I found a reproducible problem with how slimlock grabs the keyboard:
- Click the gnome-applet icon, causing the config dropdown to appear
- Wait for the screensaver to start (in my case, via
xss-lock listening to the X server)
- Attempt to type in the password, noting that the password text box isn't reacting.
- When you press the letter 'c', the gnome-applet "Configure hidden network" shortcut is triggered, bypassing slimlock and giving focus to the respective virtual desktop.