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🔎Guide | Recover Ethereum Validator Mnemonic Seed

How to recover an ethereum validator's 24 word secret recovery phrase with seedrecovery.py by btcrecover.

❓Who is the guide for, what's involved, when do I need this?

  • 🫂 WHO: If you are an Ethereum validator experiencing errors due to a problematic secret recovery phrase or mnemonic, this guide can help you fix the majority of common errors.

  • ⛓️ WHAT: Using btcrecover's Seedrecover.py can fix the majorty of simple "invalid mnemonic" or "invalid seed" type errors. This commonly occurs when you have a valid seed backup that simply has a typo in it or missing word(s).

  • ⌛ WHEN: Typical scenarios include attempting to set withdrawal credentials or re-generate keystore files.

⚒️ How to Recover?

Step 1: Setup an offline PC with Ubuntu Live USB

📺 Video Demos

Windows: Installing BTCRecover in Windows: https://youtu.be/8q65eqpf4gE

Linux: Installing BTCRecover in Ubuntu Live USB: https://youtu.be/Met3NbxcZTU

Step 2: Install btcrecover

Open a terminal window from anywhere by typing Ctrl+Alt+T.

With a terminal open inside your Ubuntu Live session, run the following.

Step 3: Go offline

  • Disconnect ethernet cable and/or disable WIFI.

  • Verify no internet access by attemping to ping.

Ping result should say Network is unreachable.

Step 4: Run the recovery process

Recovery for Ethereum Validator seeds is the same as a standard seed recovery, but uses the validators public key (Also known as Signing Key) in the place of an address.

Seedrecover.py will automatically run through four search phases that should take a few hours at most. The four search phases include:

  • Single typo

  • Two typos, including one where you might have a completely different word

  • Three typos, including one where you might have a completely different word

  • Two typos that could be completely different words

Here's the command to recover your ETH validator's secret recovery phase. Update accordingly.

❓About the flags

  • --mnemonic : Enter your best guess for your seed/mnemnoic/secret recovery phrase

  • --addrs : this is your validators public key without the 0x prefix. For example, if you have the keystores files the pubkey can be found inside "keystore-m_12381_3600_0_0_0-xxxxxxx.json" Without keystore files, you can look up your validator's pubkey online at beaconcha.in or etherscan.io by following the validator's 32ETH deposit transaction.

  • --addr-limit : Adjust this to the number of validators you created on this mnemonic.

Not recommended: Running recovery on an online machine? Add the flag --dsw

👍 Usage Examples

Best guess - Only have 23 words. Missing one word somewhere.

Place an x where the wrong word is, position is known.

Two wrong or missing words, position is known.

Created 3 validators. Addr-limit is 3. One missing word somewhere.

🎉 Sample of logs when successfully recovering mnemonic.

Step 5: Shutdown offline PC

By shutting down Ubuntu Live ISO session, all data used during this task is forgotten.

Congrats on recovering your ETH Validator!!! Consider donating to the tool makers, btcrecover.

⏭️ Next Steps

📚 References

PreviousMEV Relay ListNextUpdate Withdrawal Keys for Ethereum Validator (BLS to Execution Change or 0x00 to 0x01) with ETHDO