Questions tagged [random-number-generator]
A random number generator is a software or hardware solution which functions as a generator of (real or pseudo) random numbers (or bits).
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There is a problem that I have trying to predict the next number in an LCG of “lottery” numbers given only one output from the seed
I have been given these "lottery numbers" and have been asked to figure out the next and the only hint that I have received was to use a Linear Congruential Generator.
1st Drawing (seed): 43243242
...
18
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2answers
4k views
A website that identifies an RNG from its output
This happened during a discussion of RNG entropy, and the difficulty of verifying the level of entropy in a long sequence of bits (e.g. a private key.)
A colleague of mine told me about a website ...
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1answer
51 views
If ChaCha20 is being used just as a CSPRNG, is nonce needed?
I'm planning to use ChaCha20 just as a CSPRNG. Key is random (taken from strong initial entropy source) and will be constantly replaced via DJB's fast key-erasure scheme. What should I use as the ...
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2answers
303 views
Why is Math.floor(Math.random()*9000) not secure in JavaScript?
I heard that one can predict the output from Math.Random() of JavaScript, but another day I had an idea to combine Math.random() ...
2
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1answer
57 views
How to get the original list back given a shuffled list and seed?
Say I have a shuffled list that was shuffled in Python using random.shuffle(). The shuffling was performed using a seeded random number generator. Is there a way I ...
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1answer
741 views
RFC6979: error in reference implementation?
If I correctly understand RFC 6979, there is an error in the ref implementation section 3.2.
In the step H2, RFC specification says
...
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2answers
776 views
How to analyze the off-by-one error's impact on the entropy of the result?
I'm reading Jean-Philippe Aumasson's book Serious Cryptography to learn more about cryptography. On page 37, the author gives an example of Cryptocat's off-by-one error in its PRNG implementation in ...
2
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1answer
80 views
Mathematical proof or any reference of “Deterministic random bit generator cannot produce more randomness than the randomness of seed”
The heading tells everything. Any proof or any kind of reference is welcome regarding this:
Can we get more randomness from a deterministic random bit generator than the entropy that we feed to the ...
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1answer
91 views
Murder Mystery Party
For a "Murder Mystery Party", one person is chosen anonymously to be the murderer
(i.e., only the murderer knows who the murderer is) by shuffling cards with
everyone randomly taking a private card (...
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1answer
35 views
Dieharder input file with a sequence of only binary numbers
I have a RNG producing sequences of binary numbers, ad I would like to run Dieharder test using them as an ascii txt input file. However I haven't been able to do it properly. Should I use a header ...
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2answers
66 views
Mathematical definition of deterministic and non-deterministic random bit generators
Can anyone give the mathematical definition of deterministic and non-deterministic random bit generator?
Providing a reference will also be very helpful.
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2answers
74 views
Doesn't d6 to binary for 256-bit bitcoin private key generation produce biased results?
If the mapping table looks like:
1: 000
2: 001
3: 010
4: 011
5: 100
6: 101
Then you are guaranteed that your key will never have a chain of 4 or more 1s, much fewer chains of 3 ones than would ...
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1answer
126 views
Distance between consecutive primes distribution
In several prime generation schemes I saw we pick a random number uniformly at random from a wide range and find the next prime after it.
Obviously with such a scheme some primes are more likely than ...
4
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1answer
95 views
Can a PRNG be made into a CSPRNG by hashing the outputs?
So I was contemplating this answer to my last question, and it got me thinking:
If I understand it right, one of the required properties of a CSPRNG is that it resists leaking information about its ...
3
votes
1answer
117 views
Is the PCG PRNG a CSPRNG, or why not?
Is the PCG family of PRNG algorithms cryptographically secure, and if not, what about them makes them inadequate for that?
I have a good enough understanding of the general problem space that if you ...
2
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1answer
59 views
Faster Shuffling for a Simple Application
Alice, Bob, and Charlie are working on three projects.
Alice is the manager. At the beginning of each day, she chooses one
project to work on (this choice is based on her preferences and is
not ...
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0answers
26 views
NIST Approved Entropy Source List
Per NIST SP 800-90B – Section 3 – Entropy Source Validation : This Recommendation provides requirements for validating an entropy source at a stated entropy rate. Validation consists of testing by an ...
