"Your key storage is out of sync" comes up each time element is opened

[blockisec]

Steps to reproduce

1. updating element desktop to latest version
2. open it and see popup with "your key storage is out of sync"
3. click "Forgot ..." or "Enter recovery key"
4. close element and open it again
5. popup again

Outcome

What did you expect?

work as previous versions

What happened instead?

see above

Operating system

Debian

Application version

Element version: 1.11.91 Crypto version: Rust SDK 0.8.0 (21f7cc7), Vodozemac 0.8.1

How did you install the app?

Official Repo

Homeserver

No response

Will you send logs?

No

[richvdh]

what? no, it's a completely different issue to #29118. That was just that the "forgot recovery key" doesn't work.

[richvdh]

@blockisec to confirm: did you actually enter your recovery key? what happened next?

[lieuwex]

I have the same problem, when I enter my recovery I get a spinner and then the modal closes and nothing happens. The popup is still there.

In the console I get errors which seem related to #27808?
See the logs: develop.element.io-1738766925992.log

FWIW: My Synapse is a bit old, I am running 1.118.0rc1

[lieuwex]

It seems that this is not specific to Element, with Fractal I get the following error too:

2025-02-05T15:14:38.433124Z ERROR fractal::components::crypto::recovery_setup_view::imp: Could not recover account: The public key of the imported private key doesn't match to the public key that was uploaded to the server

[blockisec]

@richvdh I tried both options, popup is still there.

[richvdh]

@blockisec please can you send debug logs from within the application?

[romuald]

Can confirm this issue with multiple clients (macOS and Linux) on multiple accounts

Element was auto-updated this morning while trying to find a way to retrieve the Recovery Key, and now it was updated and I cannot access security settings anymore (edit: mixed up security settings and encryption tabs)

[richvdh]

Again, if you're seeing this problem, please send debug logs from within the application. We can't do much to investigate it otherwise.

[tmssngr]

What if I don't remember the recovery key (assuming the normal password still works when installing on a new machine)?

[richvdh]

@tmssngr there is a "Forgot recovery key?" button, though in the currently-released version it doesn't actually work (#29118). Should be fixed in tomorrow's release.

[richvdh]

Those of you who have sent debug logs: thank you. I might be misreading the logs, but as far as I can see, you haven't actually entered the recovery key?

To confirm my understanding of this issue, the symptoms are:

1. Open Element
2. Observe "your key storage is out of sync" toast
3. Click "Enter recovery key"
4. Enter the recovery key
5. Click "Continue"
6. Toast disappears
7. Re-open Element
8. Toast re-appears

If those are not your symptoms, please open a new issue.

If those are your symptoms, please send debug logs from within the application, referencing this issue, after doing the above steps.

[lieuwex]

@richvdh I just submitted a debug log from within Element after doing the following steps with the exception that step 6 never occurs, the toast always stays open. I restarted Element regardless.

[richvdh]

@lieuwex thanks. It looks like there is indeed a problem with the keys in secret storage for your account:

2025-02-10T19:31:57.263Z E SecurityManager: accessSecretStorage: error during operation The public key of the imported private key doesn't match to the public key that was uploaded to the server

Improving the user experience is tracked at #29229. In the meantime, I suggest you wait for tomorrow's EW release, and then "Reset cryptographic identity".

[tmssngr]

@tmssngr there is a "Forgot recovery key?" button, though in the currently-released version it doesn't actually work (#29118). Should be fixed in tomorrow's release.

What exactly is this button expected to do?

Generally, what is a recovery key? I'm using Element since 5 (?) years, in the last 2 years only occasionally, and can't remember a recovery key - just account and password and the confirmation with another already logged-in device.

[richvdh]

@tmssngr this is off-topic here. I recommend waiting for today's release and seeing if the UI makes sense to you. If not, you can seek support in the #element-web:matrix.org room.

[richvdh]

I'm closing this due to lack of info on how to reproduce it.