, Li et al.[1] proposed a secure outsourcing algorithm for modular exponentiation in one single untrusted server model and a new method of generating transformation keys. They claimed that their solution can securely outsource encryption and decryption to untrusted ESP (encryption service providers) and DSP (decryption service providers), leaving only a constant number of simple operations for the DO (data owner) and eligible users to perform locally. In addition, both DO and qualified users can check the correctness of the results returned from ESP and DSP, respectively. Although the authors provide security proofs for their scheme, unfortunately, after carefully observing their scheme, we find that the scheme has security vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities allow the adversary to generate the sub-key for any attribute and replace ciphertext sub-item, which result in the adversary to be able to break their scheme. In response to this problem, we propose an improved solution and proved its security. INDEX TERMS Attribute-based encryption, security vulnerability, key generation, ciphertext replacement.
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