Can't connect to server: Permission denied (publickey,keyboard-interactive)

This is a support-style report, not a code change: the debug log shows the client failing to load ~/.ssh/id_rsa and then being rejected by localhost. Start by confirming which key the client actually offers and whether the corresponding public key is present in the server's authorized_keys; inspect the client ~/.ssh/config and the server sshd configuration. Done here means triaging the report and pointing to the configuration fix, not editing Win32-OpenSSH source.

Prerequisites

• Write a descriptive title.
• Make sure you are able to repro it on the latest version
• Search the existing issues.

Steps to reproduce

ssh user@localhost (or 127.0.0.1)

Expected behavior

Access to my ssh server.

Actual behavior

<user>@localhost: Permission denied (publickey,keyboard-interactive).

Error details

debug1: OpenSSH_for_Windows_10.4p1 Win32-OpenSSH-GitHub, LibreSSL 4.3.3
debug3: Started with: "C:\\\\Program Files\\\\OpenSSH\\\\ssh.exe" -vvv localhost
debug1: Reading configuration data C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/config
debug1: C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/config line 3: Applying options for *
debug1: Reading configuration data __PROGRAMDATA__\\ssh/ssh_config
debug3: expanded UserKnownHostsFile '~/.ssh/known_hosts' -> 'C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/known_hosts'
debug3: expanded UserKnownHostsFile '~/.ssh/known_hosts2' -> 'C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/known_hosts2'
debug2: resolving "localhost" port 22
debug3: resolve_host: lookup localhost:22
debug3: channel_clear_timeouts: clearing
debug3: ssh_connect_direct: entering
debug1: Connecting to localhost [::1] port 22.
debug1: Connection established.
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_rsa error:2
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_rsa.pub error:2
debug3: failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_rsa error:2
debug1: no pubkey loaded from C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_rsa
debug1: identity file C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_rsa type -1
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_rsa-cert error:2
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_rsa-cert.pub error:2
debug3: failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_rsa-cert error:2
debug1: no identity pubkey loaded from C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_rsa
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_ecdsa error:2
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_ecdsa.pub error:2
debug3: failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_ecdsa error:2
debug1: no pubkey loaded from C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_ecdsa
debug1: identity file C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_ecdsa type -1
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_ecdsa-cert error:2
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_ecdsa-cert.pub error:2
debug3: failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_ecdsa-cert error:2
debug1: no identity pubkey loaded from C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_ecdsa
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk error:2
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk.pub error:2
debug3: failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk error:2
debug1: no pubkey loaded from C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk
debug1: identity file C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk type -1
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk-cert error:2
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk-cert.pub error:2
debug3: failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk-cert error:2
debug1: no identity pubkey loaded from C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk
debug1: loaded pubkey from C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_ed25519: ED25519 SHA256:7t3ac/PLlwZXs/1taRbcKlotxnzEJltWsJ0LtFUYF0M
debug1: identity file C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_ed25519 type 2
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_ed25519-cert error:2
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_ed25519-cert.pub error:2
debug3: failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_ed25519-cert error:2
debug1: no identity pubkey loaded from C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_ed25519
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk error:2
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk.pub error:2
debug3: failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk error:2
debug1: no pubkey loaded from C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk
debug1: identity file C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk type -1
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk-cert error:2
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk-cert.pub error:2
debug3: failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk-cert error:2
debug1: no identity pubkey loaded from C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk
debug1: Local version string SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_for_Windows_10.4 Win32-OpenSSH-GitHub
debug1: Remote protocol version 2.0, remote software version OpenSSH_for_Windows_10.4 Win32-OpenSSH-GitHub
debug1: compat_banner: match: OpenSSH_for_Windows_10.4 Win32-OpenSSH-GitHub pat OpenSSH* compat 0x04000000
