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FAQ

How does encryption work?

Dotenvx uses Elliptic Curve Integrated Encryption Scheme (ECIES) to encrypt each secret with a unique ephemeral key, while ensuring it can be decrypted using a long-term private key.

When you initialize encryption, a DOTENV_PUBLIC_KEY (encryption key) and DOTENV_PRIVATE_KEY (decryption key) are generated. The DOTENV_PUBLIC_KEY is used to encrypt secrets, and the DOTENV_PRIVATE_KEY is securely stored in your cloud secrets manager or .env.keys file.

Your encrypted .env file is then safely committed to code. Even if the file is exposed, secrets remain protected since decryption requires the separate DOTENV_PRIVATE_KEY, which is never stored alongside it. Read the whitepaper for more details.

Is it safe to commit an encrypted .env file to code?

Yes. Dotenvx uses ECIES public-key encryption, combining ephemeral key agreement with AES-256 secret encryption so that even if the encrypted .env file is exposed, its contents remain secure. The encryption keys themselves are protected using Secp256k1 elliptic curve cryptography, which is widely used for secure key exchange in technologies like Bitcoin.

This means that every secret in the .env file is encrypted with a unique AES-256 key, and that key is further encrypted using a public key (Secp256k1). Even if an attacker obtains the encrypted .env file, they would still need the corresponding private key—stored separately—to decrypt anything.

Breaking this encryption would require brute-forcing both AES-256 and elliptic curve cryptography, which is computationally infeasible with current technology. Read the whitepaper for more details.

How does it protect me from security incidents like Vercel's?

In the Vercel incident scenario, if an attacker accesses environment variables, they still cannot decrypt your encrypted .env secrets without the separate private decryption key. To steal your secrets, an attacker needs both the private key and the encrypted .env files.