Two passwords, two jobs
Walilock uses two different passwords. Mixing them up is the most common source of confusion, so every answer on this page says which one it means.
| Sign-in password | Master password | |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Signs you in to your Walilock account, on the web and on a new device | Unlocks your vault and encrypts every item in it |
| Where it is checked | By the Walilock relay, with OPAQUE. The relay never receives the password or a hash of it | Only on your device. It never leaves the device |
| If you forget it | Reset it by email from the login page. Your vault is not affected | Nobody can reset or recover it, including Walilock |
What the relay stores, and what it never receives
The relay is the server that keeps your devices in step. Here is everything it holds about you, and what never reaches it.
The relay stores
- Your vault items as XChaCha20-Poly1305 ciphertext, when you use sync. On the free plan, nothing in your vault is sent.
- OPAQUE registration data, which cannot be used to recover your sign-in password.
- Your account email address.
- Your plan and subscription status. Card details stay with Stripe.
- That an item exists and when it changed, but not what it is.
- Short-lived operational logs: timestamps, the IP address at connection time, errors.
- Anonymous daily counts of a few app events, sent without your account. You can turn them off in Settings → Preferences.
The relay never receives
- Your master password.
- Your sign-in password, or any hash of it.
- Your vault keys.
- Any vault item in readable form.
Cryptography
| Vault encryption | XChaCha20-Poly1305 (authenticated), on your device |
| Key derivation | Argon2id |
| Sign-in | OPAQUE, an aPAKE protocol: the password is never transmitted |
| Encrypted export files | AES-256-GCM (authenticated) |
| Transport | TLS 1.3, on top of end-to-end encryption |
| Passkeys | WebAuthn / FIDO2. CXP to move them between your devices, CXF files to import and export them |
| Breach checks | Your device sends the first 5 characters of each password's SHA-1 hash to Have I Been Pwned, and compares the answer itself |
| Post-quantum | Hybrid X25519 + ML-KEM-768 for the keys of shared family and company vaults. The sync layer is on the roadmap |
| Signed writes | Every change is signed on your device. The relay refuses an unsigned write, and one that rolls a version back |
Recovery, case by case
What can be recovered depends on which password you lost, and on whether your vault is synced.
| If… | What happens |
|---|---|
| You forgot your sign-in password | Reset it by email from the login help page. Your master password and your vault are not affected. |
| You lost a device, use sync, and remember your master password | Install Walilock on a new device, sign in, and unlock with your master password. Your vault syncs back. |
| You lost a device on the free plan | Your vault existed only on that device. It can be restored only from an export you saved earlier. |
| You forgot your master password, and a device still has the vault unlocked or biometric unlock still works | Export a backup from that device right away. |
| You forgot your master password, and nothing is unlocked | The vault's contents cannot be recovered, by anyone, including Walilock. |
| You ask Walilock support for help | Support can help you reset your sign-in password and use your recovery tools. Support cannot reset your master password, and will never ask for your master password or your recovery key. |
Facts you can check
The questions worth asking of any password manager, answered for Walilock.
| Does the server receive your sign-in password, or a hash of it? | No. Sign-in uses OPAQUE |
| Where is your vault encrypted? | On your device, with XChaCha20-Poly1305 |
| Can the company reset your master password? | No, by design |
| Can you reset your sign-in password? | Yes, by email |
| What does a breach check send? | The first 5 characters of the password's SHA-1 hash |
| Post-quantum key exchange? | Yes, for shared vault keys: hybrid X25519 + ML-KEM-768 |
| Can you verify a download? | Yes. The SHA-256 of every build is on the download page |
| Free plan | 10 items on one device, kept on that device. A free account is required |
| Enterprise sign-in | Single sign-on over OIDC and SCIM 2.0 provisioning, tested with Okta |
| Platforms today | Windows 10 and 11, Android 10 and later, and a browser extension for Chrome and Edge |
Not built yet
So that nothing above is read as more than it says:
- Your devices verifying each change they receive is in development. Today the relay checks every write's signature.
- Post-quantum protection for the sync layer.
- A tamper-evident activity log. Today it is an activity log, not a tamper-proof audit trail.
- Streaming the activity log to a SIEM.
- Apps for macOS, Linux, iOS and iPadOS.
Questions
Can Walilock recover or reset my master password?
No. Walilock never receives your master password or anything derived from it, so nobody, including Walilock, can reset or recover it. If no device has the vault unlocked and biometric unlock is not available, the vault's contents cannot be recovered.
I forgot my Walilock sign-in password. Can I get back in?
Yes. Your sign-in password can be reset by email from the login page. Resetting it does not change your master password or what is in your vault.
I lost my device. Is my Walilock vault gone?
On a plan with sync, no: install Walilock on a new device, sign in, and unlock with your master password, and your vault syncs back. On the free plan your vault exists only on that device, so only an export you saved earlier can restore it. A forgotten master password cannot be recovered in either case.
Can Walilock see my passwords?
No. Every item is encrypted on your device with XChaCha20-Poly1305 before it is stored or synced. The relay receives only ciphertext and never holds a key that could decrypt it.
Does Walilock's server receive my password?
No. Sign-in uses OPAQUE, an aPAKE protocol: the server checks that you know your sign-in password without receiving the password or a hash of it. Your master password never leaves your device.
What happens if Walilock's servers are breached?
An attacker would find encrypted vault data and OPAQUE registration data: no master passwords, no decryption keys and no readable items. Without your master password, which Walilock never holds, the ciphertext cannot be read.
How does Walilock check for breached passwords?
When you run a scan, your device computes the SHA-1 hash of each saved password and sends only the first 5 characters to Have I Been Pwned. The list that comes back is compared on your device. Breach Monitor is on Personal+ and above.
Do Walilock's AI features send my vault anywhere?
No. Vault Chat, the security audit and the phishing scanner run on your device: they read your decrypted vault in memory and send none of it anywhere. They are on Personal+ and above.
Does Walilock support passkeys?
Yes. Walilock stores WebAuthn passkeys on every plan, the free one included. Passkeys move between your devices with CXP, and import and export as CXF files.
Who makes Walilock?
Richdale Ventures LLC. For help, write to support@walilock.com.