1780089 - Unable to send messages in encrypted rooms

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Chat Core :: Matrix, defect)

Description

[thivmcthiv]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:102.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/102.0

Steps to reproduce:

Send any message to an encrypted room.

Actual results:

the message fails to send, saying this in chat:
An error occurred while sending your message "xxxx".

and in the logs it says this:

Failed to send message to !xxxxx:matrix.org: This room contains unknown devices which have not been verified. We strongly recommend you verify them before continuing.
[7/18/22, 1:25:49 PM MDT] LOG (@ prpl-matrix: addEvent resource:///modules/matrix.jsm:897)

Expected results:

able to send messages to an encrypted room.

Comment 1

[Martin Giger [:freaktechnik]]

Some details from a conversation on Matrix with the reporter:

The e2ee settings say everything but the key backup is ok, and all sessions show as verified. Further this happens for all rooms and retrying to send the message does not work.

In theory we have the Matrix SDK set to always send messages in encrypted rooms when possible, but this seems like we're hitting some condition where the crypto part still doesn't like the smell of things. I wonder if this can only happen on beta (which is what this report is for) or also on release. Because we've updated the SDK a couple times on c-c, whereas release is on an older version of the SDK.

Comment 2

[Martin Giger [:freaktechnik]]

Attachment: Bug 1780089 - Always trust unknown Matrix devices. r=#thunderbird-reviewers

Comment 3

[Martin Giger [:freaktechnik]]

If you're encountering this in the wild, a workaround is to re-connect the Matrix account. This will in most cases properly run the initialization code which will allow you to send encrypted messages as expected.

Comment 4

[eganonoa]

I can confirm that this bug exists also in TB 102. Re-connecting the Matrix account does not appear to be a permanent solution for me (have tried in Windows 10, Fedora 35 Silverblue, Pop OS 22.04 and Debian 11). It seems to work but only that one time and then once Thunderbird is closed and re-opened the problem comes back. The change that you have proposed above (changing "then" to "finally" in the matrix.jsm file) permanently fixes this issue, however.

Comment 5

[Pulsebot]

Pushed by [e-mail]:
https://hg.mozilla.org/comm-central/rev/97cc6e678974
Always trust unknown Matrix devices. r=mkmelin

Comment 6

[Martin Giger [:freaktechnik]]

Comment on attachment 9288800 [details]
Bug 1780089 - Always trust unknown Matrix devices. r=#thunderbird-reviewers

[Approval Request Comment]
Regression caused by (bug #):
User impact if declined: Matrix encryption will sometimes error (without any path for the user to fix it, apart from trying to reconnect the account and hoping it works that time)
Testing completed (on c-c, etc.): Tested on c-c, positive feedback from users in bug
Risk to taking this patch (and alternatives if risky): Very low

Comment 7

[Rob Lemley [:rjl]]

Comment on attachment 9288800 [details]
Bug 1780089 - Always trust unknown Matrix devices. r=#thunderbird-reviewers

[Triage Comment]
Approved for beta.

Comment 8

[Rob Lemley [:rjl]]

Thunderbird 104.0b4:
https://hg.mozilla.org/releases/comm-beta/rev/860c8a87d7a9

Comment 9

[Martin Giger [:freaktechnik]]

Comment on attachment 9288800 [details]
Bug 1780089 - Always trust unknown Matrix devices. r=#thunderbird-reviewers

[Approval Request Comment]
Regression caused by (bug #):
User impact if declined: Can sometimes not send messages in encrypted Matrix chats
Testing completed (on c-c, etc.): Tested on c-c, reports from community that it works in bug.
Risk to taking this patch (and alternatives if risky): Low, only makes sure we set a setting in the Matrix SDK in all circumstances.

Comment 10

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

Comment on attachment 9288800 [details]
Bug 1780089 - Always trust unknown Matrix devices. r=#thunderbird-reviewers

[Triage Comment]
Approved for esr102

Comment 11

[Rob Lemley [:rjl]]

Thunderbird 102.2.1:
https://hg.mozilla.org/releases/comm-esr102/rev/303a0e02085d