debug2: fd 3 setting O_NONBLOCK
debug1: Authenticating to localhost:22 as '<user>'
debug3: record_hostkey: found key type ED25519 in file C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/known_hosts:17
debug3: load_hostkeys_file: loaded 1 keys from localhost
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/known_hosts2 error:2
debug1: load_hostkeys: fopen C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/known_hosts2: No such file or directory
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/ProgramData/ssh/ssh_known_hosts error:2
debug1: load_hostkeys: fopen __PROGRAMDATA__\\ssh/ssh_known_hosts: No such file or directory
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/ProgramData/ssh/ssh_known_hosts2 error:2
debug1: load_hostkeys: fopen __PROGRAMDATA__\\ssh/ssh_known_hosts2: No such file or directory
debug3: order_hostkeyalgs: have matching best-preference key type [email protected], using HostkeyAlgorithms verbatim
debug3: send packet: type 20
debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT sent
debug3: receive packet: type 20
debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT received
debug2: local client KEXINIT proposal
debug2: KEX algorithms: mlkem768x25519-sha256,sntrup761x25519-sha512,[email protected],curve25519-sha256,[email protected],ecdh-sha2-nistp256,ecdh-sha2-nistp384,ecdh-sha2-nistp521,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256,diffie-hellman-group16-sha512,diffie-hellman-group18-sha512,diffie-hellman-group14-sha256,ext-info-c,[email protected]
debug2: host key algorithms: [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],ssh-ed25519,ecdsa-sha2-nistp256,ecdsa-sha2-nistp384,ecdsa-sha2-nistp521,[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],rsa-sha2-512,rsa-sha2-256
debug2: ciphers ctos: [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr
debug2: ciphers stoc: [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr
debug2: MACs ctos: [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-512
debug2: MACs stoc: [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-512
debug2: compression ctos: none,[email protected]
debug2: compression stoc: none,[email protected]
debug2: languages ctos:
debug2: languages stoc:
debug2: first_kex_follows 0
debug2: reserved 0
debug2: peer server KEXINIT proposal
debug2: KEX algorithms: mlkem768x25519-sha256,sntrup761x25519-sha512,[email protected],curve25519-sha256,[email protected],ecdh-sha2-nistp256,ecdh-sha2-nistp384,ecdh-sha2-nistp521,ext-info-s,[email protected]
debug2: host key algorithms: rsa-sha2-512,rsa-sha2-256,ecdsa-sha2-nistp384,ssh-ed25519
debug2: ciphers ctos: [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr
debug2: ciphers stoc: [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr
debug2: MACs ctos: [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-512
debug2: MACs stoc: [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-512
debug2: compression ctos: none,[email protected]
debug2: compression stoc: none,[email protected]
debug2: languages ctos:
debug2: languages stoc:
debug2: first_kex_follows 0
debug2: reserved 0
debug3: kex_choose_conf: will use strict KEX ordering
debug1: kex: algorithm: mlkem768x25519-sha256
debug1: kex: host key algorithm: ssh-ed25519
debug1: kex: server->client cipher: [email protected] MAC: <implicit> compression: none
debug1: kex: client->server cipher: [email protected] MAC: <implicit> compression: none
debug3: send packet: type 30
debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_KEX_ECDH_REPLY
debug3: receive packet: type 31
debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEX_ECDH_REPLY received
debug1: Server host key: ssh-ed25519 SHA256:yIwpy5hx9pSEjlJCuAK636RwgpV8/xZA8UygWUMiq4A
debug3: record_hostkey: found key type ED25519 in file C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/known_hosts:17
debug3: load_hostkeys_file: loaded 1 keys from localhost
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/<home>/.ssh/known_hosts2 error:2
debug1: load_hostkeys: fopen C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/known_hosts2: No such file or directory
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/ProgramData/ssh/ssh_known_hosts error:2
debug1: load_hostkeys: fopen __PROGRAMDATA__\\ssh/ssh_known_hosts: No such file or directory
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/ProgramData/ssh/ssh_known_hosts2 error:2
debug1: load_hostkeys: fopen __PROGRAMDATA__\\ssh/ssh_known_hosts2: No such file or directory
debug1: Host 'localhost' is known and matches the ED25519 host key.
debug1: Found key in C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/known_hosts:17
debug3: send packet: type 21
debug1: ssh_packet_send2_wrapped: resetting send seqnr 3
debug2: ssh_set_newkeys: mode 1
debug1: rekey out after 134217728 blocks
debug1: SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS sent
debug1: Sending SSH2_MSG_EXT_INFO
debug3: send packet: type 7
debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS
debug3: receive packet: type 21
debug1: ssh_packet_read_poll2: resetting read seqnr 3
debug1: SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS received
debug2: ssh_set_newkeys: mode 0
debug1: rekey in after 134217728 blocks
debug2: KEX algorithms: mlkem768x25519-sha256,sntrup761x25519-sha512,[email protected],curve25519-sha256,[email protected],ecdh-sha2-nistp256,ecdh-sha2-nistp384,ecdh-sha2-nistp521,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256,diffie-hellman-group16-sha512,diffie-hellman-group18-sha512,diffie-hellman-group14-sha256,ext-info-c,[email protected]
