Paper 2023/1033

OWF Candidates Based on: Xors, Error Detection Codes, Permutations, Polynomials, Interaction and Nesting

Abstract

Our research focuses on designing efficient commitment schemes by drawing inspiration from (perfect) information-theoretical secure primitives, e.g., the one-time pad and secret sharing. We use a random input as a mask for the committed value, outputting a function on the random input. Then, couple the output with the committed value xored with folded random input. First, we explore the potential of leveraging the unique properties of the one-time pad to design effective one-way functions. Our methodology applies the exclusive-or (xor) operation to two randomly chosen strings. To address concerns related to preimage mappings, we incorporate error detection codes. Additionally, we utilize permutations to overcome linearity issues in the computation process. Feistel networks are employed to ensure super pseudo-random permutation using the (random string) input (that serves as the commitment mask) and also as the encryption key. We propose integrating a secret-sharing scheme based on a linear polynomial to mitigate possible collisions. Lastly, we explore the possibility of nesting one-way functions as a countermeasure against potential backdoors. The resulting commitment schemes are efficient, in particular, have fewer layers than the standard cryptographic hash functions, such as SHA, and may fit the NIST effort for lightweight IoT cryptography (e.g., ASCON).