Tagged Questions

4
votes
2answers
126 views

Will varying plaintext compensate for a fixed initialisation vector?

This is a follow-up question to Relative merits of AES ECB and CBC modes for securing data at rest. I need to store encrypted Personal Account Numbers (PANs) in a database. The only encryption option ...
4
votes
5answers
316 views

Using CBC with a fixed IV and a random first plaintext block

What if, instead of using CBC mode in the normal way with a random IV, I used this approach: Use a fixed IV (like a block of 0's). Before encrypting, generate a random block and prepend it to the ...
2
votes
1answer
331 views

Why, or when, to use an Initialization Vector?

i'm trying to figure out when an Intialization Vector (IV) should be used. There are anecdotal reports that WEP was broken because of weak IV's. It's also claimed that if two pieces of plaintext are ...
1
vote
2answers
406 views

Is AES in CBC mode secure if a known and/or fixed IV is used?

I have a need to encrypt credentials for a third-party app used by a secured internal app. Over on ITSec.SE, I was helpfully shown a scheme to encrypt the third-party credentials based on a hash of ...
6
votes
2answers
474 views

Is using a predictable IV with CFB mode safe or not?

While writing this answer, I noted that NIST SP 800-38A says that (emphasis mine): "For the CBC and CFB modes, the IVs must be unpredictable. In particular, for any given plaintext, it must not be ...
3
votes
4answers
277 views

Which block cipher modes of operation allow a predictable IV?

Recently I found out that in the modes CBC and PCBC the IV may be passed in cleartext but never must be predictable. However for this part of my app I rather have the IV be predictable and unique ...
3
votes
3answers
408 views

Why does CBC decryption with a wrong IV still give readable results?

While developing some code that uses the .NET AesManaged algorithm, I made some mistakes but was surprised at the results. My encryption was correct. I was generating a random IV block and writing ...
1
vote
4answers
395 views

Is my pseudo-random initialization vector secure?

How can I know if I am generating a secure pseudorandom initialization vector? Currently I am planning to generate a pseudo-random initialization Vector using current date and time - is this secure ...
4
votes
3answers
417 views

Encryption with “constant” initialization vector considered harmful

I try to get the full reasoning behind the above statement. First, after reading articles here and at wikipedia i understand that using an IV only once is good practice. For stream ciphers not doing ...
2
votes
1answer
258 views

How does Output Feedback mode use the initialization vector?

How can I process Initialization Vector inside the Block Cipher Encryption box (using for example AES) together with the Key? Will I encrypt the Initialization Vector like a block of plaintext? So ...
3
votes
1answer
523 views

Why not use CTR with a randomized IV?

I'm currently reading the chapter of Cryptographic Engineering (Ferguson, Schneier, Kohno 2010) about block cipher modes of operation. They have recommended CBC with random IV instead of CTR due to ...
3
votes
1answer
170 views

OCB - brute force against unknown IV

I read that brute force attacks against a plaintext encrypted in OCB with unkown key and IV has approximately the same complexity as an attack where only the key is unknown. Why is that ? Is there a ...
3
votes
1answer
720 views

Does AES-CTR require an IV for any purpose other than distinguishing identical inputs?

I'd like to encrypt files deterministically, such that any users encrypting the same plaintext will use the same key and end up with the same ciphertext. The ciphertext should be private as long as ...
7
votes
1answer
1k views

Can CBC ciphertext be decrypted if the key is known, but the IV not?

Let's say that there is a binary file encrypted with AES in CBC mode (i.e. using a key and initialization vector). If key is known, but IV is not, is it easy to fully decrypt the file? How hard is ...