CODEWITHSUNDEEP
encryptioncryptographydiffie-hellman
rkj
rkj

Reputation: 793

Diffie Hellman Key Exchange security

During a Diffie Hellman keyExchange, if a man in the middle is able to get the values of the prime "p" and the generator "g". Can he now decipher the private keys or the shared secret secret generated ?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 883

Answers (1)

Iridium
Iridium

Reputation: 23721

No, these are the public components of the key exchange protocol, and can be observed by an eavesdropper without compromising the security of the agreed key (assuming they have been chosen properly), as it requires the eavesdropper to solve the Diffie Hellman problem, which is considered difficult. This is described in more detail in the Wikipedia entry on Diffie Hellman.

It's worth noting however that the protocol as described there, whilst safe from eavesdropping does not in itself authenticate the parties involved, and so it is vulnerable to a man-in-the-middle attack if implemented without additional authentication.

Upvotes: 4

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