Work

Decentralized But Not Immune: Empirical and Formal Security Analysis of Messaging Networks

Year: 2026

Type: conference-paper

Abstract: As decentralized messaging networks (DMNs) evolve, there is an increasing need for automated methods to systematically profile their ecosystems and formally verify the security of their underlying protocols. In this study, we propose a modular and automated framework, D-MAP, that combines large-scale data collection with formal security verification, enabling the abstraction, modeling, and analysis of security protocols across diverse DMN platforms. Leveraging D-MAP, we perform empirical measurements and protocol-level verification across several representative DMNs (namely, Matrix, Berty, Jami, and Status). Our analysis uncovers a range of security issues spanning both network infrastructure and protocol layers, including DMNs node IP address exposure (4.4% of 78K DMN nodes), software supply chain weaknesses, and cryptographic flaws in handshake and encryption protocol that permit man-in-the-middle and impersonation attacks.

Source: International Workshop on Quality of Service

DOI: 10.1109/iwqos70441.2026.11661051

Authors: Hao Li, Rui Wang, Hongfeng Sun, Zhenxiang Chen, Shanqing Guo

Institutions: Shandong Women’s University, University of Jinan, Shandong University

Language: English

Topic: Advanced Authentication Protocols Security

Subfield: Computer Networks and Communications

Field: Computer Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

OpenAlex ID: W7204276429

FWCI:

Cites: 7

Cited by:

Related to: 10