Researchers Find RSA Keys Containing Large Zero Blocks
🔍 New research identifies a class of weak RSA keys characterized by extensive zeroed blocks in the modulus. The open-source badkeys project collected large-scale key material from CT logs, TLS/SSH scans, and PGP repositories and found multiple real-world keys exhibiting two distinct sparse patterns. Pattern 1 appeared in certificates (now expired) from major organizations and devices, while Pattern 2 appeared in SSH hosts using CompleteFTP; affected versions and time ranges are noted. The findings highlight independent cryptographic implementations failing in similar ways and raise concerns about deliberate backdoors or coordinated vulnerabilities.
