Title: Two valid WIF's for one public address. Why? Post by: Propulsion on October 27, 2014, 05:09:36 PM I have a private key that is valid but I don't understand why. This is a long post so bear with me. Note: this address is worthless.
The below is a full key. Version 76. Code: 3081d30201010420ca7b50f41b2f43e1e913bdb6f6ff3289223d9ec0ebe610f801a1e93cb2564d54a08185308182020101302c06072a8648ce3d0101022100fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffefffffc2f300604010004010704210279be667ef9dcbbac55a06295ce870b07029bfcdb2dce28d959f2815b16f81798022100fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffebaaedce6af48a03bbfd25e8cd0364141020101a12403220003c0ef03fc45624122c85791557be9782cc7a2a813125f317aa0136b25ce5cec76 Code: ehco -n "3081.." | xxd -r -p | openssl asn1parse -i -inform DER -dump Doing such reveals that "ca7b50f41b2f43e1e913bdb6f6ff3289223d9ec0ebe610f801a1e93cb2564d54" is the private key. Now, I'll convert it to WIF. (wallet import format) Code: 1.)For 76, add '4c' to the front of it, and '01' to the back. (01 for compressed keys) The above converted the private key to WIF format of 'CMrX8rBGMH9deLwVWU1VTnMxCEKxWW4nwTjVWWGVtwDLVRF6vg4G'. Which is valid for the public address of "Xf5QNbxmxtBRK1BXY5yYNYZCJuugX5ro6v". ______________________________________________________________ Now this is the part I don't understand. ______________________________________________________________ The WIF format is valid and returns the correct private key for this address but it's completely different! (yet valid) The above WIF when ran through pywallet returns 'XJ5EKWJQkxRENadpJAXoN4UJ3r3TN4mqn1UB8ecckBgSXnmFF3FW' as the private key. Which does return the public address I was working with. Why does 'CMRX8....' translate to 'XJ5EKW...' and why didn't it return 'XJ5EKW....' when I completed the previous steps? Basically, why are "XJ5EKWJQkxRENadpJAXoN4UJ3r3TN4mqn1UB8ecckBgSXnmFF3FW" and "CMrX8rBGMH9deLwVWU1VTnMxCEKxWW4nwTjVWWGVtwDLVRF6vg4G" both valid and different private keys for the public address of "Xf5QNbxmxtBRK1BXY5yYNYZCJuugX5ro6v"? Summary There are two valid Private WIF keys for the same public key. Why? Title: Re: Two valid WIF's for one public address. Why? Post by: UdjinM6 on October 27, 2014, 07:33:26 PM I have a private key that is valid but I don't understand why. This is a long post so bear with me. Note: this address is worthless. ...... There are two valid Private WIF keys for the same public key. Why? short version: use "cc" instead of "4c" in first step - you are looking for private key, not for public one long version: https://darkcointalk.org/threads/private-key-wifs.2766/#post-27277 |