Linux Kernel Runtime Guard (LKRG) in Qubes OS Debian or Kicksecure for Qubes VMs

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HowTo: Install LKRG in Qubes Debian or Kicksecure-Qubes Template

Info This page is archived.

Deprecated for now, see LKRG deprecation in Kicksecure.

Linux Kernel Runtime Guard (LKRG) protects the kernel. It provides security through diversity and has a similar effect to running an uncommon operating system (kernel). [1]

LKRG renders whole classes of kernel exploits ineffective, while making other exploits less reliable and more difficult to write; see features and security. LKRG was developed by a security professional with reviews undertaken by other high profile security professionals; see authorship. For further information, refer to the main LKRG entry.

The instructions below explain how to install LKRG in Qubes Debian-based VMs. Most users will want to apply these instructions in the Qubes Debian Template.

Kicksecure-Qubes is supported as well, but in that case the steps to add the signing key and repository should be skipped because they are already present in Kicksecure-Qubes.

For all other platforms , see LKRG.

Qubes VM Kernel[edit]

Since LKRG is a kernel module, it is required (and advisable) to reconfigure the VM to use a Qubes VM kernel. [2]

Any issues with Qubes VM kernel should not be confused with LKRG. Otherwise, LKRG could be falsely suspected of causing unrelated issues, which wastes time in successfully completing the configuration.

  1. Follow the Qubes OS Installing kernel in Debian VMarchive.org iconarchive.today icon instructions.
  2. Ensure the Qubes VM kernel is functional before proceeding -- Qubes VM kernel issues should be raised at Qubes supportarchive.org iconarchive.today icon and not in Kicksecure forums. [3] [4]
  3. Reboot dom0 with Qubes VM kernel. This is because Qubes VM kernel might break unrelated things such as the USB VM. [5]
  4. Once the Qubes VM kernel is functional, proceed with the following instructions.


Add Repository[edit]

Info Skip this step in Kicksecure-Qubes.

There are two different options to enable the Kicksecure APT repository. Choose one. [6]

Using extrepo

1. Install package extrepo.

sudo apt install extrepo

2. Enable the stable kicksecure APT repository. (See footnote for other options.) [7]

A : Kicksecure

===

Kicksecure

sudo extrepo enable kicksecure

B : Kicksecure for Qubes Template

===

Kicksecure-Qubes Template (kicksecure-17)

sudo http_proxy=http://127.0.0.1:8082 https_proxy=http://127.0.0.1:8082 extrepo enable kicksecure

3. Advanced options.

For advanced options such as clearnet over Tor or onion. [8]

Please press on expand on the right side.

Optional.

Install apt-transport-tor.

Install package(s) apt-transport-tor following these instructions

1 Platform specific notice.

2 Update the package lists and upgrade the systemOnion network Logo.

sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade

3 Install the apt-transport-tor package(s).

Using apt command line --no-install-recommends optionOnion network Logo is in most cases optional.

sudo apt install --no-install-recommends apt-transport-tor

4 Platform specific notice.

  • Kicksecure: No special notice.
  • Kicksecure-Qubes: Shut down Template and restart App Qubes based on it as per Qubes Template ModificationOnion network Logo.

5 Done.

The procedure of installing package(s) apt-transport-tor is complete.

Find out filename.

ls -la /etc/apt/sources.list.d/extrepo_*

NOTE: Filename will be different if using a repository other than the stable repository such as the testers repository.

Open file /etc/apt/sources.list.d/extrepo_kicksecure.sources in an editor with root rights.

Select your platform.

Kicksecure

See Open File with Root RightsOnion network Logo for detailed instructions on why to use sudoedit for better security and how to use it.

Note: Mousepad (or the chosen text editor) must be closed before running the sudoedit command.

sudoedit /etc/apt/sources.list.d/extrepo_kicksecure.sources

Kicksecure for Qubes

NOTES:

sudoedit /etc/apt/sources.list.d/extrepo_kicksecure.sources

  • After applying this change, shutdown the Template.
  • All App Qubes based on the Template need to be restarted if they were already running.
  • This is a general procedure required for Qubes and unspecific to Kicksecure for Qubes.

Others and Alternatives

  • This is just an example. Other tools could achieve the same goal.
  • If this example does not work for you or if you are not using Kicksecure, please refer to this link.

sudoedit /etc/apt/sources.list.d/extrepo_kicksecure.sources

Choose either option A) or B).

