Paper 2026/660

QED-Lite: Lightweight Detection of Quantum-Vulnerable ELF Binaries via Cryptographic Library Version Fingerprinting

Seung-Won Lee, Hansung University

Ji-Won Bang, Hansung University

Ui-Jae Kim, Hansung University

Hui-Ju Kang, Hansung University

Min-Seo Kim, Hansung University

Hwa-Jeong Seo, Hansung University

Abstract

The advancement of quantum computing poses a serious threat to widely-used public-key cryptographic systems, leaving organizations with the challenge of identifying quantum-vulnerable (QV) executables within their systems and migrating to post-quantum cryptography (PQC). The prior work QED achieves high detection precision through angr-based static call graph analysis (P3), but its processing time of a few to over ten minutes per dataset and RAM consumption of up to 5 GB pose practical limitations on exhaustive screening in largescale environments. In this paper, we propose QED-Lite, a lightweight approximation tool that lightens the analysis stages that incur high computational overhead relative to their detection precision, replacing them with version-based PQC support determination of cryptographic libraries. QED-Lite introduces a newly built PQC risk classification database for 11 major cryptographic libraries and is implemented with a single dependency on pyelftools. Experimental results on the Network dataset show that QED-Lite achieves an execution time up to 855× faster (0.84 seconds) and reduces memory usage by 228× (22.9 MB) compared to QED, while maintaining a TPR of 100%. QED-Lite delivers practical value relative to its cost as a first-pass screening tool that is operationally viable in large-scale organizational environments.

@misc{cryptoeprint:2026/660,
      author = {Ha-Gyeong Kim and Seung-Won Lee and Ji-Won Bang and Ui-Jae Kim and Hui-Ju Kang and Min-Seo Kim and Hwa-Jeong Seo},
      title = {{QED}-Lite: Lightweight Detection of Quantum-Vulnerable {ELF} Binaries via Cryptographic Library Version Fingerprinting},
      howpublished = {Cryptology {ePrint} Archive, Paper 2026/660},
      year = {2026},
      url = {https://eprint.iacr.org/2026/660}
}