QKD-KEM: Hybrid QKD Integration into TLS with OpenSSL Providers

Fuente: arXiv
Salvato in:
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autori principali: Blanco-Romero, Javier, García, Pedro Otero, Sobral-Blanco, Daniel, Mendoza, Florina Almenares, Vilas, Ana Fernández, Díaz-Redondo, Rebeca P.
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
Soggetti:
Accesso online:
Tags: Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
_version_ 1866917949967695872
author Blanco-Romero, Javier
García, Pedro Otero
Sobral-Blanco, Daniel
Mendoza, Florina Almenares
Vilas, Ana Fernández
Díaz-Redondo, Rebeca P.
author_facet Blanco-Romero, Javier
García, Pedro Otero
Sobral-Blanco, Daniel
Mendoza, Florina Almenares
Vilas, Ana Fernández
Díaz-Redondo, Rebeca P.
contents Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) promises information-theoretic security, yet integrating QKD into existing protocols like TLS remains challenging due to its fundamentally different operational model. In this paper, we propose a hybrid QKD-KEM protocol with two distinct integration approaches: a client-initiated flow compatible with both ETSI 004 and 014 specifications, and a server-initiated flow similar to existing work but limited to stateless ETSI 014 APIs. Unlike previous implementations, our work specifically addresses the integration of stateful QKD key exchange protocols (ETSI 004) which is essential for production QKD networks but has remained largely unexplored. By adapting OpenSSL's provider infrastructure to accommodate QKD's pre-distributed key model, we maintain compatibility with current TLS implementations while offering dual layers of security. Performance evaluations demonstrate the feasibility of our hybrid scheme with acceptable overhead, showing that robust security against quantum threats is achievable while addressing the unique requirements of different QKD API specifications.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_07196
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle QKD-KEM: Hybrid QKD Integration into TLS with OpenSSL Providers
Blanco-Romero, Javier
García, Pedro Otero
Sobral-Blanco, Daniel
Mendoza, Florina Almenares
Vilas, Ana Fernández
Díaz-Redondo, Rebeca P.
Cryptography and Security
Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) promises information-theoretic security, yet integrating QKD into existing protocols like TLS remains challenging due to its fundamentally different operational model. In this paper, we propose a hybrid QKD-KEM protocol with two distinct integration approaches: a client-initiated flow compatible with both ETSI 004 and 014 specifications, and a server-initiated flow similar to existing work but limited to stateless ETSI 014 APIs. Unlike previous implementations, our work specifically addresses the integration of stateful QKD key exchange protocols (ETSI 004) which is essential for production QKD networks but has remained largely unexplored. By adapting OpenSSL's provider infrastructure to accommodate QKD's pre-distributed key model, we maintain compatibility with current TLS implementations while offering dual layers of security. Performance evaluations demonstrate the feasibility of our hybrid scheme with acceptable overhead, showing that robust security against quantum threats is achievable while addressing the unique requirements of different QKD API specifications.
title QKD-KEM: Hybrid QKD Integration into TLS with OpenSSL Providers
topic Cryptography and Security
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.07196