Word.ws English Dictionary

known-plaintext attack

known-plaintext attack noun: an attack on a cryptosystem that relies on the attacker's knowledge of not just some ciphertexts encrypted with that system and key, but also their corresponding plaintexts (cribs). More powerful than a ciphertext-only attack, but less powerful than a chosen-plaintext attack.

Noun

known-plaintext attack (plural known-plaintext attacks)

  1. An attack on a cryptosystem that relies on the attacker's knowledge of not just some ciphertexts encrypted with that system and key, but also their corresponding plaintexts (cribs). More powerful than a ciphertext-only attack, but less powerful than a chosen-plaintext attack.
    Synonyms:
    KPA

Synonyms of known-plaintext attack

Forms of known-plaintext attack

pluralknown-plaintext attacks

Questions about known-plaintext attack

What does known-plaintext attack mean?
Known-plaintext attack means an attack on a cryptosystem that relies on the attacker's knowledge of not just some ciphertexts encrypted with that system and key, but also their corresponding plaintexts (cribs). More powerful than a ciphertext-only attack, but less powerful than a chosen-plaintext attack.
What part of speech is known-plaintext attack?
Known-plaintext attack is a noun.
What is the plural of known-plaintext attack?
The plural of known-plaintext attack is known-plaintext attacks.

Words near known-plaintext attack in the dictionary

  1. known which end is up
  2. known which side one's bread is buttered on
  3. known which side one's bread was buttered on
  4. known-ciphertext attack
  5. known-ciphertext attacks
  6. known-plaintext attack
  7. known-plaintext attacks
  8. knowne
  9. knownless
  10. knownness
  11. knownothingness

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: known-plaintext attack (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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