Chosen-ciphertext attack

A chosen-ciphertext attack (CCA) is an attack model for cryptanalysis where the cryptanalyst can gather information by obtaining the decryptions of chosen ciphertexts. From these pieces of information the adversary can attempt to recover the hidden secret key used for decryption.A number of otherwise secure schemes can be defeated under chosen-ciphertext attack. For example, the El Gamal cryptosystem is semantically secure under chosen-plaintext attack, but this semantic security can be trivially defeated under a chosen-ciphertext attack. Early versions of RSA padding used in the SSL protocol were vulnerable to a sophisticated adaptive chosen-ciphertext attack which revealed SSL session keys. Chosen-ciphertext attacks have implications for some self-synchronizing stream ciphers as well. Designers of tamper-resistant cryptographic smart cards must be particularly cognizant of these attacks, as these devices may be completely under the control of an adversary, who can issue a large number of chosen-ciphertexts in an attempt to recover the hidden secret key. Chosen-ciphertext attacks, like other attacks, may be adaptive or non-adaptive. In an adaptive chosen-ciphertext attack, the attacker can use the results from prior decryptions to inform their choices of which ciphertexts to have decrypted. In a non-adaptive attack, the attacker chooses the ciphertexts to have decrypted without seeing any of the resulting plaintexts. After seeing the plaintexts, the attacker can no longer obtain the decryption of additional ciphertexts.