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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Storing SSH keys on gnome-keyring, kwallet, ibsecret or similar (feddit.it)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

14 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I don't like my ssh keys being stored in plain sight, I also don't like having to type a passphrase to use them.

On windows, once you run ssh-add, the key is stored in a secure way and managed by some kind of session manager (source), at that point you can delete the key file and go about your life knowing that the key is safe and you won't need to type a password again.

I would like something similar on linux, like storing the key via libsecret as you do with git, so that you can access your servers without having a key in plain text.

I think it's possible to generate a key with a passphrase and have gnome-keyring or kwallet remember the passphrase, but it would be nicer to just securely store the key itself.

Can that be done?

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[–] [email protected] -5 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Your ssh private keys are safe, assuming nobody has physical access to your home directory. You can configure them to not require a password.

If someone has physical access to your computer then they could become compromised. If you are worried about that you could encrypt the whole drive.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 months ago

Unless some sandboxing or other explicit security measure is in place, any software you run typically has access to your entire home directory, including .ssh/. If any one of those was compromised somehow, they've got access to your SSH keys.

That's a gigantic attack surface if you ask me.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (2 children)

It's not a solution.

Example: there's another user with sudo access, he has access to my home folder, encrypting the drive doesn't solve anything. Or maybe you just are not the system administrator.

It's not my usecase, but it's definitely a reasonable situation.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

You can encrypt your /home separate with another password.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Anyone with sudo access can keylog your password