Bitpay Encrypted Password - That was never set!

[IcePrincess1405]

So bitpay is saying I have set an encrypted password to one of my wallets. I believe that they believe that the customer has set a password. However, I know I wouldn't set a password for something I will be using on a daily basis and even if I did, it will be one out of a very few possibilities. These passwords are engrained in my muscles and none of them seem to work.

[lnkicks]

I had the same problem. I transferred a small sum of xrp To this wallet, just to get it off an exchange. It gave me that error message. Then it went all screen blank white. I just deleted the app and re downloaded the app. NO xrp in the wallet. $$$ gone. A hard wallet is the safes

[lnkicks]

I would’ve been very upset had o transferred all my tokens to copay. This app just kept crashing and showing a white screen. After it kept asking me for the encrypted password which I never set up. I only had a phrase given to me. I even had the transaction number which was sent from my Coinbase to copay. Pls help I lost over $400

[mceo]

This is related to #8532, #11085. Most solutions to issues all say "import your recovery phrase", however they do not address what caused the issue.

Some notes:

1. Originally this app did not require an encrypt password. Encrypt password was added at a later date.
2. Several users installed the app previous to addition of the encrypt password feature. As a result, all of the functions which require the encrypt password, such as: transfer coins, reveal your private key, or create a new wallet, cannot be completed. The app asks for the password, and it is unknown what it is referencing, as the password was never set by the user.
3. In order to retrieve ones coins, the app must be uninstalled, and then reinstalled, with the recovery phrase being used.
4. If you do not have the recovery phrase, you have lost your coins. Reason being: you did not set the encrypt password, and now the encrypt password is required.

Questions:

1. Is it possible to restore an older version of the app, before the encrypt password was added?
2. Is there a default encrypt password that is used, if it was unset by the user?

References:

1. Cannot disable encrypt password, without encrypt password:
   
2. Cannot create new wallet, without encrypt password:
   
3. Cannot view recovery phrase, without encrypt password:
   

My two cents:

1. Bitpay royally messed up with this feature. It's a required pass that was not set by the user, who was running previous versions of the app.
2. Obviously one should keep their seed phrase. However, the encrypt password phrase is needed to enter your seed!

Is there a workaround for this?
Thanks.

[dshook]

I think I'm in the same boat. I originally installed the app on Aug 23 2017 apparently which I think corresponds to version 3.7.3. Digging around in the code a bit I found that the app then did have a "spending password" but I'm pretty sure it was optional and I never set it. I'm wondering if it became required at some point and copay encrypted the wallet without asking for a password. I've tried all the passwords it would have been if I would have set one so I'm > 90% sure that something happened along the way from the older versions.

https://github.com/bitpay/copay/blob/addcf4df766afa12cd50dcebb880aa74dad7bae9/src/js/services/walletService.js#L1030

[matiu]

Hi. You can restore your wallet from the backup phrase (the12 words). You dont need the encrypt password to do that. Current versions of Bitpay wallet will guide you to do that if you dont enter the encrypt password correctly, but you can do it "manually " just by deleting the wallet or the app and importing it again with the 12 words. be sure to have the words before doing that.

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On Wed, Nov 18, 2020, 22:25 Dillon Shook ***@***.***> wrote: I think I'm in the same boat. I originally installed the app on Aug 23 2017 apparently which I think corresponds to version 3.7.3. Digging around in the code a bit I found that the app then did have a "spending password" but I'm pretty sure it was optional and I never set it. I'm wondering if it became required at some point and copay encrypted the wallet without asking for a password. I've tried all the passwords it would have been if I would have set one so I'm > 90% sure that something happened along the way from the older versions. https://github.com/bitpay/copay/blob/addcf4df766afa12cd50dcebb880aa74dad7bae9/src/js/services/walletService.js#L1030 — You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <https://github.com/bitpay/copay/issues/10941#issuecomment-730062692>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAAYEHEYUADHM3YXVBCDAZDSQRXZHANCNFSM4NQOBIDQ> .

[matiu]

see my previous message. Spending password is just a way to protect the local storage, does not relate to your wallet intrinsically. Just import the back up in a fresh install.

