@tetherto/wdk-secret-manager

Note: This package is currently in beta. Please test thoroughly in development environments before using in production.

A small, security-focused utility for generating, encrypting, and managing wallet secrets. It provides:

• Versioned, self-describing payloads
• PBKDF2-SHA256 key derivation
• Authenticated encryption using libsodium crypto_secretbox
• BIP-39 mnemonic/seed helpers
• Memory zeroization utilities

🔍 About WDK

This module is part of the WDK (Wallet Development Kit) project, which empowers developers to build secure, non-custodial wallets with unified blockchain access, stateless architecture, and full user control.

For detailed documentation about the complete WDK ecosystem, visit https://docs.wallet.tether.io.

🌟 Features

• PBKDF2-SHA256 KDF: Derives strong keys from user passkeys and a 16-byte salt
• Versioned Payloads: Header includes version, KDF algorithm, iterations, salt, and nonce
• Authenticated Encryption: Uses libsodium crypto_secretbox (XSalsa20-Poly1305)
• BIP-39 Support: Convert entropy ↔ mnemonic and derive the standard 64-byte seed
• Master-Key Override: Optionally provide a 32-byte key to skip PBKDF2
• Secure Memory Handling: Zeroizes sensitive buffers and supports dispose()
• Bare Runtime Support: Ships a bare build for bare-wdk-runtime

⬇️ Installation

Install with npm:

npm install @tetherto/wdk-secret-manager

🚀 Quick Start

Importing

import WdkSecretManager from "@tetherto/wdk-secret-manager";

If you are using the bare runtime, import as usual; the bare export is provided for compatible bundlers/environments.

Creating a Secret Manager

import WdkSecretManager from "@tetherto/wdk-secret-manager";

const passkey = "correct horse battery staple"; // minimum 12 characters
const salt = WdkSecretManager.generateSalt(); // 16-byte Buffer

// Optional: tune PBKDF2 iterations
const sm = new WdkSecretManager(passkey, salt, { iterations: 100_000 });

Generating and Encrypting Entropy + Seed

// Generates 16-byte entropy, converts to BIP-39 mnemonic, derives 64-byte seed,
// and encrypts both with the manager's settings
const { encryptedEntropy, encryptedSeed } = await sm.generateAndEncrypt();

// Decrypt later
const entropy = sm.decrypt(encryptedEntropy); // 16 bytes
const seed = sm.decrypt(encryptedSeed); // 64 bytes

Encrypting and Decrypting Arbitrary Data

// Accepts payloads between 16 and 64 bytes
const data = crypto.getRandomValues(new Uint8Array(32));
const payload = sm.encrypt(Buffer.from(data));
const out = sm.decrypt(payload);

Using a Pre-Derived Master Key (Skip PBKDF2)

import { pbkdf2Sync } from "crypto";
import b4a from "b4a";

const masterKey = b4a.from(
  pbkdf2Sync(b4a.from(passkey), b4a.from(salt), 100_000, 32, "sha256")
);

const cipher = sm.encrypt(
  Buffer.from("0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef"),
  masterKey
);
const plain = sm.decrypt(cipher, masterKey);

Mnemonic Helpers

const entropy16 = sm.generateRandomBuffer(); // 16 bytes
const mnemonic = sm.entropyToMnemonic(entropy16); // 12 words
const entropyRoundTrip = sm.mnemonicToEntropy(mnemonic); // back to 16 bytes

Memory Management

// Wipes internal passkey/salt/iteration state from memory
sm.dispose();

📚 API Reference

Table of Contents

Class	Description	Methods
WdkSecretManager	High-level manager for secret generation, encryption, and decryption.	constructor, generateSalt, generateAndEncrypt, encrypt, decrypt, entropyToMnemonic, mnemonicToEntropy, generateRandomBuffer, dispose

WdkSecretManager

The main class for generating and managing encrypted secrets.

Constructor

new WdkSecretManager(passKey, salt, kdfParams?)

Parameters:

• passKey (string | Buffer | Uint8Array): User passkey (min 12 characters/bytes)
• salt (Buffer): 16-byte salt used for key derivation
• kdfParams (object, optional):
  • iterations (number, optional): PBKDF2 iterations (default: 100_000)

Static Methods

• generateSalt(): Buffer
  • Returns a new 16-byte random salt.

