Mailing List Archive: Passphrase no longer works?

Passphrase no longer works?

Feb 10, 2000, 2:43 AM

Post #1 of 4 (2859 views)

Hi all,

I've been using gpg 1.0.1 since mid January with no apparent
problems. Today all of a sudden I can't get my passphrase to unlock
my secret key. Whenever I try I get the following output:

> gpg --sign temp.txt

You need a passphrase to unlock the secret key for
user: "Chris Clarke <stcanard@yahoo.com>"
1024-bit DSA key, ID B057D06A, created 2000-01-17

gpg: Invalid passphrase; please try again ...

You need a passphrase to unlock the secret key for
user: "Chris Clarke <stcanard@yahoo.com>"
1024-bit DSA key, ID B057D06A, created 2000-01-17

gpg: Invalid passphrase; please try again ...

You need a passphrase to unlock the secret key for
user: "Chris Clarke <stcanard@yahoo.com>"
1024-bit DSA key, ID B057D06A, created 2000-01-17

gpg: no default secret key: bad passphrase
gpg: signing failed: bad passphrase

I can absolutely guarantee that I'm using the correct passphrase, and
it hasn't been changed since I created the key in January (even
assuming a horrible typing ability, in 3 hours of trying I must have
typed it correctly at least once). I first ran into this problem when
using Mutt 1.0.1i (which I've been using for several days now); I
replied to a message that I received (first successfully decoding it),
then when trying to send / sign the message gpg wouldn't let me in.
The problem now appears when I try using gpg from the command line as
shown above.

Earlier today I added the idea and rsa modules and imported a PGP 2.x
signature, however I have sucessfully used gpg on my own keys since
that time. I've tried commenting out the extensions in my options
file, however I still can't get in.

I'm using it on a x86 based SuSE 6.1 system. I've even tried
recompiling and reinstalling the package, to no avail.

I'm starting to get desperate -- does anyone have any idea what's
going on here?

Thanks,
Chris.
--
Chris Clarke
stcanard@yahoo.com

Re: Passphrase no longer works? [ In reply to ]

stcanard at yahoo

Feb 10, 2000, 8:05 PM

Post #2 of 4 (2817 views)

Permalink

Ok,

I've written a Perl script that goes through every possible
capitilization combination for my passphrase, and they still all fail,
so that rules out the possibility that I've been pathologically
mistyping my phrase (with a sticky shift or something).

Are there any know instances of the keyring somehow getting corrupted?
I ran into this problem between editing and reading a message, and
there was only one user on the machine, so I can guarantee that there
were no configuration changes in the interim.

Chris.

On Thu, Feb 10, 2000 at 01:43:56AM -0800, Chris Clarke wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I've been using gpg 1.0.1 since mid January with no apparent
> problems. Today all of a sudden I can't get my passphrase to unlock
> my secret key. Whenever I try I get the following output:
>
> > gpg --sign temp.txt
>
> You need a passphrase to unlock the secret key for
> user: "Chris Clarke <stcanard@yahoo.com>"
> 1024-bit DSA key, ID B057D06A, created 2000-01-17
>
> gpg: Invalid passphrase; please try again ...
>
> You need a passphrase to unlock the secret key for
> user: "Chris Clarke <stcanard@yahoo.com>"
> 1024-bit DSA key, ID B057D06A, created 2000-01-17
>
> gpg: Invalid passphrase; please try again ...
>
> You need a passphrase to unlock the secret key for
> user: "Chris Clarke <stcanard@yahoo.com>"
> 1024-bit DSA key, ID B057D06A, created 2000-01-17
>
> gpg: no default secret key: bad passphrase
> gpg: signing failed: bad passphrase
>
> I can absolutely guarantee that I'm using the correct passphrase, and
> it hasn't been changed since I created the key in January (even
> assuming a horrible typing ability, in 3 hours of trying I must have
> typed it correctly at least once). I first ran into this problem when
> using Mutt 1.0.1i (which I've been using for several days now); I
> replied to a message that I received (first successfully decoding it),
> then when trying to send / sign the message gpg wouldn't let me in.
> The problem now appears when I try using gpg from the command line as
> shown above.
>
> Earlier today I added the idea and rsa modules and imported a PGP 2.x
> signature, however I have sucessfully used gpg on my own keys since
> that time. I've tried commenting out the extensions in my options
> file, however I still can't get in.
>
> I'm using it on a x86 based SuSE 6.1 system. I've even tried
> recompiling and reinstalling the package, to no avail.
>
> I'm starting to get desperate -- does anyone have any idea what's
> going on here?
>
> Thanks,
> Chris.
> --
> Chris Clarke
> stcanard@yahoo.com
>

Re: Passphrase no longer works? [ In reply to ]

mroth at nessie

Feb 11, 2000, 3:12 AM

Post #3 of 4 (2821 views)

Permalink

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

On Thu, 10 Feb 2000, Chris Clarke wrote:

> I've written a Perl script that goes through every possible
> capitilization combination for my passphrase, and they still all fail,
> so that rules out the possibility that I've been pathologically
> mistyping my phrase (with a sticky shift or something).
>
> Are there any know instances of the keyring somehow getting corrupted?
> I ran into this problem between editing and reading a message, and
> there was only one user on the machine, so I can guarantee that there
> were no configuration changes in the interim.

AFAIK, there are no reports about problems regarding passphrases on secret
keys in GnuPG.

Some things to check:

* Check the date when your secret keyring was last changed:

ls -l ~/.gnupg/secring.gpg

* Check if you have more than one secret key in your keyring:

gpg --list-secret-keys

If you have more than one secret key, use -u KEYID to select the

gpg --list-secret-keys

If you have more than one secret key, use -u KEYID to select the
right one you would like to use.

* It might be possible that you added a wrong "local-user" or
"default-key" option to your ~/.gnupg/options file. (I didn't checked
this if this could cause trouble.)

* Try to remember your correct passphrase... ;-\
For example sometimes I have days I must type in my passphrase more
than six times until I get it correct... That's a bit annoying but
happens.

cu

Michael

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.0.0e (GNU/Linux)
Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org

iD8DBQE4o+ByAJxC28xc8YIRAu+mAKCqwXanCNuoVsb1Fh6VTSha9p7YpACfRNma
93mNySZ/IXCNL+ofWjEz44s=
=3Fgq
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Re: Passphrase no longer works? [ In reply to ]

stcanard at yahoo

Feb 12, 2000, 12:55 PM

Post #4 of 4 (2813 views)

Permalink

>
> * Try to remember your correct passphrase... ;-\
> For example sometimes I have days I must type in my passphrase more
> than six times until I get it correct... That's a bit annoying but
> happens.

I know, Occam's razor :-) Based on all evidennce I'm going to assume
my brain cache got corrupted and the passphrase overwritten.
Fortunately the key wasn't really in distribution yet, so I've just
created a new secret ring. This time I've got proper backups so if it
ever happens again I'll be able to definitely verify if its me or the
ring.

Thanks for the help,

Cheers,
Chris.