Random sign out from sync chain and from most of online accounts on browser start

fossuser08923 · March 25, 2025, 6:31pm

Description of the issue:
During some startups Brave fails to initialize the sync chain. Instead, it leaves the sync chain and I have to sign in back. In addition, I get logged out of most online services (Google, Linkedin, etc). Surprisingly, there are few services where my online session persists (Bluesky and Tutamail) - probably, they use some different session storage. This occurs quite rarely, like once per few weeks. However, today it occurred twice.

The system journal has this record at the time of issue:

märts 25 19:42:50 desktop gnome-keyring-daemon[2152]: asked to register item /org/freedesktop/secrets/collection/login/1, but it's already registered
märts 25 19:42:50 desktop gnome-keyring-daemon[2152]: asked to register item /org/freedesktop/secrets/collection/login/2, but it's already registered
märts 25 19:42:50 desktop brave-browser.desktop[15306]: [15307:15307:0325/194250.729773:ERROR:brave_sync_prefs.cc(143)] Decrypt sync seed failure

which probably occurs here:

github.com/brave/brave-core

components/brave_sync/brave_sync_prefs.cc

master


      
            }
          
            std::string encrypted_seed;
            if (!base::Base64Decode(encoded_seed, &encrypted_seed)) {
              LOG(ERROR) << "base64 decode sync seed failure";
              return std::string();
            }
          
            std::string seed;
            if (!OSCrypt::DecryptString(encrypted_seed, &seed)) {
              LOG(ERROR) << "Decrypt sync seed failure";
              return std::string();
            }
          
            *failed_to_decrypt = false;
            return seed;
          }
          
          bool Prefs::SetSeed(const std::string& seed) {
            DCHECK(!seed.empty());
            std::string encrypted_seed;

I would be happy to provide more information if you share any ideas how can I debug it!

Any ideas if state of the browser can be restored somehow? Looks like it fails to decrypt the keychain, but I guess it still has the profile data on the filesystem. Is it possible e.g. to copy some profile files to restore the session data + keychain in such cases? I failed to find the place where Brave stores the session data, unfortunately.

Steps to Reproduce (add as many as necessary): 1. 2. 3.

Open Brave
Navigate to any web service where user was previously signed in - services typically show the login page

As mentioned before, this issue occurs randomly

Reproduces how often:

Brave Version(See the About Brave page in the main menu):
1.76.81

Type of devices currently running on the Sync chain in question:
Desktop PC (Fedora Linux)
Laptop (Fedora Linux)
iPad
iPhone 15

Additional Information:
OS: Fedora Linux

Saoiray · March 26, 2025, 12:31am

@fossuser08923 I just want to confirm since you’re listing multiple devices, does this happen to all devices or only on one?

I’m wanting to assume this is just on your Linux. If so, I am wondering if it might be related to your keychain. In particular, if it’s not being unlocked before Brave.

You can reference https://support.brave.com/hc/en-us/articles/29808985123085-Sensitive-data-storage more for the concept.

NOTE

I didn’t check your Github link. I’m not a developer or Support from Brave. Definitely very limited on what I know and can do. Just was sharing that first bit even though it may be common sense for you.

If you do have Brave listed for the keychain and it’s running before Brave, then we’ll tag in some from Brave. Also if you’re experiencing the issue of being signed out of sync or websites on any of the other devices, it would be good to know as that shouldn’t be happening either.

Hikane · March 26, 2025, 12:41am

You might try the following to help resolve it:

1. Make sure GNOME Keyring is unlocked before launching Brave:
Sometimes if the keyring isn’t unlocked automatically at login, Brave can’t retrieve the credentials it needs to decrypt the sync seed. You can use the “Passwords and Keys” app (called seahorse) to check your keyring settings. Try setting it to unlock automatically when you log in.

2. Check for duplicate or conflicting entries in the keyring:
Open seahorse and look for any duplicate entries related to Brave. If you see multiple items that seem related to sync or Brave credentials, it might help to delete them and then restart Brave so it can create a clean entry.

fossuser08923 · March 26, 2025, 6:47pm

Sorry, I missed this part in the “description” section: yes, it happens in Linux (Fedora) only. I also have Windows installation with Brave, but i had never experienced this problem in Windows, so it seems to be Linux-only issue.

Thanks for link; although my case seems to be something different, but it gives some insights about how keychain (OSCrypt<-> Libsecret) works in Brave for Linux. It might help to troubleshoot the issue.

fossuser08923 · March 26, 2025, 7:04pm

This seahorse tool looks useful, thanks for hint!

From what I see in seahorse, the keyring is unlocked. I can lock it explicitly via seahorse, and the next time I run Brave, browser asks the user’s password to unlock it. Looks like Brave has no problem with handling the locked keyring.

Regarding suspicious records in Keychain - there are multiple records; seems that every Chromium-based browser creates them. So I have items like “Brave Safe Storage”, “Chrome Safe Storage Control” and “Chromium Safe Storage”.

The “Chrome Safe Storage Control” is interesting one. It has a description:

Because of quirks in the gnome libsecret API, Chrome needs to store a dummy entry to guarantee that this keyring was properly unlocked. More details at http://crbug.com/660005.

