GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 565749
WPA2 show password checkbox in Wireless Security tab shows hex digits
Last modified: 2009-05-12 17:52:05 UTC
Please describe the problem: A friend came over with their Vista laptop to play games and since they had wireless I thought just give them the password and play! Since I get NM to remember my password for me (brain like a sieve) I went into the connection information dialog, clicked on show password in the Wireless Security tab. There I got a bunch of hex digits (the password was definitely not hex). So I typed the hex digits into Vista's connection dialog but couldn't connect. As a result I had to search for a network cable before we could play games. Please fix the show password option to show the actual password. Steps to reproduce: 1. Save WPA2 password 2. Try to view password Actual results: I'm disappointed. Expected results: I would be able to view the password and go on with playing games. Does this happen every time? Yes Other information:
Vista should certainly be able to accept all the hex digits... Are you sure you typed them correctly? There will be 64 of them. At the moment NM doesn't store the passphrase, but stores what's *actually* used to connect to the WiFi. That long string of #s is called the "WPA Hexadecimal key". In any case, this is a dupe of bug 557382 *** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 557382 ***
I tested it again and Vista could not connect. I also copy and pasted it to a text file then transferred that to the Vista machine but it still didn't work (no idea of the error). It should store the passphrase instead of the key because the key changes if you change the SSID but the password doesn't change. Vista has an option to import network settings from a USB key. It would be great if NM could export the network settings to a USB key compatible with Vista (or import them).
I disagree that this is a duplicate, NM should store the password rather than the hex digits of the key. Principle of least surprise. Passwords are also usually less typing than the key.
no, this is clearly a dupe of bug 557382 because that bug is talking about exactly what you are talking about here. Both bugs are talking about NM storing the password hash, not the actual password itself. That bug is now fixed. *** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 557382 ***
AFAICT from the bug log, the fix for #557382 wasn't what I wanted. I want NM to present back to the user whatever the user gave NM, not whatever NM might use behind the scenes to authenticate with the network. Please update the bug log with useful information about the fix. Anyway, I look forward to the day we authenticate with keys, enough of this passphrase shite.
I think you misunderstand... both that bug and your bug are about storing exactly what the user typed in, and present that back to the user, instead of the long hex key. To be clear: the fix for #557382 makes the applet store what the user typed in, *not* the hashed hex key, and will present back to the user exactly what they typed in both the connection editor and the applet.
Great, thanks! The 2nd last post on 557382 doesn't make the fix clear in any way so I'll take the liberty of copying your message there.