International Association
for Cryptologic Research

The notion of aggregate signatures allows for combining signatures from different parties into a short certificate that attests that *all* parties signed a message. In this work, we lift this notion to capture different, more expressive signing policies. For example, we can certify that a message was signed by a (weighted) threshold of signers. We present the first constructions of aggregate signatures for monotone policies based on standard polynomial-time cryptographic assumptions. The aggregate signatures in our schemes are succinct, i.e., their size is *independent* of the number of signers. Moreover, verification is also succinct if all parties sign the same message (or if the messages have a succinct representation). All prior work requires either interaction between the parties or non-standard assumptions (that imply SNARKs for NP). Our signature schemes are based on non-interactive batch arguments (BARGs) for monotone policies [Brakerski-Brodsky-Kalai-Lombardi-Paneth, Crypto'23]. In contrast to previous constructions, our BARGs satisfy a new notion of *adaptive* security which is instrumental to our application. Our new BARGs for monotone policies can be constructed from standard BARGs and other standard assumptions.

Succinct arguments allow a powerful (yet polynomial-time) prover to convince a weak verifier of the validity of some NP statement using very little communication. A major barrier to the deployment of such proofs is the unwieldy overhead of the prover relative to the complexity of the statement to be proved. In this work, we focus on complexity-preserving arguments where proving a non-deterministic time $t$ and space $s$ RAM computation takes time $\tilde O(t)$ and space $\tilde O(s)$. Currently, all known complexity-preserving arguments either are private-coin, rely on non-standard assumptions, or provide only weak succinctness. In this work, we construct complexity-preserving succinct argument based solely on collision-resistant hash functions, thereby matching the classic succinct argument of Kilian (STOC '92).

An {\em online-efficient commitment} is a succinct locally-openable commitment, where the bulk of the sender work is done offline, generating an encoding $\tilde x$ of the committed data $x$. In the online phase, both the sender, given random access to $\tilde x$, and receiver run in polylogarithmic time in the length of $x$. Online-efficient commitments were recently constructed under the standard assumption of RingLWE by Lin, Mook, and Wichs, but with a significant caveat: {\em they are not reusable.} Their commitments are privately verifiable and cease to be binding if a malicious sender can learn whether the receiver accepts or rejects in repeated decommitment requests. We construct the first {\em reusable} online-efficient commitment under a standard assumption, RingLWE. A main component in our analysis is a leakage lemma by Chung, Kalai, Liu, and Raz (CRYPTO `11) introduced in the context of {\em streaming delegation schemes.}

In 2002, Barak and Goldreich introduced the notion of a {\em universal argument} and constructed an interactive universal argument for non-deterministic computations based on polynomially hard collision-resistant hash functions. Since then, and especially in recent years, there have been tremendous developments in the construction of {\em non-interactive} succinct arguments for deterministic computations under standard hardness assumptions. However, the constructed succinct arguments can be proven universal only under {\em sub-exponential} assumptions. Assuming {\em polynomially hard} fully homomorphic encryption and a widely believed worst-case complexity assumption, we prove a general lifting theorem showing that all existing non-interactive succinct arguments can be made universal. The required complexity assumption is that non-uniformity does not allow arbitrary polynomial speedup. In the setting of uniform adversaries, this extra assumption is not needed.

We construct a succinct non-interactive argument ($\mathsf{SNARG}$) for the class of monotone policy batch $\mathsf{NP}$ languages, under the Learning with Errors ($\mathsf{LWE}$) assumption. This class is a subclass of $\mathsf{NP}$ that is associated with a monotone function~$f:\{0,1\}^k\rightarrow\{0,1\}$ and an $\mathsf{NP}$ language $\mathcal{L}$, and contains instances $(x_1,\ldots,x_k)$ such the $f(b_1,\ldots,b_k)=1$ where $b_j=1$ if and only if $x_j\in \mathcal{L}$. Our $\mathsf{SNARG}$s are arguments of knowledge in the non-adaptive setting, and satisfy a new notion of somewhere extractability against adaptive adversaries. This is the first $\mathsf{SNARG}$ under standard hardness assumptions for a sub-class of $\mathsf{NP}$ that is not known to have a (computational) non-signaling $\mathsf{PCP}$ with parameters compatible with the standard framework for constructing $\mathsf{SNARG}$s dating back to [Kalai-Raz-Rothblum, STOC '13]. Indeed, our approach necessarily departs from this framework. Our construction combines existing quasi-arguments for $\mathsf{NP}$ (based on batch arguments for $\mathsf{NP}$) with a new type of cryptographic encoding of the instance and a new analysis going from local to global soundness. The main novel ingredient used in our encoding is a {\em predicate-extractable hash} ($\mathsf{PEH}$) family, which is a primitive that generalizes the notion of a somewhere extractable hash. Whereas a somewhere extractable hash allows to extract a single input coordinate, our $\mathsf{PEH}$ extracts a {\em global} property of the input. We view this primitive to be of independent interest, and believe that it will find other applications.

