Bitcoin-Qt 0.9.1 (Core) doesn't require password for creating addresses. Why?

[pf]

On older versions (perhaps in 0.8.x), the wallet password was required to add a new receiving address.

This is no longer the case on Bitcoin Core 0.9.1.

Why is this? I find this a bit strange, because shouldn't a password be required to store the new private keys?

[gmaxwell]

On older versions (perhaps in 0.8.x), the wallet password was required to add a new receiving address.
This is no longer the case on Bitcoin Core 0.9.1.

This was a bug— it asked for the key in those cases but did nothing with it.

Why is this? I find this a bit strange, because shouldn't a password be required to store the new private keys?

No, 100 addresses (by default) are precomputed— this is also what makes your backups stable. If it runs out it will prompt you for the password so it can generate more.

[Minnlo]

So, if I generate a new address, the client just takes one from the keypool but didn't generate a new key pair, right?
And when I have used all the keys in the keypool, I will need to enter my password and the clients will generate 100 new key pairs, right?

[pf]

On older versions (perhaps in 0.8.x), the wallet password was required to add a new receiving address.
This is no longer the case on Bitcoin Core 0.9.1.

This was a bug— it asked for the key in those cases but did nothing with it.

Why is this? I find this a bit strange, because shouldn't a password be required to store the new private keys?

No, 100 addresses (by default) are precomputed— this is also what makes your backups stable. If it runs out it will prompt you for the password so it can generate more.

Thanks! That clears everything up.

[Mageant]

On older versions (perhaps in 0.8.x), the wallet password was required to add a new receiving address.
This is no longer the case on Bitcoin Core 0.9.1.

This was a bug— it asked for the key in those cases but did nothing with it.

Why is this? I find this a bit strange, because shouldn't a password be required to store the new private keys?

No, 100 addresses (by default) are precomputed— this is also what makes your backups stable. If it runs out it will prompt you for the password so it can generate more.

What is the trigger at which it will generate more addresses?

When they keypool runs down to zero precomputed addresses? If it does that then making a backup immediately after the generation would be very important.