bug#54096: 27.2; Error retrieving package descriptions when TLS 1.3 is used (macOS)

bug#54096: 27.2; Error retrieving package descriptions when TLS 1.3 is used (macOS)

[Sebastian Boehm]

After upgrading Emacs from 27.1 to 27.2 on my macOS system, I've run into a problem with refreshing my package descriptions when TLS 1.3 is enabled.

When I try to upgrade my package descriptions from the package list, the following error message appears in the minibuffer:

error in process sentinel: Error retrieving: https://elpa.gnu.org/packages/archive-contents (error connection-failed "connect" :host "elpa.gnu.org" :service 443)

The problem goes away if I disable TLS 1.3 by setting gnutls-algorithm-priority:

(setq gnutls-algorithm-priority "NORMAL:-VERS-TLS1.3")

Could this be related to #34341? While #34341 was fixed in Emacs 26.3, the symptoms and workaround are the same.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Add a second archive to the package archive list, display package list, refresh packages.

(setq package-archives
      '(("gnu"   . "https://elpa.gnu.org/packages/")
        ("melpa" . "https://melpa.org/packages/")))
(list-packages)
(package-refresh-contents)

2. Wait for a couple of seconds for the error message to appear.

Additional information:

- I cannot reproduce the problem reliably without following all of the steps above.
- I am using packages downloaded from emacsformacosx.com. The problem can be reproduced by installing Emacs via Homebrew as well via "brew install homebrew/cask/emacs".
- I am not experiencing any intermittent network failures.
- I can reproduce the problem as a different user with an empty .emacs.d and with "emacs -Q".
- The package lists are displayed correctly when using ewww to visit the pages mentioned above.
- Only Emacs 27.2 seems to be affected. I cannot reproduce the problem with Emacs 26.3, Emacs 27.1 or Emacs 28.0.90.
- Affected version: GNU Emacs 27.2 (build 1, x86_64-apple-darwin18.7.0, NS appkit-1671.60 Version 10.14.6 (Build 18G95))
- macOS version: 12.2.1
- Other people seem to be affected by the same issue as well: https://clojurians-log.clojureverse.org/emacs/2021-09-03

If I enable toggle-debug-on-error, I get the backtrace below:

Debugger entered--Lisp error: (error "Error retrieving: https://elpa.gnu.org/packages/archive-contents (error connection-failed \"connect\" :host \"elpa.gnu.org\" :service 443)")
  signal(error ("Error retrieving: https://elpa.gnu.org/packages/archive-contents (error connection-failed \"connect\" :host \"elpa.gnu.org\" :service 443)"))
  #f(compiled-function (status) #<bytecode 0x1ff8e7c2ba21>)((:error (error connection-failed "connect" :host "elpa.gnu.org" :service 443)))
  apply(#f(compiled-function (status) #<bytecode 0x1ff8e7c2ba21>) (:error (error connection-failed "connect" :host "elpa.gnu.org" :service 443)))
  url-http-activate-callback()
  url-http-async-sentinel(#<process elpa.gnu.org> "connect")

As far as I can tell, the debug messages emitted by GnuTLS when gnutls-log-level is set to 1 or 2 are unremarkable, but if there's anything specific that I should look out for, just let me know.

Is there anything I can do to help debug this issue?

Best,
Sebastian

bug#54096: 27.2; Error retrieving package descriptions when TLS 1.3 is used (macOS)

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Sebastian Boehm <sebastian@sometimesfood.org> writes:

> - I am using packages downloaded from emacsformacosx.com. The problem can be reproduced by installing Emacs via Homebrew as well via "brew install homebrew/cask/emacs".

[...]

> - Only Emacs 27.2 seems to be affected. I cannot reproduce the problem with Emacs 26.3, Emacs 27.1 or Emacs 28.0.90.

There aren't going to be any further Emacs 27 releases, so if this has
been fixed for Emacs 28, I'm not sure there's anything to be done on the
Emacs side here?  Did you have something in particular in mind?

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no

bug#54096: 27.2; Error retrieving package descriptions when TLS 1.3 is used (macOS)

[Sebastian Boehm]

Hi Lars,

On Tue, 22 Feb 2022 at 14:48, Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org> wrote:
> There aren't going to be any further Emacs 27 releases

I did not know that. Sorry for the noise, then.

> if this has been fixed for Emacs 28, I'm not sure there's anything to be done on the Emacs side here?  Did you have something in particular in mind?

No, I'm perfectly fine with a WONTFIX resolution. I'll just keep using
the workaround on macOS until Emacs 28 is out, then.

I just re-tested Emacs 28 to make sure this issue does not affect
Emacs 28 and as far as I can tell, no version other than 27.2 seems to
be affected.

I don't have a great dev setup on this particular machine, so I tested
the following packages from http://emacsformacosx.com:

- Emacs-26.3-universal.dmg
- Emacs-27.1-1-universal.dmg
- Emacs-pretest-28.0.90-universal.dmg
- Emacs-pretest-28.0.91-universal.dmg
- Emacs-2022-02-22_00-09-13-dfd76688beac1d99a9cdcfe375e0a125cb039b8f-universal

All of these are working just as expected for me.

Thank you for your help!

Best,
Sebastian

bug#54096: 27.2; Error retrieving package descriptions when TLS 1.3 is used (macOS)

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Sebastian Boehm <sebastian@sometimesfood.org> writes:

> No, I'm perfectly fine with a WONTFIX resolution. I'll just keep using
> the workaround on macOS until Emacs 28 is out, then.
>
> I just re-tested Emacs 28 to make sure this issue does not affect
> Emacs 28 and as far as I can tell, no version other than 27.2 seems to
> be affected.
>
> I don't have a great dev setup on this particular machine, so I tested
> the following packages from http://emacsformacosx.com:
>
> - Emacs-26.3-universal.dmg
> - Emacs-27.1-1-universal.dmg
> - Emacs-pretest-28.0.90-universal.dmg
> - Emacs-pretest-28.0.91-universal.dmg
> - Emacs-2022-02-22_00-09-13-dfd76688beac1d99a9cdcfe375e0a125cb039b8f-universal
>
> All of these are working just as expected for me.
>
> Thank you for your help!

No problem.  🙃  Thanks for testing; I'm closing this bug report, then.

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no