Account Recovery Operations

The recovery mechanism allows a pre-designated trusted account (the recovery account) to help restore access to a compromised account using a recent valid master authority.

Recovery flow:

request_account_recovery  →  recover_account  (within 24 hours)
change_recovery_account   (30-day delay before taking effect)

---

request_account_recovery_operation (ID 12)

Auth: active of recovery_account

Initiates an account recovery request. The recovery account proposes a new master authority for the compromised account; the account owner has 24 hours to confirm with recover_account_operation.

Field	Type	Description
recovery_account	account_name_type	The trusted recovery account
account_to_recover	account_name_type	Compromised account to recover
new_master_authority	authority	New master authority to assign after confirmation
extensions	extensions_type	Always []

[12, {
  "recovery_account": "recover-service",
  "account_to_recover": "alice",
  "new_master_authority": {
    "weight_threshold": 1,
    "account_auths": [],
    "key_auths": [["VIZ5newkey...", 1]]
  },
  "extensions": []
}]

• Only the designated recovery account of account_to_recover may send this.
• Only one active recovery request per account is permitted; sending again updates the request and resets the 24-hour window.
• To cancel: set new_master_authority.weight_threshold to 0.

---

recover_account_operation (ID 13)

Auth: Signatures satisfying both new_master_authority AND recent_master_authority

Confirms recovery by proving past ownership. Must be broadcast within 24 hours of the recovery request.

Field	Type	Description
account_to_recover	account_name_type	Account being recovered
new_master_authority	authority	New master authority (must exactly match the recovery request)
recent_master_authority	authority	A master authority that was valid within the past 30 days
extensions	extensions_type	Always []

[13, {
  "account_to_recover": "alice",
  "new_master_authority": {
    "weight_threshold": 1,
    "account_auths": [],
    "key_auths": [["VIZ5newkey...", 1]]
  },
  "recent_master_authority": {
    "weight_threshold": 1,
    "account_auths": [],
    "key_auths": [["VIZ5oldkey...", 1]]
  },
  "extensions": []
}]

• The transaction must be signed by keys satisfying both the new and recent authorities simultaneously.
• new_master_authority must exactly match the one in the pending recovery request.
• After recovery the old master key is invalidated.

---

change_recovery_account_operation (ID 14)

Auth: master of account_to_recover

Changes the recovery account. The change takes effect after a 30-day delay to prevent attackers from substituting the recovery account during an active attack.

Field	Type	Description
account_to_recover	account_name_type	Account changing its recovery account
new_recovery_account	account_name_type	New recovery account name
extensions	extensions_type	Always []

[14, {
  "account_to_recover": "alice",
  "new_recovery_account": "new-recovery-service",
  "extensions": []
}]

• new_recovery_account must be an existing account.
• If new_recovery_account is "", the top-voted validator becomes the recovery account.

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See also: Data Types, Operations Overview, Accounts.