[Bug 1773457] Re: Full-system encryption needs to be supported out-of-the-box including /boot and should not delete other installed systems

[Paddy Landau]

@Jonathan Polom (s0nic0nslaught)

Thank you for the extra information.

The full-system encryption linked in the OP solves the part about /boot
being accessed, which is a good thing.

That leaves only three parts to be solved.

1. The error with Grub, which has been reported:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub2/+bug/1062623

2. As you rightly say, the need to properly sign the Ubuntu kernel and
initrd files. I think that this should be raised as a bug report if
Ubuntu is to be taken seriously in corporate, government and other
fields. So, on that note, how specifically should this bug be raised?
I'll be happy to raise it if I know the specifics of what needs to be
reported. Alternatively, if you know the details, perhaps you could
please raise it and post the link here?

3. Implementing this process in the standard Ubuntu installer, which is
what this bug request is about.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1773457

Title:
  Full-system encryption needs to be supported out-of-the-box including
  /boot and should not delete other installed systems

Status in grub2 package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed
Status in ubiquity package in Ubuntu:
  Incomplete

Bug description:
  In today's world, especially with the likes of the EU's GDPR and the
  many security fails, Ubuntu installer needs to support full-system
  encryption out of the box.

  This means encrypting not only /home but also both root and /boot. The
  only parts of the system that wouldn't be encrypted are the EFI
  partition and the initial Grub bootloader, for obvious reasons.

  It should also not delete other installed systems unless explicitly
  requested.

  On top of this, the previous method of encrypting data (ecryptfs) is
  now considered buggy, and full-disk encryption is recommended as an
  alternative. Unfortunately, the current implementation of full-disk
  encryption wipes any existing OS such as Windows, making the
  implementation unusable for most users.

  Now, using LUKS and LVM, it is already possible to have full-disk
  encryption (strictly, full-partition encryption because it leaves any
  existing OS alone), while encrypting /boot. Reference:

  https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ManualFullSystemEncryption

  ... but with one major limitation: Grub is incorrectly changed after
  an update affecting the kernel or Grub, so that a manual Grub update
  is required each time this happens (this is fully covered in the
  linked instructions).

  If the incorrect Grub change is fixed, it should be (relatively)
  simple to support full-system encryption in the installer.

  Further information (2018-08-17):

  The NCSC recommends, "Use LUKS/dm-crypt to provide full volume encryption."
  References:
  • https://blog.ubuntu.com/2018/07/30/national-cyber-security-centre-publish-ubuntu-18-04-lts-security-guide
  • https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/eud-security-guidance-ubuntu-1804-lts

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