Challenge-Response Authentication Using a Masked Response Value

• US 20140156998A1
• Filed: 11/30/2012
• Published: 06/05/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Certicom Corporation (Blackberry Limited)
• Inventors: Lambert, Robert John
• Granted Patent: US 9,727,720 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/182
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/44 Program or device authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2103 Challenge-response
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3236 using cryptographic hash functions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3271 using challenge-response
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3273 for mutual authentication network architectures or network communication protocols for achieving mutual authentication in a packet data network H04L63/0869

Abstract

Challenge-response authentication protocols are disclosed herein, including systems and methods for a first device to authenticate a second device. In one embodiment, the following operations are performed by the first device: (a) sending to the second device: (i) a challenge value corresponding to an expected response value known by the first device, and (ii) a hiding value; (b) receiving from the second device a masked response value; (c) obtaining an expected masked response value from the expected response value and the hiding value; and (d) determining whether the expected masked response value matches the masked response value received from the second device. The operations from the perspective of the second device are also disclosed, which in some embodiments include computing the masked response value using the challenge value, the hiding value, and secret information known to the second device.

Claims

1. A method for a first device to authenticate a second device, the method performed by the first device and comprising:

the first device sending to the second device a challenge value corresponding to an expected response value known by the first device, and a hiding value;

the first device receiving from the second device a masked response value;

the first device obtaining an expected masked response value from the expected response value and the hiding value;

the first device determining whether the expected masked response value matches the masked response value received from the second device.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising repeating the method using a different hiding value.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the masked response value received from the second device was computed by the second device using the challenge value, the hiding value, and secret information known to the second device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the secret information is not known to the first device, and the challenge value and the expected response value are stored on the first device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said obtaining the expected masked response value from the expected response value and the hiding value comprises computing the expected masked response value by performing a cryptographic hash of a message that comprises the expected response value and the hiding value.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the expected masked response value is computed as xmaskres=cryptographic hash(xres∥

h), where xmaskres is the expected masked response value, cryptographic hash(•

) is the cryptographic hash, xres is the expected response, h is the hiding value, and ∥

represents concatenation.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the cryptographic hash is one that is progressively computed and is the same as a cryptographic hash used by the second device to compute the masked response value.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the cryptographic hash does not incorporate a value representing a length of the message into the input of the cryptographic hash.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device is a mobile device and the second device is a battery.

10. An device comprising:

a memory configured to store a challenge value and an expected response value corresponding to the challenge value; and

an interface configured to send to another device the challenge value and a hiding value, and to receive a masked response value from the another device;

the device configured to obtain an expected masked response value from the expected response value and the hiding value, and to determine whether the expected masked response value matches the masked response value received from the another device.

11. The device of claim 10, further comprising a processor configured to compute the expected masked response value from the expected response value and the hiding value and to determine whether the expected masked response value matches the masked response value.

12. The device of claim 10, wherein the device is a mobile device and the another device is a battery.

13. The device of claim 10, wherein the device is further configured to obtain different hiding values such that a subsequent hiding value sent to the another device and used in obtaining a subsequent expected masked response value is different from the hiding value.

14. The device of claim 10, wherein the masked response value received from the another device was computed by the another device using the challenge value, the hiding value, and secret information known to the another device.

15. The device of claim 14, wherein the secret information is not known to the device.

16. The device of claim 10, wherein the device is configured to compute the expected masked response value by performing a cryptographic hash of a message that comprises the expected response value and the hiding value.

17. A processor readable medium having stored thereon processor readable instructions that, when executed, cause a first device to authenticate a second device by performing operations comprising:

sending to the second device a challenge value corresponding to an expected response value known by the first device, and a hiding value;

receiving from the second device a masked response value;

obtaining an expected masked response value from the expected response value and the hiding value;

determining whether the expected masked response value matches the masked response value received from the second device.

18. The processor readable medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the first device to repeat the operations using a different hiding value.

19. The processor readable medium of claim 17, wherein the masked response value received from the second device was computed by the second device using the challenge value, the hiding value, and secret information known to the second device.

20. The processor readable medium of claim 19, wherein the secret information is not known to the first device, and the challenge value and the expected response value are stored on the first device.