An efficient ciphertext search scheme for attribute-based policy hiding

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1671-1122.2026.10.003

Abstract

Abstract:

With the widespread adoption of cloud computing and data-sharing services, large volumes of sensitive data are outsourced to cloud platforms, exposing such data to the risks of unauthorized access and privacy leakage1. However, existing ciphertext search schemes struggle to simultaneously hide an access policy and retrieve keywords efficiently. To address this challenge, this paper proposed an efficient ciphertext search scheme for attribute-based policy hiding. The scheme ensured access policy hiding while maintaining high keyword retrieval efficiency. The scheme constructed a policy-hiding mechanism by embedding random vectors into attribute ciphertexts. This mechanism effectively protected user access intentions and sensitive data. This paper designed a trapdoor aggregation algorithm by compressing multiple matching operations into a single linear pairing. The algorithm achieved constant-level complexity for rapid retrieval. Furthermore, this paper designed a cloud-edge-end collaborative computing algorithm by outsourcing the major computational overhead of ciphertext decryption. This algorithm significantly reduced the computational burden on an end user and improved local decryption efficiency. Scheme analysis demonstrates that the proposed scheme guarantees the correctness of both search and decryption. Under standard hardness assumptions, it achieves policy hiding and ensures semantic security, thereby resisting sensitive information leakage and inference attacks. Experimental results further show that the proposed scheme attains a lower computational overhead and faster response times across various attribute dimensions.

Key words: ciphertext search, attribute-based encryption, policy hiding, data sharing, outsourcing decryption

CLC Number:

TP309

Hou Ran, Bai Chenling, Xu Zhen, Li Na, He Yongqiang, Wu Yunkun. An efficient ciphertext search scheme for attribute-based policy hiding[J]. Netinfo Security, 2026, 26(10): 1538-1551.

Figures/Tables 8

References 27

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符号	含义
$msk$	主密钥
$pp$	系统参数
$sk$	私钥
$pk$	公钥
$S$	属性
$SK$	属性密钥
$W$	访问策略
$CW$	内容密文
$ck$	内容密钥
$w$	关键字
$TW$	聚合陷门
$I$	索引
$Tok$	搜索许可令牌

方案	访问结构	快速关键字搜索	策略隐藏	外包加解密
文献[14]方案	LSSS	是	是	否
文献[22]方案	AND-gate	是	否	是
文献[23]方案	AND-gate	是	否	否
文献[24]方案	LSSS	否	是	是
文献[25]方案	Tree	否	是	是
文献[26]方案	Tree	是	否	是
文献[27]方案	LSSS	是	否	是
本文方案	AND-gate on multi-value attribute	是	是	是

符号	含义
E(G)	G中的幂运算
E(G_T)	G_T中的幂运算
B	线性配对运算
L	G中元素的长度
L_T	G_T中元素的长度
L_Z	Z_p^*中元素的长度
\|S\|	用户属性集合中的元素数
\|U\|	属性域中的元素数
\|A\|	访问结构中属性的数量
\|N\|	搜索策略中的属性数量
m	搜索关键词的最大容量

阶段	文献[14] 方案	文献[25] 方案	文献[26] 方案	文献[27] 方案	本文方案
Setup	2E(G)+ E(G_T)	(4\|U\|+1)E(G)+2E(G_T)	—	2E(G)+E(G_T)	E(G)+E(G_T)
Keygen	(2\|S\|+2)E(G)	(4\|S\|+5)E(G)	E(G)	(\|S\|+7)E(G)	(2\|S\|+6)E(G)
Encrypt	(3+2\|A\|)E(G)+2E( G_T)+B	(7\|U\|+8)E(G)+2E(G_T)	(m+1)E(G)	(\|A\|+9)E(G)+2E(G_T)	(2\|U\|+4)E(G)+E(G_T)
Trapdoor	(2\|S\|+2)E(G)	(4\|S\|+7)E(G)	(2m+4)E(G)	(\|S\|+6)E(G)	7E(G)
Search	(2\|A\|+1)B+\|A\|E(G_T)	—	(2m+2)E(G)	(2\|S\|+3)B+\|A\|E(G_T)	E(G)+B+ E(G_T)
DU 侧解密	2B+E(G_T)	E(G_T)	—	E(G_T)	E(G_T)

阶段	文献[14] 方案	文献[25] 方案	文献[26] 方案	文献[27] 方案	本文方案
Setup	2L+L_T+3L_Z	(4\|U\|+1)L+2L_T+ (3\|U\|+4)L_Z	L+L_Z	2L+L_T+ 2L_Z	3L+L_T+2L_Z
keygen	(2\|S\|+2)L+(\|S\|+1)L_Z	(4\|S\|+5)L+ 2L_Z	L+(\|S\|+1)L_Z	(\|S\|+7)L+2L_Z	(2\|S\|+2)L+L_Z
Encrypt	(2\|A\|+3)L+2L_T+ (\|A\|+2)L_Z	(7\|U\|+8)L+2L_T+4L_Z	L+L_T+\|A\|L_Z	(\|A\|+9)L+2L_Z	(2\|U\|+3)L+L_T
Trapdoor	(2\|S\|+2)L+L_Z	(4\|S\|+7)L+4L_Z	—	(\|S\|+6)L+2L_Z	4L
Search	—	(7\|S\|+9)L_T	(2m+2)L+L_T+L_Z	(\|S\|+1)L_T	L_Z+2L_T