A security risk of depending on synchronized clocks

  • Authors:
  • Li Gong

  • Affiliations:
  • -

  • Venue:
  • ACM SIGOPS Operating Systems Review
  • Year:
  • 1992

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Abstract

Many algorithms or protocols, in particular cryptographic protocols such as authentication protocols, use synchronized clocks and depend on them for correctness. This note describes a scenario where a clock synchronization failure renders a protocol vulnerable to an attack even after the faulty clock has been resynchronized. The attack exploits a postdated message by first suppressing it and replaying it later.