A Secure and Efficient Attribute-Based Signature Scheme with Proxy Delegation

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a novel Attribute-Based Signature (ABS) scheme that integrates a proxy delegation mechanism, enabling secure and flexible signature generation based on user attributes. This advanced delegation allows designated proxies to sign on behalf of the original users, without revealing sensitive information related to the users’ attribute sets, thus preserving privacy. The scheme leverages bilinear pairings to provide robust security guarantees, ensuring that signatures can only be generated by authorized users who possess the necessary attribute keys or by designated proxy entities endowed with delegated keys. To address potential security threats, our construction incorporates resilience against both insider and outsider attacks, establishing stringent protection against unauthorized signature generation and identity impersonation. Our design emphasizes efficiency and scalability, balancing security and computational overhead to achieve practical feasibility across various applications, such as access control, IoT, and decentralized networks, where attributebased authentication and delegation are critical. Additionally, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the scheme’s correctness, security, and unforgeability, underpinned by rigorous proofs based on the Computational Diffie-Hellman (CDH) assumption. Through this analysis, we demonstrate that the scheme meets all essential security properties, including anonymity, non-repudiation, and resistance to delegation abuse, positioning it as a reliable and adaptable solution for real-world deployments requiring secure and flexible attribute-based authentication.