[Bug 1034834] Re: Captive WiFi portals corrupt package lists

[Ben Nuttall]

This bug affects me on Quantal, running apt 0.9.7.5ubuntu5.1

When I connect to a LAN (not connected to the Internet), I get a stop
sign icon in my indicator area. Once reconnected to the Internet I get a
similar error when running apt-get update:

Reading package lists... Error!
W: An error occurred during the signature verification. The repository is not updated and the previous index files will be used. GPG error: http://extras.ubuntu.com quantal Release: The following signatures were invalid: BADSIG 16126D3A3E5C1192 Ubuntu Extras Archive Automatic Signing Key <ftpmaster at ubuntu.com>

[...]

E: Encountered a section with no Package: header
E: Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/gb.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_quantal_main_i18n_Translation-en
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.

As a resolution for this, I have to empty /var/lib/apt/lists/ and run
apt-get update, upgrade and update again.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1034834

Title:
  Captive WiFi portals corrupt package lists

Status in “apt” package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed

Bug description:
  I've dealt with several users reporting apt is broken. The cause is
  corrupted package lists in /var/lib/apt/lists/ caused by captive
  portals on WiFi networks that are returning HTTP 200 responses but
  with the content being the captive portal's login page.

  apt doesn't realise the content is invalid - it doesn't check the
  signature - before writing it to the system.

  This affects Precise users with apt 0.8.16.

  It shouldn't affect Quantal's 0.9.7 since that apparently checks the
  gpg signatures.

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