/nodejs-keccak256

name: nodejs-keccak256
description: Prevent Ethereum hashing bugs in JavaScript and TypeScript. Node's sha3-256 is NIST SHA3, not Ethereum Keccak-256, and silently breaks selectors, signatures, storage slots, and address derivation. Use when hashing for Ethereum in JavaScript or TypeScript, or when a selector, signature, storage slot, or derived address is wrong.
metadata:
  version: "1.0.0"
  origin: ECC direct-port adaptation

Node.js Keccak-256

Ethereum uses Keccak-256, not the NIST-standardized SHA3 variant exposed by Node's `crypto.createHash('sha3-256')`.

When to Use

• Computing Ethereum function selectors or event topics
• Building EIP-712, signature, Merkle, or storage-slot helpers in JS/TS
• Reviewing any code that hashes Ethereum data with Node crypto directly

How It Works

The two algorithms produce different outputs for the same input, and Node will not warn you.

import crypto from 'crypto';
import { keccak256, toUtf8Bytes } from 'ethers';

const data = 'hello';
const nistSha3 = crypto.createHash('sha3-256').update(data).digest('hex');
const keccak = keccak256(toUtf8Bytes(data)).slice(2);

console.log(nistSha3 === keccak); // false

Examples

ethers v6

import { keccak256, toUtf8Bytes, solidityPackedKeccak256, id } from 'ethers';

const hash = keccak256(new Uint8Array([0x01, 0x02]));
const hash2 = keccak256(toUtf8Bytes('hello'));
const topic = id('Transfer(address,address,uint256)');
const packed = solidityPackedKeccak256(
  ['address', 'uint256'],
  ['0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b8D4C9B569890FaC1c', 100n],
);

viem

import { keccak256, toBytes } from 'viem';

const hash = keccak256(toBytes('hello'));

web3.js

const hash = web3.utils.keccak256('hello');
const packed = web3.utils.soliditySha3(
  { type: 'address', value: '0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b8D4C9B569890FaC1c' },
  { type: 'uint256', value: '100' },
);

Common patterns

import { id, keccak256, AbiCoder } from 'ethers';

const selector = id('transfer(address,uint256)').slice(0, 10);
const typeHash = keccak256(toUtf8Bytes('Transfer(address from,address to,uint256 value)'));

function getMappingSlot(key: string, mappingSlot: number): string {
  return keccak256(
    AbiCoder.defaultAbiCoder().encode(['address', 'uint256'], [key, mappingSlot]),
  );
}

Address from public key

import { keccak256 } from 'ethers';

function pubkeyToAddress(pubkeyBytes: Uint8Array): string {
  const hash = keccak256(pubkeyBytes.slice(1));
  return '0x' + hash.slice(-40);
}

Audit your codebase

grep -rn "createHash.*sha3" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" --exclude-dir=node_modules .
grep -rn "keccak256" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" . | grep -v node_modules

Rule

For Ethereum contexts, never use `crypto.createHash('sha3-256')`. Use Keccak-aware helpers from `ethers`, `viem`, `web3`, or another explicit Keccak implementation.