International Association
for Cryptologic Research

<p> X-Wing is a hybrid key-encapsulation mechanism based on X25519 and ML-KEM-768. It is designed to be the sensible choice for most applications. The concrete choice of X25519 and ML-KEM-768 allows X-Wing to achieve improved efficiency compared to using a generic KEM combiner. In this paper, we introduce the X-Wing hybrid KEM construction and provide a proof of security. We show (1) that X-Wing is a classically IND-CCA secure KEM if the strong Diffie-Hellman assumption holds in the X25519 nominal group, and (2) that X-Wing is a post-quantum IND-CCA secure KEM if ML-KEM-768 is itself an IND-CCA secure KEM and SHA3-256 is secure when used as a pseudorandom function. The first result is proved in the ROM, whereas the second one holds in the standard model. Loosely speaking, this means X-Wing is secure if either X25519 or ML-KEM-768 is secure. We stress that these security guarantees and optimizations are only possible due to the concrete choices that were made, and it may not apply in the general case. </p>

The past year has marked significant progress in secure messaging technologies. In March 2023, the Messaging Layer Security (MLS) protocol was standardized by the IETF, followed by Signal's introduction in May 2023 of PQXDH, a post-quantum alternative to the X3DH handshake. In the first part of this presentation, we identify scalability challenges that may hinder the widespread adoption of MLS and Signal in a post-quantum context, particularly in regions with limited mobile data plans. This analysis is backed by real-world quantitative data. In the second part of this talk, we propose a novel protocol with improved bandwidth consumption. It incorporates efficient post-quantum primitives, specifically multi-recipient public key encryption (mPKEs), optimized for secure messaging. We anticipate that our approach will be an order of magnitude more efficient than direct adaptations of existing protocols in practical scenarios.