Zero-Correlation Linear Cryptanalysis on SPARX-64

SPARX is a family of ARX-based block ciphers designed according to the long-trail strategy, which has 32-bit ARX-based SBoxes and has provable bounds against single-differential and single-linear cryptanalysis. Since its proposation, some third-party cryptanalysis methods have been presented. As far as we know, the best attacks against SPARX-64 covered 16 (out of 24) rounds. In this paper, we propose zero-correlation linear attacks on SPARX-64. At first, we construct some new zero-correlation linear distinguishers covering 14-round and 15-round SPARX-64. Then, 15,16,17 and 18-round versions can be attacked using multidimensional or multiple zero-correlation linear attack models, under DKP(distinct known plaintexts) settings. These are the best attacks against SPARX-64 up to now, regarding to the number of attacked rounds. Finally, we transform the zero-correlation distinguishers into integral ones using existing methods, which are also longer than the ones proposed by the designers.