Vault Keeper ☢️

Python Password Vault (Educational Demo)

• Vault Keeper is a beginner-friendly Python learning project demonstrating how a simple in-memory password manager works.

• The goal is to understand password encryption, key derivation, and secure handling in a safe, interactive session.

• This is not a production-ready password manager.

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Objective

1. Learn how passwords can be encrypted at rest (in memory).

2. Understand encryption vs hashing.

3. Practice deriving keys from a master password (PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256).

4. Safely manage secrets in a session-only vault.

5. Think critically about security assumptions and limitations.

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What Vault Keeper Does ❓

• Derives an encryption key from a master password.

• Encrypts password entries before storing them in memory.

• Decrypts data only after successful authentication.

• Demonstrates secure-storage patterns and workflow.

• Provides an interactive CLI for adding and viewing entries.

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Vault Keeper is NOT:

❌ A production password manager.

❌ A replacement for audited security tools.

❌ Safe for real credentials.

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How It Works 🔎

At a high level:

1. User creates a master password.

2. A cryptographic key is derived from the master password using PBKDF2.

3. Password entries are encrypted in memory with XOR (for demo purposes).

4. Entries remain in memory only; nothing is saved to disk.

5. Data is decrypted only with the master password.

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Educational Threat Model

Vault Keeper assumes a local, educational environment.

Defends against:

• Storing plaintext passwords in memory carelessly.

Demonstrating encryption/decryption workflow.

Does not defend against:

• Malware or keyloggers.

• Weak master passwords.

• OS compromise or advanced cryptographic attacks.

⚠️ This threat model is intentionally limited for learning purposes.

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Tools 🧰

• Python standard library

• hashlib (PBKDF2 key derivation)

• secrets (random salt generation)

• getpass (hidden password input)

• json (dict serialization for encryption/decryption)

(All operations occur in memory, no files are written.)

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How to Run ⏯️

1. Ensure Python 3.9+ is installed

2. Clone the repository

3. Navigate to directory: cd vault-keeper

4. Run:

python vault-keeper.py

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Example of Output

====================================
    Welcome to Vault Keeper!
====================================

Create master password:
✔ Vault initialized.

Add entry:
Service: github
Username: v4u1t-k33p3r
Password: ********
✔ Entry added to vault (in-memory).

View vault:
{
  "github": {
    "username": "v4u1t-k33p3r",
    "password": "badpassword321"
  }
}

Exit program:
Thank you & Goodbye!

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Security Notes 🔏

• Master password strength is important.

• XOR encryption is for demonstration only and not secure for real passwords.

• Vault exists only in memory; restarting the script clears all data.

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License

• MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

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