Side channels

Side channels are weaknesses in security protocols that arise from flaws in the hardware and software used to implement the protocol, rather than from flaws in the protocol’s algorithms.

This topic description is a stub. We would welcome a pull request providing more background information about the topic.

Optech newsletter and website mentions

2023

• Libsecp256k1 #1313 tests compiler prebuilds to detect unwanted optimization of constant-time code
• Libsecp256k1 0.3.1 fixes a timing side-channel vulnerability

2021

• Libsecp256k1 #906 reduces iterations when using a constant-time signing algorithm
• Libsecp256k1 #831 implements SafeGCD algorithm which speeds up side-channel resistant signing
• New SafeGCD algorithm can speed up signing while remaining side-channel resistant

2020

• Presentation: Remote Side-Channel Attacks on Anonymous Transactions

2019

• Presentation: Extracting Seeds from Hardware Wallets

See also

• Exfiltration-resistant signing

  
  

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