ML-KEM + X-Wing Patches Posted For Linux To Help With Post-Quantum Security

Google engineer Eric Biggers posted proof-of-concept Linux kernel patches Monday adding support for ML-KEM and X-Wing, two post-quantum cryptographic standards designed to secure systems against future quantum computing attacks. The patches implement ML-KEM-768 and ML-KEM-1024 as quantum-resistant key-encapsulation mechanisms, along with the X-Wing hybrid KEM combining X25519 and ML-KEM-768. Biggers said the patches will not be merged upstream until an in-kernel user is ready, but released them early for experimentation amid growing interest in quantum-resistant cryptography.

ML-KEM + X-Wing Patches Posted For Linux To Help With Post-Quantum Security Linux cryptography expert Patches cover ML-KEM for Module-Lattice-Based Key-Encapsulation Mechanism as a quantum-resistant cryptographic standard. Plus there is also X-Wing as a hybrid key-encapsulation mechanism based on X25519 and ML-KEM-768. This is part of getting the Linux kernel's security ready for an era of quantum computing in needing to strengthen cryptographic standards. While posted as a proof-of-concept, Eric Biggers isn't planning on upstreaming the kernel patches until there are in-kernel users ready to go with this new functionality. Bigger explained in Monday's patch series: Those interested can see Eric Biggers https://www.phoronix.com/search/Eric+Biggers of Google posted a set of patches on Monday for providing proof-of-concept support for ML-KEM and X-Wing for post-quantum cryptography.Patches cover ML-KEM for Module-Lattice-Based Key-Encapsulation Mechanism as a quantum-resistant cryptographic standard. Plus there is also X-Wing as a hybrid key-encapsulation mechanism based on X25519 and ML-KEM-768. This is part of getting the Linux kernel's security ready for an era of quantum computing in needing to strengthen cryptographic standards. While posted as a proof-of-concept, Eric Biggers isn't planning on upstreaming the kernel patches until there are in-kernel users ready to go with this new functionality. Bigger explained in Monday's patch series: "It is a proof-of-concept that won't be merged until there is an in-kernel user. Multiple people have been asking about this though, so I wanted to get ahead of the curve and provide something that people can experiment with if needed. This series adds support for "post-quantum" i.e. quantum-resistant key encapsulation to the kernel's crypto library. Specifically this includes ML-KEM-768 and ML-KEM-1024, and the X-Wing hybrid KEM built on top of it. The ML-KEM functions are put in the CRYPTO INTERNAL namespace, as they will be used only as a component of hybrid KEMs. It's likely this will eventually be useful for at least one of the in-kernel users of classical key agreement schemes currently NVMe authentication, Bluetooth, and WireGuard . However, the details of the upgrade to "post-quantum" will be up to the protocol authors in each case. I suggest that X-Wing be chosen when possible." Those interested can see