Windows 10 - Bitwarden login with Windows Hello not avaiable.

[DanioZg]

Describe the Bug

I am unable to turn on Windows Hello login feature in Bitwarden due to lack of this option. Windows Hello is properly configured on my OS, and it's working on 3rd party apps like Google Chrome, but in Bitwarden there no such option to turn it on.

Steps To Reproduce

1. Install Bitwarden 1.22.1 x64 on Windows 10 Pro.
2. Go to File > Settings.
3. No checkbox visible for Windows Hello.

Expected Result

Actual Result

Screenshots or Videos

Environment

• Operating system: Windows 10 Pro x64 2004 (Build 19041.508)
• Build Version (go to "Settings" → "About"): 1.22.1

Additional Context

[JayDoubleu]

+1 from me. This is much needed feature.
I moved back from dashlane and I can slowly start feeling the pain of limited integrations in bitwarden.
Please prioritise if possible ;)

[cscharf]

@DanioZg , @JayDoubleu , what version (build number) of Windows 10 are you using? We recently had to add a check against supported versions of Windows 10 to prevent an app crash and I would like to ensure that isn't what's at cause here. When I test in my Windows 10 VM (1903 build 18362.959) with that version of Bitwarden (1.22.1) I am able to access the option.

[DanioZg]

@DanioZg , @JayDoubleu , what version (build number) of Windows 10 are you using? We recently had to add a check against supported versions of Windows 10 to prevent an app crash and I would like to ensure that isn't what's at cause here. When I test in my Windows 10 VM (1903 build 18362.959) with that version of Bitwarden (1.22.1) I am able to access the option.

Hello @cscharf,

I am using Windows 10 Pro x64 2004 (Build 19041.508).

[cscharf]

Thanks, let me update my VM and test again.

[sevensixseven]

@DanioZg , @JayDoubleu Are you using Windows Hello Face or Windows Hello Fingerprint?

[DanioZg]

@DanioZg , @JayDoubleu Are you using Windows Hello Face or Windows Hello Fingerprint?

I am using Windows Hello Fingerprint and PIN. But I have tried to set only PIN or only Fingerprint and none of them doesn't work.

[cscharf]

Okay, all updated and still not able to reproduce this.

If it makes any difference, I'm not using any biometrics or PIN, Windows Hello isn't setup at all, however that shouldn't matter in this case since you're not seeing the option at all, that means our pre-run routines have determined your system isn't supported. That could be due to a couple of factors:

1. You're not running Windows 10 (I think we can safely rule this one out 😉 )
2. There was an exception accessing the Windows 10 Hello APIs (possible)
3. There is a missing SDK, dependency or framework (such as a Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable package) (also possible)

For 2 or 3, I (or someone on my team) would need to create a fresh Windows 10 install w/o anything so we can get a clean environment which may reproduce this issue. The Win 10 box I was testing with has a ton of dev tools on there, so any dependency that's required but may be missing on your machines is likely already installed on mine.

Give us a little bit to see if we can track down root cause.

[DanioZg]

@cscharf thanks for investigation!

1. Yep I'm running W10 😄.
2. I have tried to run Bitwarden as administrator, and still same result.
3. I also had suspicions about some missing SDK. Can You provide some dependencies that need to be installed? Maybe I can try to install it and check if this was causing problem.

I have tried to reinstall Bitwarden exe, install Bitwarden by Microsoft Store, clear TPM module (ThinkPads have hardware TPM module and this is propably used by Windows Hello function) and none of these steps helps.

Edit:
I have also tried to disable Windows Hello function, and re-enable it.

[cscharf]

@DanioZg , we are using NodeRT for the biometrics integration of Windows Hello into electron which wraps WinRT, specifically the Windows.Security.Credentials.UI Namespace.

I'm not sure what VCPP packages, Win SDKs, etc. are necessary in that dependency chain, I had assumed as long as you had WinRT installed you should be good to go (assumptions with Windows I guess are as good as driving with a fogged windshield). I'll continue working on reproduction and perhaps create a quick and dirty node.js application to try to re-recreate any errors that may happen during bootstrapping biometrics to expose any exceptions, etc.

[JayDoubleu]

I've re-installed Windows 10 and on new install I can now confirm it works with windows hello and fingerprint.
👍
Shame browser plugin is not using it tho ...

[DanioZg]

@JayDoubleu what is funny, this problem occured when I have re-installed Windows 10 about 10 days ago 😄.

[cscharf]

@DanioZg , please see https://github.com/cscharf/reproduce-win-hello-failure for additional troubleshooting and let me know the outcome or if you run into any issues.

[DanioZg]

@cscharf thanks, but I cannot run this: log.txt
But after installing node.js and all of dependencies, now "Unlock with Windows Hello" checkbox appeared!
From my investigation I see that node.js installed:

And for test purposes I uninstalled these redistributable packages and... I don't have checkbox again.
So I think these redistributable packages are necessary. Maybe this should be installed as dependencies in Bitwarden Windows 10 installer?

[cscharf]

Thanks @DanioZg , that's very helpful! Not sure how many of the redistributables we can pack into the web and store installers through electron-builder, but we'll check on it. In the meantime I'll ensure we can get some help documentation updated on our Windows Hello integration for anyone else experiencing this issue with some download links, etc.

Thank you again for helping diagnose and troubleshoot this issue. I will close this issue and send a note to @tgreer-bw and team so we can get a help article drafted for the same.

[tgreer-bw]

Added to our Biometrics help article - thanks @DanioZg for the help on this one!

[DanioZg]

@tgreer-bw I think there is some misunderstading.

There is only need to install VC redistributable packages provided by Microsoft: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads
Maybe You can change that 😄 ?

[cscharf]

He's on it 😉

[tgreer-bw]

PR in flight to swap to just the visual c++ downloads.

[acolombo11]

I don't know if the PR made it yet to the release version, but with a fresh install of Bitwarden (1.22.2) on a fresh install of Windows (19041.331) I tried installing Node.js (14.13.1) and I still don't see the setting for Windows Hello biometric unlock.

From an UX standpoint I also think it would be helpfull to just disable the setting instead of hiding it altogether, with a link to the help article which gets shown when the setting is disabled and is hidden when the setting is available.

[DanioZg]

Hello @acolombo25,

Try to install VC Redist package x86 and x64: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads

[thommycgn]

It works after installing vc_redist.x64.exe. :)