New Differential-Based Distinguishers for Ascon via Constraint Programming
As the winner of the NIST lightweight cryptography project, Ascon has undergone extensive self-evaluation and third-party cryptanalysis. In this paper, we use constraint programming (CP) as a tool to analyze the Ascon permutation and propose several differential-based distinguishers. We first propos...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2024-01-01
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| Series: | IET Information Security |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1049/2024/6624991 |
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| Summary: | As the winner of the NIST lightweight cryptography project, Ascon has undergone extensive self-evaluation and third-party cryptanalysis. In this paper, we use constraint programming (CP) as a tool to analyze the Ascon permutation and propose several differential-based distinguishers. We first propose a search methodology for finding truncated differentials for Ascon with CP, the core of which is modeling with the undisturbed bits of the S-box. By using this method, we find the five- and six-round truncated differentials with a probability of 2−44 and 2−162, respectively. Considering the application of permutation in the context, we also provide the five- and six-round truncated differential distinguishers under the weak-key setting. Then, inspired by our five-round truncated differentials, we propose a six-round boomerang characteristic, and based on this, we obtain the five- and six-round sandwich distinguishers with a complexity of 270 and 2134, respectively. Using the CP tool again and specifying that the “3-3” differential pattern is satisfied in the middle rounds, we propose a six-round differential characteristic with a probability of 2−280, which increases the probability by 225 compared to the best known six-round differential characteristic. |
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| ISSN: | 1751-8717 |