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1answer
54 views
Min Entropy Value for Health Test per NIST 800-90B for 32 bit Noise Source
NIST 800-90B recommends Section 4.4.1 Repetition Count Test & Adaptive Proportion Test for health test on Noise sources.
In the equation to calculate the cut-off value C for Repetition Count Test,...
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2answers
72 views
PRNG next bit test
I would like to know whether a specific PRNG satisfy the next-bit test or not.
will satisfying all of NIST statistical tests on PRNG guarantees passing the next-bit test? Or is there a specific ...
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1answer
24 views
Does concatinating mutliple digests of hashes from CSRN result in a CSRN?
Kind of a noob question. Suppose;
We generate 1,000 cryptographic-ally secure random numbers & store each of them in an array1.
For each number in this array1, we take the hash sha256(CSRN) then ...
30
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4answers
10k views
The GCD strikes back to RSA in 2019 - Good randomness is the only solution?
When someone collects lots of RSA public modulus, the first thing comes to mind is;
$$\text{GCD them all}$$
If you calculate the GCD of two different RSA modulus and if the result is not 1 then you ...
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2answers
717 views
Perfect shuffle possible with limited raw entropy?
I am trying to shuffle a standard 52-card deck in a perfect way (every outcome should be possible at an equal chance). I am not, at this point, concerned with cryptanalysis attacks against it.
I have ...
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2answers
162 views
The importance of randomness in the creation of a key
Why does it matter what kind of random number generation is used during key generation?
E.g. this answer states ...
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1answer
82 views
Creating Random Pad from XORed Sections of Pi
If two strings of equal length from random offsets in Pi were XORed together, would this result in a cryptographically secure random number suitable for use in a one-time pad? If so, would this mean ...
0
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1answer
73 views
PRNG XOR Pipeline
For an OTP I need the 'best' random data I can acquire.
Please check if my thinking for stacking PRNGs together in a pipeline can only make the output statistically better, never worse?!
So take a ...
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3answers
98 views
Should the seed of CSPRNG produce the same random number?
Assume we are designing a CSPRNG to be used in encryption like that used for ECC-based cryptography.
Is it required that the seed always produces the same random number always? Or should it be ...
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1answer
88 views
What is the weakpoint of PRNG based encryption? [closed]
Let's say I used this encryption schema:
In words instead of images:
Hash the encryption key with SHA256
Split it in half, first half use as XOR key for first 128 bit block of plaintext
Hash the ...
1
vote
1answer
78 views
Is it possible to recover the seed value from a Mersenne Twister PRNG state?
So I know that you can recover the state of a mersenne twister generator by observing a sequence which is long enough.
I was wondering if you could be able to recover the actual seed value used or ...
2
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1answer
107 views
Strong RNG for encryption/authentation algo
I saw in the market several hardware options for creating strong RNG to produce strong KEYS:
HSM
TPM internal TRNG
Intel RDSEED (TRNG)/RDRAND
My questions are;
What is the strength/entropy ...
0
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0answers
43 views
using non prime numbers in Blum Blum Shub or Blum Micali
I would like to use Blum Blum Shub, or Blum Micali methods as random number generators only. I am not interested in their encryption capabilities.
I was wondering, if I replaced the prime numbers ...
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4answers
3k views
Can we use a Cryptographic hash function to generate infinite random numbers?
I have seen that there are PRNG that can generate a specific number of random-numbers. The Mersenne Twister as an example, can generate 2**19937 (if I'm not wrong) but... can we use a cryptographic ...
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0answers
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Default RNG used by openssl for certificate generation [duplicate]
I have generated a certificate using openssl with the below command.
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1answer
87 views
What is the difference between $\in$ and $\in_{\small R}$?
I have a simple question about basic math. When I read different papers bout ABE, I see different methods to choose a random exponent.
What is the difference between the following options?
Choose a ...
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0answers
28 views
How is Pre Master Secret related to Client.random or Server.random if DH KEX is RSA
For TLS 1.2 cipher Suite AES256-GCM-SHA384, RSA is KEX(key exchagne algorithm). As per standards of RSA Diffie Hellman KEX, after 'ServerHello' message client gets server certificate and it generates ...
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2answers
249 views
What are usable entropy sources in a headless machine without /dev/random or any cryptography API?
If I have a headless machine (no mouse movements, no keyboard presses, or user input), without any cryptography CSPRNG APIs, where can I collect entropy from?
