Can a zero nonce be safely used with AES-GCM if the key is random and never used again?
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I could generate a random nonce and prepend it to the ciphertext, but storage space is at a premium and the only constraint AES-GCM has on the nonce (if I'm reading correctly) is that the same nonce must never be paired with the same key for a second encryption.
The encryption key is randomly generated, used for a single encryption, split using Shamir's Secret Sharing Scheme, and discarded. When the key is reconstructed for decryption, there is no chance that it can be fed back through to encrypt again; a new random key is always generated for each encryption.
If that's the only constraint, then twelve zero bytes are as safe as twelve random bytes prepended to the ciphertext. I'm reading that the AES-GCM nonce is used as the IV for AES in CTR mode. It's okay to use a zero IV for AES-CTR as long as the key is never reused, but I don't want to assume without confirmation that AES-GCM does nothing relevant with the nonce besides passing it to AES CTR. Am I missing anything?
aes initialization-vector gcm nonce aes-gcm
asked 46 mins ago
jnm2jnm2
28938
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add a comment |
$begingroup$
I could generate a random nonce and prepend it to the ciphertext, but storage space is at a premium and the only constraint AES-GCM has on the nonce (if I'm reading correctly) is that the same nonce must never be paired with the same key for a second encryption.
The encryption key is randomly generated, used for a single encryption, split using Shamir's Secret Sharing Scheme, and discarded. When the key is reconstructed for decryption, there is no chance that it can be fed back through to encrypt again; a new random key is always generated for each encryption.
If that's the only constraint, then twelve zero bytes are as safe as twelve random bytes prepended to the ciphertext. I'm reading that the AES-GCM nonce is used as the IV for AES in CTR mode. It's okay to use a zero IV for AES-CTR as long as the key is never reused, but I don't want to assume without confirmation that AES-GCM does nothing relevant with the nonce besides passing it to AES CTR. Am I missing anything?
aes initialization-vector gcm nonce aes-gcm
asked 46 mins ago
jnm2jnm2
28938
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I could generate a random nonce and prepend it to the ciphertext, but storage space is at a premium and the only constraint AES-GCM has on the nonce (if I'm reading correctly) is that the same nonce must never be paired with the same key for a second encryption.
The encryption key is randomly generated, used for a single encryption, split using Shamir's Secret Sharing Scheme, and discarded. When the key is reconstructed for decryption, there is no chance that it can be fed back through to encrypt again; a new random key is always generated for each encryption.
If that's the only constraint, then twelve zero bytes are as safe as twelve random bytes prepended to the ciphertext. I'm reading that the AES-GCM nonce is used as the IV for AES in CTR mode. It's okay to use a zero IV for AES-CTR as long as the key is never reused, but I don't want to assume without confirmation that AES-GCM does nothing relevant with the nonce besides passing it to AES CTR. Am I missing anything?
aes initialization-vector gcm nonce aes-gcm
asked 46 mins ago
jnm2jnm2
28938
$endgroup$
I could generate a random nonce and prepend it to the ciphertext, but storage space is at a premium and the only constraint AES-GCM has on the nonce (if I'm reading correctly) is that the same nonce must never be paired with the same key for a second encryption.
The encryption key is randomly generated, used for a single encryption, split using Shamir's Secret Sharing Scheme, and discarded. When the key is reconstructed for decryption, there is no chance that it can be fed back through to encrypt again; a new random key is always generated for each encryption.
If that's the only constraint, then twelve zero bytes are as safe as twelve random bytes prepended to the ciphertext. I'm reading that the AES-GCM nonce is used as the IV for AES in CTR mode. It's okay to use a zero IV for AES-CTR as long as the key is never reused, but I don't want to assume without confirmation that AES-GCM does nothing relevant with the nonce besides passing it to AES CTR. Am I missing anything?
aes initialization-vector gcm nonce aes-gcm
aes initialization-vector gcm nonce aes-gcm
asked 46 mins ago
jnm2jnm2
28938
asked 46 mins ago
jnm2jnm2
28938
asked 46 mins ago
jnm2jnm2
28938
asked 46 mins ago
jnm2jnm2
28938
asked 46 mins ago
jnm2jnm2
28938
28938
add a comment |
add a comment |
1 Answer
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Am I missing anything?
No, you are not; if you use a key only once, that is, to encrypt a single message, and never use it to encrypt anything else, then it doesn't matter what nonce you use. An implicit 'all-00' nonce is as good as any.
BTW: AES-GCM also uses the nonce as a part of the transform that generates the integrity tag; however, that addition does not complicate the fact that an all-00 nonce is fine, as long as you use the key once.
answered 41 mins ago
ponchoponcho
94.1k2148247
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$begingroup$
Am I missing anything?
No, you are not; if you use a key only once, that is, to encrypt a single message, and never use it to encrypt anything else, then it doesn't matter what nonce you use. An implicit 'all-00' nonce is as good as any.
BTW: AES-GCM also uses the nonce as a part of the transform that generates the integrity tag; however, that addition does not complicate the fact that an all-00 nonce is fine, as long as you use the key once.
answered 41 mins ago
ponchoponcho
94.1k2148247
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Am I missing anything?
No, you are not; if you use a key only once, that is, to encrypt a single message, and never use it to encrypt anything else, then it doesn't matter what nonce you use. An implicit 'all-00' nonce is as good as any.
BTW: AES-GCM also uses the nonce as a part of the transform that generates the integrity tag; however, that addition does not complicate the fact that an all-00 nonce is fine, as long as you use the key once.
answered 41 mins ago
ponchoponcho
94.1k2148247
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Am I missing anything?
No, you are not; if you use a key only once, that is, to encrypt a single message, and never use it to encrypt anything else, then it doesn't matter what nonce you use. An implicit 'all-00' nonce is as good as any.
BTW: AES-GCM also uses the nonce as a part of the transform that generates the integrity tag; however, that addition does not complicate the fact that an all-00 nonce is fine, as long as you use the key once.
answered 41 mins ago
ponchoponcho
94.1k2148247
$endgroup$
Am I missing anything?
No, you are not; if you use a key only once, that is, to encrypt a single message, and never use it to encrypt anything else, then it doesn't matter what nonce you use. An implicit 'all-00' nonce is as good as any.
BTW: AES-GCM also uses the nonce as a part of the transform that generates the integrity tag; however, that addition does not complicate the fact that an all-00 nonce is fine, as long as you use the key once.
answered 41 mins ago
ponchoponcho
94.1k2148247
answered 41 mins ago
ponchoponcho
94.1k2148247
answered 41 mins ago
ponchoponcho
94.1k2148247
answered 41 mins ago
ponchoponcho
94.1k2148247
94.1k2148247
add a comment |
add a comment |
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