Duplicate iMessage Encryption/Signing Keys in Keychain

Thanks for replying, was thinking I was the only one with this behaviour, have submitted awhile back to Apple via Bug Report so might get sorted.

From what I have discovered, if you delete all, then the next time you restart or login 8 keys are generated (2 of each), leave them alone and do the same results in 4 more added and so on - if you are in the habit of restarts or logins that can soon mount up.

If all keys are deleted iMessages still appears to work ok but that might be down to the fact that they are used when logging in, so while the Mac is running they might not be required (not sure about that though).

What I have discovered is deleting all but the last ones created (the bottom ones of each type are the new if you have Keychains "Name" column set to "^") although only adds 4 more on restart it causes issues with iMessage and FaceTime - 1st iMessage text appears to fail, others thereafter ok and you can not receive calls unless you first open and close the FaceTime app. Both of these can be avoided by deleting all but the first ones created (the upper most ones of each type), then on restart 4 more are added but iMessages and FaceTime appear to work from login as normal. Not sure if this proves that although new ones are being created the old are still the ones being used!

Anyhow, I try not to restart my iMac too many times and if I do I will periodically go into Keychains and delete all but the first ones created - maybe it's linked to the lack of password field box issue when you run Keychain First Aid, who knows, but both are reported to Apple. Wouldn't go a miss if you all do the same so Apple appreciate it might not be an isolated issue - think more might have this problem than we think if they look inside keychains.

Do not believe its intended behaviour, would think if new keys are generated for any reason the old would be automatically removed - and I noticed this change when I upgraded from Yosemite to El Capitan so don't think it's the point updates. I have submitted additional info when asked by Apple Bug Reporting so they must consider this is worth investigating.

Unfortunately not, sent update to Apple via Bug Reporter on the 18th that I still experience the issue under 10.11.2 but thats it. Take it you understood my post of the 1st in that deleting all but the very first ones created (top most if you have Name column selected with ^ on its right side) retains iMessage/FaceTime correct behaviour if you reboot/login again - but you still get an extra 4 keys added each time.

If you do the above periodically, say after several reboots/logins you will at least prevent the duplicate keys getting out of hand and "swamping" Keychains - I've just added it to my list of things to do in periodic general maintenance!

Yes, should have differentiated between sent and received - when I said iMessages appeared not to work I meant for incoming texts until you had initiated the first by sending or by logging out/in of your iMessage account.

The main issue for me was FaceTime which would not receive a call after deleting all the key followed by a reboot until it was opened first, then it continued to function normally until the next reboot which again required it to be opened or it failed to get any calls (even if no more keys had been removed).

Deleting only the newly generated keys and leaving the very first ones in place following the successful working of both iMessages and FaceTime kept everything running as normal no matter how many reboots although you still get the 4 extra keys each time.

As to why it's not being commented about more frequently - can only assume it's due to the fact not many use Keychains on a everyday basis and therefore are not aware of the issue - or it's simply not happening to that many and we might be the unlucky ones, time might tell.

From the behaviour on my system I can only conclude it appears that new keys are not actually required through reboots/logins but for some reason the system still thinks they are, probably because it might not realise they already exist - this differed from my original thought in that it was a simple matter of the old keys not being removed (tidied up) following generation of the new - but then why do we need new if the old ones still work as proven by the fact that they are the important ones to leave alone and not remove to ensure everything functions as expected!

Still not resolved for me either but I'm only on 10.11.3 so if you are reporting no joy with beta .4 looks like we could be in this for the long haul. I continue to delete manually all but the first generated of each type (ie leave oldest in place) every now and then to avoid Keychain being swamped.