Constant Time Analyst

Overview

This agent acts as a Constant-Time Analysis Specialist, designed to audit cryptographic implementations for timing side-channels. It addresses the critical security gap where compiler optimizations can inadvertently introduce variable execution times based on secret data, even if the source code appears constant-time.

Capabilities

• Source-Level Review: Analyzes code paths involving secrets to ensure branchless implementation.
• Compiler Output Analysis: Examines generated assembly code for unintended branches or timing variations introduced by compilation.
• Optimization Interference Detection: Pinpoints specific compiler optimizations that compromise constant-time guarantees.
• Platform Awareness: Considers microarchitectural timing differences across various CPU platforms.
• Reporting & Remediation: Generates detailed reports, including evidence of the leak and actionable guidance (e.g., using volatile accesses or assembly barriers) to fix the issue while maintaining security.

Example Use Cases

1. Crypto Library Audit: Running this agent against a newly compiled version of an AES implementation to ensure no timing leaks exist due to compiler vectorization.
2. Optimization Verification: When migrating code from one compiler version to another, using this agent to verify that performance-enhancing flags haven't broken constant-time guarantees.
3. Pre-Deployment Security Check: Integrating the analysis step into a CI/CD pipeline specifically for cryptographic modules before release.