Quantum circuit for implementing AES S-box with low costs

Huinan Chen; Binbin Cai; Fei Gao; Song Lin

Paper 2025/454

Quantum circuit for implementing AES S-box with low costs

Huinan Chen, College of Computer and Cyber Security, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350117, China

Binbin Cai, College of Computer and Cyber Security, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350117, China, Digital Fujian Internet-of-Things Laboratory of Environmental Monitoring, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350117, China

Fei Gao, State Key Laboratory of Networking and Switching Technology, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, 100876, China

Song Lin, College of Computer and Cyber Security, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350117, China

Abstract

Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is one of the most widely used and extensively studied encryption algorithms globally, which is renowned for its efficiency and robust resistance to attacks. In this paper, three quantum circuits are designed to implement the S-box, which is the sole nonlinear component in AES. By incorporating a linear key schedule, we achieve a quantum circuit for implementing AES with the minimum number of qubits used. As a consequence, only 264/328/398 qubits are needed to implement the quantum circuits for AES-128/192/256. Furthermore, through quantum circuits of the S-box and key schedule, the overall size of the quantum circuit required for Grover's algorithm to attack AES is significantly decreased. This enhancement improves both the security and resource efficiency of AES in a quantum computing environment.

Metadata

Available format(s): PDF
Category: Attacks and cryptanalysis
Publication info: Preprint.
Keywords: AES S-box quantum circuit Grover algorithm resource estimation
Contact author(s): cbb @ fjnu edu cn
gaof @ bupt edu cn
lins95 @ fjnu edu cn
History: 2025-03-12: approved; 2025-03-11: received; See all versions
Short URL: https://ia.cr/2025/454
License: CC BY

BibTeX

@misc{cryptoeprint:2025/454,
      author = {Huinan Chen and Binbin Cai and Fei Gao and Song Lin},
      title = {Quantum circuit for implementing {AES} S-box with low costs},
      howpublished = {Cryptology {ePrint} Archive, Paper 2025/454},
      year = {2025},
      url = {https://eprint.iacr.org/2025/454}
}