From 31e14936be171855c49edc0922bc109b5a1e4d65 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Jakob Unterwurzacher
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 2015 23:20:21 +0200
Subject: Split off SECURITY.md

---
 SECURITY.md | 94 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 94 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 SECURITY.md

(limited to 'SECURITY.md')

diff --git a/SECURITY.md b/SECURITY.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dcd16c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/SECURITY.md
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+GoCryptFS Security
+==================
+
+"Security" can be split into "Confidentiality" and "Integrity". The
+security level gocryptfs provides for each is discussed in the next
+sections.
+
+Confidentiality
+---------------
+
+Confidentiality means that information cannot be extracted from the
+encrypted data unless you know the key.
+
+### File Contents
+
+* All file contents (even the last bytes) are encrypted using AES-256-GCM
+ * This is unbreakable in the foreseeable future. Attacks will focus on
+   cracking the password instead (see section "Master Key Storage").
+* Files are segmented into 4096 byte blocks
+* Each block gets a fresh random 96 bit IV (none) each time it is written.
+ * This means that identical blocks can not be identified
+
+### File Names
+
+* File names are encrypted using AES-256-CBC because it is robust even
+  without using an IV
+* The file names are padded to multiples of 16 bytes
+ * This means that the exact length of the name is hidden, only length
+  ranges (1-16 bytes, 17-32 bytes etc.) can be determined from the encrypted
+  files
+* For technical reasons, no IV is used
+ * This means that files with the same name within one gocryptfs filesystem
+   always get the same encrypted name
+
+### Metadata
+
+* The size of the file is not hidden. The exact file size can be calculated
+  from the size of the encrypted file.
+* File owner, file permissions and timestamps are not hidden either
+
+Integrity
+---------
+
+Integrity means that the data cannot be modified in a meaningful way
+unless you have the key. The opposite of integrity is *malleability*.
+
+### File Contents
+
+* The used encryption, AES-256-GCM, is a variant of
+  *authenticated encryption*. Each block gets a 128 bit authentication
+  tag (GMAC) appended.
+ * This means that any modification inside a block will be detected when reading
+   the block and decryption will be aborted. The failure is logged and an
+   I/O error is returned to the user.
+* Each block uses its block number as GCM *authentication data*
+ * This means the position of the blocks is protected as well. The blocks
+   can not be reordered without causing an decryption error.
+* However, proper affiliation of a block to the file is can not be verified.
+ * This means that blocks can be copied between different files provided
+   that they stay at the same position. 
+* For technical reasons (sparse files), the special "all-zero" block is
+  always seen as a valid block that decrypts to all-zero plaintext.
+ * This means that whole blocks can be zeroed out
+
+### File Names
+
+* File names are only weakly protected against modifications.
+ * Changing a single byte causes a decode error in most of the
+   cases. The failure is logged and the file is no longer visible in the
+   directory.
+ * If no decode error is triggered, at least 16 bytes of the filename will
+   be corrupted (randomized).
+* However, file names can always be truncated to multiples of 16 bytes.
+
+### Metadata
+
+* The file size is not protected against modifications
+ * However, the block integrity protection limits modifications to block
+   size granularity.
+ * This means that files can be truncated to multiples of 4096 bytes.
+* Ownership, timestamp and permissions are not protected and can be changed
+  as usual.
+
+Master Key Storage
+------------------
+
+The *master key* is used to perform content and file name encryption.
+It is stored in `gocryptfs.conf`, encrypted with AES-256-GCM using the
+*unlock key*.
+
+The unlock key is generated from a user password using `scrypt`.
+A successful decryption of the master key means that the GMAC authentication
+passed and the password is correct. The master key is then used to
+mount the filesystem.
-- 
cgit v1.2.3