Lost 1 character in private key

[issmirnov]

Hello,

I generated some paper wallets some time ago using this tool. I am attempting to sweep my paper key, and have noticed that the private key is 50 characters, not 51.

I have scanned the QR code and verified that it is the same 50 character long value.

I was able top replicate this bug on about 10% of wallets generated using the current release. If you click "Generate" many times once in a while the public or private key will be short by 1 character.

What can be done to recover the missing character? Can you elaborate on how the keys are generated in the first place?

Thank you.

[cantonbecker]

This sounds strange/alarming. I’m unable to get the generator to produce anything other than a 51 character WIF private key that begins with 5. My site uses the same generating code as bitaddress.org (fundamentally unchanged since 2011) and I’ve never heard of this happening on either site.

First, can you please post some examples of 50-character private keys you are able to generate. Second, what browser and operating system are you using?

On Dec 14, 2017, at 12:13 AM, Ivan Smirnov notifications@github.com wrote:

Hello,

I generated some paper wallets some time ago using this tool. I am attempting to sweep my paper key, and have noticed that the private key is 50 characters, not 51.

I have scanned the QR code and verified that it is the same 50 character long value.

I was able top replicate this bug on about 10% of wallets generated using the current release. If you click "Generate" many times once in a while the public or private key will be short by 1 character.

What can be done to recover the missing character? Can you elaborate on how the keys are generated in the first place?

Thank you.

— You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/cantonbecker/bitcoinpaperwallet/issues/33, or mute the thread https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AD9S476oi8bcOCh-ogScJBCyRTq9GGi-ks5tAMqNgaJpZM4RBoxV.

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Canton Becker canton@gmail.com • (505) 570-0635 • http://cantonbecker.com

[linuxman21]

I have been using this for all my paper wallets without issue so far. I didnt think the length of a private key matters as long as you knew it.

Thanks cantonbecker :)

On Thu, Dec 14, 2017 at 8:33 AM, cantonbecker notifications@github.com wrote:

This sounds strange/alarming. I’m unable to get the generator to produce anything other than a 51 character WIF private key that begins with 5. My site uses the same generating code as bitaddress.org (fundamentally unchanged since 2011) and I’ve never heard of this happening on either site.

First, can you please post some examples of 50-character private keys you are able to generate. Second, what browser and operating system are you using?

On Dec 14, 2017, at 12:13 AM, Ivan Smirnov notifications@github.com wrote:

Hello,

I generated some paper wallets some time ago using this tool. I am attempting to sweep my paper key, and have noticed that the private key is 50 characters, not 51.

I have scanned the QR code and verified that it is the same 50 character long value.

I was able top replicate this bug on about 10% of wallets generated using the current release. If you click "Generate" many times once in a while the public or private key will be short by 1 character.

What can be done to recover the missing character? Can you elaborate on how the keys are generated in the first place?

Thank you.

— You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/ cantonbecker/bitcoinpaperwallet/issues/33, or mute the thread < https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AD9S476oi8bcOCh- ogScJBCyRTq9GGi-ks5tAMqNgaJpZM4RBoxV>.

---

Canton Becker canton@gmail.com • (505) 570-0635 • http://cantonbecker.com

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[issmirnov]

Hi Canton,

Thanks for the quick response. The initial keys were generated in 2013, using Ubuntu 12.04 from Live CD, most likely with the era appropriate firefox.

Currently experimenting with an offline Centos 7 VM, also running Firefox (latest ESR).

I'm away from my main rig at the moment, but will try to generate some more addresses for you to post as samples. I definitely recall seeing 2/20 key pairs have a missing character.

Will update when I have some samples ready.

[issmirnov]

Going to be traveling, will update in January

[ki9us]

It's not unlikely that you mistyped or didn't copy the whole string. You don't have to worry about losing funds, so long as the rest is correct.

(26 lowercase + 26 uppercase + 10 digits) 51 possible positions = 5251 = 2652 possible combinations.

Shouldn't be a big issue to brute force that.

[ki9us]

Scam Likely 👆️