to perform arithmetic and conversion operations in the AMNS, using a Montgomery-like method described in Negre and Plantard (in: Information security and privacy, 13th Australasian conference, ACISP 2008, Wollongong, Australia, 2008). We show that our implementation outperforms GNU MP and OpenSSL libraries. Finally, we highlight some properties of the AMNS which state that it could lead to a helpful countermeasure against some side-channel attacks.

Implementing Secure Routable GOOSE and SV Messages Based on IEC 61850-90-5

Next generation power systems are active networks that handle two-way power flow. They are equipped with extensive communication capabilities to perform dynamic monitoring, protection and control operations. Synchrophasors provide a pseudo real-time representation of grid's current state. Phasor Measurement Units (PMU) placed in different parts of the grid periodically collect synchrophasor data. Then, they send it to a Phasor Data Concentrator (PDCs) through Wide Area Monitoring Systems (WAMS). The entire system formed as PMU Communication Network (PMU-CN) is based on two available frameworks: IEEE C37.118.2 and IEC 61850-90-5. As New York Blackout of 2003 showed that accurate and timely delivery of phasor measurements is vital for secure grid operation. Attacks on PMU-CN may lead to several consequences in the grid and cause physical damage. IEEE C37.118.2 does not specify any security mechanism to mitigate security attacks. To address this gap, security mechanism specified in IEC 61850-90-5 have been implemented using OpenSSL library. A novel toolbox called R-GoSV has been developed to construct PMU messages with cybersecurity mechanisms. Thanks to this tool, custom messages have been transmitted in the network to investigate their effectiveness. Finally, the performance evaluation of the specified security algorithms in terms of computational time sis carried out.

An exploration of effective fuzzing for side‐channel cache leakage

SummaryAdversaries can compute the secret information of a program, such as the key for encryption routines, from side channels in the light of timing‐based and access‐based CPU cache behaviours. As a result, it is crucial to understand whether a program is vulnerable to side‐channel cache leakage or not. Yet how we can find out such a vulnerability in a program remains a problem. In this paper, we revisit this problem and contemplate a test‐generation methodology, which, in both timing‐based and access‐based dimensions, systematically discovers the cache side‐channel leakage of an arbitrary software program. At the core of our test‐generation framework is an algorithm that explores the program's input space and adapts at runtime according to observed cache performance in the executed tests. We have implemented our test generator for timing‐based and access‐based attack tests and evaluated it with open‐source subject programs, including ones from OPENSSL and Linux GDK libraries. Our extensive evaluation effectively discloses the vulnerabilities of these real‐world software to both timing‐based and access‐based cache attacks. We also empirically show that our test generator achieves higher and comparable effectiveness, respectively, in simulations and real hardware platforms with regard to revealing cache side‐channel leakage than do state‐of‐the‐art fuzz testing tools.

Supersingular Isogeny Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange on 64-Bit ARM

We present an efficient implementation of the supersingular isogeny Diffie-Hellman (SIDH) key exchange protocol on 64-bit ARMv8 processors for 125- and 160-bit post-quantum security levels. We analyze the use of both affine and projective SIDH formulas and provide a comprehensive analysis of both approaches based on the inversion-to-multiplication ratio. Implementation results show that regardless of security concerns, affine SIDH is competitive with the projective coordinates implementation, and even outperforms projective implementation in the final round of SIDH; however, projective SIDH shows better overall performance for the whole key exchange protocol. Notably, over larger finite fields, using optimized field multiplication leads to the much better performance of projective compared to affine formulas. We integrate our optimized software into the open quantum-safe OpenSSL library and compare our software with other available post-quantum primitives. The benchmark results on ARMv8 demonstrate speedup of up to 5X over the generic version of SIDH implementation which is available inside the OQS library for the same quantum security level. We observe that our highly-optimized implementation still suffers from a large number of operations for computing isogenies of elliptic curves. However, in terms of communication overhead, supersingular isogeny-based cryptosystem provides significantly smaller key size compared to its counterparts.

Exhaustive single bit fault analysis. A use case against Mbedtls and OpenSSL’s protection on ARM and Intel CPU

Faults in software implementations target both data and instructions at different locations. Bellcore attack is a well-known fault attack that is able to break CRT-RSA. In response, cryptographic libraries such as OpenSSL are designed with protection. In this paper, new faults locations are shown on OpenSSL implementation of the CRT-RSA signature running on Intel and ARM processors. Among those faults, one restores the Bellcore attack on the OpenSSL library despite a protection and another is a complete new fault that exploits the OpenSSL protection to get RSA private key. Quite surprisingly, one of the exhibited faults is, ironically enough, made possible because of the existence of such protection. Mbedtls library is also analyzed in this paper. A way to find all exploitable faults on monobit flip fault model is also detailed.

