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Cryptographically secure pseudorandom number generator

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A cryptographically secure pseudorandom number generator (CSPRNG) or cryptographic pseudorandom number generator (CPRNG) is a pseudorandom number generator (PRNG) with properties that make it suitable for use in cryptography. It is also referred to as a cryptographic random number generator (CRNG).

BackgroundEdit

{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= {{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= Template:Ambox }} }} Most cryptographic applications require random numbers, for example:

The "quality" of the randomness required for these applications varies. For example, creating a nonce in some protocols needs only uniqueness. On the other hand, the generation of a master key requires a higher quality, such as more entropy. And in the case of one-time pads, the information-theoretic guarantee of perfect secrecy only holds if the key material comes from a true random source with high entropy, and thus just any kind of pseudorandom number generator is insufficient.

Ideally, the generation of random numbers in CSPRNGs uses entropy obtained from a high-quality source, generally the operating system's randomness API. However, unexpected correlations have been found in several such ostensibly independent processes. From an information-theoretic point of view, the amount of randomness, the entropy that can be generated, is equal to the entropy provided by the system. But sometimes, in practical situations, numbers are needed with more randomness than the available entropy can provide. Also, the processes to extract randomness from a running system are slow in actual practice. In such instances, a CSPRNG can sometimes be used. A CSPRNG can "stretch" the available entropy over more bits.

RequirementsEdit

The requirements of an ordinary PRNG are also satisfied by a cryptographically secure PRNG, but the reverse is not true. CSPRNG requirements fall into two groups:

  1. They pass statistical randomness tests:
  2. They hold up well under serious attack, even when part of their initial or running state becomes available to an attacker:<ref name=Kelsey/>
    • Every CSPRNG should withstand "state compromise extension attacks".<ref name=Kelsey>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp In the event that part or all of its state has been revealed (or guessed correctly), it should be impossible to reconstruct the stream of random numbers prior to the revelation. Additionally, if there is an entropy input while running, it should be infeasible to use knowledge of the input's state to predict future conditions of the CSPRNG state.

For instance, if the PRNG under consideration produces output by computing bits of pi in sequence, starting from some unknown point in the binary expansion, it may well satisfy the next-bit test and thus be statistically random, as pi is conjectured to be a normal number. However, this algorithm is not cryptographically secure; an attacker who determines which bit of pi is currently in use (i.e. the state of the algorithm) will be able to calculate all preceding bits as well.

Most PRNGs are not suitable for use as CSPRNGs and will fail on both counts. First, while most PRNGs' outputs appear random to assorted statistical tests, they do not resist determined reverse engineering. Specialized statistical tests may be found specially tuned to such a PRNG that shows the random numbers not to be truly random. Second, for most PRNGs, when their state has been revealed, all past random numbers can be retrodicted, allowing an attacker to read all past messages, as well as future ones.

CSPRNGs are designed explicitly to resist this type of cryptanalysis.

DefinitionsEdit

In the asymptotic setting, a family of deterministic polynomial time computable functions <math>G_k\colon\{0,1\}^k\to\{0,1\}^{p(k)}</math> for some polynomial Template:Mvar, is a pseudorandom number generator (PRNG, or PRG in some references), if it stretches the length of its input (<math>p(k) > k</math> for any Template:Mvar), and if its output is computationally indistinguishable from true randomness, i.e. for any probabilistic polynomial time algorithm Template:Mvar, which outputs 1 or 0 as a distinguisher,

<math>\left|\Pr_{x\gets\{0,1\}^k}[A(G(x))=1] - \Pr_{r\gets\{0,1\}^{p(k)}}[A(r)=1]\right| < \mu(k)</math>

for some negligible function <math>\mu</math>.<ref>Template:Citation, def 3.3.1.</ref> (The notation <math>x\gets X</math> means that Template:Mvar is chosen uniformly at random from the set Template:Mvar.)

