MLWR-2PAKA: A Hybrid Module Learning With Rounding-Based Authenticated Key Agreement Protocol for Two-Party Communication

Abstract

The two-party authenticated key agreement (2PAKA) protocol allows two users to generate a shared session key between themselves over a public channel without any assistance from a centralized server. Many of the state-of-the-art 2PAKA protocols are not secure in quantum environments. This article proposes a hybrid module learning with rounding (MLWR)-based 2PAKA (MLWR-2PAKA) protocol for the post-quantum world. The constructed MLWR-2PAKA protocol provides entity authentication based on the Saber scheme. The hardness assumption of MLWR-2PAKA relies on MLWR since it does not require any complex reduction and sampling processes. The security analysis is done in the random oracle model based on the basic Dolev-Yao threat model. In addition, the chosen reconciliation structure makes the session keys unbiased. By using different parameter sets, a comparison analysis is presented regarding key sizes, failure probability, and bandwidth requirements.