Work

Cryptanalysis of PRINCEv2 using Biclique structures

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This paper presents a comprehensive cryptanalysis of PRINCEv2 , a lightweight block cipher optimized for low-latency applications. Using biclique cryptanalysis, we expose vulnerabilities in its design, particularly in its updated key schedule and middle layer operations. While PRINCEv2 was designed to resist biclique cryptanalysis, our findings indicate that such attacks remain feasible. We propose two novel single-key attacks on the full-round PRINCEv2 , one based on biclique structures and the other improving upon it with a Sieve-in-the-Middle (SIM) based attack, achieving key recovery with time complexities of 2 125 . 95 and 2 125 . 66 , respectively, with practical data and memory complexities. We further mounted a reduced-round biclique cryptanalysis on PRINCEv2 . These findings provide critical insights into the cipher’s security margins, challenging prior assumptions and underlining the need for addressing structural vulnerabilities in lightweight cryptographic algorithms.

Source: Discrete Applied Mathematics

DOI: 10.1016/j.dam.2025.10.013

Authors: Himadry Sekhar Roy, Prakash Dey, Santanu Sarkar, Avishek Adhikari, Sucheta Chakrabarti

Institutions: Presidency University, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Defence Research and Development Organisation, Scientific Analysis Group, Indian Statistical Institute

Language: English

Topic: Cryptographic Implementations and Security

Subfield: Artificial Intelligence

Field: Computer Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,090

Funders: Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India, University Grants Commission