NUSH (DarkCrypt)
NUSH block cipher (128-bit block / 256-bit key variant), a NESSIE submission by LAN Crypto (Lebedev, Volchkov) using only XOR/AND/OR/modular addition/rotation - no s-boxes. 17 rounds of a 4-branch mixing function R with per-round constants and rotation amounts. Not selected for the NESSIE portfolio due to a low security margin. The DarkCrypt Total Commander plugin implements this variant with big-endian internal word interpretation.
Properties
| Property |
Value |
| Category |
Block Ciphers |
| Sub-category |
Block Cipher |
| Security status |
🎓 Educational Only |
| Complexity |
Advanced |
| Inventor |
Anatoly N. Lebedev, Alexey A. Volchkov (LAN Crypto, Int.) |
| Year |
2000 |
| Origin |
🇷🇺 Russia |
| Source |
algorithms/block/darkcrypt-nush.js |
Parameters
| Parameter |
Supported values |
| Key sizes |
32 bytes (256 bits) |
| Block sizes |
16 bytes (128 bits) |
Security
Status: 🎓 Educational Only
Known vulnerabilities
| Issue |
Description |
Mitigation |
| Low security margin / linear cryptanalysis |
NESSIE’s Phase I evaluation found NUSH has an extremely low security margin; linear cryptanalysis breaks it with less effort than brute force. |
Use AES or another vetted, standardized cipher. |
Documentation
Test vectors
4 vectors ship with this algorithm and run in the test suite. Byte values are hexadecimal.
Vector 1 — NESSIE submission test vectors for NUSH, 128-bit block with 256-bit key, set 1 vector 0 (each 32-bit word byte-swapped into the little-endian order this build uses)
| Field |
Value |
key |
0000008000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 |
input |
00000000000000000000000000000000 |
expected |
31217b784f1b2fe51590db2a1cd8cf5e |
Vector 2 — DarkCrypt Nush — zero key/plaintext
| Field |
Value |
key |
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 |
input |
00000000000000000000000000000000 |
expected |
79c6fedb903b010644e23280095061d9 |
Vector 3 — DarkCrypt Nush — incrementing key/plaintext
| Field |
Value |
key |
000102030405060708090a0b0c0d0e0f101112131415161718191a1b1c1d1e1f |
input |
000102030405060708090a0b0c0d0e0f |
expected |
17bcdf28c0ee54496accadbae6e98c80 |
Vector 4 — DarkCrypt Nush — shifted incrementing key/plaintext
| Field |
Value |
key |
0102030405060708090a0b0c0d0e0f101112131415161718191a1b1c1d1e1f20 |
input |
101112131415161718191a1b1c1d1e1f |
expected |
08ed2ed5860dba64fa983c15939a7538 |
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