Newest OpenSSH Server version drops RSA support, breaks SFTP on Android

The newest version 8.8p1 has already made its way to some Arch repositories, expect it to make it to others in the near-ish future.

This breaks SFTP network browsing/viewing on VLC for Android (v3.3.4).

Attempting to connect to the new server gives a "Missing content" on the Android VLC player, and the OpenSSH server shows:

Unable to negotiate with 192.168.86.100 port 22: no matching host key type found. Their offer: ssh-rsa,ssh-dss

Downgrading the openssh package to 8.7p1 restores the previous functionality.

OpenSSH also removed key exchange algorithims. To continue using an OpenSSH server with VLC and sftp add

HostKeyAlgorithms +ssh-rsa
KexAlgorithms +diffie-hellman-group18-sha512

to your sshd_config (ensure you understand you're enabling algorithms that OpenSSH has deemed "unsafe").

Edited Apr 28, 2025 by phever

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