Bug 3535 - Permission denied error message is unclear
Summary: Permission denied error message is unclear
Status: CLOSED WONTFIX
Alias: None
Product: Portable OpenSSH
Classification: Unclassified
Component: ssh (show other bugs)
Version: 9.1p1
Hardware: Other Windows 10
: P5 enhancement
Assignee: Assigned to nobody
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2023-02-08 04:40 AEDT by Edward Miller
Modified: 2023-03-17 13:43 AEDT (History)
1 user (show)

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Description Edward Miller 2023-02-08 04:40:01 AEDT 
If I try to connect to a server without passing a valid passphrase for my key, it says "Permission denied (publickey)"

This message is very vague and unhelpful. I suggest at least appending a suggestion, like "Did you specify the correct passphrase, if needed?"
Comment 1 Damien Miller 2023-02-10 13:36:19 AEDT 
I don't think we'll be changing this message. Any suggestion runs the risk of being inaccurate, for example yours runs the risk of leading people to assume that a different public key might work for a destination that would never accept them.

The current message is succinct and accurate as to what has happened. More detail is available via the verbose option if needed, but fundamentally the client is not in a position to guess why.
Comment 2 Damien Miller 2023-03-17 13:43:02 AEDT 
OpenSSH 9.3 has been released. Close resolved bugs