Claude unpicks an NSA mystery behind Ethereum passkey security
Anthropic says it reconstructed the public seed used to derive a coefficient in the P-256 cryptographic curve, finding that a standard random-number generator initialized with a specific 1997 timestamp produces the published value at candidate 1,842. The repeatable recipe makes deliberate backdoors less plausible, though it does not establish why that candidate was chosen; another candidate also produced a suitable curve. The finding reveals no new attack or weakness, and users need take no action. P-256 is relevant to Ethereum through EIP-7951, which would support signature verification for device-native passkeys and authenticators. It is distinct from secp256k1, the curve already used by Ethereum, and the public seed is unrelated to private wallet credentials. The generation-run count and origin of P-256’s base point remain unknown.
