element-hq / element-hq/element-x-android
"Key storage out of sync" flow gives misleading error message when 4S lacks the secret
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- Dominant language
- Kotlin
- Stars
- 2.4k
- Forks
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- 1d 14h
- Merged PRs (30d)
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Description
Given an account where:
- 4S is set up (i.e., a configured
m.secret_storage.default_key) - but 4S does not contain the master key (
m.cross_signing.masteris missing or empty) - EX is missing the private master key
(This is quite possible on older accounts: once upon a time, we did not store the master cross-signing key in 4S)
As expected, we see the "Your key storage is out of sync" toast. Click "Continue", enter the correct recovery key. Observe "Incorrect recovery key":
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by reproducing the described key-storage out-of-sync flow with 4S configured but without m.cross_signing.master, then trace the Continue and recovery-key handling paths. Done means the correct recovery key is not reported as incorrect in this account state; the payload names no files or tests.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- kotlin, rust
- Domain
- security
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100