A computational PIR scheme allows a client to privately query a database hosted on a single server without downloading the entire database. We introduce the notion of verifiable PIR (vPIR) where the server can convince the client that the database satisfies certain properties without additional rounds and while keeping the communication sub-linear. For example, the server can prove that the number of rows in the database that satisfy a predicate P is exactly n. We define security by modeling vPIR as an ideal functionality and following the real-ideal paradigm. Starting from a standard PIR scheme, we construct a vPIR scheme for any database property that can be verified by a machine that reads the database once and maintains a bounded size state between rows. We also construct vPIR with public verification based on LWE or on DLIN. The main technical hurdle is to demonstrate a simulator that extracts a long input from an adversary that sends a single short message. Our vPIR constructions are based on the notion of batch argument for NP. As contribution of independent interest, we show that batch arguments are equivalent to quasi-arguments---a relaxation of SNARKs which is known to imply succinct argument for various sub-classes of NP.

One of the most fundamental results in game theory is that every game has a Nash equilibrium, an assignment of (randomized) strategies to players with the stability property that no individual player can benefit from deviating from the assigned strategy. It is not known how to efficiently *compute* such a Nash equilibrium --- the computational complexity of this task is characterized by the class PPAD, but the relation of PPAD to other problems and well-known complexity classes is not precisely understood. In recent years there has been mounting evidence, based on cryptographic tools and techniques, showing the hardness of PPAD. We continue this line of research by showing that PPAD is as hard as *learning with errors* and the *iterated squaring* problem, two standard problems in cryptography. Our work improves over prior hardness results that relied either on (1) sub-exponential assumptions, or (2) relied on ``obfustopia,'' which can currently be based on a particular combination of three assumptions. Our work additionally establishes *public-coin* hardness for PPAD (computational hardness for a publicly sampleable distribution of instances) that seems out of reach of the obfustopia approach. Following the work of Choudhuri et al. (STOC 2019) and subsequent works, our hardness result is obtained by constructing an *unambiguous and incrementally-updateable* succinct non-interactive argument for IS, whose soundness relies on polynomial hardness of LWE. The result also implies a verifiable delay function with unique proofs, which may be of independent interest.

Succinct non-interactive arguments (SNARGs) enable verifying NP statements with lower complexity than required for classical NP verification. Traditionally, the focus has been on minimizing the length of such arguments; nowadays, researchers have focused also on minimizing verification time, by drawing motivation from the problem of delegating computation. A common relaxation is a preprocessing SNARG, which allows the verifier to conduct an expensive offline phase that is independent of the statement to be proven later. Recent constructions of preprocessing SNARGs have achieved attractive features: they are publicly-verifiable, proofs consist of only O (1) encrypted (or encoded) field elements, and verification is via arithmetic circuits of size linear in the NP statement. Additionally, these constructions seem to have “escaped the hegemony” of probabilistically-checkable proofs (PCPs) as a basic building block of succinct arguments. We present a general methodology for the construction of preprocessing $$\text{ SNARG } $$ SNARG s, as well as resulting new efficiency features. Our contribution is threefold: (1) We introduce and study a natural extension of the interactive proof model that considers algebraically-bounded provers; this new setting is analogous to the common study of algebraically-bounded “adversaries” in other fields, such as pseudorandomness and randomness extraction. More concretely, in this work we focus on linear (or affine) provers, and provide several constructions of (succinct two-message) linear interactive proofs (LIPs) for NP. Our constructions are based on general transformations applied to both linear PCPs (LPCPs) and traditional “unstructured” PCPs. (2) We give conceptually simple cryptographic transformations from LIPs to preprocessing SNARGs, whose security can be based on different forms of linear targeted malleability (implied by previous knowledge assumptions). Our transformations convert arbitrary (two-message) LIPs into designated-verifier SNARGs, and LIPs with degree-bounded verifiers into publicly-verifiable SNARGs. We also extend our methodology to obtain zero-knowledge LIPs and SNARGs. Our techniques yield SNARGs of knowledge and thus can benefit from known recursive composition and bootstrapping techniques. (3) Following this methodology, we exhibit several constructions achieving new efficiency features, such as “single-ciphertext preprocessing SNARGs.” We also offer a new perspective on existing constructions of preprocessing SNARGs, revealing a direct connection of these to LPCPs and LIPs.

In this work, we show the hardness of finding a Nash equilibrium, a \PPAD-complete problem, based on the quasi-polynomial hardness of the decisional assumption on groups with bilinear maps introduced by Kalai, Paneth and Yang [STOC 2019]. Towards this goal, we construct an {\em unambiguous} and {\em updatable} delegation scheme under this assumption for deterministic computations running in super-polynomial time and polynomial space. This delegation scheme, which is of independent interest, is publicly verifiable and non-interactive in the common reference string (CRS) model. It is {\em unambiguous} meaning that it is hard to compute two different proofs for the same statement. It is {\em updatable} meaning that given a proof for the statement that a Turing machine $M$ reaches configuration $\conf_T$ in $T$ steps, one can {\em efficiently} generate a proof for the statement that $M$ reaches configuration $\conf_{T+1}$ in $T+1$ steps.

