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Published 20 hours ago • verified publisher icon wireapp

New messages can't be decrypted after restoring backup on new device

Open rmayr opened this issue 4 years ago • 2 comments

Describe the bug After creating a backup on one (Android) device and restoring on another (Android) that has been setup from scratch, either the old or the new device occasionally fail to receive new messages with the error "A message from ... was not received.", indicating a keying problem. Even after logging out of the Wire account on the new device, the new one will fail to receive messages from those senders or in the affected group chats. Other devices (another Android device and 2 Linux desktop clients) logged into the same account do not see any issues.

Interestingly, after logging out and re-logging-in on the old device twice, it can display all messages sent in the interim period. Only the new device (on which the backup was restored) fails to decrypt (some) new messages.

Both devices (backup and restored) have distinct fingerprints, as visible on other devices with the same or with different accounts.

To Reproduce

  1. Create a backup on one Android device.
  2. Install Wire on another Android device, log in to same account, restore backup from 1.
  3. Send new messages from another device logged into the same account or from another account - both 1:1 and group chats are affected.
  4. The new device from 2. fails to decrypt the message.

Expected behavior 4. The new device receives new messages correctly.

Smartphone (please complete the following information):

  • Wire version 3.59.959 or 3.60.960 on Android 11.

rmayr avatar Dec 04 '20 17:12 rmayr

Explicitly updating Wire to v3.60.960 on both the old and new devices, clearing all Wire app data on the new devices and re-importing a fresh backup after logging in again seems to make it decrypt current messages. I will watch it in the next few days, as the decryption errors started only after a few days on the last try.

rmayr avatar Dec 04 '20 18:12 rmayr

Thanks for the report. We're aware of this problem. We suspect backup is not its source but it demonstrates clearly that we have a problem with decrypting. I'll try to look into it soon.

makingthematrix avatar Dec 07 '20 15:12 makingthematrix