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

[Julian Andres Klode]

The issue reported here is that /boot is not encrypted in the supported
configurations. Which is meh - we don't have much authenticated
encryption, so boot can still be manipulated. Sealed TPM measurements
address the problem of verifying the bootloader, kernel, initrd, and the
configuration better. It does not provide security by obfuscation as
encryption does, but that obfuscation can be circumvented - you can
modify an encrypted boot partition and still get a working system - and
authenticated encryption that would also authenticate the content is not
stable yet.

I cannot say much on the other issue raised in recent comments on dual
boot setups not installing encrypted, but I fail to see how it's related
to this bug report

I do want to point out that with devices now being sold with BitLocker
out of the box, that you do have to disable BitLocker first to even get
the ability to install another OS, so I fail to see how that improves
the situation for dual boot users who need encryption.

But in any case adding comments to bugs that are unrelated to the bug is
not really helpful, you end up with nobody knowing what people are
talking about anymore.

Hence my suggestion would be to open a new bug report against ubiquity
describing the dual boot setup issues so that that can be tracked on its
own and we don't have to discuss two bugs in one bug report.

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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:
  Confirmed

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

  **EDIT**
  Refer to comment #47 for an alternative version.

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