A lightweight dual authentication scheme for V2V communication in 6G-based vanets

The advancement of 6G wireless communication technology has facilitated the integration of Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs). However, the messages transmitted over the public channel in the open and dynamic VANETs are vulnerable to malicious attacks. Although numerous researchers have proposed authentication schemes to enhance the security of Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication, most existing methodologies face two significant challenges: (1) the majority of the schemes are not lightweight enough to support real-time message interaction among vehicles; (2) the sensitive information like identity and position is at risk of being compromised. To tackle these issues, we propose a lightweight dual authentication protocol for V2V communication based on Physical Unclonable Function (PUF). The proposed scheme accomplishes dual authentication between vehicles by the combination of Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) and MASK function. The security analysis proves that our scheme provides both anonymous authentication and information unlinkability. Additionally, the performance analysis demonstrates that the computation overhead of our scheme is approximately reduced 23.4% compared to the state-of-the-art schemes. The practical simulation conducted in a 6G network environment demonstrates the feasibility of 6G-based VANETs and their potential for future advancements.