Scariest problem of a thousand I've seen: consequtive Malformed packets -- no internet/LAN

GnuPG Help
1 
Unknown or Unsupported Packet, old CTB, 73 bytes
Tag: Public-Key Packet
Error: Malformed packet: unknown version

Unknown or Unsupported Packet, old CTB, 196 bytes
Tag: Signature Packet
Error: Malformed packet: unknown version

User ID Packet, old CTB, 11 bytes
Value:

Unknown or Unsupported Packet, old CTB, 223 bytes
Tag: Signature Packet
Error: Malformed packet: unknown version

Signature Packet, old CTB, 120 bytes
Version: 4
Type: GenericCertification
Pk algo: EdDSA
Hash algo: SHA512
Hashed area:
Issuer Fingerprint: 202E0E3CED46102F122D019725B9C13A879BF589
(UNAUTHENTICATED)
Signature creation time: 2026-03-07 21:54:19 UTC
Revocable: false
Unhashed area:
Issuer: 25B9C13A879BF589
(UNAUTHENTICATED)
Digest prefix: 9DE0
Level: 0 (signature over data)

Unknown or Unsupported Packet, old CTB, 73 bytes
Tag: Public-Subkey Packet
Error: Malformed packet: unknown version

Unknown or Unsupported Packet, old CTB, 371 bytes
Tag: Signature Packet
Error: Malformed packet: unknown version

Unknown or Unsupported Packet, old CTB, 76 bytes
Tag: Public-Subkey Packet
Error: Malformed packet: unknown version

Unknown or Unsupported Packet, old CTB, 200 bytes
Tag: Signature Packet
Error: Malformed packet: unknown version

pub ed448 - certifying

sub ed448 - signing

sub cv448 - encryption

Cipher: AES256, AES192, AES, 3DES
AEAD: OCB
Digest: SHA512, SHA384, SHA256, SHA224, SHA1
Compression: ZLIB, BZIP2, ZIP, Uncompressed
Features: MDC, AEAD, Keyserver no-modify

Removed, exported, deleted everything. Only have public key.

Via sq

Unknown or Unsupported Packet, old CTB, 73 bytes
Tag: Public-Key Packet
Error: Malformed packet: unknown version

Unknown or Unsupported Packet, old CTB, 196 bytes
Tag: Signature Packet
Error: Malformed packet: unknown version

User ID Packet, old CTB, 11 bytes

Unknown or Unsupported Packet, old CTB, 223 bytes
Tag: Signature Packet
Error: Malformed packet: unknown version

Signature Packet, old CTB, 120 bytes
Version: 4
Type: GenericCertification
Pk algo: EdDSA
Hash algo: SHA512
Hashed area:
Issuer Fingerprint: 202E0E3CED46102F122D019725B9C13A879BF589
(NOT MY fpr)

(UNAUTHENTICATED)
Signature creation time: 2026-03-07 21:54:19 UTC
Revocable: false
Unhashed area:
Issuer: 25B9C13A879BF589
(UNAUTHENTICATED)
Digest prefix: 9DE0
Level: 0 (signature over data)

Unknown or Unsupported Packet, old CTB, 73 bytes
Tag: Public-Subkey Packet
Error: Malformed packet: unknown version

Unknown or Unsupported Packet, old CTB, 371 bytes
Tag: Signature Packet
Error: Malformed packet: unknown version

Unknown or Unsupported Packet, old CTB, 76 bytes
Tag: Public-Subkey Packet
Error: Malformed packet: unknown version

Unknown or Unsupported Packet, old CTB, 200 bytes
Tag: Signature Packet
Error: Malformed packet: unknown version

1001 GnuPG errors and this one is the scariest.

I disconnect from the Internet. Booted off a fresh Live DVD.

Unknown or Unsupported Packet, old CTB, 73 bytes
Tag: Public-Subkey Packet
Error: Malformed packet: unknown version

Unknown or Unsupported Packet, old CTB, 371 bytes
Tag: Signature Packet
Error: Malformed packet: unknown version

Unknown or Unsupported Packet, old CTB, 76 bytes
Tag: Public-Subkey Packet
Error: Malformed packet: unknown version

Unknown or Unsupported Packet, old CTB, 200 bytes
Tag: Signature Packet
Error: Malformed packet: unknown version

What in God’s name is this?

I’ve made 17 keys now.

2

Can you give us a bit of insight in what you have done (commands?) when getting these outputs? Also, what is your environment (operating system, version of GnuPG)?

3

I generally make a key every few days for research for it’s a blind, rapid effort.

I found God-send-Werner’s post of this ALL over the Internet. Probably 80+ posts.

It was hard to save who the blame was.

$ sq packet dump xyz_0xFD42B87B8C5A07B3_public.asc
Unknown or Unsupported Packet, old CTB, 73 bytes
Tag: Public-Key Packet
Error: Malformed packet: unknown version

User ID Packet, old CTB, 11 bytes
Value: xyz

Unknown or Unsupported Packet, old CTB, 221 bytes
Tag: Signature Packet
Error: Malformed packet: unknown version

Unknown or Unsupported Packet, old CTB, 73 bytes
Tag: Public-Subkey Packet
Error: Malformed packet: unknown version

Unknown or Unsupported Packet, old CTB, 371 bytes
Tag: Signature Packet
Error: Malformed packet: unknown version

Unknown or Unsupported Packet, old CTB, 76 bytes
Tag: Public-Subkey Packet
Error: Malformed packet: unknown version

Unknown or Unsupported Packet, old CTB, 200 bytes
Tag: Signature Packet
Error: Malformed packet: unknown version

pub   ed448/0xFD32B87B8C5A07B3 2026-03-08 \[C\]
Key fingerprint = FW32B 87B8D 5A07B 3417E BEFC9 4DEF0 13C89 6CD11 72FC1 904E7

uid                   \[ultimate\] Name_Goes_Here
sub   ed448/0x6A34CC0089AEDD53 2026-03-08 \[S\]
Key fingerprint = 7A34C C0089 AEDD5 3282E 4BB7D DEFBA 74B55 E652D 40439 EF16D

sub   cv448/0x95CD5682359FD389 2026-03-08 \[E\]
Key fingerprint = 85CD5 68235 9FD38 9FE5C D9A59 00876 613E6 5AB17 BDE0B 4CBA8

$ gpg --expert --full-generate-key
(11) ECC (set your own capabilities)   \[C}      (2) Curve 448
(10) ECC (sign only) \[S\]     (2) Curve 448
(9) ECC (sign and encrypt) *default      \[E\]*     (2) Curve 448

trust, 5
delete notations
sign
clean
add revocation key
minimize

Debian 13.3 Devel

4

Please note that Sequioa and GnuPG are two different pieces of software. Also, they follow different standards. While GnuPG implements LibrePGP, Sequoia does OpenPGP.

I’m not sure what the best place is to ask questions about Sequoia, maybe just the issue tracker.