Breaking Libgcrypt RSA via a side channel

A recent paper [PDF] by a group of eight cryptography researchers shows, once again, how cryptographic breakthroughs are made. They often start small, with just a reduction in the strength of a cipher or key search space, say, but then grow over time to reach the point of a full-on breaking of a cipher or the implementation of one. In this case, the RSA implementation in Libgcrypt for 1024-bit keys has been fully broken using a side-channel attack against the operation of the library—2048-bit keys are also susceptible, but not with the same reliability, at least using this exact technique.

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