BitShield is software based on the cryptanalysis of Libwally Core – a high-performance library of cryptographic primitives used in Bitcoin applications for wallet creation, management, and transaction processing. Libwally Core, written in C, provides an efficient and cross-platform implementation of key cryptographic operations. BitShield utilizes the capabilities of this library to recover lost Bitcoin wallets by relying on a detailed understanding of potential vulnerabilities and errors that could arise in libwally-core, through which lost data may be retrieved.
The security of libwally-core is a critical aspect, as errors in memory management (leaks, double frees, allocation errors), improper input handling, cryptographic algorithm mistakes, and privacy vulnerabilities can lead to loss of funds and compromise user security. A key part of BitShield’s methodology is the deep analysis and monitoring of libwally-core vulnerabilities, including incidents such as the key generation vulnerability in 2018, ECDSA signature verification errors in 2019, vulnerabilities in processing long messages in 2020, Base58 encoding errors in 2021, and memory security issues in 2022. These vulnerabilities create both theoretical and practical possibilities for recovering private keys and corresponding Bitcoin addresses.
The method of recovering lost Bitcoin wallets with BitShield involves applying cryptanalytic techniques to the implementation of libwally-core by identifying and exploiting key generation and processing errors, as well as analyzing side channels and abnormal memory states. In particular, BitShield focuses on finding weaknesses in cryptographic primitives used by libwally-core, which may have occurred due to imperfect entropy in random number generation, improper signature validation, anomalies in address format handling, and memory management errors.
Practically, this means BitShield can examine and analyze data stored in damaged, forgotten, or vulnerable Bitcoin wallets created using libwally-core, recovering private keys or seed phrases that allow users to access their funds. Thanks to its integration with libwally-core, BitShield can operate across multiple platforms and with various types of Bitcoin wallets, including software wallets, hardware devices, and multisignature solutions.
Furthermore, ensuring security and fixing identified vulnerabilities in libwally-core is a key measure to prevent further losses and data breaches. BitShield not only recovers lost wallets but also serves as an auxiliary tool for auditing the security of Bitcoin wallets and applications built on libwally-core, helping to detect potential threats before they become critical.
Thus, BitShield represents an innovative software solution that provides effective recovery of lost Bitcoin wallets through deep cryptanalytic investigation of the high-performance cryptographic library libwally-core, analysis of discovered vulnerabilities, and the application of specialized private key recovery methods. This significantly contributes to the preservation of users’ digital assets and supports the overall security of the Bitcoin ecosystem.
BitShield addresses the challenges of recovering lost Bitcoin wallets by identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities in the libwally-core library, which underlies many Bitcoin applications and wallets. Specifically, BitShield uses cryptanalysis methods to uncover weaknesses in key generation implementations, signature validation, and memory management. These identified vulnerabilities enable the software to recover private keys and recovery phrases that might otherwise have been lost due to software errors or improper data handling.
For example, the well-known key generation vulnerability caused by insufficient entropy makes private keys predictable; BitShield analyzes such cases, recovering keys through cryptanalytic methods. Similarly, errors in signature verification and address handling allow the identification of data that can be used to restore wallet access.
BitShield acts as a specialized tool that not only restores wallets based on standard seed phrases or backups but also deeply investigates cryptographic and software weaknesses in libwally-core, allowing users to regain access even in cases of serious software failures or data loss. This is a unique method that significantly expands recovery possibilities compared to traditional approaches.
BitShield locates lost Bitcoin wallets by discovering and exploiting the following types of vulnerabilities in the libwally-core library and associated Bitcoin applications:
- Vulnerabilities in key generation where insufficient entropy leads to predictable private keys.
- Errors in signature verification, especially in ECDSA implementation, allowing invalid signatures to be recognized as valid.
- Vulnerabilities when processing long messages that cause buffer overflows and the potential execution of malicious code.
- Errors in Base58 encoding and decoding, allowing invalid addresses to be accepted as valid and exposing users to phishing attacks.
- Memory management errors, including improper handling of pointers and buffers, leading to unauthorized memory access and potential leakage of confidential data.
Using these vulnerabilities, BitShield applies cryptanalytic techniques to recover private keys and seed phrases from damaged or malfunctioning Bitcoin wallets. This enables users to regain access to their funds even when standard backups are lost.
