How to connect GNOME to Google Account with Yubikey?

Desktop
1

I am not able to add my (work) Google account to “Online Accounts” since it is protected by biometric authentication (FIDO U2F with Yubikey), which is not supported by the browser that opens up:

Security key or biometric authenticator is not supported on this browser. Contact your admin for assistance.

This browser should be the system-default one but it is not.
Is it possible to authenticate with another browser that supports auth with a Yubikey? Or is there any other way to connect Gnome to my Google account with a Yubikey?

2

Modern versions of gnome-online-accounts will use the system default browser. Since you did not specify the version you are using, I assume you’re using an old version that uses a WebKitGTK embedded web view. If so, then I’m afraid the solution is upgrade to a newer version.

3

Sorry @mcatanzaro, I forgot to attach some context:

:~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID:	Ubuntu
Description:	Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS
Release:	22.04
Codename:	jammy

So I guess I have to upgrade to 24.04 to fix it. Although upgrading Ubuntu it could be a bit risky right now for me since I use at work this machine. Any hackish workarounds maybe?

4

No, sorry. WebKitGTK does not support WebAuthn at all. I guess that’s the web standand that Google is looking for.

Well, a workaround would be to disable the security, log in, and then reenable the security.

I checked the git history. You need this change which is present in gnome-online-accounts 3.50 and newer. Fortunately, I see Ubuntu 24.04 ships version 3.50.4, so upgrading should work.

5

Thanks @mcatanzaro for your detailed answer. I will upgrade to 24.04 as soon as I can take a break from work stuff.