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RevEAL: Single-Trace Side-Channel Leakage of the SEAL Homomorphic Encryption Library

  • North Carolina State University
  • Dokuz Eylul University

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the first side-channel attack on homomorphic encryption (HE), which allows computing on encrypted data. We reveal a power-based side-channel leakage of Microsoft SEAL prior to v3.6 that implements the Brakerski/Fan-Vercauteren (BFV) protocol. Our proposed attack targets the Gaussian sampling in the SEAL's encryption phase and can extract the entire message with a single power measurement. Our attack works by (1) identifying each coefficient index being sampled, (2) extracting the sign value of the coefficients from control-flow variations, (3) recovering the coefficients with a high probability from data-flow variations, and (4) using a Blockwise Korkine-Zolotarev (BKZ) algorithm to efficiently explore and estimate the remaining search space. Using real power measurements, the results on a RISC-V FPGA implementation of the SEAL (v3.2) show that the proposed attack can reduce the plaintext encryption security level from 2128 to 24.4. Therefore, as HE gears toward real-world applications, such attacks and related defenses should be considered.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 2022 Design, Automation and Test in Europe Conference and Exhibition, DATE 2022
EditorsCristiana Bolchini, Ingrid Verbauwhede, Ioana Vatajelu
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages1527-1532
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9783981926361
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022
Event2022 Design, Automation and Test in Europe Conference and Exhibition, DATE 2022 - Virtual, Online, Belgium
Duration: Mar 14 2022Mar 23 2022

Publication series

NameProceedings of the 2022 Design, Automation and Test in Europe Conference and Exhibition, DATE 2022

Conference

Conference2022 Design, Automation and Test in Europe Conference and Exhibition, DATE 2022
Country/TerritoryBelgium
CityVirtual, Online
Period03/14/2203/23/22

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