Veracrypt 1.26.7 has a bug

[Vencent Valerian]

OS version: Microsoft Windows 11 64bit English (build: 22621.2428)
Veracrypt version: 1.26.7

When I tried to auto-mount an external HDD drive, the following error message appeared:

Auto-mount failed due to one or more of the following:
- Incorrect password.
- Incorrect Volume PIM number.
- Incorrect PRF (hash).
- Not a valid volume.

I have no problems with auto-mounting external SSD drives using Veracrypt 1.26.7

Below are the steps I took to verify that Veracrypt 1.26.7 has a bug:

1. I uninstalled Veracrypt 1.26.7 and rebooted my computer
2. I re-installed the previous version 1.25.9 and rebooted my device
3. I had no problems with auto-mounting the external HDD drive AND the external SSD drive

Summary: Until the bug in 1.26.7 is resolved, I will use the previous version 1.25.9

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[Enigma2Illusion]

See this thread for identifying the problem and the solutions.

https://sourceforge.net/p/veracrypt/discussion/general/thread/3576d1df40/

[Mounir IDRASSI]

@zokoznyj: The fact that this issue affects only HDD drives and not SSD drives might be related to the problem highlighted by @enigma2illusion. If the HDDs were encrypted a long time ago using deprecated algorithms, support for which was removed in version 1.26.7, this could be the reason. On the other hand, SSD drives, being newer, were likely encrypted using more recent algorithms.

The shared link describes how to determine if your HDD is affected and provides a solution to the issue.

[Vencent Valerian]

@enigma2illusion

See this thread for identifying the problem and the solutions.

@idrassi

If the HDDs were encrypted a long time ago using deprecated algorithms, support for which was removed in version 1.26.7, this could be the reason.

Thanks to both of you who replied very promptly to my request for help.

Yes, I found out that the error message was the result of me using a deprecated hash algorithm, more specifically my HDD used HMAC-Ripend-160 algorithm.

The URL provided by @enigma2illusion directed me to the relevant page and the explanation contains therein is detailed and informative.

Summary:

I am able to auto-mount my HDD using Veracrypt 1.26.7 without problems.

Suggestion:

Would it be possible for the developers to include, in the next stable release, a feature to precisely state what the error is when auto-mounting volumes, HDD and SSD?

For example, instead of just stating

Auto-mount failed due to one or more of the following:
- Incorrect password.
- Incorrect Volume PIM number.
- Incorrect PRF (hash).
- Not a valid volume.

The error message can be specific by stating:

Deprecated hash algorithm detected. Please change it to one of the supported hash algorithms.

[Enigma2Illusion]

The short answer is no.

VeraCrypt does not know the correct password. keyfiles (if used), custom PIM (if used), hash algorithm and encryption algorithm when mounting a volume.

You can read how VeraCrypt unlocks the header key to retrieve the encryption key for mounting the volume at the link below.

https://www.veracrypt.fr/en/Header%20Key%20Derivation.html

[Vencent Valerian]

@enigma2illusion

VeraCrypt does not know the correct password. keyfiles (if used), custom PIM (if used), hash algorithm and encryption algorithm when mounting a volume.

You can read how VeraCrypt unlocks the header key to retrieve the encryption key for mounting the volume

Thanks for your answer.