debug2: host key algorithms: [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],ssh-ed25519,ecdsa-sha2-nistp256,ecdsa-sha2-nistp384,ecdsa-sha2-nistp521,[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],rsa-sha2-512,rsa-sha2-256
debug2: ciphers ctos: [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr
debug2: ciphers stoc: [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr
debug2: MACs ctos: [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-512
debug2: MACs stoc: [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-512
debug2: compression ctos: none,[email protected]
debug2: compression stoc: none,[email protected]
debug2: languages ctos:
debug2: languages stoc:
debug2: first_kex_follows 0
debug2: reserved 0
debug3: send packet: type 5
debug3: receive packet: type 7
debug1: SSH2_MSG_EXT_INFO received
debug3: kex_input_ext_info: extension server-sig-algs
debug1: kex_ext_info_client_parse: server-sig-algs=<ssh-ed25519,ecdsa-sha2-nistp256,ecdsa-sha2-nistp384,ecdsa-sha2-nistp521,[email protected],[email protected],rsa-sha2-512,rsa-sha2-256,[email protected]>
debug3: kex_input_ext_info: extension [email protected]
debug1: kex_ext_info_check_ver: [email protected]=<0>
debug3: kex_input_ext_info: extension [email protected]
debug1: kex_ext_info_check_ver: [email protected]=<0>
debug3: kex_input_ext_info: extension agent-forward
debug1: kex_ext_info_check_ver: agent-forward=<0>
debug3: receive packet: type 6
debug2: service_accept: ssh-userauth
debug1: SSH2_MSG_SERVICE_ACCEPT received
debug3: send packet: type 50
debug3: receive packet: type 7
debug1: SSH2_MSG_EXT_INFO received
debug3: kex_input_ext_info: extension server-sig-algs
debug1: kex_ext_info_client_parse: server-sig-algs=<ssh-ed25519,ecdsa-sha2-nistp256,ecdsa-sha2-nistp384,ecdsa-sha2-nistp521,[email protected],[email protected],rsa-sha2-512,rsa-sha2-256,[email protected]>
debug3: receive packet: type 51
debug1: Authentications that can continue: publickey,keyboard-interactive
debug3: start over, passed a different list publickey,keyboard-interactive
debug3: preferred publickey,keyboard-interactive,password
debug3: authmethod_lookup publickey
debug3: remaining preferred: keyboard-interactive,password
debug3: authmethod_is_enabled publickey
debug1: Next authentication method: publickey
debug3: ssh_get_authentication_socket_path: path '\\\\.\\pipe\\openssh-ssh-agent'
debug2: get_agent_identities: ssh_agent_bind_hostkey: invalid format
debug1: get_agent_identities: agent returned 1 keys
debug1: Will attempt key: C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_ed25519 ED25519 SHA256:7t3ac/PLlwZXs/1taRbcKlotxnzEJltWsJ0LtFUYF0M agent
debug1: Will attempt key: C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_rsa
debug1: Will attempt key: C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_ecdsa
debug1: Will attempt key: C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk
debug1: Will attempt key: C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk
debug2: pubkey_prepare: done
debug1: Offering public key: C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_ed25519 ED25519 SHA256:7t3ac/PLlwZXs/1taRbcKlotxnzEJltWsJ0LtFUYF0M agent
debug3: send packet: type 50
debug2: we sent a publickey packet, wait for reply
debug3: receive packet: type 51
debug1: Authentications that can continue: publickey,keyboard-interactive
debug1: Trying private key: C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_rsa
debug3: no such identity: C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_rsa: No such file or directory
debug1: Trying private key: C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_ecdsa
debug3: no such identity: C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_ecdsa: No such file or directory
debug1: Trying private key: C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk
debug3: no such identity: C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk: No such file or directory
debug1: Trying private key: C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk
debug3: no such identity: C:\\Users\\<home>/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk: No such file or directory
debug2: we did not send a packet, disable method
debug3: authmethod_lookup keyboard-interactive
debug3: remaining preferred: password
debug3: authmethod_is_enabled keyboard-interactive
debug1: Next authentication method: keyboard-interactive
debug2: userauth_kbdint
debug3: send packet: type 50
debug2: we sent a keyboard-interactive packet, wait for reply
debug3: receive packet: type 51
debug1: Authentications that can continue: publickey,keyboard-interactive
debug3: userauth_kbdint: disable: no info_req_seen
debug2: we did not send a packet, disable method
debug1: No more authentication methods to try.
<user>@localhost: Permission denied (publickey,keyboard-interactive).

Environment data

PSVersion                      7.6.9
PSEdition                      Core
GitCommitId                    7.6.9
OS                             Microsoft Windows 10.0.26300
Platform                       Win32NT
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0…}
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.4
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1
WSManStackVersion              3.0

Version

OpenSSH_for_Windows_10.4p1 Win32-OpenSSH-GitHub, LibreSSL 4.3.3

Lots of other posts about this but none of the solutions worked for me. Just wondering if there's any new info available about solving this.

Thanks in advance.