Flip-Break: Breaking Flip-flop-based Logic Locking in Sequential Circuits
Research output: Contribution to book/Conference proceedings/Anthology/Report › Conference contribution › Contributed › peer-review
Contributors
- Transregio 404: Next Generation Electronics With Active Devices in Three Dimensions
Abstract
Machine learning (ML)-based attacks have shown that even the most advanced logic locking methods leave structural traces in circuits due to optimizations of security-agnostic synthesis tools. However, these attacks mainly focus on purely combinational logic locking techniques, like XOR/XNOR-based or MUX-based approaches. To mitigate structural leakages caused by synthesis tools, a novel flip-flop-based approach named Flip-Lock has been introduced. By incorporating sequential elements into locking substructures, this flip-flop-based logic locking approach prevents synthesis optimizations, effectively neutralizing all state-of-the-art structural attacks. This paper demonstrates that while flip-flop-based logic locking effectively mitigates the structural leakages left by synthesis tools; it may introduce flip-flop-relevant structural traces. These traces can reveal distinctions between the added locking flip-flops and the original flip-flops of the circuit. By reframing the problem as flip-flop classification rather than key extraction, we introduce Flip-Break, an Oracle-less Graph Neural Network (GNN)-based attack designed to target flip-flop-based logic locking. Flip-Break reveals that the added secure flip-flops differ from the original flip-flops in their local sub-structures, as they are randomly inserted into the circuit. We show that Flip-Break gains an average accuracy of in breaking add-on flip-flop-based secure layers for various benchmark circuits.
Details
| Original language | English |
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| Title of host publication | GLSVLSI 2025 - Proceedings of the Great Lakes Symposium on VLSI 2025 |
| Publisher | Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) |
| Pages | 463-469 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| ISBN (electronic) | 979-8-4007-1496-2 |
| Publication status | Published - 29 Jun 2025 |
| Peer-reviewed | Yes |
Publication series
| Series | Proceedings of the ACM Great Lakes Symposium on VLSI, GLSVLSI |
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Conference
| Title | 35th Great Lakes Symposium on VLSI 2025 |
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| Abbreviated title | GLSVLSI 2025 |
| Conference number | 35 |
| Duration | 30 June - 2 July 2025 |
| Website | |
| Location | The Jung Hotel New Orleans |
| City | New Orleans |
| Country | United States of America |
Keywords
Research priority areas of TU Dresden
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Keywords
- Flip-Flop-based Logic Locking, GNN, Structural attacks