Secure Email with OpenPGP Component: Step-by-Step Implementation

Troubleshooting Common Issues in OpenPGP Component Deployments

1. Key generation failures

• Cause: Insufficient entropy, incorrect parameters (key type/size), or permission errors.
• Fix: Ensure system entropy (install rng-tools/Haveged), use recommended key sizes (2048–4096 bits RSA or Ed25519), run keygen with proper user permissions.

2. Importing/exporting keys errors

• Cause: Corrupt key files, wrong format (ASCII vs binary), missing armor headers.
• Fix: Verify file integrity (checksums), convert formats (gpg –dearmor / gpg –enarmor), ensure ASCII-armored keys include —–BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK—–.

3. Signature verification failures

• Cause: Missing/expired public key, mismatched user IDs, altered message, or incorrect hash algorithms.
• Fix: Retrieve and trust the signer’s current public key, check key expiration/revocation, compare message fingerprints, verify using the same hash algorithms and canonicalization.

4. Encryption failures / cannot find recipient key

• Cause: Recipient’s public key not in keyring, key ID ambiguity, or policy rejecting weak keys.
• Fix: Import recipient’s public key, use full fingerprint to avoid ambiguity (–recipient 0xFINGERPRINT), update policies to accept required algorithms if safe.

5. Decryption failures / bad passphrase

• Cause: Wrong passphrase, corrupted secret key, or missing secret key material.
• Fix: Confirm passphrase, restore secret key from backup, check permissions on keyring files, use gpg –list-secret-keys to confirm presence.

6. Trust/validation problems (web of trust)

• Cause: Improperly set ownertrust, missing signatures, or relying solely on self-signed keys.
• Fix: Set ownertrust appropriately (gpg –edit-key → trust), obtain signatures via key signing, consider using TOFU or a PKI-backed approach if web of trust isn’t suitable.

7. Compatibility between OpenPGP implementations

• Cause: Different feature support (e.g., newer algorithms, AEAD, compressed packet differences).
• Fix: Prefer widely supported algorithms (RSA, AES256, SHA256), enable compatibility modes, test interop with target implementation versions.

8. Performance issues (slow operations)

• Cause: Large keyrings, low entropy, or CPU-constrained environments.
• Fix: Prune unused keys, use hardware acceleration (AES-NI), seed entropy sources, increase memory/CPU for batch operations.

9. Keyserver synchronization problems

• Cause: Deprecated keyserver protocols, rate limits, or keyserver network issues.
• Fix: Use modern keyserver pools (HKPS), fetch from reliable sources (keybase, public key endpoints), or exchange keys directly.

10. Automated deployment problems (CI/CD)

• Cause: Secrets exposure, missing agent, or CI runner lacking GPG agent/socket.
• Fix: Use dedicated signing keys with strict scopes, store keys in secure vaults, run gpg-agent in CI or use tooling that supports GPG via environment sockets, avoid interactive passphrase prompts by using encrypted key store or batch mode with care.

Diagnostic checklist (quick)

• Confirm key presence: gpg –list-keys / gpg –list-secret-keys
• Verify fingerprints: gpg –fingerprint
• Check key status (expired/revoked): gpg –check-sigs
• Test encrypt/decrypt locally with sample files
• Inspect logs/verbosity: add -v or –debug flags

When to escalate

• Corrupted key material or lost secret keys (use backups/revocation)
• Suspected key compromise (revoke and rotate keys)
• Interop bugs with specific client libraries (open an issue with vendor, include debug outputs and packet dumps)

If you want, I can produce specific command examples for your environment (GnuPG, Bouncy Castle, or OpenPGP.js).