MnemonicSafe

MnemonicSafe is a secure backup solution for cryptocurrency mnemonics. Inspired by the ideas behind SLIP-39, MnemonicSafe splits a BIP-39 mnemonic into multiple shares using Shamir's Secret Sharing (SSS) and then encrypts each share using AES-256-GCM with unique passwords. This approach requires a threshold number of shares to reconstruct the original mnemonic, thereby enhancing security and resilience against loss or compromise.

Disclaimer:
MnemonicSafe is an educational and experimental project and is not an official implementation of SLIP-39 by SatoshiLabs. Use this code for testing and research purposes only, and never expose real mnemonics without a thorough security review.

Overview

MnemonicSafe works by:

1. Converting the mnemonic into entropy:
   The provided BIP-39 mnemonic is validated and converted into its underlying binary entropy.

2. Splitting the entropy using Shamir's Secret Sharing (SSS):
   The entropy is divided into multiple shares such that only a configurable threshold of shares is required to reconstruct the original secret.

3. Encrypting each share:
   Each share is converted into a Base64 string and then encrypted using AES-256-GCM. A unique password is used for each share, and robust key derivation (using PBKDF2 with a random salt) ensures strong encryption.

4. Reconstructing the mnemonic:
   By decrypting a threshold number of shares with their corresponding passwords and combining them via SSS, the original mnemonic is recovered.

While our code is sometimes called "SLIP-39" in this repository, note that SLIP-39 is a standard developed by SatoshiLabs. MnemonicSafe is inspired by these ideas but does not adhere to the official SLIP-39 specification.

Features

• BIP-39 Mnemonic Conversion: Validates and converts mnemonics to entropy.
• Secret Splitting with SSS: Splits the mnemonic's entropy into multiple shares.
• AES-256-GCM Encryption: Encrypts each share with its own password using PBKDF2 key derivation, random salt, and IV.
• Share Reconstruction: Combines a threshold number of decrypted shares to recover the original mnemonic.
• Extensible Design: Ready for future enhancements like expiration metadata or threshold encryption.

Installation

1. Clone the Repository:

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/mnemonicsafe.git
   cd mnemonicsafe
   

Installation

1. Clone the Repository:

   git clone https://github.com/hackable/mnemonicsafe.git
   cd mnemonicsafe
   

2. Install Dependencies: Make sure you have Node.js (version 23) installed, then run:

    npm install
   

Usage

Splitting a Mnemonic into Encrypted Shares

In the example.js file, a sample BIP-39 mnemonic is defined along with a configuration for splitting the mnemonic into shares:

• Mnemonic:
  legal winner thank year wave sausage worth useful legal winner thank yellow

• Configuration:

  • Total Shares: 5
  • Threshold: 3
  • Passwords: Unique password for each share (e.g., password1!, password2@, etc.)

The Process Involves:

1. Converting the mnemonic into entropy.
2. Splitting the entropy into 5 shares using Shamir's Secret Sharing (SSS).
3. Encrypting each share with its corresponding password using AES-256-GCM.

Reconstructing the Mnemonic

The reconstruction process:

1. Selects a threshold number of encrypted shares.
2. Decrypts them using the corresponding passwords.
3. Reassembles the original mnemonic using Shamir’s Secret Sharing.

Running the Example

To run the example and see the complete process:

node example.js