[pkg-gnupg-maint] Bug#1108406: gnupg: On Debian 13, fail to import a secret key exported from a Debian 12 host

[Andreas Metzler]

On 2025-06-27 Frédéric Boiteux <fboiteux at free.fr> wrote:
> Package: gnupg
> Version: 2.4.7-21
> Severity: important
> X-Debbugs-Cc: fboiteux at free.fr

> Dear Maintainer,

> I want to use my GnuPG key on a new laptop with Debian 13. I’ve exported my
> key from my old computer using :

> gpg --export-secret-keys --export-options backup --armor --output cleComplete.gpg.asc fredmob at free.fr

> and copied that file cleComplete.gpg.asc on my new laptop, where I typed :

> gpg --import cleComplete.gpg.asc

> Here, gpg ask me for the key’s passphrase, but it doesn’t recognize it
> (asking 3 times), and finally fail to import the secret key.
[...]
> I’ve tested the same file cleComplete.gpg.asc on another Debian 12 system,
> and the importation succeeded on the first try.
[...]

Hello Frédéric,

is the locale setup identical on both the Debian 12 and 13 systems? (Check
with the command locale without args.)

Is the keyboard setup identical, are you really typing the correct
string on the new system?

Just to illustrate, both strings look identical but are not binary
identical, just use you password instead of "Frédéric":

ametzler at argenau:~$ locale | grep CTYPE
LC_CTYPE="de_AT.UTF-8"
ametzler at argenau:~$ cat <<EOF | sha1sum
> Frédéric
> EOF
c92eb4d8bb529fc4e131e319705c07a44164a145  -
ametzler at argenau:~$ locale | grep CTYPE
LC_CTYPE="de_AT.iso88591"
ametzler at argenau:~$ cat <<EOF | sha1sum
> Frédéric
> EOF
33fb0da4a9e7c75b5641c2d013abc703b2918a62  -


cu Andreas