typing password in terminal without * (asterisks) / password feedback / pwfeedback by default

Support
1

Hello,
I’m seeing that Whonix Workstation XFCE and Whonix Gateway CLI (and I guess also Whonix Workstation CLI and Whonix Gateway XFCE), unlike other Linux distro as Debian, during the typing of the password, they show asterisks * (in the following image, the scenario on Whonix Workstation XFCE):

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image820×509 61.6 KB

While, for example, in Debian we have no asterisks:

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image796×247 13.9 KB

For security reason, in the next releases is it possible to have, also for Whonix Workstation, by default, the insertion of password without asterisks?

Thank you in advance.

2

Since upgrading to Whonix 12, when entering my password in Konsole it shows asterisks instead of remaining blank. Whereas before it would look like this:

Enter password:_

Now it looks like this:

Enter password: ********************

This happens in both the Gateway and Workstation. Anyone else experiencing this? How can I fix it?

3

This is expected. password feedback is usability feature, because a lot users were confused by the “nothing happens as I type” “issue” and then just leave the default password.

If you want to get rid of it, delete this file.

sudo rm /etc/sudoers.d/pwfeedback

( usability-misc/pwfeedback at master · Kicksecure/usability-misc · GitHub )

1 Like
4

Thanks, Patrick!