Shor's Harvest Now Decrypt Later

info Nessus Plugin ID 298387

Synopsis

Reports remote services potentially vulnerable to Shor's Algorithm.

Description

This plugin reports network services that may be vulnerable now to a future attack by adversaries using a cryptographically relevant quantum computer (CRQC). Shor's is a theoretical algorithm that leverages the unique ability of quantum computation to do massively parallel calculations developed by Peter Shor in 1994.

This algorithm easily computes two classically difficult mathematical problems used in modern cryptography; discrete logarithms, and factoring numbers formed by multiplying large primes. Shor's reduces both of these problems from taking exponential time in chosen cases to being solvable in polynomial time.

Asymmetric encryption algorithms such as RSA, Diffie-Hellman and Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman are impacted by Shor's Algorithm. The most common uses of these algorithms are in symmetric key establishment and authentication. These uses render Shor's Algorithm particularly dangerous because it may give an adversary the ability to harvest network communications now, and in the future, when a CRQC becomes available, extract the symmetric key and decrypt the communication.

Solution

Replace affected ciphers with algorithms chosen to resist CRQC attack.

Plugin Details

Severity: Info

ID: 298387

File Name: shors_harvest_now_decrypt_later.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: remote

Family: General

Published: 2/9/2026

Updated: 2/9/2026

Supported Sensors: Nessus

Detections

Analytics