ecryptfs.rst 3.1 KB

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  1. ==========================================
  2. Encrypted keys for the eCryptfs filesystem
  3. ==========================================
  4. ECryptfs is a stacked filesystem which transparently encrypts and decrypts each
  5. file using a randomly generated File Encryption Key (FEK).
  6. Each FEK is in turn encrypted with a File Encryption Key Encryption Key (FEKEK)
  7. either in kernel space or in user space with a daemon called 'ecryptfsd'. In
  8. the former case the operation is performed directly by the kernel CryptoAPI
  9. using a key, the FEKEK, derived from a user prompted passphrase; in the latter
  10. the FEK is encrypted by 'ecryptfsd' with the help of external libraries in order
  11. to support other mechanisms like public key cryptography, PKCS#11 and TPM based
  12. operations.
  13. The data structure defined by eCryptfs to contain information required for the
  14. FEK decryption is called authentication token and, currently, can be stored in a
  15. kernel key of the 'user' type, inserted in the user's session specific keyring
  16. by the userspace utility 'mount.ecryptfs' shipped with the package
  17. 'ecryptfs-utils'.
  18. The 'encrypted' key type has been extended with the introduction of the new
  19. format 'ecryptfs' in order to be used in conjunction with the eCryptfs
  20. filesystem. Encrypted keys of the newly introduced format store an
  21. authentication token in its payload with a FEKEK randomly generated by the
  22. kernel and protected by the parent master key.
  23. In order to avoid known-plaintext attacks, the datablob obtained through
  24. commands 'keyctl print' or 'keyctl pipe' does not contain the overall
  25. authentication token, which content is well known, but only the FEKEK in
  26. encrypted form.
  27. The eCryptfs filesystem may really benefit from using encrypted keys in that the
  28. required key can be securely generated by an Administrator and provided at boot
  29. time after the unsealing of a 'trusted' key in order to perform the mount in a
  30. controlled environment. Another advantage is that the key is not exposed to
  31. threats of malicious software, because it is available in clear form only at
  32. kernel level.
  33. Usage::
  34. keyctl add encrypted name "new ecryptfs key-type:master-key-name keylen" ring
  35. keyctl add encrypted name "load hex_blob" ring
  36. keyctl update keyid "update key-type:master-key-name"
  37. Where::
  38. name:= '<16 hexadecimal characters>'
  39. key-type:= 'trusted' | 'user'
  40. keylen:= 64
  41. Example of encrypted key usage with the eCryptfs filesystem:
  42. Create an encrypted key "1000100010001000" of length 64 bytes with format
  43. 'ecryptfs' and save it using a previously loaded user key "test"::
  44. $ keyctl add encrypted 1000100010001000 "new ecryptfs user:test 64" @u
  45. 19184530
  46. $ keyctl print 19184530
  47. ecryptfs user:test 64 490045d4bfe48c99f0d465fbbbb79e7500da954178e2de0697
  48. dd85091f5450a0511219e9f7cd70dcd498038181466f78ac8d4c19504fcc72402bfc41c2
  49. f253a41b7507ccaa4b2b03fff19a69d1cc0b16e71746473f023a95488b6edfd86f7fdd40
  50. 9d292e4bacded1258880122dd553a661
  51. $ keyctl pipe 19184530 > ecryptfs.blob
  52. Mount an eCryptfs filesystem using the created encrypted key "1000100010001000"
  53. into the '/secret' directory::
  54. $ mount -i -t ecryptfs -oecryptfs_sig=1000100010001000,\
  55. ecryptfs_cipher=aes,ecryptfs_key_bytes=32 /secret /secret