Configuring additional APT repositories make WhisperBack crash

I tried on 2 Tails systems (mine and a fresh one) to follow the instructions we have in https://tails.boum.org/doc/first_steps/additional_software/index.en.html#index5h1. They work in terms of APT but then I can’t start WhisperBack. I’m getting:

amnesia@amnesia:~$ whisperback 
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/whisperback", line 34, in <module>
    ui = whisperBack.WhisperBackUI()
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/whisperBack/gui.py", line 127, in __init__
    self.backend = whisperBack.whisperback.WhisperBack()
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/whisperBack/whisperback.py", line 120, in __init__
    self.appended_data = self.__get_debug_info(self.mail_appended_info())
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/whisperBack/whisperback.py", line 163, in __get_debug_info
    sanitized = '{}\n'.format(whisperBack.utils.sanitize_hardware_info(line))
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/whisperBack/utils.py", line 196, in sanitize_hardware_info
    log_string)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.5/re.py", line 182, in sub
    return _compile(pattern, flags).sub(repl, string, count)
TypeError: expected string or bytes-like object

Marking as Elevated since it’s a regression that prevents people from reporting bugs, though I don’t think that it’s a popular feature.

Feature Branch: https://github.com/saschamarkus/whisperback/pull/new/bugfix/16563-Configuring-additional-APT-repositories-made-WhisperBack-crash

Related issues

• Blocks #15626
• Blocks #15507 (closed)

Original created by @sajolida on 16563 (Redmine)