This letter proposes fingerprint-based key binding/recovering with fuzzy vault. Fingerprint minutiae data and the cryptographic key are merged together by a multivariable linear function. First, the minutiae data are bound by a set of random data through the linear function. The number of the function’s variables is determined by the required number of matched minutiae. Then, a new key de- rived from the random data is used to encrypt the cryptographic key. Lastly, the binding data are protected using fuzzy vault scheme. The proposed scheme provides the system with the flexibility to use changeable number of minutiae to bind/recover the protected key and a unified method regardless of the length of the key.