ECDSA Cracking Methods

William J Buchanan; Jamie Gilchrist; Keir Finlow-Bates

Paper 2025/654

ECDSA Cracking Methods

William J Buchanan

, Edinburgh Napier University

Jamie Gilchrist, Edinburgh Napier University

Keir Finlow-Bates

Abstract

The ECDSA (Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm) is used in many blockchain networks for digital signatures. This includes the Bitcoin and the Ethereum blockchains. While it has good performance levels and as strong current security, it should be handled with care. This care typically relates to the usage of the nonce value which is used to create the signature. This paper outlines the methods that can be used to break ECDSA signatures, including revealed nonces, weak nonce choice, nonce reuse, two keys and shared nonces, and fault attack.

Metadata

Available format(s): PDF
Category: Attacks and cryptanalysis
Publication info: Preprint.
Keywords: ECDSA nonce attack
Contact author(s): b buchanan @ napier ac uk
jamie gilchrist @ tunestamp com
History: 2025-04-13: approved; 2025-04-09: received; See all versions
Short URL: https://ia.cr/2025/654
License: CC BY

BibTeX

@misc{cryptoeprint:2025/654,
      author = {William J Buchanan and Jamie Gilchrist and Keir Finlow-Bates},
      title = {{ECDSA} Cracking Methods},
      howpublished = {Cryptology {ePrint} Archive, Paper 2025/654},
      year = {2025},
      url = {https://eprint.iacr.org/2025/654}
}