Relations between constrained and bounded chosen ciphertext security for key encapsulation mechanisms

Abstract

In CRYPTO 2007, Hofheinz and Kiltz formalized a security notion for key encapsulation mechanisms (KEMs), called constrained chosen ciphertext (CCCA) security, which is strictly weaker than ordinary chosen ciphertext (CCA) security, and showed a new composition paradigm for CCA secure hybrid encryption. Thus, CCCA security of a KEM turned out to be quite useful. However, since the notion is relatively new and its definition is slightly complicated, relations among CCCA security and other security notions have not been clarified well. In this paper, in order to better understand CCCA security and the construction of CCCA secure KEMs, we study relations between CCCA and bounded CCA security, where the latter notion considers security against adversaries that make a-priori bounded number of decapsulation queries, and is also strictly weaker than CCA security. Specifically, we show that in most cases there are separations between these notions, while there is some unexpected implication from (a slightly stronger version of) CCCA security to a weak form of 1-bounded CCA security. We also revisit the construction of a KEM from a hash proof system (HPS) with computational security properties, and show that the HPS-based KEM, which was previously shown CCCA secure, is actually 1-bounded CCA secure as well. This result, together with the above general implication, suggests that 1-bounded CCA security can be essentially seen as a ''necessary" condition for a CCCA secure KEM. © 2012 International Association for Cryptologic Research.