Cannot change passphrase even if it is correct

minkooz commented at 4:11 am on May 21, 2020: none

I created a wallet days ago, but now when I want to change the passphrase, error message appears as: Error: The wallet passphrase entered was incorrect. (code -14)

the problem is, in the qt-console and bitcoin-cli, walletpassphrase command still works, while walletpassphrasechange doesn’t work.

I tried to change passphrase in bitcoin-qt ‘setting’ menu, it prompt the same error message.

I failed to reproduce a wallet with the same issue, but I tried to load my wallet with this problem in bitcoin-core v0.19.0.1 / v0.19.1, both version with the same issue. I also try to enclosemy passphrase with qhotation marks, still doesn’t work.

Maybe this is a bug?

minkooz added the label Bug on May 21, 2020

elichai commented at 7:54 am on May 21, 2020: contributor

Hard to debug something that isn’t reproducible. The most interesting difference I’ve found is that in walletpassphrasechange if decrypting fails it returns false: https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/97b21b302a117dc8ef8334a5f3c94f6a6b9eeff0/src/wallet/wallet.cpp#L328 while in walletpassphrase it continues to the next master key: https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/97b21b302a117dc8ef8334a5f3c94f6a6b9eeff0/src/wallet/wallet.cpp#L302 That change happened in #2625 though, which doesn’t explain why it changed the return false; to continue; and it was a long time ago, so I’m not sure.

promag commented at 10:48 pm on May 21, 2020: member

How did you create it? Is the wallet testnet/regtest or empty? Does the passphrase contain any unusual character?

minkooz commented at 2:59 am on May 22, 2020: none

How did you create it? Is the wallet testnet/regtest or empty? Does the passphrase contain any unusual character?

I am not really sure if it is an empty or HD when created, but in my mind, I created a mainnet empty wallet in bitcoin qt GUI, then imported a watch-only address and some private keys, then generated some HD adresses in the qt console, that’s all. The passphrase is all letters and numbers, with a ‘!’ mark in the end.

promag commented at 9:42 am on May 22, 2020: member

@minkooz if you are willing to share the wallet then feel free to send it to my email (git show -s --format='%ae' 320669a363) along with passphrase so I can try to debug this issue. Just be sure to not use it to receive funds.

minkooz commented at 12:47 pm on May 22, 2020: none

@promag I am glad to help. I have sent you an email with attachments just now :)

promag commented at 9:10 pm on June 2, 2020: member

I confirm the issue with the wallet you provided. Going to debug and/or bisect.

promag commented at 2:22 pm on August 2, 2020: member

@minkooz I tried to debug the issue but couldn’t find the problem. I’ll try git bisect instead.

pinheadmz commented at 7:56 pm on April 14, 2023: member

Closing this due to inactivity and lack of follow-up and reproducibility. Feel free to add comments if more details become available.

pinheadmz closed this on Apr 14, 2023

bitcoin locked this on Apr 13, 2024

Cannot change passphrase even if it is correct #19036