#883005 gpg2 too annoying about lack of a passphrase

Package:
gnupg2
Source:
gnupg2
Submitter:
Ian Jackson
Date:
2017-11-29 14:33:04 UTC
Severity:
normal
#883005#5
Date:
2017-11-28 17:20:56 UTC
From:
To:
If you try to get gpg2 to generate a subkey with no passphrase, it:

1. Prompts you for the passphrase, so you click "ok" without
   entering one.

2. Warns you that the passphrase too short, and asks you to
   confirm to proceed anyway

3. Warns you that a secure passphrase has at least 1 somethingorother
   and this one doesn't, and asks you to confirm to proceed anyway

4. Warns you that you should have passphrase, and asks you to
   confirm to proceed anyway

5. Asks you to re-enter the passphrase, so you have to click OK again

At least 3 of these 5 prompts are superfluous.

Ian.
#883005#10
Date:
2017-11-29 00:17:30 UTC
From:
To:
Hi Ian--

I'm not seeing this particular warning on the version of GnuPG that we
have in debian stable.  Can you confirm that you don't have any sort of
custom local configuration, or a gpg-check-pattern patternfile set up on
your machine?

I agree that these prompts are annoying.

Using a modern GnuPG (e.g. the one in debian stable), have you tried:

    gpg --passphrase '' --pinentry-mode=loopback --quick-add-key $FINGERPRINT

That should provide you with a prompt-free workaround for adding a
subkey with no passphrase.
#883005#15
Date:
2017-11-29 14:31:06 UTC
From:
To:
Daniel Kahn Gillmor writes ("Re: [pkg-gnupg-maint] Bug#883005: gpg2 too annoying about lack of a passphrase"):
..

I don't.  I was trying to generate a subkey for a key on a Yubikey
token.  (With the token removed, so that I could check that it would
fail.)

Thanks for the tip.

Ian.