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On Wed, Nov 18, 2020, 22:25 Dillon Shook ***@***.***> wrote: I think I'm in the same boat. I originally installed the app on Aug 23 2017 apparently which I think corresponds to version 3.7.3. Digging around in the code a bit I found that the app then did have a "spending password" but I'm pretty sure it was optional and I never set it. I'm wondering if it became required at some point and copay encrypted the wallet without asking for a password. I've tried all the passwords it would have been if I would have set one so I'm > 90% sure that something happened along the way from the older versions. https://github.com/bitpay/copay/blob/addcf4df766afa12cd50dcebb880aa74dad7bae9/src/js/services/walletService.js#L1030 — You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <https://github.com/bitpay/copay/issues/10941#issuecomment-730062692>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAAYEHEYUADHM3YXVBCDAZDSQRXZHANCNFSM4NQOBIDQ> .

[mceo]

Hi Matiu,

I am aware that the wallet can be restored, however your response is not answering the 2 stated questions:

1. Is it possible to restore an older version of the app, before the encrypt password was added?
2. Is there a default encrypt password that is used, if it was unset by the user?

Though I realize one must preserve their key, and is inexcusable, it's not the primary point of concern. Bitpay created a password layer between users and their money, without their permission. Consequently, some users who did not retain their back up phrase, have been locked out permanently. This is really poor judgement.

An explanation on the justification for this would be helpful, as well as a solution to the questions above. If no solutions exist, then at least the handful of users asking this same question can have some closure.

Thank you.

[matiu]

Hi!

1. Is it possible to restore an older version of the app, before the encrypt password was added You mean to install an old version of the app? It is possible, not easy to

do. you need to build the app your self from sources and install it on your phone using dev tools. Copay is open source.

1. Is there a default encrypt password that is used, if it was unset by the user? No, that should not happen. Though I realize one must preserve their key, and is inexcusable, it's not the primary point of concern. Bitpay created a password layer between users and their money, without their permission. Consequently, some users who did not retain their back up phrase, have been locked out permanently. This is really poor judgement.

No, that should not be the case. Passwords were not set automatically by any means, and there is no "default" password. Encryption password is optional, even for the current version, the user can decide to opt-out of the storage-encryption when creating a new wallet.

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-- Matías Alejo Garcia @EMATIU Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads!

[mceo]

Hey Matiu, thanks for the quick response.

No, that should not be the case. Passwords were not set automatically by any means, and there is no "default" password. Encryption password is optional, even for the current version, the user can decide to opt-out of the storage-encryption when creating a new wallet.

Yes, this is exactly the problem and what people have been describing. For example, in my wallet, I have successfully done a handful of withdrawals. However, now I cannot, because it asks for a password.

If I try to disable the password, it again asks for the password.

So what this means is it was implemented with a product update, and seeing the comments it happened to a handful of other people.

Again you say "you can opt out when creating a new wallet". This is also incorrect. See point 2.

The only option is to delete the app and start from scratch. Or, perhaps install a previous version as you mention above. Is this correct?

[dshook]

I've done some digging on this and made what feels like progress but still haven't recovered any funds.

Here's the short of it (I'll post the full steps if I actually can recover funds): I started by jailbreaking my device so I could access the key files the app uses. Then I mounted the filesystem to my mac and copied the app data over. The key file was located at /var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/78969914-F151-4638-88FD-B8550EEFA007/Library/NoCloud/keys (not sure if the app Id changes for everyone). That's a json file with each wallet, and each wallet has json in json data for the xPrivKeyEncrypted key which is the output of encrypting with sjcl.

My original theory that the wallet was encrypted with empty string/null/undefined was a dead end.

Digging around more in the v3/v4 code which is the version I installed originally and was able to transfer funds with, I came across this code where the wallet is decrypted with a "uniqueDeviceID" UUID. Tracing down that cordova plugin code I found what I think is the code which generates a UUID the first run and then stores it in the iOS keychain so it's the same for all subsequent runs. I haven't been able to access the value in the keychain yet to confirm this is actually what was used. I haven't been able to find where that UUID was actually used to encrypt though.

@cmgustavo I see that you were active in this area of the code back then, do you know if the UUID was used to encrypt? I did also just find this commit by @matiu that looks like it's related.

If this does turn out to be what happened then the easiest way for everyone in this situation would be for the app to be updated to try and decrypt the wallet with the uniqueDeviceId first before asking for a password.