Polkit authentication not usable with password, only fingerprint

shaan · April 11, 2026, 6:31am

On my Thinkpad E14 G5 with F43 and KDE Plasma 6.6.3, my fingerprint is registered for authentication. This works well, in general.

However, when I am prompted by the GUI to provide sudo authentication (e.g., when verifying for bitwarden), I can only use my fingerprint. When I enter the password and submit the dialog, the password field becomes disabled and nothing happens until I use fingerprint or press cancel.

The fingerprint reader is on the right side of my laptop’s keyboard(doubles as a power button), and when the keyboard is closed while I have it connected to my external monitor, I cannot easily access it.

On the other hand, when I use sudo in the konsole, it prompts me to provide my fingerprint, but I can CTRLC out of it and then enter my sudo password. This works without problems.

The question is: Can I do something to use my password as an alternative to the fingerprint in the graphical pop up?

I found a similiar issue on fedora discussion( Not solved ) - Polkit authentication not usable with password, only fingerprint - Fedora Discussion

smash · April 15, 2026, 11:13pm

Does this look like the same issue?

github.com/polkit-org/polkit

Password authentication blocks on fprintd timeout when fingerprint auth is enabled

opened 08:39PM - 09 Apr 26 UTC

dgiagio

**Describe the bug** When both password and fingerprint authentication are avail…able, polkit-agent-helper-1 does not process a submitted password until the fprintd authentication method times out. The password is correctly received from the authentication agent (e.g., polkit-kde-agent-1), but fprintd module holds the authentication pipeline for its full timeout duration (~10 seconds) before the password is evaluated. This results in a ~10 second delay between the user submitting their password and authentication completing, making the experience feel broken or unresponsive. The dialog appears to "hang" after the user presses OK / Enter. > Evidence from journalctl: ``` Apr 09 16:19:16 X1 systemd[1]: Starting polkit-agent-helper@19-5-40498_7047-1000.service - Authorization Manager Agent Helper (PID 40498/UID 1000)... Apr 09 16:19:16 X1 dbus-daemon[751]: [system] Activating via systemd: service name='net.reactivated.Fprint' unit='fprintd.service' requested by ':1.561' (uid=0 pid=40559 comm="/usr/lib/polkit-1/polkit-agent-helper-1 --socket-a" label="unconfined") Apr 09 16:19:16 X1 systemd[1]: Starting fprintd.service - Fingerprint Authentication Daemon... Apr 09 16:19:16 X1 systemd[1]: Started fprintd.service - Fingerprint Authentication Daemon. <<< 10 second gap — password was submitted almost immediately >>> Apr 09 16:19:26 X1 pkexec[40548]: pam_unix(polkit-1:session): session opened for user root(uid=0) by dgiagio(uid=1000) Apr 09 16:19:26 X1 pkexec[40548]: dgiagio: Executing command [USER=root] [TTY=/dev/pts/3] [CWD=/home/dgiagio/kde] [COMMAND=/bin/true] Apr 09 16:19:26 X1 systemd[1]: polkit-agent-helper@19-5-40498_7047-1000.service: Deactivated successfully. ``` The helper starts at 16:19:16 and immediately activates fprintd. Despite the password being submitted promptly, the session isn't open until 16:19:26, exactly 10 seconds later. The authentication ultimately succeeds via pam_unix (password), confirming that the password was available the entire time but was blocked behind the fprintd timeout. **To Reproduce** 1. Enable fingerprint authentication (pam_fprintd enrolled and enabled) 2. Clear any cached credentials: sudo -k 3. Trigger a polkit authentication dialog: pkexec /bin/true 4. Immediately type the password and click OK / press Enter 5. Observe ~10 second delay before authentication completes **Expected behavior** When the user submits a password, authentication should complete promptly. Either: - pam_fprintd should be cancelled/aborted when password input is received, or - The PAM conversation should be structured so that password and fingerprint are evaluated concurrently rather than sequentially, with the first successful method completing the authentication **Desktop (please complete the following information):** - OS (including version): Ubuntu 26.04 (Resolute Raccoon) - Desktop Environment [Gnome, KDE, ...]: KDE - Version of polkit: 127-2 (polkitd_127-2_amd64.deb)

Might help to add your 2c worth to that issue if it is.