lowRISC / lowRISC/ot-sca

ktp.next() for keys

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#116 3 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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good first issue Priority:P2
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Description

As discussed in https://github.com/lowRISC/ot-sca/pull/115 and https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sZjASiUji_IT-t9jEFlK-kGc_Gw3mGfubNvpkM_IQT4/edit#heading=h.qd65x0y76b0e we should check the usage of key, text = ktp.next() in cw/capture.py

Default behavior is that ktp.next() returns const_key, random_plaintext. This default behavior can be changed with ctx.obj.ktp.fixed_key = False.

Afaik, we call ktp.next()[0] only once per function and use only the first call of the iterator to assign a constant key. For random keys we use ktp.next()[1]. Thus, I think we ware fine and can change the default behavior, but we should double check that and read the spec if the first call of the iterator still outputs a deterministic value. On the other hand, if we really rely on a constant non random value, we should use a constant and not a constant iterator.

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Research direction

Start in cw/capture.py by tracing every use of key, text = ktp.next(), ktp.next()[0], and ktp.next()[1]. Read pull request 115 and the linked specification to verify whether the iterator's first value is deterministic; done means confirming the default behavior and documenting or changing the constant-key handling accordingly.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
security
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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