A family of one-way functions is extractable if given a random function in the family, an efficient adversary can only output an element in the image of the function if it knows a corresponding preimage. This knowledge extraction guarantee is particularly powerful since it does not require interaction. However, extractable one-way functions (EFs) are subject to a strong barrier: assuming indistinguishability obfuscation, no EF can have a knowledge extractor that works against all polynomial-size non-uniform adversaries. This holds even for non-black-box extractors that use the adversary's code. Accordingly, the literature considers either EFs based on non-falsifiable knowledge assumptions, where the extractor is not explicitly given, but it is only assumed to exist, or EFs against a restricted class of adversaries with a bounded non-uniform advice. This falls short of cryptography's gold standard of security that requires an explicit reduction against non-uniform adversaries of arbitrary polynomial size. Motivated by this gap, we put forward a new notion of weakly extractable one-way functions (WEFs) that circumvents the known barrier. We then prove that WEFs are inextricably connected to the long standing question of three-message zero knowledge protocols. We show that different flavors of WEFs are sufficient and necessary for three-message zero knowledge to exist. The exact flavor depends on whether the protocol is computational or statistical zero knowledge and whether it is publicly or privately verifiable. Combined with recent progress on constructing three message zero-knowledge, we derive a new connection between keyless multi-collision resistance and the notion of incompressibility and the feasibility of non-interactive knowledge extraction. Another interesting corollary of our result is that in order to construct three-message zero knowledge arguments, it suffices to construct such arguments where the honest prover strategy is unbounded.

Fuzzy extractors (Dodis et al., in Advances in cryptology—EUROCRYPT 2014, Springer, Berlin, 2014, pp 93–110) convert repeated noisy readings of a secret into the same uniformly distributed key. To eliminate noise, they require an initial enrollment phase that takes the first noisy reading of the secret and produces a nonsecret helper string to be used in subsequent readings. Reusable fuzzy extractors (Boyen, in Proceedings of the 11th ACM conference on computer and communications security, CCS, ACM, New York, 2004, pp 82–91) remain secure even when this initial enrollment phase is repeated multiple times with noisy versions of the same secret, producing multiple helper strings (for example, when a single person’s biometric is enrolled with multiple unrelated organizations). We construct the first reusable fuzzy extractor that makes no assumptions about how multiple readings of the source are correlated. The extractor works for binary strings with Hamming noise; it achieves computational security under the existence of digital lockers (Canetti and Dakdouk, in Advances in cryptology—EUROCRYPT 2008, Springer, Berlin, 2008, pp 489–508). It is simple and tolerates near-linear error rates. Our reusable extractor is secure for source distributions of linear min-entropy rate. The construction is also secure for sources with much lower entropy rates—lower than those supported by prior (nonreusable) constructions—assuming that the distribution has some additional structure, namely, that random subsequences of the source have sufficient minentropy. Structure beyond entropy is necessary to support distributions with low entropy rates. We then explore further how different structural properties of a noisy source can be used to construct fuzzy extractors when the error rates are high, building a computationally secure and an information-theoretically secure construction for large-alphabet sources.

We construct the first three message statistical zero knowledge arguments for all of NP, matching the known lower bound. We do so based on keyless multi-collision resistant hash functions and the Learning with Errors assumption—the same assumptions used to obtain round optimal computational zero knowledge.The main component in our construction is a statistically witness indistinguishable argument of knowledge based on a new notion of statistically hiding commitments with subset opening.

If I commission a long computation, how can I check that the result is correct without re-doing the computation myself? This is the question that efficient verifiable computation deals with. In this work, we address the issue of verifying the computation as it unfolds. That is, at any intermediate point in the computation, I would like to see a proof that the current state is correct. Ideally, these proofs should be short, non-interactive, and easy to verify. In addition, the proof at each step should be generated efficiently by updating the previous proof, without recomputing the entire proof from scratch. This notion, known as incrementally verifiable computation, was introduced by Valiant [TCC 08] about a decade ago. Existing solutions follow the approach of recursive proof composition and can be based on strong and non-falsifiable cryptographic assumptions (so-called “knowledge assumptions”).In this work, we present a new framework for constructing incrementally verifiable computation schemes in both the publicly verifiable and designated-verifier settings. Our designated-verifier scheme is based on somewhat homomorphic encryption (which can be based on Learning with Errors) and our publicly verifiable scheme is based on the notion of zero-testable homomorphic encryption, which can be constructed from ideal multi-linear maps [Paneth and Rothblum, TCC 17].Our framework is anchored around the new notion of a probabilistically checkable proof (PCP) with incremental local updates. An incrementally updatable PCP proves the correctness of an ongoing computation, where after each computation step, the value of every symbol can be updated locally without reading any other symbol. This update results in a new PCP for the correctness of the next step in the computation. Our primary technical contribution is constructing such an incrementally updatable PCP. We show how to combine updatable PCPs with recently suggested (ordinary) verifiable computation to obtain our results.