Beyond Quadratic Speedups in Quantum Attacks on Symmetric Schemes

In this paper, we report the first quantum key-recovery attack on a symmetric block cipher design, using classical queries only, with a more than quadratic time speedup compared to the best classical attack. We study the 2XOR-Cascade construction of Gaži and Tessaro (EUROCRYPT 2012). It is a key length extension technique which provides an n-bit block cipher with $$\frac{5n}{2}$$ bits of security out of an n-bit block cipher with 2n bits of key, with a security proof in the ideal model. We show that the offline-Simon algorithm of Bonnetain et al. (ASIACRYPT 2019) can be extended to, in particular, attack this construction in quantum time $$\widetilde{\mathcal {O}}\left( 2^n \right) $$ , providing a 2.5 quantum speedup over the best classical attack. Regarding post-quantum security of symmetric ciphers, it is commonly assumed that doubling the key sizes is a sufficient precaution. This is because Grover’s quantum search algorithm, and its derivatives, can only reach a quadratic speedup at most. Our attack shows that the structure of some symmetric constructions can be exploited to overcome this limit. In particular, the 2XOR-Cascade cannot be used to generically strengthen block ciphers against quantum adversaries, as it would offer only the same security as the block cipher itself.