The fact that services can ban passkey providers is a major red flag in the protocol and the real issue that nobody talks about

well, people are talking about it but it's not making a difference https://lucumr.pocoo.org/2025/9/2/passkeys/

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duskdozer 2 days ago | parent [-]

This is why I am so concerned about passkeys. They could be a good improvement, but in practice I already see how it's going to result in Google/Apple/Microsoft/whoever seizing even more control.

The document there is laughable too, because KeepassXC is listed as "not performing User Verification" when it demands manual authorization per request. But this isn't good enough for the passkey people. Ultimately, I see any FOSS option being effectively banned from most services and all important ones. It's a parallel to how you must now be on Cloudflare's nice list or be banned from the majority of the internet.

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corndoge 2 days ago | parent [-]

Yeah they're really trying to solve problems that should be solved at a technical level with soft solutions in porcelain. See also this issue asking keepassxc to disable plaintext exports, which is completely technically feasible

https://github.com/keepassxreboot/keepassxc/issues/10407

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mlfreeman 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

The author of this ticket seems to come across as an arrogant know-it-all that thinks "the threats i thought of (or personally face) are the only threats that are significant, fuck anyone in a different situation."

I proudly print my entire KDBX file including passkey private keys and I encourage my elderly parents to do so too.

Lightning strikes (and assisting people with cleanup and repair from them) have taught me that there are definitely a class of threats that will leave me with paper but possibly no technology until I can go buy a cheap laptop to restart my digital life, SO BEING ABLE TO BACK EVERYTHING UP IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL.

His website says he's in Boston, so I seriously doubt he's ever seen what lightning can do or dealt with a hurricane or tornado.

In general, if you're in the FIDO Alliance and had anything to do with the kind of micromanagement that passkeys can allow, FUCK YOU. Go get a job at Walmart as a greeter. We'll all be better off.

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duskdozer 2 days ago | parent [-]

>I proudly print my entire KDBX file including passkey private keys and I encourage my elderly parents to do so too.

Do you mean you print the raw values to paper or some encoding that would let you reconstitute the file (some giant QR code or something?)?

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mlfreeman a day ago | parent [-]

I print a nice HTML document - each entry has each field/value in a HTML table and each group gets its own header.

On macOS I use Strongbox's Print Database capability. On Windows, I'm testing a KeePass plugin I created that does the same thing and more (not quite ready for public release).

If I'm still around and coherent, I can re-type it into a KDBX-supporting app by hand (or maybe if I'm lucky only enough entries to get to a backup in cloud storage).

If the worst happens and I'm no longer capable of using a computer, it's an obviously-important document for whoever is cleaning up after me (I bet most people would understand the importance of a document with a bunch of usernames and passwords). They won't have to somehow break into my computer first to be able to figure out what online/digital matters of mine need to be dealt with.

EDIT: My current printout is 46 pages long.

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duskdozer a day ago | parent [-]

>EDIT: My current printout is 46 pages long.

Wow. Roughly how many entries do you have and how do you handle updates? I'm often being asked to change passwords and of course create new login entries.

	▲	mlfreeman a day ago \| parent [-]
		57 groups, 307 entries. I try to reprint whenever I get an oil change (so a few times a year). I don't reprint for every password change. I will for major accounts. I will also immediately print for certain new accounts but not all (e.g. I didn't reprint for my HN account). The Strongbox printout has the last printed date on it and my KeePass plugin even includes the SHA256 of the KDBX file just to be sure.

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duskdozer 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

See this comment as well:

>I've already heard rumblings that KeepassXC is likely to be featured in a few industry presentations that highlight security challenges with passkey providers, the need for functional and security certification, and the lack of identifying passkey provider attestation (which would allow RPs to block you, and something that I have previously rallied against but rethinking as of late because of these situations).

https://github.com/keepassxreboot/keepassxc/issues/10407#iss...

They 100% will lock it down to "secure" options you cannot control. I suppose if there's any hope, it would maybe be the official keepass submitting to their demands, while keeping them easy to bypass with a recompile.

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OkayPhysicist 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

That issue was exactly why I took up my "Never use, under any circumstances" stance on passkeys. It is an indictment of the entire passkey project. I now routinely tell the less technical folks in my life, when asked about those weird passkey options, that they are the mark of the beast, and should be avoided at all costs.