  • A) Clearnet over Tor Repository: To enable clearnet over Tor, tor+ needs do be prepended in front of the https. The same in other words, look for Uris: https and replace it with Uris: tor+https .
  • B) Onion Repository: To enable onion, look for the line starting with Uris:. Delete the whole line. Or out-comment it by adding as hash ("#") in front of it. Then add a new line: Uris: tor+http://deb.w5j6stm77zs6652pgsij4awcjeel3eco7kvipheu6mtr623eyyehj4yd.onion

4. Done.

The Kicksecure APT repository has been enabled [9]

Manually

Add Signing Key

Complete the following steps to add the Kicksecure Signing Key to the system's APT keyring.

Open a terminal.

1. Package curl needs to be installed.

Install package(s) curl following these instructions

1 Platform specific notice.

2 Update the package lists and upgrade the systemOnion network Logo.

sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade

3 Install the curl package(s).

Using apt command line --no-install-recommends optionOnion network Logo is in most cases optional.

sudo apt install --no-install-recommends curl

4 Platform specific notice.

  • Kicksecure: No special notice.
  • Kicksecure-Qubes: Shut down Template and restart App Qubes based on it as per Qubes Template ModificationOnion network Logo.

5 Done.

The procedure of installing package(s) curl is complete.

2. Download Kicksecure Signing Key. [10]

Choose your operating system.

A : Debian

If you are using Debian, run.

Choose TLS or onion.

TLS (Debian)

sudo curl --tlsv1.3 --output /usr/share/keyrings/derivative.asc --url https://www.kicksecure.com/keys/derivative.asc

onion (Debian)

Downloading over onion requires an already functional system Tor.

sudo torsocks curl --output /usr/share/keyrings/derivative.asc --url http://www.w5j6stm77zs6652pgsij4awcjeel3eco7kvipheu6mtr623eyyehj4yd.onion/keys/derivative.asc

B : Qubes

If you are using a Qubes Debian Template, run.

Choose TLS or onion.

TLS (Qubes)

sudo http_proxy=http://127.0.0.1:8082 https_proxy=http://127.0.0.1:8082 curl --tlsv1.3 --output /usr/share/keyrings/derivative.asc --url https://www.kicksecure.com/keys/derivative.asc

onion (Qubes)

Downloading over onion requires an already functional system Tor.

sudo torsocks curl --output /usr/share/keyrings/derivative.asc --url http://www.w5j6stm77zs6652pgsij4awcjeel3eco7kvipheu6mtr623eyyehj4yd.onion/keys/derivative.asc

3. Users can check Kicksecure Signing Key for better security.

4. Done.

The procedure of adding the Kicksecure signing key is now complete.

Add Repository

Add the Kicksecure APT Repository.

Choose either: Option A, Option B OR Option C

A : Onion Rep.

Option A: Add Kicksecure Onion Repository.

To add Kicksecure Repository over Onion please install apt-transport-tor from the Debian repository.

sudo apt install apt-transport-tor

Add Kicksecure APT repository for default Kicksecure using Debian stable. At the time of writing this was bookworm.

echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/derivative.asc] tor+http://deb.w5j6stm77zs6652pgsij4awcjeel3eco7kvipheu6mtr623eyyehj4yd.onion bookworm main contrib non-free" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/derivative.list

B : Clearnet Rep. via Tor

Option B: Add Kicksecure Clearnet Repository over Tor.

To add Kicksecure Repository over torified clearnet install apt-transport-tor from the Debian repository.

sudo apt install apt-transport-tor

Add Kicksecure APT repository for default Kicksecure using Debian stable. At the time of writing this was bookworm.

echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/derivative.asc] tor+https://deb.kicksecure.com bookworm main contrib non-free" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/derivative.list

C : Clearnet Rep.

Option C: Add Kicksecure Clearnet Repository over clearnet.

NOTE: When later using Kicksecure repository tool, then this will be upgraded to "Clearnet Rep. via Tor", unless see footnote. [11]

To add Kicksecure Repository over clearnet please add Kicksecure APT repository for default Kicksecure using Debian stable. At the time of writing this was bookworm.

echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/derivative.asc] https://deb.kicksecure.com bookworm main contrib non-free" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/derivative.list

The procedure of adding the Kicksecure repository is now complete.

Install LKRG[edit]

Testers only! Warning: This is for testers-only!

Install LKRG.