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1answer
106 views
Can the OpenSSL random number generator be considered cryptographically secure? [duplicate]
The OpenSSL Random Number generator documented here
uses an OS-provided entropy source coupled with a MD5 hash function.
Does it impact the quality of randomness to use a broken cryptographic hash ...
4
votes
1answer
203 views
Any speed up methods for finding the index of a random value produced by the Inversive congruential generator?
The Inversive congruential generator produces random values with:
$$x_{n+1} = a\cdot x_{n}^{-1} + b \mod P$$
(special case if $x_n=0$ -> $x_{n+1}=b$)
starting with an initial value $x_0$
With well ...
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1answer
74 views
What is the correct way to choose the start parameters for NIST tests? [duplicate]
I had an idea of creating a pseudo-random binary sequence with that code:
...
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2answers
86 views
Is it possible to use an algorithm to generate an OTP?
I am a software developer, not a cryptologist.
I like the idea of perfect secrecy and would like to use a one-time pad (OTP) to encrypt/decrypt files up to, say, 50Mb. Is there a way that I can use ...
1
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1answer
54 views
Problem with Hash-DRBG's seedlen values (and others)
In NIST-SP-800-90Ar1, the Hash-DRBG is instantiated with hash functions using strange values for seed length (seedlen) such as 440, 888.
How are these values derived? How to derive values for other ...
2
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1answer
54 views
NIST DRBG algorithms' optional parameter
As I'm going through NIST-SP-800-90Ar1 spec for DRBG, I found the mention of security_strength in all of the 3 specified construct in the document: Hash_DRBG, HMAC_DRBG, CTR_DRBG. However, they're all ...
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0answers
69 views
'random' function $r_{n+1} = f(r_n)$, $|\{r_i,\forall i\}|=N$, $r_N = r_1$ where a function $g(r_k)=k$ is harder than in ECC?
Is there a deterministic pseudo random function $f$ with $r_{n+1} = f(r_n)$, $|\{r_i,\forall i\}|=N$, $r_N = r_0$, (for given random initial value $r_0$) where a function which derives the index of a ...
2
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1answer
42 views
Randomness measure of a sequence over a finite set [duplicate]
If $S$ is a finite set (such as outcomes of a dice). If I have a sequence $x_0 ... x_n$ of elements over $S$, how can I measure randomness quality of such a sequence as compared to measuring quality ...
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1answer
66 views
Is a number generator based on hashing an incremental string and a seed considered random? Part 2
Sorry I didn't put enough details on my last question, I didn't expect that there is really lots of factors, so most answers were left for speculations.
In this question, I will give the scenario I am ...
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2answers
99 views
Is a number generator based on hashing an incremental string considered random?
Consider the following system
1 - fixed string as a seed, example "something"
2 - concat an increment number "something-1"
3 - hash it, assume it is "9f2054ea4d2c"
4 - take the first 3 digits to ...
2
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1answer
155 views
“Jitterentropy” vs CPU RDRAND in VeraCrypt 1.24
Veracrypt 1.24 just came out. It uses a true random number generator based on hardware events; namely, on CPU timing jitter, or "Jitterentropy".
As an alternative to CPU RDRAND, I am a bit jittery ...
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3answers
192 views
How can I quickly generate thousands of letters randomly, and strongly mitigate the risk of any compromise?
I want to generate English letters in a truly random manner without resorting to hand-thrown dice, despite their advantages. Rolling dice would be too slow and tiring as I need four thousand letters.
...
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0answers
25 views
Is there a 'chain-function' which allows computing the value for the index which is next, previous, +/- some constants but has no shortcut for other?
Looking for an algorithm which has a cyclic 'chain'-function which only allows the computation of next, previous element and in addition to that also a shift by a small amount of constants.
Example 1 ...
0
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1answer
78 views
What PRG expansion factors are safe?
I'm trying to better understand the "cost" of randomness usage/generation in practice. I understand that generally, some (small) amount of "true" randomness is generated, and then a CSPRNG is applied ...
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3answers
143 views
Why does mt19937 fail the universal test in NIST SP 800-22?
Update: with the help of @SqueamishOssifrage and @PaulUzdak, we discovered that my NIST SP 800-22 has a broken universal test. So this becomes a moot question.
Check this report. It seems to sail ...
