remove cryptkeeper (#5864) · Issues · tails / tails

remove cryptkeeper

Originally created by Tails on #5864 (Redmine)

Wikipedia lists the following disadvantages (by design) of EncFS (used by CryptKeeper, which we are shipping):

EncFS volumes cannot be formatted with an arbitrary filesystem. They share the same features and restrictions as the filesystem containing the source directory.
Fragmentation of the encrypted volume causes fragmentation of the filesystem containing the source directory.
Anyone having access to the source directory is able to see how many files are in the encrypted filesystem, what permissions they have, their approximate size, and the last time they were accessed or modified.

The last point is especially worrying from a security POV (no leaks are good) and show why encrypted filesystems like EncFS are inferior to full disk encryption solutions like LUKS. Since persistence is implemented, and is using LUKS, we should consider removing CryptKeeper to stop encouraging its use.

done in Tails 0.12.

Related issues

Related to #6622 (closed)

_Originally created by Tails on [#5864 (Redmine)](https://public-redmine-archive.tails.boum.org/code/issues/5864)_

Wikipedia [lists](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encfs#Disadvantages) the
following disadvantages (by design) of EncFS (used by CryptKeeper, which
we are shipping):

- EncFS volumes cannot be formatted with an arbitrary filesystem. They
    share the same features and restrictions as the filesystem
    containing the source directory.
  - Fragmentation of the encrypted volume causes fragmentation of the
    filesystem containing the source directory.
  - Anyone having access to the source directory is able to see how many
    files are in the encrypted filesystem, what permissions they have,
    their approximate size, and the last time they were accessed or
    modified.

The last point is especially worrying from a security POV (no leaks are
good) and show why encrypted filesystems like EncFS are inferior to full
disk encryption solutions like LUKS. Since
[persistence](./persistence.html) is implemented, and is using LUKS, we
should consider removing CryptKeeper to stop encouraging its use.

> done in Tails 0.12.

### Related issues

- **Related to** tails/tails#6622

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