Serious internal error to decrypt Private Key

[ho1ger]

Expected behaviour

Private key of user is installed and decrypted on second iOS device

Actual behaviour

"Serious internal error to decrypt Private Key" is shown, process is aborted

Steps to reproduce

1. setup E2EE on first device
2. note nmemonic
3. connect second device with account
4. start E2EE and enter nmemonic

App version

2.20 on both devices

Nextcloud version: (see Nextcloud admin page)

13.0.0 / 1.0.2

[marinofaggiana]

Verify your mnemonic ...

[ho1ger]

I checked it four times and copy/pasted it into the app.

[marinofaggiana]

Sorry, no other explanation ... mnemonic error or the publicKey & privateKey are not generated together.

[tushevorg]

+1, same error. triple-checked the mnemonic. Reinstalling the app on the original device leads to the same error.

I request a feature to reset e2e keys in admin interface.

[tushevorg]

@marinofaggiana any updates? I cannot set up the encryption :(

[cryptosmithio]

Confirmed for me. Also, same behaviour if you disable and enable encryption on a single iOS device.

[tushevorg]

Seems fixed now, with the update to 13.0.1??

Please check everyone @ho1ger @jiyosub

[cryptosmithio]

Not for me. 13.0.1 client and server.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Start end-to-end encryption as normal on iOS
2. Stop end-to-end encryption
3. Start again. Re-enter mnemonic Produces "Serious internal error to decrypt Private Key" is shown, process is aborted Nextcloud Server 13.0.1 Nextcloud for iOS 2.20.7.000003

[tushevorg]

@jiyosub confirmed, the problem returned. Not able to reproduce the working state now. Nginx and Nextcloud logs seem fine - not a server-side problem at a first glance.

[cryptosmithio]

I just went through a fresh install. Nextcloud Server 13.0.1, ubuntu, apache

IOS Nextcloud for iOS 2.20.7.000003

Steps to reproduce:

1. Start end-to-end encryption as normal on iOS
2. Start end-to-end encryption on second iOS device
3. Enter mnemonic Produces "Serious internal error to decrypt Private Key" is shown, process is aborted

I can provide any debug logs from the server if it helps.

[marinofaggiana]

@jiyosub Hi, can you send me the account for this issue ?

[cryptosmithio]

@marinofaggiana, not sure what you mean? It's private hosted.

[marinofaggiana]

ok, no problem. bye

[tushevorg]

@marinofaggiana I believe I can provide the test account. I do not want to have this problem:) Where to should I send the credentials?

[marinofaggiana]

@tushevorg ios at nextcloud dot com

[tushevorg]

@marinofaggiana My friend has just sent you a letter with the test credentials. Sorry for the delay, I had some rush job.

[b90g]

iOS App: 3.0.14.6 iOS: 14.2 Server 20.0.2 (Apache2.4.46, php-fpm7.4,mariadb10.5.8) - With SAML SSO

Still happening.

[oxytu]

Also happens for me with Nextcloud 19.0.1 and iOS 3.1.0.7.

[oxytu]

Just tried again with my other account in the same app, and there it worked correctly. When then switching back to the first account, I was able to enable E2E there too. So it may be only an issue when handling multiple accounts in the same app.

[Blosberg]

I had this problem as well (certain the mnemonic was right after many attempts), and after trial and error, my solution was to

1. delete the nextcloud app from my phone,
2. re-initialize encryption from a client app on a laptop
3. re-install nextcloud onto the phone after encryption was established on other device and passphrase was already set
4. then enable encryption with lock, and enter the new 12-word passphrase I got from step 2 above (the old one is garbage now).

It says "End-to_end encryption activated" now. I have no idea how generalizable this solution is, but I suggest to remove the app from the phone, and only attempt to install and setup after E2E is setup with another device.

[fwoelk]

The end-to-en encryption mnemonic consisting of 12 dictionary words is displayed neither fully nor consistently at least in OsX desktop app version 3.11.0. Sometimes there are blanks between the words (initial setup) and sometimes there are no blanks (display mnemonic). Sometimes the beginning of the mnemonic is not displayed (button display mnemonic).

In my case the following worked: Copy and paste the mnemonic from the pop up window to some different location to display it fully. Enter it without the blanks between the words on the other devices.