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IGE mode

Security På svenska → Updated: 2026-10-13

A block cipher mode that chains each block to both the previous plaintext and the previous ciphertext, and where errors propagate indefinitely.

IGE, short for Infinite Garble Extension, earns its name because one corrupted ciphertext block garbles all the plaintext that follows. That is unusual: in CBC the damage is limited to two blocks. The mode has no built-in authentication, so in some setups an attacker can make changes that the receiver never notices.

It is best remembered because Telegram's original MTProto protocol used it, and because cryptographers criticised it for the lack of integrity protection. For new work, pick an authenticated mode such as GCM instead.

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