[Cryptography] Millions of high-security crypto keys crippled by newly discovered flaw

[Tamzen Cannoy]

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/10/crypto-failure-cripples-millions-of-high-security-keys-750k-estonian-ids/


"The flaw resides in the Infineon-developed RSA Library version v1.02.013 <https://www.commoncriteriaportal.org/files/epfiles/0782V2a_pdf.pdf>, specifically within an algorithm it implements for RSA primes generation. The library allows people to generate keys with smartcards rather than with general-purpose computers, which are easier to infect with malware and hence aren't suitable for high-security uses. The library runs on hardware Infineon sells to a wide range of manufacturers using Infineon smartcard chips and TPMs. The manufacturers, in turn, sell the wares to other device makers or end users. The flaw affects only RSA encryption keys, and then only when they were generated on a smartcard or other embedded device that uses the Infineon library.
To boost performance, the Infineon library constructs the keys' underlying prime numbers in a way that makes them prone to a process known as factorization <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factorization>, which exposes the secret numbers underpinning their security. When generated properly, an RSA key with 2048 bits should require several quadrillion years—or hundreds of thousands of times the age of the universe—to be factorized with a general-purpose computer. Factorizing a 2048-bit RSA key generated with the faulty Infineon library, by contrast, takes a maximum of 100 years, and on average only half that. Keys with 1024 bits take a maximum of only three months."
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