Space Papaya

This is a challenge from Cryptography section of Standcon 2021. The challenge used bad parameters for RSA encryption

Statement

I’ve been promised some space payayas but Thanos has encrypted it Could you help me get to my delicious goodness??

Observation

First thing to notice is \(p\) is generated based on \(q\). Since \(q\) is the next prime of \(p\), we know that \(p - q\) should be quite small.

Knowing this helps us in factorizing the number \(N = p \cdot q\) using fermat’s factorization method.

Solution

If we can find a number \(A\) such that

\[A^{2} - N = B^{2}\]

Then we can factorize \(N\)

\[A^{2} - B^{2} = N\] \[(A - B)(A + B) = N\]

where \((A - B) = q\) and \((A + B) = p\)

And since \(p - q = (A + B) - (A - B) = 2B\) is small,

We only have to look at small number to be the candidates of \(B\).

So just try all possible \(A\) close to \(\sqrt{N}\) to make sure \(A^{2} - N = B^{2}\) is also small.

By looping through the numbers, we then factorized \(N\). The RSA is now broken!

Alternatively, just use RSACtfTool

Here’s the python code for the complete solution.

import gmpy2
from Crypto.Util.number import long_to_bytes

n = 194362842708866084215953237234010601714782092068657017473036251138431676671868175490629669131293355984477767779272247912898398003959598463151066327473719826508089049945621257750848449074932994104814837269421034757100838633416457369464538335095187107124930210006276919089438600966775135156325573710403062047464883549122709123350776456864832248893144446427550937016055121611927144077249211333929866196092711899598411273258926755835322801924551532228696950330545602277465654578138211698686416187777914526845287508335161840449532353167124783735356724420020001236913091469220071460852670489823002071147052631961616736127542307774553784213551564976856862680192529610361702034557744944910925361832621941572380183550749898722374949514136460106207058164376880193895095890731337592265596372136311383975505976373658539080754488958878095929819739059683095890843634555379298978595862942651406158169690562827703147073676346785373790083861582561563008369782363501250191378992269292876039816066218709174263118734404595822048356915079954616024173040278438553459313402270428924062608121168067858306151528190868319071885225544108264749925782330560592480215417954913785029628131817946912132072071073028544681943321456215850218595253490676706062275706321000094834565990465219492368108372464243357854880130522009562946069931768188707691738519573044108555326442766896720655950851164470011771898369770346952788889888492093755625144273054698093660448370077627755233718711030066641378367031583966313900302554231887044203179482191397744246669757016815802390996997529280308699365864745829622981997926231390088157384772877949116604666434897004907955030386342793095734076042434116395844774091900169206181916763238708781774871037938343903139193853528470631949004956352291136030226647324347066772397900205516364442447205487793826622232753382956298250824843380629813818205906683470702831540412778050975345092843721732642350276838457054614948850604421694716563394223556916722778907958340426218859169271015308289476166790080639494788055226687567028709925056618087462428702997126125118029596845966551281440608686343474201915276278183257597304657555212877310709706767336727956810525772106318192285540421821451870148936086342692819049576874727321875121881832817291330007033448759929549864436079804109819708577707453355419019938895736691749711920076052148328406790627343167155687496921184728015803775794667189219633138620080230753579310617631968722793155536612115409526848248365291605624225739530401807631
e = 65537
c = 48231407940727026948672141996334529816590411386860292966914913052426047651987115807777841403140631401701249166736959609586369772130907665951564333728016264781106888841594995016670252351243877043043931895035854072541505075903498699581537787497372368026387461275304338678342882903111473016523122047215378268701734813840019057484437006734608455311609606589978328615886021809161996407351531878330820646743145761284259656979198538333302516658013752884296025359474328771699801774792040803990528899610805832697102960908000990289217674047087227612100839918274810879461691566218620108094572187135662070276143399213929056836949141685032577775184655073850890039819023606342148129988769179828433133474387630746462392553047809255640475195268000075192882984582676932698012626821016591108454125334943555006192200330741124548142161400440375747011531508789850387965540536344945763731373457679082441847778497960038863971948480784876442032472906163053089647045655001542030261262366802020060960874257117691078438824193893194414541917317612137645261904776291223687776582045621554101330940016490033717225542054294550509723890916037908439996672821935786685430873048747351042450242135132402651504861858744900133079753832853206911330310597784333649988497694115288456557414447667162368132351388665881330668539885411369791455480519780053033578607022175215519541686716889470249651075696960031469802931249420275612918537198815728307645858921412505760969514941201413816870042202876699227452040578555623960644754047671586444437939411346055325470287778116774616418405759426544629377975037932066699294880194784853999718178319023949211409048595187949438738050805752373774067262605283342238201172745181281789835988232279319864794958750383869310348406998847103542030538181779060240394157480926897363819838099821784624349518599583933815726206097153419947746982886708613483961746873726951138409665385485483718572380938222490388874840647413038783667362727632810016605914301245603947756748870162828963959855754534784070704364459621393050570977513255324417271658411232766634623398123418984633536742998705987579502631970588156672642641810685697296750600811292822227321148497030230391951474359873858004455962186711399896745959043999926635601785091266948248579919445401875107488515808513058701412149085423586181153312241453589223174436758137842395277731895460702559785230565410482969668156381371880091047940473364486255074425419927756644949215073309100344302265133911935519226690015718699828070058406043592623

for i in range(1000):
    a = gmpy2.iroot(n, 2)[0] + i + 1
    t = gmpy2.iroot(a*a - n, 2)
    if t[1]:
        b = t[0]
        p = (a - b)
        break

q = n//p
phi = (p-1) * (q-1)
d = pow(e, -1, phi)
m = pow(c, d, n)
print(long_to_bytes(m))

flag : STC{where_did_my_space_papayas_go}

Updated: