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LFCS · Question #280

When using ssh, which of the following can an administrator do to recover a lost passphrase for a DSA or RSA authentication key?

The correct answer is C. A lost passphrase cannot be recovered. A lost passphrase for an SSH authentication key cannot be recovered due to the strong cryptographic design of key protection.

Submitted by layla.eg· Apr 18, 2026User and Group Management

Question

When using ssh, which of the following can an administrator do to recover a lost passphrase for a DSA or RSA authentication key?

Options

  • ARun the ssh-keygen command.
  • BRun the ssh --recover command.
  • CA lost passphrase cannot be recovered.
  • DDecrypt the authentication key with gpg.
  • EDecrypt the authentication key with ssh --decrypt.

How the community answered

(24 responses)
  • A
    4% (1)
  • C
    92% (22)
  • D
    4% (1)

Why each option

A lost passphrase for an SSH authentication key cannot be recovered due to the strong cryptographic design of key protection.

ARun the ssh-keygen command.

The `ssh-keygen` command can change an existing passphrase (if the old one is known) or generate a new key pair, but it cannot recover a lost passphrase.

BRun the ssh --recover command.

There is no standard `ssh --recover` command available for passphrase recovery.

CA lost passphrase cannot be recovered.Correct

SSH key passphrases are used to encrypt the private key, making it unreadable without the passphrase. This is a one-way cryptographic process; if the passphrase is lost, the private key becomes permanently unusable, and there is no method to recover the original passphrase or decrypt the key.

DDecrypt the authentication key with gpg.

GnuPG (gpg) is a different encryption system for PGP-compatible keys and files, not designed for decrypting SSH private keys.

EDecrypt the authentication key with ssh --decrypt.

There is no `ssh --decrypt` command; SSH client tools do not offer a facility to decrypt private keys without their passphrase.

Concept tested: SSH key passphrase security

Source: https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/ssh-keygen.1.html

Topics

#SSH#Key Management#Passphrase Security#User Authentication

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