Seeking preserved 2009–2011 Linux systems that actually ran early Bitcoin client

[Wizkifpednx]

Hi Everyone!
Not entirely sure if this is the best place to post but I really want to get my work out here and moving. I am an independent researcher that constructed something I think is pretty noteworthy.

I’m researching the historical Linux runtime environments used by early Bitcoin clients, particularly their interaction with OpenSSL versions affected by Debian’s 2008 predictable-RNG vulnerability (CVE-2008-0166).

I recently completed a controlled, preregistered experiment using the Bitcoin v0.2.0 signing path. Holding the experimental conditions constant, the vulnerable Debian OpenSSL treatment produced a reproducible public ECDSA r sequence across fresh process restarts, while the repaired treatment did not.

I then froze that vulnerable-treatment fingerprint before accessing the historical cohort for comparison. A separately qualified comparator tested it against 142,302 eligible public Bitcoin signatures from blocks 0–100,000.

The historical result was:

ELIGIBLE_HISTORICAL_SIGNATURES=142302
VALID_PUBLIC_OBSERVATIONS=142302
EXCLUDED_OR_INVALID_OBSERVATIONS=0
PREREGISTERED_FINGERPRINT_INTERSECTIONS=0
DATASET_INTEGRITY=PASS
COMPARISON_RULE_INTEGRITY=PASS

So I am not claiming that I identified historically vulnerable wallets or demonstrated wallet recovery. The exact prospectively frozen fingerprint simply was not present in that bounded historical cohort.

Rather than varying PID, timing, startup state, or other parameters until something matches, I’m stopping that approach and looking for independent historical evidence that can constrain what environments early users actually ran.

I’m particularly interested in hearing from anyone who ran Bitcoin on Linux during approximately 2009–2011 and still has any of the following from the same machine:

original computer or hard drive
complete disk/forensic image
VM image
complete system backup
package database / dpkg records
APT cache
historical libcrypto.so.0.9.8 or related runtime libraries
logs or other material capable of establishing the historical Linux/OpenSSL environment

Even if you no longer have the system yourself, referrals to early Linux users or historical collections that may have preserved one would be useful.

I’m also interested in independent technical review or replication of the controlled vulnerable/repaired experiment.
Please do not send me wallet.dat, private keys, seed phrases, passwords, credentials, or funds.

I do not need them for initial screening. If you believe you have relevant material, initially I only need non-secret information such as approximately when the machine ran Bitcoin, the Linux distribution if remembered, and what system material still survives.

I have prepared a technical dossier documenting the hypothesis, preregistration, treatment isolation, controls, controlled result, prospectively frozen historical test, zero intersection, limitations, and integrity hashes. I can provide it to researchers or artifact custodians interested in reviewing the work.

The main question is simply:
Does anyone here still have—or know someone who might still have—a preserved Linux system or complete system backup from a machine that actually ran Bitcoin in 2009–2011?

[NotATether]

How are you going to physically receive the hardware?

Are you going to use some sort of USPS or DHL or some other package system? Because this all sounds quite complex.

In case you are wondering, no - I don't have any such old systems which ran Bitcoin.

[Wizkifpednx]

Thanks for asking  . I wouldn't initially ask anyone to physically ship hardware to me. The first step would probably be exchanging contact information and figuring out exactly what survives and what environment the machine actually ran.
Before anyone spends money on imaging or recovery, I'd first try to establish whether the system could meet the specific criteria I'm investigating, particularly whether the Bitcoin environment could have used the relevant vulnerable Debian-derived OpenSSL/libcrypto 0.9.8c build.

I don't necessarily need the original drive, or even a complete forensic image. What I ultimately need is enough authenticated system material to reconstruct that historical environment and test whether it actually reproduces the weak RNG behavior under Bitcoin. Depending on what survives, relevant libraries, package records, Bitcoin binaries, filesystem metadata, and other system information may be sufficient.

If a potentially qualifying system does require professional imaging or data recovery, then we'd discuss that before anyone spend money. Ideally the original media would simply be preserved unchanged while any examination is performed on a copy.

So shipping physical hardware would be a last resort, if it were necessary at all. The main challenge right now is finding a surviving system with enough evidence to reconstruct and independently test the historical configuration. If it happened that the reconstruction worked and proved the bitcoin build utilized weak rng,then where relevant, we could separately discuss whether an owner-authorized recovery attempt would be appropriate.

[DaveF]

Going to ask what might be a really stupid question.

You can hunt down the old hardware (ebay, craigslist, FB marketplace, etc.)
You can download old versions of linux.
You can compile / find most old versions of the BTC client.

Would it not be better to do it in a "clean room lab environment"

I might have an old drive from 2011 with some things on it. But if you ask me what I did to compile install BTC or what OS packages and updates I did and in what order my only answer is going to be I don't know.


-Dave

[Wizkifpednx]

Thanks, archived Linux and Bitcoin versions are useful for clean reconstruction, and I am using that approach for controlled feasibility work. The separate reason I’m looking for installed systems is to establish what was actually deployed together, including package revisions, linkage, updates, retained libraries, and local build history.


Your 2011 drive could be relevant if Bitcoin was actually compiled or run on it. Do you remember whether it was, approximately when, and which Linux distribution it used? If there is a reasonable possibility, please don’t boot or modify the original drive. the safest first step would be to image it or inspect a copy read-only. I’m interested only in non-secret system and provenance information—not wallet files, private keys, passwords, credentials, or funds.

[DaveF]

Thanks, archived Linux and Bitcoin versions are useful for clean reconstruction, and I am using that approach for controlled feasibility work. The separate reason I’m looking for installed systems is to establish what was actually deployed together, including package revisions, linkage, updates, retained libraries, and local build history.


Your 2011 drive could be relevant if Bitcoin was actually compiled or run on it. Do you remember whether it was, approximately when, and which Linux distribution it used? If there is a reasonable possibility, please don’t boot or modify the original drive. the safest first step would be to image it or inspect a copy read-only. I’m interested only in non-secret system and provenance information—not wallet files, private keys, passwords, credentials, or funds.

Would have to check, the biggest issue is even to mount it RO I have to find something that still has 40 pin IDE.
And if it still even spins after sitting in a box after 2 office and 2 personal moves.

But, also on that note, I don't think I have made any secrets about the fact that I am a hack when it comes to things like this. I play with a lot of stuff and do things randomly depending on my mood. So if I do find it and it works what I can give you is probably not even a good representation of the time. Will check next time I am @ the storage locker where I think the old drives are.

But keep in mind:

...
I knew I had it 30 months ago when we moved offices, it was in the box of old unused HW wallets. I would clean and look for it, but I'm not that motivated. But cats...so I might.
....

I am not even sure where a box of HW wallets are in the office I actually work in most days....

-Dave