
eMudhra Scandal: Secret Keys Easier to Guess Than Suitcase Lock
What Happened?
A researcher revealed that eight secret keys from eMudhra were easily guessable, raising concerns about digital trust. Google and Mozilla have blocked these keys, and India's IT ministry is investigating.
Key points
- eMudhra's secret keys were only 4, 56, 66, 115, 155, 156, 230, and 237 digits long instead of the expected 116 digits.
- Google blocked the keys in Chrome within two hours of the report, followed by Mozilla.
- The Indian IT ministry has formed a special team to investigate the incident.
- eMudhra's key generation ceremony on April 30, 2025, produced flawed keys due to a test error.
- No malicious use of the compromised keys has been confirmed as of October 21.
- Google will remove the root certificate linked to these keys on October 27.
Key insights
- The incident highlights vulnerabilities in digital certificate generation processes.
- Users may need to be more cautious about trusting online security indicators.
- The investigation could lead to stricter regulations for certificate authorities.
Why it matters
This incident raises significant concerns about the security of digital trust mechanisms that users rely on daily.
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Source
India Today



