[Bug 1506995] Re: Ubiquity facilitate attack on crypto LUKS

[Patrik Nilsson]

If the attacker knows what is useful information, it is much easier for
him to get the information wanted. If the attacker knows what is zero
data, it is much easier to get the information wanted.

A chain gets as weak as the weakest link in the chain.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1506995

Title:
  Ubiquity facilitate attack on crypto LUKS

Status in ubiquity package in Ubuntu:
  Triaged
Status in user-setup package in Ubuntu:
  Triaged

Bug description:
  In Ubiquity's script/user-setup-encrypted-swap, the crypt partition is
  zeroed. This leaves it more vulnerable to attacks. The attacker knows
  the partition is zeroed and can more easily find the encryption key.

  The included patch solves this issue, but this can also be done in a
  faster way by using openssl.

  Patched lines:

  dd if=/dev/urandom of=$device bs=16M seek=1 2>/dev/null || true

  Alternative approch:

  openssl enc -aes-256-ctr -pass pass:"$(dd if=/dev/urandom bs=128
  count=1 2>/dev/null | base64)" -nosalt < /dev/zero | head -c $size |
  dd of=$target

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