# Encrypting twice with same key gives back plain text

I read in the answer here that when encrypting twice the plain text with same key could result in plain text as shown below

$encrypt_{key}((encrypt_{key}(plain)) = plain$

Which block-cipher algorithms are they? What is this property called in general? Is it considered weak?

Edit 1 : the question is about block ciphers, not block cipher modes of operation Edit 2 : added more clarity to the question through an equation

• You're thinking of stream ciphers, not block ciphers. A stream cipher (like RC4, for example) is basically a pseudorandom number generator that produces a unique sequence of numbers for each key. These numbers are XORed with the raw data to produce an encrypted stream that can be decoded by generating the same sequence of numbers based on the same key. Repeating the XOR operations restores the original data. – r3mainer Oct 30 '14 at 0:30
• @owlstead OK, I'll post as an answer instead :-) – r3mainer Oct 30 '14 at 0:39
• @squeamishossifrage the above question is about block ciphers , i thought it was explicit from the question i was pointing it , anyway edited it now to make it more clear – sashank Oct 30 '14 at 0:43
• Does involutional (SPN) cipher fit your bill? – Maarten Bodewes Oct 30 '14 at 1:18

• @squeamishossifrage OK, I was still wrong footed. This is not going to answer the question, $E_k$ itself must be a block cipher that is involutional. – Maarten Bodewes Oct 30 '14 at 1:23