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Challenge "The third ENIGMA M4 message"  

  By: admin on Sept. 21, 2011, 6:49 p.m.

In 2006 the distributed "M4 Message Breaking Project" under the lead of Stefan Krah aimed at decrypting three ENIGMA M4 messages from the time of World War II. Two of the three messages where decrypted within the first weeks. However, the third message withstood despite all efforts and remained unbroken.

Today, the M4 project has been discontinued with the last message still unbroken. The task of this challenge is to break this very last message - after all, a few years have past since the project was discontinued and cryptanalysis and computational power also advanced during this time.

Note: The solution was published here: http://www.enigma.hoerenberg.com/. You can't get points for solving it any more, but you can still use it as a good training experience.
Read more...

 Last edited by: admin on Sept. 7, 2022, 3:06 p.m., edited 1 time in total.

Additional Informations  

  By: TBREAKER on Oct. 5, 2011, 3:03 p.m.

Third M4 message (first message):
CLXP LWRU………………………?……CDXP LWRU VA

CLXP LWRU : "Kenngruppe" - indicator group (coded message key)

? : Lost charakter (not very fatal for decoding)

CDXP LWRU : copy of the "Kenngruppe" - 1 garbled charakter (M4 Messages contains a copy of the Kenngruppe at the end)

VA: International characters (Morse-Code) for end of message ! …- .- (VA)

Does anyone knows the correct meaning of this:

T.O.R.1152/19/221

T.O.R –> Time Of Reception ?
1152 –> Time ?
19 –> Day of month ?
221 –> Message No. ?

This is very interessting, because the Naval rotors changed every 2 days!
LOOKS and SCHRÖDER message are coded on the same reflector/Greek/rotors !!!
B B241. Plugs (Stecker) changed every day…

Why have the SCHRÖDER/LOOKS messages the same rotor order? With 3 days difference. See
also "interpretation and translation" at the M4 Message breaking project website.

I performed a naval hillclimb with the "Third Message" at SCHRÖDER/LOOKS settings (Reflector, Greek, Rotors, plugs) over all possible start positions and rings, with no result. I guess the "Third Message" (first message) was sent some day(s) earlier.

It is also possible the message is extremly garbled, double coded or a transmission error occurred.

See also:

http://members.fortunecity.com/jpeschel/erskin.htm

http://www.bytereef.org/m4_project.html

UNBROKEN Message –> First Message CLXP LWRU
LOOKS Message –> Second Message FCLC QRKN
SCHRÖDER Message –> Third Message YKRB MGVA

Best regards

TBREAKER

Re: Challenge  

  By: DarkFibre on Oct. 5, 2011, 11:10 p.m.

I noticed that too, the message seems very garbled.

The Enigma Project split this code into 2(?) pieces and sent it out to their hundreds or thousands of members to crack it, to no avail. This could mean the message is extremely garbled and needs to be cut into smaller pieces and/or brute-forced to find fragments, or it could mean the Enigma could not be used that day and the U-boat instead defaulted to using Reservehandverfahren.

I looked into acquiring RHV tables to break this code but they don't appear to be available except for a fragment here or there. Maybe they are buried somewhere at Bletchley Park.

Re: Challenge  

  By: TBREAKER on Feb. 24, 2012, 2:04 a.m.

Free hosting http://www.fortunecity.com will shut down at April 30th, 2012.

Here are the orignial three ENIGMA M4 messages from Mr. Ralph Erskine.

http://members.fortunecity.com/jpeschel/erskin.htm

(This messages originally appeared in Cryptologia October 1996;Volume XX, Number 4.)

UNBROKEN Message –> First Message CLXP LWRU (unbroken)
LOOKS Message –> Second Message FCLC QRKN
SCHROEDER (SCHRÖDER) Message –> Third Message YKRB MGVA

APPENDIX II (continued), TO THE COMMANDING OFFICER, H.M.S. HURRICANE'S
No. 110/S, DATED 25TH NOVEMBER, 1942.
TEXTS OF SIGNALS READ

CLXP LWRU HCEY ZTCS OPUP PZDI UQRD LWXX FACT TJMB HDVC JJMM ZRPY IKHZ
AWGL YXWT MJPQ UEFS ZBCT VRLA LZXW VXTS LFFF AUDQ FBWR RYAP SBOW JMKL
DUYU PFUQ DOWV HAHC DWAU ARSW TXCF VOYF PUFH VZFD GGPO OVGR MBPX XZCA
NKMO NFHX PCKH JZBU MXJW XKAU OD?Z UCVC XPFT CDXP LWRU VA

T.O.R.1152/19/221 (53 GROUPS).