There is an equivalent characterization: For any function family <math>G_k\colon\{0,1\}^k\to\{0,1\}^{p(k)}</math>, Template:Mvar is a PRNG if and only if the next output bit of Template:Mvar cannot be predicted by a polynomial time algorithm.<ref>Template:Citation, Theorem 3.3.7.</ref>

A forward-secure PRNG with block length <math>t(k)</math> is a PRNG <math>G_k\colon\{0,1\}^k\to\{0,1\}^k\times\{0,1\}^{t(k)}</math>, where the input string <math>s_i</math> with length Template:Mvar is the current state at period Template:Mvar, and the output (<math>s_{i+1}</math>, <math>y_i</math>) consists of the next state <math>s_{i+1}</math> and the pseudorandom output block <math>y_i</math> of period Template:Mvar, that withstands state compromise extensions in the following sense. If the initial state <math>s_1</math> is chosen uniformly at random from <math>\{0,1\}^k</math>, then for any Template:Mvar, the sequence <math>(y_1,y_2,\dots,y_i,s_{i+1})</math> must be computationally indistinguishable from <math>(r_1,r_2,\dots,r_i,s_{i+1})</math>, in which the <math>r_i</math> are chosen uniformly at random from <math>\{0,1\}^{t(k)}</math>.<ref>Template:Citation, def 4.</ref>

Any PRNG <math>G\colon\{0,1\}^k\to\{0,1\}^{p(k)}</math> can be turned into a forward secure PRNG with block length <math>p(k)-k</math> by splitting its output into the next state and the actual output. This is done by setting <math>G(s) = G_0(s)\Vert G_1(s)</math>, in which <math>|G_0(s)| = |s| = k</math> and <math>|G_1(s)| = p(k)-k</math>; then Template:Mvar is a forward secure PRNG with <math>G_0</math> as the next state and <math>G_1</math> as the pseudorandom output block of the current period.

Entropy extractionEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

Santha and Vazirani proved that several bit streams with weak randomness can be combined to produce a higher-quality, quasi-random bit stream.<ref name=santha-vazirani> Template:Cite conference</ref> Even earlier, John von Neumann proved that a simple algorithm can remove a considerable amount of the bias in any bit stream,<ref name=neumann-random> Template:Cite book</ref> which should be applied to each bit stream before using any variation of the Santha–Vazirani design.

DesignsEdit

CSPRNG designs are divided into two classes:

  1. Designs based on cryptographic primitives such as ciphers and cryptographic hashes
  2. Designs based on mathematical problems thought to be hard

Designs based on cryptographic primitivesEdit

{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

    • The NIST CTR_DRBG scheme erases the key after the requested randomness is output by running additional cycles. This is wasteful from a performance perspective, but does not immediately cause issues with forward secrecy. However, realizing the performance implications, the NIST recommends an "extended AES-CTR-DRBG interface" for its Post-Quantum Cryptography Project submissions. This interface allows multiple sets of randomness to be generated without intervening erasure, only erasing when the user explicitly signals the end of requests. As a result, the key could remain in memory for an extended time if the "extended interface" is misused. Newer "fast-key-erasure" RNGs erase the key with randomness as soon as randomness is requested.<ref name="fke">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • A stream cipher can be converted into a CSPRNG. This has been done with RC4, ISAAC, and ChaCha20, to name a few.
  • A cryptographically secure hash might also be a base of a good CSPRNG, using, for example, a construct that NIST calls Hash DRBG.
  • An HMAC primitive can be used as a base of a CSPRNG, for example, as part of the construct that NIST calls HMAC DRBG.

Number-theoretic designsEdit

  • The Blum Blum Shub algorithm has a security proof based on the difficulty of the quadratic residuosity problem. Since the only known way to solve that problem is to factor the modulus, it is generally regarded that the difficulty of integer factorization provides a conditional security proof for the Blum Blum Shub algorithm. However the algorithm is very inefficient and therefore impractical unless extreme security is needed.
  • The Blum–Micali algorithm has a security proof based on the difficulty of the discrete logarithm problem but is also very inefficient.
  • Daniel Brown of Certicom wrote a 2006 security proof for Dual EC DRBG, based on the assumed hardness of the Decisional Diffie–Hellman assumption, the x-logarithm problem, and the truncated point problem. The 2006 proof explicitly assumes a lower outlen (amount of bits provided per iteration) than in the Dual_EC_DRBG standard, and that the P and Q in the Dual_EC_DRBG standard (which were revealed in 2013 to be probably backdoored by NSA) are replaced with non-backdoored values.

