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At the moment cryptsetup luks preboot password entry prompt shows not even asterisk symbols while typing. Password entry is functional though. But this is too difficult for some users.

How to make cryptsetup luks preboot password entry prompt at least show asterisk while typing?

Is it possible to make cryptsetup luks preboot password entry prompt show the real password letters as it is being entered? (Similar to web forms "show password" boxes.)

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    What Linux distribution?
    – Stéphane Chazelas
    Commented Apr 25, 2022 at 6:47
  • There's a debian manual page which suggests that it uses a helper program called askpass. Not sure how debian specific this is. Your solution will, most likely, involve either configuring this askpass program or replacing it entirely. configuration or replacement would need to be done in initramfs. cryptsetup-team.pages.debian.net/cryptsetup/…
    – Philip Couling
    Commented Apr 25, 2022 at 10:15
  • This is by design AFAIK. Leaking the length of the passphrase onto the screen can make it easier for crackers to narrow down the search space when brute forcing.
    – Marcel
    Commented Apr 25, 2022 at 13:41
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    @Marcel the behaviour is by design but it's not ubiquitous. For example the default behaviour for Ubuntu desktop shows a dot per character. It's not a particularly large security risk as long as the password itself is long enough and obscure enough to be cryptographically secure.
    – Philip Couling
    Commented Apr 25, 2022 at 15:17

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You can see the discussion about your exact same issue here, and as I've mentioned in the comments, it's a feature. Although someone managed to achieve what you're seeking to achieve, it's not supposed to.

It seems though you can see them asterisks if you install plymouth.

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