FCLC QRKN NCZW VUSX PNYM INHZ XMQX SFWX WLKJ AHSH NMCO CCAK UQPM KCSM
HKSE INJU SBLK IOSX CKUB HMLL XCSJ USRR DVKO HULX WCCB GVLI YXEO AHXR
HKKF VDRE WEZL XOBA FGYU JQUK GRTV UKAM EURB VEKS UHHV OYHA BCJW MAKL
FKLM YFVN RIZR VVRT KOFD ANJM OLBG FFLE OPRG TFLV RHOW OPBE KVWM UQFM
PWPA RMFH AGKX IIBG FCLC QRKM VA

T.O.R.1840/19Z (62 GROUPS).

YKRB MGVA TMKF NWZX FFII YXUT IHWM DHXI FZEQ VKDV MQSW BQND YOZF TIWM
JHXH YRPA CZUG RREM VPAN WXGT KTHN RLVH KZPG MNMV SECV CKHO INPL HHPV
PXKM BHOK CCPD PEVX VVHO ZZQB IYIE OUSE ZNHJ KWHY DAGT XDJD JKJP KCSD
SUZT QCXJ DVLP AMGQ KKSH PHVK SVPC BUWZ FIZP FUUP YKRB MGVA VA

T.O.R.0321/21Z (54 GROUPS).

0557Z Corrections to above W 51 FIZP W 54 MGVA.

 Last edited by: TBREAKER on Feb. 24, 2012, 4:07 a.m., edited 1 time in total.

Re: Challenge  

  By: TBREAKER on Feb. 24, 2012, 3:48 a.m.

UPDATE ENIGMA M4 MESSAGE:

I´am still working on the "THIRD MESSAGE". (first message)

Here are some results:

I splitted the message into parts (At Schroeder/Looks plugs and wheels) - NO RESULT

I searched for the Keywords "SONDER", "STAB" and "OFFIZIER" inside the header
of the "third" (first) message. (At Schroeder/Looks plugs and wheels). - NO RESULT

I performed a new hillclimbing at Schroeder/Looks wheels - NO RESULT

I changed the "Greek"-Rotor and reflector - NO RESULT

I tested the "RHV THEORY" with the original 25 bigram (digram) tables:
Schlüsselheft Nr.16 zum R.H.V. Allg. M.Dv.929/1 - Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine Berlin 1942
(R.H.V. -> Reservehandverfahren nach Marine-Dienstvorschrift 929/1 von 1940)

  • NO RESULT

I wrote an Enigma M4 Turing Bombe. This software can shift a
crib over the the whole ciphertext automatically. I tested dozens
of cribs. (numbers, names, locations etc. …at Schroeder/Looks wheels) - NO RESULT

Next steps:

  • I´ll combine the M4 Turingbombe with hillclimbing, to achieve shorter CRIBS, searching the whole
    M4 keyspace within a feasible time…

  • I´ll analyze the "Kenngruppen" (with original records)

Best regards

TBREAKER

Re: Challenge  

  By: TBREAKER on May 29, 2012, 12:37 p.m.

Still working with the message…

At the time I browse the KTB´s (Kriegstagebücher / war diaries) for Turing Bombe cribs.

221 means Leitnummer (serial number)

Funkschaltung Amerika I Nordatlantik Leitnummernserie 201-300 (restarts every day)

TBREAKER

Re: Challenge  

  By: TBREAKER on Aug. 10, 2012, 2:29 a.m.

I´m still working with the message. No result so far.

BUT:

I managed the first German WW2 Naval ENIGMA M4 TURINGBOMBE break since 1945 !!!

Visit: http://www.enigma.hoerenberg.com and read the original U534 messages for the first time since nearly 70 years !!!

Enjoy it…

TBREAKER

Re: Challenge  

  By: TBREAKER on Jan. 14, 2013, 9:37 a.m.

B R O K E N !!!

Stay tuned…

Re: Challenge  

  By: TBREAKER on March 7, 2013, 9:55 p.m.

Now you can read an article about the break on the BREAKING GERMAN NAVY CIPHERS project website!


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