Tested a yubikey on my main pc and it nearly locked me out

I got a YubiKey last week after reading about phishing resistance, and I tried it on my Windows login without setting up a backup key first. The thing worked fine for the first few logins, then the USB port glitched and it stopped being recognized for like 20 minutes. I panicked because my recovery codes were in a password manager that required that same key to open. Finally got in after unplugging every other USB device, but it taught me to always keep a spare key or a printed backup code before rolling something new out. Has anyone else had a flaky USB port ruin their two-factor flow, or am I just unlucky with cheap ports?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_thea1mo ago

Twenty minutes of your whole system being locked out because of one USB port is exactly the kind of nightmare that makes me paranoid about single points of failure. I've had a port die mid-session before, but never with my only recovery method behind that same key, so I can't imagine the panic. Good lesson though, I now keep a printed backup code in my wallet before I even think about enrolling a new key.

the_linda1mo ago

Honestly twenty minutes locked out sounds more annoying than terrifying, just reboot and move on.