ericnepean

Q: Keychain Corrupts Items on Copy

I've just purchased a new iMac 17,1 and updated to OSX 10.10.4, El Capitan

 

I was manually migrating my stuff over fram a much older iMac when I ran into this problem, struggled with it for a few hours with the help of a Apple rep and got nowhere, but I think I finally have it nailed down and identified.

 

Create two fresh keychains, test1 and test2.

 

In  keychain test1, create a secure note, SN11, and a Password, PW11. Open each item and enter the  keychain password to always allow access.

 

Now drag SC11 to keychain test2. In test2, there is now an application password titled <unknown>. SC11 has vanished from test1, of course. The content of the new password is <?xml version="1.0" encoding ="UTF-8"?> (your data has vanished)

Now drag PW11 to keychain test2. You get a message that the move is not possible because there is already an item with that name in test2.

 

Now delete both keychains, generate new ones and set up the experiment again.

 

Now drag PW11 to test 2. In test2 there is now an application password titled <unknown>. PW11 has vanished from test1, of course. The new <unknown> password has the same password as PW11, but the other info is spare electrons.

Now drag SC11 to keychain test2. You get a message that the move is not possible because there is already an item with that name in test2. Delete the <unknown> password, and you can now "move" SC11.

 

It works the same for a Copy/Paste procedure.

 

I just love testing Apple's beta SW in my spare time

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015), OS X El Capitan (10.11.4), 16GB, 1TB Fusion

Posted on May 10, 2016 5:57 PM

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Q: Keychain Corrupts Items on Copy

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  • by ericnepean,

    ericnepean ericnepean May 23, 2016 6:35 PM in response to ericnepean
    Level 1 (73 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 23, 2016 6:35 PM in response to ericnepean

    I phoned Apple support, and the problem got escalated two levels. A bug report has been filed and in a month or so the problem may be fixed.

     

    There is no work around for secure notes and application passwords. You can't export them, and you can't copy, and you can't move them.

     

    Certificates and keys can exported and imported. I don't know about copy and move.

  • by Red Claw the Phoenix Dragon,

    Red Claw the Phoenix Dragon Red Claw the Phoenix Dragon Jul 20, 2016 4:32 AM in response to ericnepean
    Level 2 (164 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 20, 2016 4:32 AM in response to ericnepean

    This is still ongoing. Any word on a fix? I have attempted on two different iMacs. An iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) and an iMac Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015). Both running OS X 10.11.6.

     

    I'm trying to get Apple Remote Desktop setup so anyone who logs into the computer can use it. Before I would move the Remote Desktop application password in Keychain to the System keychain. This would allow the instructor to use Remote Desktop without having to enter a password each time they launch it. Now I can't do that.

  • by malcolmavery,

    malcolmavery malcolmavery Sep 17, 2016 3:47 PM in response to Red Claw the Phoenix Dragon
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Sep 17, 2016 3:47 PM in response to Red Claw the Phoenix Dragon

    Now nearly 4 months later and no fix. I experienced this problem today on a brand-new iMac Retina 5K. Very frustrating.

  • by ericnepean,

    ericnepean ericnepean Sep 17, 2016 8:14 PM in response to malcolmavery
    Level 1 (73 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 17, 2016 8:14 PM in response to malcolmavery

    I don't think we will see a fix in 10.11. I reported the bug shortly before 10.11.6 was released; not enough time to make a fix and test it for 10.11.6.  With 10.12 coming out soon, I think there will be no 10.11.7.

     

    The best one can hope for is that the bug report was propagated to 10.12 - and that the development team acted on it.

     

    it would help if you filed a bug report with Apple. No customer complaints=low priority

  • by tygb ,

    tygb Sep 17, 2016 10:34 PM in response to ericnepean
    Level 2 (398 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 17, 2016 10:34 PM in response to ericnepean

    Hello !

                i created two admin accounts A and B using same iCloud id and i cloud verification code , then i will be able to transfer passwords in key chains .( From A to B and vice versa ) .

    If , a new secure note is created in both accounts , using same iCloud id & verification , then it is not possible to transfer notes app .

     

    Secondly , if i create two admin accounts A & B on same computer  and create different i cloud ids  for both accounts , then it is not possible to transfer passwords .

     

    Thanks