Unable to use pkcs8 private keys with SSH on Mavericks (10.9)

Originator:jesseendahl
Number:rdar://17138424 Date Originated:11/10/2013
Status:Closed Resolved:No
Product:OS X Product Version:10.9
Classification:Bug Reproducible:Always
 
Summary:
The version of SSH provided in Mavericks does not support pkcs8 private keys. Using our client management software, we want to enforce that all private keys in our organization are using PKCS#8 based keys with PBKDF2 instead of SSH's default (MD5), but making this change would be difficult until Apple patches this issue.

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Upgrade your an SSH private key, following instructions in this blog post: http://martin.kleppmann.com/2013/05/24/improving-security-of-ssh-private-keys.html
2. Try to use it.

Expected Results:
Expected result is that I am prompted to enter the passphrase, I have the option of storing it in Keychain, and then the connection succeeds.

Actual Results:
The user gets prompted for the password repeatedly. The private key is never decrypted and cannot be used to initiate SSH connections.

Version:
10.9.3/13D65

Notes:
Related bug report: 14776937

Comments


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