I’m not sure which browser created this record - Brave, Vivaldi (I have it too) or Chrome (I uninstalled it), but it looks related to the problem with keyring. The discussion by the links suggests that:

Under certain conditions, gnome libsecret methods that perform a lookup
in keyring may ignore a locked keyring and return empty results, instead
of unlocking said keyring

and it looks like a legit cause I think. Libsecret returns an empty value → Brave cannot use it to decrypt the synced data. I wonder if creation a similar record like “Brave Safe Storage Control” could fix this…

Saoiray · March 26, 2025, 7:17pm

@fossuser08923 interesting and definitely beyond my realm of knowledge. In terms of you being signed out of accounts, I’m wondering if it’s tied with https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues/44789#issuecomment-2755396387 where they finally were able to replicate the issue of people being logged out when closing the browser. Much as indicated earlier, they are seeing a potential issue with OCScrypt.

I’m not sure if that also would do anything with Sync. Let me tag in @Mattches as he’ll have a lot more insight on everything.

fossuser08923 · March 26, 2025, 8:20pm

Looks like there was some fix applied just a hour ago:

github.com/brave/brave-browser

Users being logged out of sites (namely sites using Google account) when closing the browser

opened 07:03PM - 19 Mar 25 UTC

Brave-Matt

bug OS/Linux OS/macOS OS/Windows priority/P2 webcompat/not-shields-related OS/Desktop

### Description Starting ~3mo ago or so, several users have reported that they …are being logged out of websites when they close/relaunch the browser. Most of these users have confirmed that they do not have the `Forget me when I close this site` Shields protection enabled, nor do they have data set to be clear "on exit". While it _might_ be related to extensions and/or individual profile setups, it seems unlikely that all of the users reporting this have the same extensions and/or setups, or if they do have similar setups, the common thread is likely a setting in Brave itself, pointing to it potentially being a bug/issue in the browser. Some users have reported that the following ["solution"/"workaround" resolves the issue](https://community.brave.com/t/brave-keeps-logging-me-out-of-google/599655/5?u=mattches), but users should not have to take these steps to simply stay logged into websites when they close/relaunch the browser: > 1. In a Brave Browser New Window go to `brave://settings/content/javascript` > 2. Scroll down that javascript settings page to Allowed to use javascript > 3. Click the `Add` button > 4. Enter `[*.]google.com` as the site . . . but do not enable `Current Private session only` > 5. Click the `Add` button > 6. Repeat those steps for: > ``` > [*.]firebaseapp.com > [*.]gmail.com > [*.]googleapis.com > [*.]googleusercontent.com > [*.]gstatic.com > [*.]youtube.com > ``` Users have reported this issue occurring on Windows, macOS and Linux systems. Most of these reports are specific to sites that use Google accounts/auth logins, but some users report this occurring for other sites as well. ### Steps to reproduce N/A ### Actual result Users keep getting logged out of sites when closing/relaunching the browser ### Expected result Users should stay logged into sites after closing/relaunching the browser unless they have `Clear data on exit` or `Forget me when I close this site` options enabled. ### Reproduces how often Easily reproduced ### Brave version (brave://version info) v1.76.74 -- but issue has been occurring for several months now. ### Channel information - [x] release (stable) - [ ] beta - [ ] nightly ### Reproducibility - [x] with Brave Shields disabled - [ ] with Brave Rewards disabled - [ ] in the latest version of Chrome ### Miscellaneous information User reports: - [I get logged out of google after closing brave](https://community.brave.com/t/i-get-logged-out-of-google-after-closing-brave/605145/11) - [Brave keeps logging me out of google](https://community.brave.com/t/brave-keeps-logging-me-out-of-google/599655/) - [Brave disconnecting from websites](https://community.brave.com/t/brave-disconnecting-from-websites/603631) - [Persistent Auto-Logout Issue in Brave – Help Needed!](https://community.brave.com/t/persistent-auto-logout-issue-in-brave-help-needed/605435) - [Brave Keeps Logging Me out of All Accounts 2 to 3 times a week](https://community.brave.com/t/brave-keeps-logging-me-out-of-all-accounts-2-to-3-times-a-week/598686) - [Im getting logged out of Google Services](https://community.brave.com/t/im-getting-logged-out-of-google-services/583885) - https://www.reddit.com/r/brave_browser/comments/1jazy1f/brave_logging_me_out_problem/ - https://www.reddit.com/r/brave_browser/comments/1ihsgzn/why_does_brave_all_of_a_sudden_keep_logging_me/ - https://www.reddit.com/r/brave_browser/comments/1di35hl/constantly_being_logged_out_of_gmail_and_youtube/ - https://www.reddit.com/r/brave_browser/comments/1jbydlc/spotify_web_player_just_wont_keep_me_logged_in/ - https://www.reddit.com/r/brave_browser/comments/1ja4yye/new_to_the_brave_browser/ - https://www.reddit.com/r/brave_browser/comments/1idn0xm/why_every_site_logged_out_all_of_a_sudden/ - https://www.reddit.com/r/brave_browser/comments/1i9uahr/google_keeps_logging_me_out_when_i_close_and/ - https://www.reddit.com/r/brave_browser/comments/1hl929b/brave_logs_me_out_regardless_of_settings_at_random/ Will continue to add them here as I see them. Shout out to @saoiray for aggregating all these recent threads. cc @ryanbr @rebron @ShivanKaul

Hopefully, this issue will be resolved on the next release.

Meanwhile, I accidentally reproduced the same with Vivaldi browser - I was checking some keychain parameters from my previous post (Random sign out from sync chain and from most of online accounts on browser start - #5 by fossuser08923) and accidentally deleted some items needed by that browser. Result was the same - my Vivaldi profile was kicked from sync chain and all online sessions were terminated too. Looks pretty much close to what I had with Brave. Seems that system keychain affects both synchronization and online sessions

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Random sign out from sync chain and from most of online accounts on browser start

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