Breaking `128-bit Secure' Supersingular Binary Curves (or how to solve discrete logarithms in ${\mathbb F}_{2^{4 \cdot 1223}}$ and ${\mathbb F}_{2^{12 \cdot 367}}$)
This work significantly weakens the security of cryptographic systems based on supersingular curves, impacting cryptography practitioners and standards.
The paper tackles the discrete logarithm problem in finite fields of small characteristic by proposing a new field representation and efficient descent principles, making recent quasi-polynomial time algorithms more practical. It shows that a genus one curve thought to be 128-bit secure has only about 59 bits of security and completely breaks a genus two curve.
In late 2012 and early 2013 the discrete logarithm problem (DLP) in finite fields of small characteristic underwent a dramatic series of breakthroughs, culminating in a heuristic quasi-polynomial time algorithm, due to Barbulescu, Gaudry, Joux and Thomé. Using these developments, Adj, Menezes, Oliveira and Rodríguez-Henríquez analysed the concrete security of the DLP, as it arises from pairings on (the Jacobians of) various genus one and two supersingular curves in the literature, which were originally thought to be $128$-bit secure. In particular, they suggested that the new algorithms have no impact on the security of a genus one curve over ${\mathbb F}_{2^{1223}}$, and reduce the security of a genus two curve over ${\mathbb F}_{2^{367}}$ to $94.6$ bits. In this paper we propose a new field representation and efficient general descent principles which together make the new techniques far more practical. Indeed, at the `128-bit security level' our analysis shows that the aforementioned genus one curve has approximately $59$ bits of security, and we report a total break of the genus two curve.