Methods

Method	Description	Returns
generateAndEncrypt(entropyOpt?, masterKeyOpt?)	Generates 16-byte entropy, derives mnemonic + 64-byte seed, encrypts both.	{ encryptedSeed: Buffer, encryptedEntropy: Buffer }
encrypt(data, masterKeyOpt?)	Encrypts 16–64 byte payload with header and MAC.	Buffer (payload)
decrypt(payload, masterKeyOpt?)	Decrypts a payload produced by this manager.	Buffer (plaintext)
generateRandomBuffer()	Returns 16 random bytes.	Buffer
entropyToMnemonic(entropy)	Converts 16-byte entropy to 12-word mnemonic.	string
mnemonicToEntropy(mnemonic)	Converts 12-word mnemonic to 16-byte entropy.	Buffer
dispose()	Zeroizes internal state; instance becomes unusable.	void

Payload Format

Header [version(1), kdf_alg(1), iterations(u32le), reserved(u32le=0), salt(16), nonce(24)] followed by cipher = secretbox( [len(1) | data(16..64)], nonce, key).

generateAndEncrypt(entropyOpt?, masterKeyOpt?)

Generates 16-byte entropy, converts it to a BIP-39 12-word mnemonic, derives the 64-byte BIP-39 seed, and encrypts both values.

Parameters:

• entropyOpt (Buffer | null, optional): If provided, must be exactly 16 bytes. When not provided, secure random entropy is generated.
• masterKeyOpt (Buffer | null, optional): A 32-byte key. If provided, PBKDF2 derivation is skipped and this key is used for encryption.

Returns: { encryptedSeed: Buffer, encryptedEntropy: Buffer }

Example:

const { encryptedSeed, encryptedEntropy } = await sm.generateAndEncrypt();
const seed = sm.decrypt(encryptedSeed); // 64 bytes
const entropy = sm.decrypt(encryptedEntropy); // 16 bytes

encrypt(data, masterKeyOpt?)

Encrypts a 16–64 byte payload using a versioned header and crypto_secretbox. The plaintext is prefixed with a single-byte length before encryption.

Parameters:

• data (Buffer): Plaintext data. Must be between 16 and 64 bytes inclusive.
• masterKeyOpt (Buffer | null, optional): 32-byte master key. If omitted, a key is derived via PBKDF2-SHA256 from the manager's passkey + salt.

Returns: Buffer - Encrypted payload with header and MAC.

Throws: on invalid input length, missing/invalid passkey or salt, or other validation errors.

Example:

const data = Buffer.from("0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef"); // 32 bytes
const payload = sm.encrypt(data);

decrypt(payload, masterKeyOpt?)

Decrypts a payload produced by this manager, validates the header, and returns the original plaintext.

Parameters:

• payload (Buffer): Encrypted payload produced by encrypt.
• masterKeyOpt (Buffer | null, optional): 32-byte master key. If omitted, a key is derived via PBKDF2-SHA256 using the header's salt and iteration count.

Returns: Buffer - Decrypted plaintext.

Throws: when authentication fails, payload is malformed, length prefix is out of bounds, or inputs are invalid.

Example:

const plain = sm.decrypt(payload);

generateRandomBuffer()

Generates 16 bytes of cryptographically secure random data using libsodium.

Returns: Buffer

Example:

const entropy16 = sm.generateRandomBuffer();

entropyToMnemonic(entropy)

Converts 16-byte entropy into a 12-word BIP-39 mnemonic.

Parameters:

• entropy (Buffer): Exactly 16 bytes.

Returns: string - 12-word mnemonic.

Throws: on invalid type or length.

Example:

const mnemonic = sm.entropyToMnemonic(entropy16);

mnemonicToEntropy(mnemonic)

Converts a 12-word mnemonic into its original 16-byte entropy buffer.

Parameters:

• mnemonic (string): Non-empty 12-word BIP-39 mnemonic.

Returns: Buffer - 16-byte entropy.

Throws: on invalid/empty string or non-12-word mnemonics.

Example:

const entropy = sm.mnemonicToEntropy(mnemonic);

dispose()

Securely wipes internal state (passkey, salt, iterations) from memory. The instance should not be used after calling this.

Returns: void

Example:

sm.dispose();

🌐 Supported Runtimes

• Node.js: Uses sodium-native and Node crypto for PBKDF2
• Bare Runtime: Ships a bare build; PBKDF2 provided by bare-crypto

🔒 Security Considerations

• Passkey Strength: Enforce long, high-entropy user passkeys (min 12 characters)
• Salt Handling: Use a unique 16-byte salt per user/passkey, store it with the payload
• KDF Parameters: Tune PBKDF2 iterations to balance security and performance
• Integrity & Confidentiality: crypto_secretbox provides authenticated encryption
• Master Key: Only use a 32-byte master key if you securely derive/transport it
• Memory Hygiene: Call dispose() after use to wipe sensitive state

🛠️ Development

Building

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build TypeScript definitions
npm run build:types

# Lint code
npm run lint

# Fix linting issues
npm run lint:fix

Testing

# Run bare runtime tests
npm run test:bare

📜 License

This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

🆘 Support

For support, please open an issue on the repository.

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