gchq/CyberChef · warning · OperationError

Enter the private key of the recipient.

Error message

Enter the private key of the recipient.

What it means

PGPDecrypt.run reads args[0] as the recipient's private key. If it is falsy (empty string, null, undefined) the operation aborts immediately - there is nothing to decrypt with. This is an input-validation guard thrown before any crypto runs; importPrivateKey has not yet been called.

Source

Thrown at src/core/operations/PGPDecrypt.mjs:67

                "value": ""
            }
        ];
    }

    /**
     * @param {string} input
     * @param {Object[]} args
     * @returns {string}
     *
     * @throws {OperationError} if invalid private key
     */
    async run(input, args) {
        const encryptedMessage = input,
            [privateKey, passphrase] = args,
            keyring = new kbpgp.keyring.KeyRing();
        let plaintextMessage;

        if (!privateKey) throw new OperationError("Enter the private key of the recipient.");

        const key = await importPrivateKey(privateKey, passphrase);
        keyring.add_key_manager(key);

        try {
            plaintextMessage = await promisify(kbpgp.unbox)({
                armored: encryptedMessage,
                keyfetch: keyring,
                asp: ASP
            });
        } catch (err) {
            throw new OperationError(`Couldn't decrypt message with provided private key: ${err}`);
        }

        return plaintextMessage.toString();
    }

}

View on GitHub (pinned to 4290ea7539)

Solutions

1. Provide the recipient's ASCII-armoured PGP private key in the first argument.
2. If the key is passphrase-protected, also fill the passphrase field.
3. Verify the key block begins with '-----BEGIN PGP PRIVATE KEY BLOCK-----'.

const [privateKey, passphrase] = args;
if (!privateKey || !privateKey.trim()) {
    throw new Error('Private key argument is required before running PGP Decrypt.');
}

const isArmouredPrivateKey = (s) =>
    typeof s === 'string' && /-----BEGIN PGP PRIVATE KEY BLOCK-----/.test(s);

When it happens

Trigger: The 'Private key of recipient' argument is left empty; the args array is shorter than expected; the key text failed to bind from the UI/recipe.

Common situations: User forgot to paste the private key; an automated recipe with a blank key field; copy-paste that missed the clipboard; programmatic call passing an empty string.

Related errors

• Enter the public key of the signer.
• Enter the public key of the recipient.
• Enter the private key of the signer.
• Enter the private key of the signer.
• Enter the public key of the signer.

AI-assisted analysis of gchq/CyberChef@4290ea7539 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/954b7eb7f4661cb9. Report an issue: GitHub.