Enhancing Hyperledger Fabric Security with Lightweight Post-Quantum Cryptography and National Cryptographic Algorithms
Vinay Kumar Kasula, Sarath Babu Rakki, Rajkumar Banoth · 2025
Hyperledger Fabric is a scalable and modular consortium blockchain platform designed for enterprise applications, where cryptographic algorithms play a fundamental role in ensuring data security and integrity. However, the native Fabric framework lacks support for national cryptographic standards, necessitating the integration of secure cryptographic mechanisms. This study proposes an enhanced approach to embedding national cryptographic algorithms into the Fabric platform. First, Graph-based Dependency Analysis is employed to investigate the interaction logic among Fabric components and the invocation of cryptographic functions, facilitating an efficient integration strategy. Next, the Lightweight Post-Quantum Cryptography (L-PQC) framework, which enhances resistance to quantum threats while maintaining computational efficiency, is utilized to integrate SM2, SM3, and SM4 cryptographic algorithms into Fabric’s Blockchain Cryptographic Service Provider (BCCSP) module. Subsequently, a Microservices-Based Cryptography Integration mechanism is designed to establish seamless mapping between Fabric’s cryptographic function calls and the national cryptographic algorithm interfaces, ensuring compatibility and interoperability. Finally, the implementation is evaluated using Blockchain Simulation Environments, where a fabric-gm consortium blockchain instance is deployed to validate the correctness and efficiency of the embedded cryptographic modules. Comparative analysis with the original Fabric platform reveals that the enhanced system introduces a 2.5% increase in network startup time, a 1.8× rise in transaction latency, and a 7.5% increase in dynamic certificate generation time, while maintaining operational performance within acceptable limits. The proposed integration strategy ensures secure and efficient cryptographic support within Hyperledger Fabric, making it resilient to emerging cryptographic threats.