Security Enhancements of the Quantum-Resistant Identity Authentication and Key Agreement Scheme for UAV Networks Based on Kyber Algorithm

Abstract

: Secure UAV communication requires robust, quantum-resistant protocols that are resilient to physical capture and operate under severe resource constraints. This work identifies critical vulnerabilities—including desynchronization, capture attacks, and lack of forward secrecy—in the LIGKYX protocol(Xia et al., 2024). To address these flaws, we propose a novel protocol that replaces LIGKYX’s ECC with Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) for device authentication and integrates the post-quantum Kyber mechanism for key establishment. Enhanced with authenticated encryption and nonce-based key derivation, our protocol is formally verified (using BAN logic) to resist replay, impersonation, desynchronization, and capture attacks. Performance analysis confirms its lower computational and communication overhead, making it suitable for constrained UAV networks.