Install package(s) lkrg-dkms linux-headers-amd64 following these instructions

1 Platform specific notice.

2 Update the package lists and upgrade the systemOnion network Logo.

sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade

3 Install the lkrg-dkms linux-headers-amd64 package(s).

Using apt command line --no-install-recommends optionOnion network Logo is in most cases optional.

sudo apt install --no-install-recommends lkrg-dkms linux-headers-amd64

4 Platform specific notice.

  • Kicksecure: No special notice.
  • Kicksecure-Qubes: Shut down Template and restart App Qubes based on it as per Qubes Template ModificationOnion network Logo.

5 Done.

The procedure of installing package(s) lkrg-dkms linux-headers-amd64 is complete.

The LKRG installation procedure is complete. Interested users can learn more, consider additional hardening and so on; see here for further information.

Credits and Source Code[edit]

The originalarchive.org iconarchive.today icon source software is maintained by Adam "pi3" Zabrocki. See also: LKRG authorship.

This website with Qubes instructions and LKRG Debian Package Website is the software forkarchive.org iconarchive.today icon homepage for LKRG, with a focus on easy installation, added user documentation, and integration with Kicksecure, Debian, Whonix and other distributions. The software fork source code can be found herearchive.org iconarchive.today icon.

References[edit]

Qubes ticket: make Linux Kernel Runtime Guard (LKRG) easily avaialble in Qubesarchive.org iconarchive.today icon

  1. ↑ https://lkrg.org/archive.org iconarchive.today icon
  2. ↑ cannot compile LKRG (Linux Kernel Runtime Guard) with Qubes dom0 kernel / broken gcc plugins structleak_plugin.so latent_entropy_plugin.soarchive.org iconarchive.today icon This probably occurs due to this recently closed issue which has only filtered through to Qubes OS master branches, but not the stable branches: kernel-devel package have broken gcc pluginarchive.org iconarchive.today icon. The dom0 kernel compilation bug might be fixed after upgrades. It is unclear if it would then be advisable to use dom0 kernel.
  3. ↑ https://forums.whonix.org/t/what-to-post-in-this-qubes-whonix-forum-and-what-not/2275archive.org iconarchive.today icon
  4. ↑ Qubes feature request: Simplify and promote using in-vm kernelarchive.org iconarchive.today icon
  5. ↑ As experienced firsthand by Kicksecure developer Patrick Schleizer.
  6. ↑ extrepo vs manual:
    • Usability:
      • There are some detail usability differences. Using onion connection might be easier with manual method until Kicksecure gets ported to Debian 13 / trixie because extrepo might get onion support then.
      • Apart from that, extrepo's usability seems generally better.
    • Security:
      • A detailed comparative research of both methods is unavailable.
      • If usability is considered a security feature, then extrepo might be considered more secure. This is because users do not have to learn as much about Verifying Software Signatures, OpenPGP, its many Software Signature Verification Usability Issues. Debian which is already trusted by the user providing a trust path to the Kicksecure signing key. Manual key fingerprint verification not required.
      • The extrepo project is a huge amount of work adding all the signing keys for many different projects. The code for securely downloading a signing key in the Python is not among the most difficult programming tasks to get correct. Compared with curl (written in C), it might be more secure.
    • Keeping support for manual method:
      • Removal of the manual method is not planned. Since already written, the maintenance effort for that very part of documentation is low. In case extrepo signing key is outdated, get deprecated, it's easy to switch back to manual method.
  7. ↑ stable-proposed-updates repository: sudo extrepo enable kicksecure_proposed testers repository: sudo extrepo enable kicksecure_testers developers repository: sudo extrepo enable kicksecure_developers
  8. ↑ extrepo feature request: extrepo apt-transport-tor and onion supportarchive.org iconarchive.today icon
  9. ↑ forum discussion: extrepo - safely adding reposarchive.org iconarchive.today icon
  10. ↑ See Secure Downloads to understand why curl and the parameters --tlsv1.3 are used instead of wget.

    Placing an additional signing key into folder /usr/share/keyrings by itself alone has no impact on security as this folder is not automatically used by Debian's APT by default. Only when an APT sources list configuration file points to folder /usr/share/keyrings using the signed-by keyword the signing key will be actually used. Therefore deleting keys in /usr/share/keyrings is optional if intending to disable an APT repository. See also APT Signing Key Folders.
  11. ↑ Unless using repository-dist --transport plain-tls. See also man repository-dist.
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