Vanta

Product Introduction

1. Vanta is a command-line interface (CLI) password manager that securely stores and encrypts login credentials using cryptographic protocols.
2. The core value of Vanta lies in its combination of robust encryption standards and a streamlined CLI workflow, enabling efficient password management without compromising security.

Main Features

1. Vanta employs bcrypt for secure master password hashing and Fernet symmetric encryption (via the cryptography library) to protect stored credentials, ensuring end-to-end data protection.
2. The tool provides a flexible master password system, allowing users to create custom passwords or generate cryptographically strong 24-character passwords using uppercase, lowercase, digits, and symbols.
3. Vanta automatically stores encrypted credentials in a SQLite database using platform-specific storage paths (e.g., ~/.config/vanta on Linux, ~/Library/Application Support/vanta on macOS), ensuring cross-platform compatibility and organized data management.

Problems Solved

1. Vanta addresses the risk of password reuse and insecure credential storage by enforcing AES-256 encryption with PBKDF2 key derivation (100,000 iterations) for all stored entries.
2. The product targets developers, system administrators, and security-conscious users who require terminal-based access to credentials for scripting, automation, or server environments.
3. Typical use cases include securely managing API keys across development environments, storing SSH credentials for infrastructure access, and maintaining compliance with password rotation policies through its update/delete functionality.

Unique Advantages

1. Unlike GUI-based password managers, Vanta operates entirely within terminal environments, offering seamless integration with developer workflows through its POSIX-compliant CLI design.
2. The implementation combines two-layer security architecture: bcrypt for master password protection (pepper + salt) and Fernet for credential encryption using keys derived via PBKDF2HMAC with SHA-256.
3. Competitive advantages include open-source AGPL-3.0 licensing for auditability, zero cloud dependencies for air-gapped environments, and native compatibility with Python 3.8+ across Windows/macOS/Linux systems.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What encryption standards does Vanta use for password protection? Vanta employs bcrypt with a cost factor of 12 for master password hashing and Fernet (AES-128-CBC with PKCS7 padding) for credential encryption, using keys derived via PBKDF2HMAC-SHA256 with 100,000 iterations.
2. Can I recover my vault if I lose the master password? No, the master password is irrecoverable by design; users must delete the vanta.db file and recreate their vault if the master password is lost, as per cryptographic best practices.
3. How does Vanta ensure cross-platform database compatibility? The SQLite database path is dynamically determined using the platformdirs library, following OS-specific conventions while maintaining consistent encryption across all platforms through standardized cryptographic implementations.
4. What complexity requirements apply to user-created passwords? User-defined passwords must contain at least 12 characters with 1 uppercase letter, 1 lowercase letter, 1 digit, and 1 special symbol, enforced through regex validation during entry creation.
5. Where are generated passwords stored temporarily during creation? Randomly generated passwords exist only in memory during the creation workflow and are immediately encrypted before being written to the database, preventing exposure in swap files or process listings.