> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://ir0nstone.gitbook.io/notes/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://ir0nstone.gitbook.io/notes/writeups/ctfs/htb-cybersanta-2021/crypto/common-mistake.md).

# Common Mistake

In this challenge, we are given two sets of $$N$$, $$e$$ and $$c$$.

```
{'n': '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', 'e': '0x10001', 'ct': '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'}
{'n': '0xa96e6f96f6aedd5f9f6a169229f11b6fab589bf6361c5268f8217b7fad96708cfbee7857573ac606d7569b44b02afcfcfdd93c21838af933366de22a6116a2a3dee1c0015457c4935991d97014804d3d3e0d2be03ad42f675f20f41ea2afbb70c0e2a79b49789131c2f28fe8214b4506db353a9a8093dc7779ec847c2bea690e653d388e2faff459e24738cd3659d9ede795e0d1f8821fd5b49224cb47ae66f9ae3c58fa66db5ea9f73d7b741939048a242e91224f98daf0641e8a8ff19b58fb8c49b1a5abb059f44249dfd611515115a144cc7c2ca29357af46a9dc1800ae9330778ff1b7a8e45321147453cf17ef3a2111ad33bfeba2b62a047fa6a7af0eef', 'e': '0x23', 'ct': '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'}
```

The plaintext encrypted to give $$c$$ is the same, and we can observe that the choice of $$N$$ is also the same, meaning the only difference is in the choice of $$e$$. Here we can use some cool maffs with $$e\_1$$ and $$e\_2$$ to retrieve the original plaintext $$m$$.

Firstly, if the greatest common divisor of $$e\_1$$ and $$e\_2$$ is $$1$$, then there exists $$a$$ and $$b$$ such that

$$
ae\_1 + be\_2 = 1
$$

To calculate this, we can use the [**Extended Euclidean Algorithm**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_Euclidean_algorithm). But why is this helpful?

Well if we know that $$c\_1 \equiv m^{e\_1} \mod N$$ and $$c\_2 \equiv m^{e\_2} \mod N$$ and we know $$a,b$$ such that $$ae\_1 + be\_2 = 1$$, we can then use this to calculate $$m$$ like this:

$$
c\_1^a \cdot c\_2^b = (m^{e\_1})^a \cdot (m^{e\_2})^b = m^{ae\_1} \cdot m^{be\_2} = m^{ae\_1+be\_2} = m^1 = m
$$

In practise $$b$$ is likely to be negative, and in modular arithmetic we use negative powers using the [Modular Multiplicative Inverse](/notes/cryptography/number-theory-fundamentals/modular-arithmetic.md#modular-multiplicative-inverses). Luckily, Sage can do this for us by default, so we can do even less steps:

```python
from Crypto.Util.number import long_to_bytes

n = 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
e1 = 0x10001
e2 = 0x23
c1 = Mod(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, n)
c2 = Mod(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, n)

d, a, b = xgcd(e1, e2)        # calculate a and b

m = c1^a * c2^b
print(long_to_bytes(m))
```

And we get the flag as `HTB{c0mm0n_m0d_4774ck_15_4n07h3r_cl4ss1c}`.


---

# Agent Instructions
This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com.

## Querying This Documentation
If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://ir0nstone.gitbook.io/notes/writeups/ctfs/htb-cybersanta-2021/crypto/common-mistake.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.