diff --git a/resources/lib/UnitySite.php b/resources/lib/UnitySite.php
index 7ad484ff..4fff371c 100644
--- a/resources/lib/UnitySite.php
+++ b/resources/lib/UnitySite.php
@@ -52,10 +52,24 @@ public static function getGithubKeys($username)
 
     public static function testValidSSHKey($key_str)
     {
+        // key loader still throws, these just mute warnings for phpunit
+        // https://github.com/phpseclib/phpseclib/issues/2079
+        if ($key_str == "") {
+            return false;
+        }
+        // https://github.com/phpseclib/phpseclib/issues/2076
+        // https://github.com/phpseclib/phpseclib/issues/2077
+        // there are actually valid JSON keys (JWK), but I don't think anybody uses it
+        if (!is_null(@json_decode($key_str))) {
+            return false;
+        }
         try {
             PublicKeyLoader::load($key_str);
             return true;
-        } catch (\Exception $e) {
+        // phpseclib should throw only NoKeyLoadedException but that is not the case
+        // https://github.com/phpseclib/phpseclib/pull/2078
+        // } catch (\phpseclib3\Exception\NoKeyLoadedException $e) {
+        } catch (\Throwable $e) {
             return false;
         }
     }
diff --git a/test/unit/AjaxSshValidateTest.php b/test/unit/AjaxSshValidateTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6f670a43
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/AjaxSshValidateTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace UnityWebPortal\lib;
+
+use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\DataProvider;
+
+class AjaxSshValidateTest extends TestCase
+{
+    public static function providerTestSshValidate()
+    {
+        // sanity check only, see UnitySiteTest for more comprehensive test cases
+        return [
+            [false, "foobar"],
+            // phpcs:disable
+            [true, "ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIB+XqO25MUB9x/pS04I3JQ7rMGboWyGXh0GUzkOrTi7a"],
+            // phpcs:enable
+        ];
+    }
+
+    #[DataProvider("providerTestSshValidate")]
+    public function testSshValidate(bool $is_valid, string $pubkey)
+    {
+        $_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] = "POST";
+        $_POST["key"] = $pubkey;
+        ob_start();
+        include __DIR__ . "/../../webroot/js/ajax/ssh_validate.php";
+        $output = ob_get_clean();
+        if ($is_valid) {
+            $this->assertEquals("true", $output);
+        } else {
+            $this->assertEquals("false", $output);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/test/unit/UnitySiteTest.php b/test/unit/UnitySiteTest.php
index 9c508e45..bc220cce 100644
--- a/test/unit/UnitySiteTest.php
+++ b/test/unit/UnitySiteTest.php
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ public static function SSHKeyProvider()
             [false, "1"],
             [false, '{"key": "value"}'],
             [true, "ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIB+XqO25MUB9x/pS04I3JQ7rMGboWyGXh0GUzkOrTi7a"],
-            [true, "    ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIB+XqO25MUB9x/pS04I3JQ7rMGboWyGXh0GUzkOrTi7a    "],
+            [false, "    ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIB+XqO25MUB9x/pS04I3JQ7rMGboWyGXh0GUzkOrTi7a    "],
             //phpcs:disable
             [true, "ecdsa-sha2-nistp256 AAAAE2VjZHNhLXNoYTItbmlzdHAyNTYAAAAIbmlzdHAyNTYAAABBBJNqo8NKTfXgCsaE3ly0tDCfwFuFgJiftup0bIZnRi5bP5QgDN5BFeJfEUPSY/s/GL2hUAjkz3ytGqvadt84W7w="],
             [true, "ssh-rsa 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"],
diff --git a/webroot/js/ajax/ssh_validate.php b/webroot/js/ajax/ssh_validate.php
index 7180defb..08b012cf 100644
--- a/webroot/js/ajax/ssh_validate.php
+++ b/webroot/js/ajax/ssh_validate.php
@@ -1,12 +1,5 @@
 <?php
 
-require "../../../resources/autoload.php";
+require_once __DIR__ . "/../../../resources/lib/UnitySite.php";
 
-use phpseclib3\Crypt\PublicKeyLoader;
-
-try {
-    PublicKeyLoader::load($_POST['key'], $password = false);
-    echo "true";
-} catch (Exception $e) {
-    echo "false";
-}
+echo UnityWebPortal\lib\UnitySite::testValidSSHKey($_POST["key"]) ? "true" : "false";