Mailing List Archive: GnuPG: users

Possible bug: addkey can create certifying subkey

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jh at jameshoward

Aug 31, 2009, 10:24 AM

Post #1 of 6 (727 views)
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Possible bug: addkey can create certifying subkey

I am not sure if this is a bug, but given the documentation it is not
the expected behavior. I created new keys this weekend, due to a lost
USB drive. Replicating it here, if you specify --expert and create a
RSA subkey with all the options off, it will create a subkey with all
the options, including certification turned on. Here's a slightly
edited transcript:

howardjp [at] thermopyla:~$ gpg --expert --edit 0xE6602099
Secret key is available.

pub 4096R/0xE6602099 created: 2009-08-30 expires: never usage: C
trust: ultimate validity: ultimate
sub 2048R/0xFCB31625 created: 2009-08-30 expires: never usage: E
sub 2048R/0xA40883BA created: 2009-08-30 expires: never usage: A
sub 2048R/0x2C3602D7 created: 2009-08-30 expires: never usage: S
sub 2048R/0x3EE4249E created: 2009-08-30 expires: never usage: S
[ultimate] (1). James Patrick Howard, II

Command> addkey
Key is protected.

You need a passphrase to unlock the secret key for
user: "James Patrick Howard, II"
4096-bit RSA key, ID 0xE6602099, created 2009-08-30

Please select what kind of key you want:
(3) DSA (sign only)
(4) RSA (sign only)
(5) Elgamal (encrypt only)
(6) RSA (encrypt only)
(7) DSA (set your own capabilities)
(8) RSA (set your own capabilities)
Your selection? 8

Possible actions for a RSA key: Sign Encrypt Authenticate
Current allowed actions: Sign Encrypt

(S) Toggle the sign capability
(E) Toggle the encrypt capability
(A) Toggle the authenticate capability
(Q) Finished

Your selection? s

Possible actions for a RSA key: Sign Encrypt Authenticate
Current allowed actions: Encrypt

(S) Toggle the sign capability
(E) Toggle the encrypt capability
(A) Toggle the authenticate capability
(Q) Finished

Your selection? e

Possible actions for a RSA key: Sign Encrypt Authenticate
Current allowed actions:

(S) Toggle the sign capability
(E) Toggle the encrypt capability
(A) Toggle the authenticate capability
(Q) Finished

Your selection? q
RSA keys may be between 1024 and 4096 bits long.
What keysize do you want? (2048)
Requested keysize is 2048 bits
Please specify how long the key should be valid.
0 = key does not expire
<n> = key expires in n days
<n>w = key expires in n weeks
<n>m = key expires in n months
<n>y = key expires in n years
Key is valid for? (0)
Key does not expire at all
Is this correct? (y/N) y
Really create? (y/N) y
We need to generate a lot of random bytes. It is a good idea to perform
some other action (type on the keyboard, move the mouse, utilize the
disks) during the prime generation; this gives the random number
generator a better chance to gain enough entropy.

pub 4096R/0xE6602099 created: 2009-08-30 expires: never usage: C
trust: ultimate validity: ultimate
sub 2048R/0xFCB31625 created: 2009-08-30 expires: never usage: E
sub 2048R/0xA40883BA created: 2009-08-30 expires: never usage: A
sub 2048R/0x2C3602D7 created: 2009-08-30 expires: never usage: S
sub 2048R/0x3EE4249E created: 2009-08-30 expires: never usage: S
sub 2048R/0xB892F408 created: 2009-08-31 expires: never usage: SCEA
[ultimate] (1). James Patrick Howard, II

Command> quit
Save changes? (y/N) n
Quit without saving? (y/N) y
howardjp [at] thermopyla:~$ gpg --version
gpg (GnuPG/MacGPG2) 2.0.12
libgcrypt 1.4.4
Copyright (C) 2009 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later
<http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

Home: ~/.gnupg
Supported algorithms:
Pubkey: RSA, ELG, DSA
Cipher: 3DES, CAST5, BLOWFISH, AES, AES192, AES256, TWOFISH, CAMELLIA128,
CAMELLIA192, CAMELLIA256
Hash: MD5, SHA1, RIPEMD160, SHA256, SHA384, SHA512, SHA224
Compression: Uncompressed, ZIP, ZLIB, BZIP2
howardjp [at] thermopyla:~$

--
James P. Howard, II, MPA
jh [at] jameshoward

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wk at gnupg

Sep 1, 2009, 12:45 AM

Post #2 of 6 (685 views)
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Re: Possible bug: addkey can create certifying subkey [In reply to]

On Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:24, jh [at] jameshoward said:
> I am not sure if this is a bug, but given the documentation it is not
> the expected behavior. I created new keys this weekend, due to a lost
> USB drive. Replicating it here, if you specify --expert and create a
> RSA subkey with all the options off, it will create a subkey with all
> the options, including certification turned on. Here's a slightly

That is perfectly okay. If you want to set the key flag for
certification on a subkey, gpg allows you to do so. The OpenPGP
standard does not restrict this.

