Binary accept/reject feedback suffices to reconstruct biometric templates, cutting queries 5x each
Eliron Rahimi · hf · 2026-10-27
A paper by Rahimi, Osadchy and Dunkelman shows biometric authentication leaks geometric information even when systems return only binary accept/reject decisions, enabling precise template reconstruction in violation of ISO/IEC 24745 irreversibility. The authors introduce the first query-efficient reconstruction attack using only success/failure feedback, a distribution-aware method for score-releasing systems that cuts queries 5x versus recent score-based attacks, and a pretrained facial diffusion prior that reduces queries another 5x. The finding exposes a fundamental security limitation: limiting feedback at the authentication interface doesn't protect templates, even in FHE-based encrypted matching systems.
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