Passkey in server-unavailable environment gives authentication error on GitHub

[holow29]

Steps To Reproduce

1. Have an existing passkey for Github that is created and synced to your vault
2. Create an environment where the vault cannot sync (offline, not on local BW server network, etc.)
3. Try to login to GitHub using passkey

Expected Result

Login succeeds with successful passkey authentication

Actual Result

Gets to vault unlock screen and both FaceID/mp succeed but window stays open/nothing happens. Then GitHub throws an “Authentication error”

Screenshots or Videos

No response

Additional Context

Passkey works once vault is synced again online and shortly after even if it loses connectivity to the vault server again. However after a while, the passkey will stop working again. I’m guessing this applies to more than just GitHub, but I have reproduced multiple times on GitHub.

Build Version

1680

What server are you connecting to?

Self-host

Self-host Server Version

2024.11.0

Environment Details

iPhone 14 Pro
iOS 18.1.1

Issue Tracking Info

• I understand that work is tracked outside of Github. A PR will be linked to this issue should one be opened to address it, but Bitwarden doesn't use fields like "assigned", "milestone", or "project" to track progress.

[SergeantConfused]

Hello @holow29,

Thank you for this report. I have highlighted this matter internally; please feel free to post additional information, such as screenshots or a screen video recordings, if you wish.

Thank you again,

[holow29]

Updated issue with some additional info. Here is the flow:

• iOS "Sign in with your passkey?" pane comes up.
• Click "Continue" because BW passkey is selected in that pane.
• Vault login screen loads.
• FaceID/MP entry appear successful, but the vault login stays up/nothing ever happens.

[abergs]

Hey @holow29 - we're looking into improving this situation. Noting for the record that our current/original behaviour comes from the fact that we had early support for fido2 credentials with counters which required syncing them to keep the counter correct.

New passkeys (created in 2025) do not use the counter feature in order to enable "offline" use. This is already deployed in the extension with mobile support planned.

This feature may require you to re-create your existing passkey to reset the counter.