Note that despite a subkey carrying this flag, OpenPGP (and thus gpg)
will always use the primary key for certification of user-ids and other
subkeys (binding signatures) and for certifying other keys (key
signatures).

Shalom-Salam,

Werner

--
Die Gedanken sind frei. Auschnahme regelt ein Bundeschgesetz.

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hawke at hawkesnest

Sep 1, 2009, 11:57 AM

Post #3 of 6 (678 views)
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Re: Possible bug: addkey can create certifying subkey [In reply to]

On 09/01/2009 02:45 AM, Werner Koch wrote:
> On Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:24, jh [at] jameshoward said:
>> I am not sure if this is a bug, but given the documentation it is not
>> the expected behavior. I created new keys this weekend, due to a lost
>> USB drive. Replicating it here, if you specify --expert and create a
>> RSA subkey with all the options off, it will create a subkey with all
>> the options, including certification turned on. Here's a slightly
>
> That is perfectly okay. If you want to set the key flag for
> certification on a subkey, gpg allows you to do so. The OpenPGP
> standard does not restrict this.

I think it may still be a problem that attempting to turn off all the
flags has the actual effect of turning them all on instead...

-Alex Mauer "hawke"

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jh at jameshoward

Sep 1, 2009, 4:50 PM

Post #4 of 6 (681 views)
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Re: Possible bug: addkey can create certifying subkey [In reply to]

On Tue Sep 01 2009 14:57:47 GMT-0400 (EST) , Alex Mauer
<hawke [at] hawkesnest> wrote:

> On 09/01/2009 02:45 AM, Werner Koch wrote:
>> On Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:24, jh [at] jameshoward said:
>>> I am not sure if this is a bug, but given the documentation it is
>>> not the expected behavior. I created new keys this weekend, due
>>> to a lost USB drive. Replicating it here, if you specify
>>> --expert and create a RSA subkey with all the options off, it
>>> will create a subkey with all the options, including
>>> certification turned on. Here's a slightly
>>
>> That is perfectly okay. If you want to set the key flag for
>> certification on a subkey, gpg allows you to do so. The OpenPGP
>> standard does not restrict this.
>
> I think it may still be a problem that attempting to turn off all
> the flags has the actual effect of turning them all on instead...

Well, that was kind of my point, but was also confused by the certifying
subkey and may have undually dwelt on it.

James

--
James P. Howard, II, MPA
jh [at] jameshoward

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wk at gnupg

Sep 1, 2009, 10:04 PM

Post #5 of 6 (672 views)
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Re: Possible bug: addkey can create certifying subkey [In reply to]

On Tue, 1 Sep 2009 20:57, hawke [at] hawkesnest said:

> I think it may still be a problem that attempting to turn off all the
> flags has the actual effect of turning them all on instead...

That is per OpenPGP: Key flags are not required and thus lacking any key
flags, we need to assume all capabilities. Of course it would be
possible to add an empty list of key flags (in contrast to "no list").
IMHO this does not make any sense thus we don't create a key flags list
at all if you reset all key flags.

Shalom-Salam,

Werner

--
Die Gedanken sind frei. Auschnahme regelt ein Bundeschgesetz.

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Gnupg-users mailing list
Gnupg-users [at] gnupg
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jh at jameshoward

Sep 2, 2009, 7:47 PM

Post #6 of 6 (669 views)
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Re: Possible bug: addkey can create certifying subkey [In reply to]

On Wed Sep 02 2009 01:04:28 GMT-0400 (EST) , Werner Koch <wk [at] gnupg>
wrote:

> On Tue, 1 Sep 2009 20:57, hawke [at] hawkesnest said:
>
>> I think it may still be a problem that attempting to turn off all
>> the flags has the actual effect of turning them all on instead...
>
> That is per OpenPGP: Key flags are not required and thus lacking any
> key flags, we need to assume all capabilities. Of course it would
> be possible to add an empty list of key flags (in contrast to "no
> list"). IMHO this does not make any sense thus we don't create a key
> flags list at all if you reset all key flags.

This makes a lot of sense, now. Thank you for the clarification.

James

--
James P. Howard, II, MPA
jh [at] jameshoward

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