Practical schemesEdit

"Practical" CSPRNG schemes not only include an CSPRNG algorithm, but also a way to initialize ("seed") it while keeping the seed secret. A number of such schemes have been defined, including:

  • Implementations of /dev/random in Unix-like systems.
    • Yarrow, which attempts to evaluate the entropic quality of its seeding inputs, and uses SHA-1 and 3DES internally. Yarrow was used in macOS and other Apple OS' up until about December 2019, after which it switched to Fortuna.
    • Fortuna, the successor to Yarrow, which does not attempt to evaluate the entropic quality of its inputs; it uses SHA-256 and "any good block cipher". Fortuna is used in FreeBSD. Apple changed to Fortuna for most or all Apple OSs beginning around Dec. 2019.
    • The Linux kernel CSPRNG, which uses ChaCha20 to generate data,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> and BLAKE2s to ingest entropy.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • arc4random, a CSPRNG in Unix-like systems that seeds from Template:Tt. It originally is based on RC4, but all main implementations now use ChaCha20.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Obviously, the technique is easily generalized to any block cipher; AES has been suggested.<ref name=Malicious_Cryptography2> Template:Cite book</ref> If the key k is leaked, the entire X9.17 stream can be predicted; this weakness is cited as a reason for creating Yarrow.<ref name="report1999">Template:Cite book</ref>

All these above-mentioned schemes, save for X9.17, also mix the state of a CSPRNG with an additional source of entropy. They are therefore not "pure" pseudorandom number generators, in the sense that the output is not completely determined by their initial state. This addition aims to prevent attacks even if the initial state is compromised.Template:Efn

StandardsEdit

Several CSPRNGs have been standardized. For example:

  • FIPS 186-4<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Template:Block indent

  • NIST SP 800-90A Rev.1

Template:Block indent

  • ANSI X9.17-1985 Appendix C
  • ANSI X9.31-1998 Appendix A.2.4
  • ANSI X9.62-1998 Annex A.4, obsoleted by ANSI X9.62-2005, Annex D (HMAC_DRBG)

A good reference is maintained by NIST.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

There are also standards for statistical testing of new CSPRNG designs:

  • A Statistical Test Suite for Random and Pseudorandom Number Generators, NIST Special Publication 800-22.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Security flawsEdit

NSA kleptographic backdoor in the Dual_EC_DRBG PRNGEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The Guardian and The New York Times reported in 2013 that the National Security Agency (NSA) inserted a backdoor into a pseudorandom number generator (PRNG) of NIST SP 800-90A, which allows the NSA to readily decrypt material that was encrypted with the aid of Dual EC DRBG. Both papers reported<ref name=Guardian>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> that, as independent security experts long suspected,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> the NSA had been introducing weaknesses into CSPRNG standard 800-90; this being confirmed for the first time by one of the top-secret documents leaked to The Guardian by Edward Snowden. The NSA worked covertly to get its own version of the NIST draft security standard approved for worldwide use in 2006. The leaked document states that "eventually, NSA became the sole editor". In spite of the known potential for a kleptographic backdoor and other known significant deficiencies with Dual_EC_DRBG, several companies such as RSA Security continued using Dual_EC_DRBG until the backdoor was confirmed in 2013.<ref name="green">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> RSA Security received a $10 million payment from the NSA to do so.<ref name="reuters">Template:Cite news</ref>

DUHK attackEdit

On October 23, 2017, Shaanan Cohney, Matthew Green, and Nadia Heninger, cryptographers at the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University, released details of the DUHK (Don't Use Hard-coded Keys) attack on WPA2 where hardware vendors use a hardcoded seed key for the ANSI X9.31 RNG algorithm, stating "an attacker can brute-force encrypted data to discover the rest of the encryption parameters and deduce the master encryption key used to encrypt web sessions or virtual private network (VPN) connections."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Japanese PURPLE cipher machineEdit

During World War II, Japan used a cipher machine for diplomatic communications; the United States was able to crack it and read its messages, mostly because the "key values" used were insufficiently random.

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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