Bitcoin Forum
March 10, 2026, 05:52:13 AM *
News: Latest Bitcoin Core release: 30.2 [Torrent]
 
   Home   Help Search Login Register More  
Pages: [1]
  Print  
Author Topic: ECDSA nonce reuse across multiple private keys (9 signatures / 7 keys / 3 nonces  (Read 81 times)
punchkun99 (OP)
Newbie
*
Offline Offline

Activity: 1
Merit: 0


View Profile
March 06, 2026, 03:42:06 AM
 #1

Hello,

I would like to present an interesting ECDSA signature scenario involving what appears to be nonce reuse across different private keys.

Problem setup

Private keys:
d1, d2, d3, d4, d5, d6, d7

Nonces:
k1, k2, k3

Total: 9 signatures

Signature structure
   •   d1 signs three times, using the nonces k1, k2, k3 (or possibly their opposites -k1, -k2, -k3).
   •   Nonce k1 (or -k1) is used by: d1, d2, d3
   •   Nonce k2 (or -k2) is used by: d1, d4, d5
   •   Nonce k3 (or -k3) is used by: d1, d6, d7

So we clearly have nonce reuse between different private keys, with d1 acting as a pivot, since it signs once with each of the three nonces.

It also appears that RFC 6979 was not used, otherwise each signature would have a deterministic unique nonce.

ECDSA equation

s = k⁻¹ (z + r·d) mod n

which can be rewritten as:

k·s = z + r·d (mod n)

In this setup we therefore have:

9 equations for 10 unknowns

Unknowns:

Private keys:
d1, d2, d3, d4, d5, d6, d7

Nonces:
k1, k2, k3

Question

Even though the system appears underdetermined (9 equations for 10 unknowns), the particular structure — with nonce reuse across multiple keys and d1 acting as a pivot connecting the three groups — might allow some reduction of the system.

Is there any known method to solve this kind of system?

Thanks in advance for any insights.
0bs3ssed
Newbie
*
Offline Offline

Activity: 3
Merit: 0


View Profile
March 06, 2026, 04:31:27 PM
Last edit: March 06, 2026, 04:51:38 PM by 0bs3ssed
 #2

Very interesting and yes retrievable.
Have you tried further reducing the unknowns down to 1 ?
Got a nice in-depth system I built which finish this extremely quickly if you would like any help... Just pop me a PM

Have also tried popping a DM but because I'm new I can't.
BattleDog
Full Member
***
Offline Offline

Activity: 181
Merit: 184



View Profile WWW
March 09, 2026, 03:09:15 PM
 #3

What you have there is basically a one-parameter family, not a uniquely solvable recovery. If you take d1 as the pivot, then its three signatures let you write k1, k2 and k3 as functions of d1, and once those are pinned in that form, every other di also collapses into a function of d1.

So yes, the algebra can be reduced hard, but that is not the same thing as saying that all keys are now recoverable. It just means the whole system folds down to one free variable unless you bring in one more independent constraint from somewhere else.

Pages: [1]
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.19 | SMF © 2006-2009, Simple Machines Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!