README.md

AES Playground

My experiments in understanding AES, Whitebox AES, and related attacks.

See textbook_aes.py and the contents of the aes/ subdirectory for an AES128 implementation, which maps as closely to the FIPS 197 spec as possible.

DISCLAIMER: This code is optimised for educational purposes. Do not use in a security context.

My goals are to:

• Implement textbook AES from first principles.

• Implement LUT-based AES.

• Try extracting keys from the LUTs.

• Replicate academic Whitebox AES implementations.

• Implement known attacks, from first principles.

• Invent/implement novel attacks! (can "Differential Fault Analysis Using Symbolic Execution" be applied to whitebox/LUT based implementations?)

Resources

• AES: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Encryption_Standard

• FIPS 197 (NIST AES Standard): https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/FIPS/NIST.FIPS.197.pdf

• Useful debugging tool: https://www.cryptool.org/en/cto-highlights/aes

• Understanding Galois Fields: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finite_field_arithmetic

• "A Tutorial on White-box AES": https://eprint.iacr.org/2013/104.pdf

"To Research" list:

• Algebraic Fault Analysis

• Differential Fault Analysis Using Symbolic Execution

  • https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322089366_Differential_Fault_Analysis_Using_Symbolic_Execution

  • https://hardwear.io/document/flip-a-bit-grab-a-key-hardwear-io-2017-v1-1.pdf