One-Time PUF and AEAD-Based Remote Keyless Entry Protocol Secure Vehicle Access

Modern vehicles offer significant advancements over older models, particularly in user comfort, due to the integration of Internet of Things (IoT)-based electronics. However, adding these IoT features has introduced new security risks. Security threats fall into two categories: physical, which require direct contact and may render the vehicle inoperable, and remote, which are executed wirelessly through systems such as remote keyless entry (RKE) and other IoT components. In this paper, we analyze various RKE attacks in vehicles and the specific IoT vulnerabilities they exploit. We also propose an authentication method that uses authenticated encryption, hash functions, and one-time physical unclonable functions (PUFs) to improve RKE security. Our security analysis shows that the proposed RKE protocol withstands several well-known attacks, including impersonation, RollJam, and the more recent Rollback method. We validate the authentication process using a formal proof based on BAN logic. Finally, our performance evaluation indicates that the proposed scheme is both more efficient and less costly, supporting its practicality and reliability for real-world deployment.