Seed phrases and private keys

EN source master · P03-L01 · needs_review

Offline/read-only study only. Never provide secrets, passwords or authentication codes. No wallet connection, real approval, live revocation, transaction signature, transfer, funds or trade. Visuals are specifications only.

Evidence reporting should explain a possible secret exposure without creating another exposure. Recovery capability and a public address have different security roles.

Separate access mechanisms

A BIP-39 mnemonic and optional passphrase derive seed material [BIP39]. They are not a public account locator. A local app password protects an application-access layer; it is not the same mechanism as protocol signing capability. A password change does not establish that previously copied recovery material has lost its capability. No mnemonic, key or authentication value is provided or requested here.

Record categories, never secret values

Official security guidance rejects sharing private keys, seed phrases and passwords [SECURITY]. The course also excludes authentication codes, screenshots containing confidential material and remote access. A useful evidence note can name the requested category and preserve a sanitized request description. It should not reproduce the material whose exposure is at issue.

The fixture uses category cards. R1 is a nonsecret teaching locator. R2 describes a confidential request without supplying a value. R3 claims a local password change reverses recovery exposure. R4 is a fictional disclosure statement. Reading these cards is enough to assess what each claim requires.

Preserve the stages

Requested, provided and subsequently used are different propositions. A displayed prompt does not show compliance. A user statement does not independently prove theft. A later transaction record, even if available, would need its own network/context and could not by itself name an attacker. Keep these stages in separate evidence rows rather than compressing them into “hacked.”

Match the conclusion to the supplied evidence

OBSERVED means the card text or category within the exercise. INFERRED means the mechanism distinction under the stated model. UNKNOWN covers real disclosure, account access and losses because no such records are supplied. INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE applies to claims identifying a real attacker or asserting theft from the prompt alone. This exercise rehearses reporting; it never asks the learner to demonstrate recovery, inspect an actual backup or move funds.

• Seed material: confidential input from which a wallet scheme can derive signing keys.
• Private key: confidential signing value for an account or authorization role.
• Recovery material: confidential capability to recreate signing access.
• Public locator: nonsecret record identifier.
• Local password: application access control.
• Disclosure statement: a report of exposure, requiring its own provenance.

ILLUSTRATIVE sanitized cards; no secrets. R1 public locator SIM-TX-1. R2 ‘Support requests recovery material’, value [NOT PROVIDED]. R3 ‘An app-password change reverses recovery-material exposure’. R4 fictional user statement ‘I provided recovery material’; no account, loss record or real timestamp supplied.

Public-locator and confidential-capability lanes. R2 contains only a category and prohibited-request label. R3 is a mechanism claim, R4 a user statement. Never generate phrase words, key bytes or scannable codes.

The stipulated categories and existence of request/disclosure statements in the fixture.

Actual disclosure, theft, human identity, recoverability or guaranteed containment.

• Uploading a secret as evidence.
• Treating a public address as signing capability.
• Assuming app-password changes withdraw copied recovery capability.

Classify R1–R4 and write a sanitized incident sentence. Explain whether R2 proves compliance and whether R3 establishes containment. Identify missing evidence without requesting confidential values.

Submit a table and bounded conclusion using only supplied offline material. Editorial time allocation: study 12 min, exercise 8 min, correction/quiz 10 min.

• Use categories only.
• Separate public identifiers and capabilities.
• Distinguish request/report/use.
• Exclude secret screenshots and codes.
• Bound loss and identity claims.

Evidence handling must preserve facts without collecting secrets. A public locator, local password and recovery capability are distinct objects.

• Explain secret exposure and recovery boundaries without entering real secrets
• Classify public locators versus confidential recovery capability.
• Distinguish a request, disclosure statement and observed use.

P03-L02 after prerequisite and correction review.

NONE in authoritative catalog. Provided offline data suffice; no product purchase or wallet operation required.

• [BIP39] BIP-39 mnemonic seed specification — Mnemonic-to-seed derivation with optional passphrase; not fixture authentication.
• [SECURITY] Ethereum security and scam prevention — Secret confidentiality, exact-domain checks and unofficial support caution.

Documentation explains mechanisms. Historical records retain their declared source class. Source inspection is not independent editorial acceptance.