
2 Javier Correa-Marichal et al.
Taking advantage of its popularity, and in order to promote the digitization of
telematic services offered by public administrations, in 2006 a new version of the
DNI was launched with a chip that offered various functionalities related to the
identity of the holder, and since then it has been called electronic DNI or DNIe.
The security of the physical document and its electronic components and
related software is improved with each new revision. Each update of the DNIe,
before being certified by the Certification Body of the National Cryptologic Cen-
ter, passes an evaluation process developed by the National Currency and Stamp
Factory – Royal Mint under request of the General Police Directorate, and car-
ried out by an accredited laboratory that passes SOG-IS audits. This evaluation
follows the Common Criteria methodology (ISO/IEC 15408). Specifically, the
DNIe software has been certified with the evaluation assurance level EAL4+
EAL4 AVA VAN.5, and the chips have been certified as a Secure Signature Cre-
ation Device, in accordance with European standards [2]. These certifications
provide a very high level of confidence. However, design or implementation er-
rors often go unnoticed in certified products already deployed on technologies,
so it is always necessary to consider security as a process and not as a state.
In the launch of the DNIe 3.0 in 2015, an interface for use through NFC was
included, which allows the DNIe to be used directly through mobile devices that
include this technology, in an effort to popularize its use [3].
At the time of writing this work, the last revision of the DNI had been
launched in August of the previous year, in 2021, with an announcement on
the official website [4]. One of the most notable features of this version is the
design and functionality, seeking to homogenize the identity documents of the
countries of the European Union so that their use can be standardized and
approved according to the eIDAS regulation, of digital identification in Europe.
In addition, as announced on the police website [5], the current version of the
DNIe includes new security measures, both visible and invisible.
This study has been performed on the latest version of the DNIe since it
was carried out on a document issued at the end of 2021. It is an exploration
of the implementation of the functionalities and security mechanisms contained
in the document and some linked apps. The main goal of this research has been
to confirm the resilience of the DNIe against several frequent attack vectors on
electronic identity cards and NFC devices [6]. In fact, this study does not provide
new vulnerabilities or attacks on the contactless protocols of the DNIe, but rather
serves to show that, in general, the protocols used to communicate through the
contactless interface with the DNIe are sufficiently secure. Following the rules of
ethical hacking, this analysis has been presented to the Spanish National agency
in charge of developing the DNIe.
This document is organized as follows. Sections II, III and IV introduce,
respectively, the different interfaces of the DNIe, the logical structure of the
data stored in the DNIe and the security mechanisms developed to protect its
integrity. Section V collects some details of the research carried out on the current
version of the DNIe and various applications that require its use. Finally, section
VI presents the conclusions of this work.