A Blockchain-Based Medical Data Sharing and Protection Scheme

Electronic health record (EHR) has recorded the process of occurrence, development, and treatment of diseases. So it has high medical value. Owing to the private and sensitive nature of medical data for patients, the data sharing and privacy preservation are critical issues in EHR. Blockchain technology may be a promising solution for the problems above since it holds the features of decentralization and tamper resistance. In the paper, we propose a medical data sharing and protection scheme based on the hospital's private blockchain to improve the electronic health system of the hospital. Firstly, the scheme can satisfy various security properties such as decentralization, openness, and tamper resistance. A reliable mechanism is created for the doctors to store medical data or access the historical data of patients while meeting privacy preservation. Furthermore, a symptoms-matching mechanism is given between patients. It allows patients who get the same symptoms to conduct mutual authentication and create a session key for their future communication about the illness. The proposed scheme is implemented by using PBC and OpenSSL libraries. Finally, the security and performance evaluation of the proposed scheme is given.

Implementation of an eCK-secure Key Exchange Protocol for OpenSSL

Security models have been developed over time to analyze the security of two-party authenticated key exchange (AKE) protocols. LaMacchia et al. (ProSec 2007) presented a strong security model for AKE protocols, namely the extended Canetti-Krawczyk (eCK) model, addressing wide range of real-world attack scenarios. They constructed a protocol called NAXOS, that is proven-secure in the eCK model. In order to satisfy the eCK security, the NAXOS protocol uses a hash function to combine the long-term secret key and the ephemeral secret key, which is often called as “NAXOS-trick”. However, for the NAXOS-trick-based protocols, the way of leakage modelled in the eCK model leads to an unnatural assumption of leak-free computation of the hash function. Precisely, the eCK model allows the attacker to reveal the ephemeral key while the output of the NAXOS-trick computation remains safe (leak-free). In a recent work of Alawatugoda et al. (IMA Cryptography and Coding 2015), a NAXOS-trick-free eCK-secure AKE protocol is presented, namely protocol P1. In this work, we implement the protocol P1 to be used with the widely-used OpenSSL cryptographic library. OpenSSL implementations are widely used with the real-world security protocol suites, such as Security Socket Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS). As per best of our knowledge, this is the first implementation of a eCK-secure key exchange protocol for the OpenSSL library. Thus, we open up the direction to use the recent advancements of cryptography for real-world Internet communication.

Fast and Secure Implementation of Modular Exponentiation for Mitigating Fine-Grained Cache Attacks

Constant-time technique is of crucial importance to prevent secrets of cryptographic algorithms from leakage by cache attacks. In this paper, we propose Permute-Scatter-Gather, a novel constant-time method for the modular exponentiation that is used in the RSA cryptosystem. On the basis of the scatter-gather design, our method utilizes pseudo-random permutation to obfuscate memory access patterns. Based on this strategy, the resistance against fine-grained cache attacks is ensured, i.e., providing the higher level of security than the existing scatter-gather implementations. Evaluation shows that our method outperforms the OpenSSL library at most 11% in the mainstream Intel processors.

Applications and techniques in information and network security

Applications and techniques in information and network security

A framework for application partitioning using trusted execution environments

SummaryThe size and complexity of modern applications are the underlying causes of numerous security vulnerabilities. In order to mitigate the risks arising from such vulnerabilities, various techniques have been proposed to isolate the execution of sensitive code from the rest of the application and from other software on the platform (such as the operating system). New technologies, notably Intel's Software Guard Extensions (SGX), are becoming available to enhance the security of partitioned applications. SGX provides a trusted execution environment (TEE), called an enclave, that protects the integrity of the code and the confidentiality of the data inside it from other software, including the operating system (OS). However, even with these partitioning techniques, it is not immediately clear exactly how they can and should be used to partition applications. How should a particular application be partitioned? How many TEEs should be used? What granularity of partitioning should be applied? To some extent, this is dependent on the capabilities and performance of the partitioning technology in use. However, as partitioning becomes increasingly common, there is a need for systematisation in the design of partitioning schemes.To address this need, we present a novel framework consisting of four overarching types of partitioning schemes through which applications can make use of TEEs. These schemes range from coarse‐grained partitioning, in which the whole application is included in a single TEE, through to ultra‐fine partitioning, in which each piece of security‐sensitive code and data is protected in an individual TEE. Although partitioning schemes themselves are application specific, we establish application‐independent relationships between the types we have defined. Because these relationships have an impact on both the security and performance of the partitioning scheme, we envisage that our framework can be used by software architects to guide the design of application partitioning schemes. To demonstrate the applicability of our framework, we have carried out case studies on two widely used software packages, the Apache Web server and the OpenSSL library. In each case study, we provide four high‐level partitioning schemes—one for each of the types in our framework. We also systematically review the related work on hardware‐enforced partitioning by categorising previous research efforts according to our framework. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Modelling of Security Principles Within Car-to-Car Communications in Modern Cooperative Intelligent Transportation Systems

Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) bring advanced applications that provide innovative services for various transportation modes in the area of traffic control, and enable better awareness for different users. Communication connections between intelligent vehicles with the use of wireless communication standards, so called Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs), require ensuring verification of validity of provided services as well as services related to transmission confidentiality and integrity. The goal of this paper is to analyze secure mechanisms utilised in VANET communication within Cooperative Intelligent Transportation Systems (C-ITS) with a focus on safety critical applications. The practical part of the contribution is dedicated to modelling of security properties of VANET networks via OPNET Modeler tool extended by the implementation of the OpenSSL library for authentication protocol realisation based on digital signature schemes. The designed models simulate a transmission of authorised alert messages in Car-to-Car communication for several traffic scenarios with recommended Elliptic Curve Integrated Encryption Scheme (ECIES). The obtained results of the throughput and delay in the simulated network are compared for secured and no-secured communications in dependence on the selected digital signature schemes and the number of mobile nodes. The OpenSSL library has also been utilised for the comparison of time demandingness of digital signature schemes based on RSA (Rivest Shamir Adleman), DSA (Digital Signature Algorithm) and ECDSA (Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm) for different key-lengths suitable for real time VANET communications for safety-critical applications of C-ITS.

Secure cryptographic functions via virtualization‐based outsourced computing

SummaryCryptographic functions, such as encryption/decryption libraries, are common and important tools for applications to enhance confidentiality of the data. However, these functions could be compromised by subtle attacks launched by untrusted operating system or other applications, and sensitive keys or cryptographic procedures could then be compromised. In this paper, based on virtualization technology, we propose a novel approach that outsources the cryptographic functions in one virtual machine (VM) into another dedicated VM, so that sensitive keys and the cryptographic procedures are only contained by this VM with specific purpose. We also propose a prototype, called cryptographic function assurance (CFA), to enhance the security of cryptographic functions. Taking OpenSSL as an example, CFA allows those applications that use OpenSSL library to transparently utilize CFA to protect the cryptographic functions. We present the detailed implementation, as well as the security analysis of CFA. We also give the performance evaluation for OpenSSL's interfaces and Apache httpd, to show the overhead caused by the integration of CFA. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

WAVE 보안 알고리즘의 소프트웨어 구현

IEEE developing WAVE specifications are able to support V2V and V2I wireless communications, and these functionalities can be used to enhance vehicle operational safety. To overcome any security weaknesses that are inherent in wireless communications, WAVE specification should support message encryption and authentication functions. In this study, we have implemented WAVE security algorithms in IEEE P1609.2 with openssl library and C language. We have verified the normal operation of implemented software, using the test vectors of related specifications, and measured their performance. Our software is platform independent, and can be used for the full implementation of WAVE specification.

Integrated security infrastructures for law enforcement agencies

This paper provides an overview of the security architecture for Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) designed by the INDECT project, and in particular the security infrastructures that have been deployed so far. These security infrastructures can be organized in the following main areas: Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and user management, communications security, and new cryptographic algorithms. This paper presents the new ideas, architectures and deployed testbeds for these areas. In particular, it explains the inner structure of the INDECT PKI employed for federated identity management, the different technologies employed in the VPN testbed, the INDECT Block Cipher (IBC) --- a novel cryptographic algorithm that has being integrated into OpenSSL library, and how IBC-enabled TLS/SSL sessions and X.509 certificates are employed to protect INDECT applications. All proposed mechanisms have been designed to work in an integrated fashion as the security foundation of all systems being developed by the INDECT project for LEAs.

Design and Implementation of Students’ Information System for Tertiary Institutions Using Neural Networks

This paper identifies the causes associated with delays in processing and releasing results in tertiary institutions. An enhanced computer program for result computation integrated with a database for storage of processed results simplifies a university grading system and overcomes the short-comings of existing packages. The system takes interdepartmental collaboration and alliances into consideration, over a network that speeds up collection of processed results from designated departments through an improved centralized database system. An empirical evaluation of the system shows that it expedites processing of results and transcripts at various levels and management of and access to student results on-line. The technological approach for the implementation of the proposed system is based on open source solutions. Apache is used as Web server extended with PHP for server side processing. In recognition of the confidentiality of data contained in the system, communication networks are protected with open-ssl library for data encryption and role-based authentication. This system increases efficient service delivery and benefits both administration and students.