Cryptology ePrint Archive: Report 2008/445

Cryptanalysis of the Improved Cellular Message Encryption Algorithm

Thomas Chardin and Raphaël Marinier

Abstract: This paper analyzes the Improved Cellular Message Encryption Algorithm (CMEA-I) which is an improved version of the Telecommunication Industry Association's Cellular Message Encryption Algorithm (CMEA). We present a chosen-plaintext attack of CMEA-I which requires less than 850 plaintexts in its adaptive version. This demonstrates that the improvements made over CMEA are ineffective to thwart such attacks and confirms that the security of CMEA and its variants must be reconsidered from the beginning.

Category / Keywords: secret-key cryptography / block ciphers, cryptanalysis

Date: received 18 Oct 2008, last revised 20 Oct 2008

Contact author: raphael marinier at polytechnique edu

Available format(s): PDF | BibTeX Citation

Note: First name of an author corrected.

Version: 20081020:205902 (All versions of this report)

Short URL: ia.cr/2008/445

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