How can I perform a one-client MITM attack in a Diffie-Hellman key exchange?

Albert

4/4/24, 11:41 AM

Suppose we have intercepted a public key exchange (via Diffie-Hellman protocol). In addition to the keys A and B, the generator g and the module p are known.

Assuming that it is possible to exchange keys with client B, once it has finished the conversation with A, how can I obtain the private exponent of B?

I had thought about the "Small subgroup confinement attack", but I'm not sure it's the best way.

Take this challenge (static client) as a reference : Link.
I'm trying to learn, maybe the answer will be trivial!

0 + 2

cryptanalysis

discrete-logarithm

diffie-hellman

fgrieu

4/4/24, 12:10 PM

The question is asking about a (permanent) challenge, which is off-topic. Also it's ill-posed: it's about MitM, but the first two sentences are about a passive eavesdropping, which opposes MitM. It's wanted to _"obtain the private exponent"_, of a party, which MitM or small subgroup confinement attack does not allow.

fgrieu

4/4/24, 3:57 PM

Hint: in this CTF, you won't "obtain the private exponent" of either Alice or Bob. You'll obtain the flag encrypted under an AES key derived from a shared secret that you can compute, because you know the private exponent that you used.

Elon Musk

I sit in a Tesla and translated this thread with Ai:

EN: How can I perform a one-client MITM attack in a Diffie-Hellman key exchange?

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