Ubuntu
gnupg package

Arbitrary Real Name minimum length limit refuses valid names

Bug #161002 reported by TJ
6
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
GnuPG
Fix Released
Unknown
gnupg (Ubuntu)
Won't Fix
Undecided
Kees Cook

Bug Description

Binary package hint: gnupg

Attempting to enter a valid Real Name less than 5 characters long results in:

$ gpg --edit "XXXX TJ"
Command> adduid
Real name: TJ
Name must be at least 5 characters long

The attached patch reduces the acceptable limit to 2 characters and results in the name being accepted:

$ gpg --edit "XXXX TJ"
Command> adduid
Real name: TJ
E-mail address:

Revision history for this message
TJ (tj) wrote :

gnupg (1.4.6-2ubuntu5) hardy; urgency=low

  * debian/patches/62_reduce_arbitrary_realname_minimum_length_limit.dpatch:
    Reduce arbitrary Real Name minimum length limit to 2 (LP: #161002).

 -- TJ <email address hidden> Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:15:00 +0000

Changed in gnupg:
status: New → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
Kees Cook (kees) wrote :

Have you contacted upstream gnupg developers about this change? It seems like there must be a reason for the 5 character limit. Can you file this bug upstream too?

Thanks!

Changed in gnupg:
status: Confirmed → Incomplete
Revision history for this message
TJ (tj) wrote :

I think this is more of a feature enhancement than a bug. So far as I can determine the 5-character minimum is arbitrary rather than dictated by technical requirements. I've certainly not seen any problems in using it.

I've made a version available in my PPA. This simply alters the "strlen() < 5" check to be "< 2". It doesn't update all the gettext po files.

https://edge.launchpad.net/~intuitivenipple/+archive

Revision history for this message
Kees Cook (kees) wrote :

Okay, good to know. I think it's late for this to go into Hardy, so we'll delay until Intrepid opens.

Changed in gnupg:
assignee: nobody → keescook
status: Incomplete → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
Scott Kitterman (kitterman) wrote :

I did a quick look through some of the relevant RFCs and it does appear that based on those requirements the 5 character minimum is arbitrary.

Revision history for this message
Thijs Kinkhorst (kink) wrote :

I suggest that if you desire this functionality to report the issue at upstream. They're usually very active and can also judge where the original limit comes from.

Bug Watch Updater (bug-watch-updater)
Changed in gnupg:
status: Unknown → New
Revision history for this message
Andreas Moog (ampelbein) wrote :

I added an upstream issue, you can track status and make comments here:
https://bugs.g10code.com/gnupg/issue952

Bug Watch Updater (bug-watch-updater)
Changed in gnupg:
status: New → Fix Released
Revision history for this message
Kees Cook (kees) wrote :

Looks like upstream doesn't want this. I'd prefer not to carry an unadvised patch in Ubuntu for the feature.

Changed in gnupg:
status: Confirmed → Won't Fix
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