element-hq / element-hq/element-web

UI inconsisistencies after losing Mac keystore

Open
#16,614 1 comment 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
T-Defect
Dominant language
TypeScript
Stars
13.5k
Forks
2.8k
PR merge metrics
PR metrics pending

Description

### Description

After losing Mac keystore and I was still logged in to Element but the UI showed "offline" and "Connectivity to the server has been lost". The security and privacy tab of preferences contained fixed text, but none of my security data was listed (except for Session ID:), and no UI was offered to reload the backup of encryption keys, or my encryption recovery key.

### Steps to reproduce

- Logged in to Element, everything working fine
- trash Mac keystore
- restart Mac and login to Mac

I eventually recovered by logging out of Element, logging back in - the UI for providing encryption recovery key was now available and working.

### Describe how what happens differs from what you expected:

I would have expected the UI to show a button to reload recover keys, suggest logging out, or offer some other path to resolution.

Logs being sent: yes

### Version 1.7.22

- **Platform**: desktop MacOS 10.15.7

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start by reviewing the desktop MacOS security and privacy preferences, offline-state handling, and login or encryption-recovery-key flows described in the report. Reproduce the lost-keystore scenario from the listed steps and compare it with the logout-and-login recovery path. Done means the UI offers a clear recovery or next-step path instead of only showing offline status and incomplete security data.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
macos, typescript
Domain
frontend, security
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
32/100

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