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Table of Contents
- 1. CISS.debian.live.builder
- 2. CISS.debian.live.builder – Boot & Trust Chain (Technical Documentation)
- 3. Overview
- 4. Primitives & Parameters (concise)
- 5. End-to-End Boot Flow
- 6. LUKS/dm-integrity Layering
- 7. Build-Time Core Step (LUKS)
- 8. Early ISO-Edge Verification (CISS modified hook 0030, live-bottom)
- 9. Late Root-FS Attestation and dmsetup Health (CISS hook 0045, live-bottom)
- 10. Failure Policy (fail-closed, deterministic)
- 11. Dropbear (Hardened Remotely Unlock)
- 12. Integration Points & Paths
- 13. Diagram: Trust Chain & Verification Paths
- 14. Closing Remark
1. CISS.debian.live.builder
Centurion Intelligence Consulting Agency Information Security Standard
Debian Live Build Generator for hardened live environment and CISS Debian Installer
Master Version: 8.13
Build: V8.13.408.2025.11.13
2. CISS.debian.live.builder – Boot & Trust Chain (Technical Documentation)
Status: 2025-11-12
Audience: CICA CISO, CISS staff, technically proficient administrators
Summary: The CISS.debian Live-ISO establishes a two-stage verification chain without Microsoft-db: an early ISO-edge check (signature and FPR pin) before LUKS unlock, and a late root-FS attestation after unlock, reinforced by dm-crypt (AES-XTS) and dm-integrity (HMAC-SHA-512).
3. Overview
-
Trust anchor: Pinned fingerprint (FPR) of the signing key embedded at build time in initramfs hooks.
-
Integrity & authenticity verification:
- Early: Verify
sha512sum.txtat the ISO edge usinggpgvand FPR pin. - Late: Verify an attestation hash list inside the decrypted root FS using
gpgvand FPR pin.
- Early: Verify
-
Storage-level AEAD (functional):
dm-crypt(AES-XTS-512) anddm-integrity(HMAC-SHA-512, 4 KiB). -
Remotely unlock: Hardened Dropbear (modern primitives only), no passwords, no agent/forwarding.
4. Primitives & Parameters (concise)
| Component | Primitive / Parameter | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| LUKS2 | aes-xts-plain64, --key-size 512, --sector-size 4096 |
Confidentiality (2×256-bit XTS) |
| dm-integrity | hmac-sha512 (keyed), journal |
Adversary-resistant per-sector integrity/authenticity |
| PBKDF | argon2id, --iter-time 1000 ms |
Key derivation, hardware-agnostic |
| Signatures | Ed25519, RSA-4096 (FPR pinned) | Public verifiability, non-repudiation |
| Verification | gpgv --no-default-keyring |
No agent dependency in initramfs |
| Hash lists | sha512sum format |
Deterministic content verification |
| Dropbear | Modern KEX/AEAD (per localoptions.h) |
Minimal attack surface, remote unlock |
5. End-to-End Boot Flow
sequenceDiagram
autonumber
participant FW as UEFI/BIOS
participant GRUB as GRUB
participant K as Kernel
participant I as initramfs + live-boot
participant D as Dropbear (optional)
participant C30 as CISS 0030 (early verify)
participant C22 as CISS 0024 (unlock)
participant LUKS as LUKS2 + dm-integrity
participant RS as RootFS (SquashFS/Overlay)
participant C42 as CISS 0042 (late attestation)
FW->>GRUB: Load kernel + initramfs
GRUB->>K: Boot kernel
K->>I: Pivot to initramfs (live-boot phases)
I->>D: (optional) Start Dropbear (remote unlock)
I->>C30: Run 0030: Verify ISO edge (gpgv, FPR pin)
alt 0030 OK
C30-->>I: Verified
else 0030 FAIL
C30-x I: Abort boot
end
I->>C24: Run 0024: LUKS open (dm-crypt + integrity), mount SquashFS
C24->>LUKS: Unlock (Argon2id PBKDF → XTS + HMAC)
I->>RS: Assemble overlay, switch_root
I->>C42: Run 0042: Verify root FS (gpgv, FPR pin) + dmsetup health
alt 0042 OK
C42-->>I: Verified
else 0045 FAIL
C42-x I: Abort boot
end
6. LUKS/dm-integrity Layering
flowchart TD;
%%
A[Plain device (/live/rootfs.crypt)] --> B[dm-integrity (HMAC-SHA-512, 4 KiB)];
B --> C[dm-crypt (AES-XTS-512)];
C --> D[Mapped device /dev/mapper/crypt_liveiso];
D --> E[SquashFS mount /run/live/rootfs];
Note: Encrypt-then-MAC at the block layer (functionally AEAD-equivalent). Any manipulation ⇒ hard I/O error.
7. Build-Time Core Step (LUKS)
cryptsetup luksFormat \
--batch-mode \
--cipher aes-xts-plain64 \
--integrity hmac-sha512 \
--iter-time 1000 \
--key-file "/proc/$$/fd/${KEYFD}" \
--key-size 512 \
--label crypt_liveiso \
--luks2-keyslots-size 16777216 \
--luks2-metadata-size 4194304 \
--pbkdf argon2id \
--sector-size 4096 \
--type luks2 \
--use-random \
--verbose \
"${LUKSFS}"
Signing keys: Ed25519 and RSA-4096; FPR pinned at build time in hooks. Signing keys are additionally signed by an offline GPG Root-CA (out-of-band trust chain).
8. Early ISO-Edge Verification (CISS modified hook 0030, live-bottom)
Goal: Before consuming any medium content, verify:
- Detached signature of
sha512sum.txtusinggpgvagainst the embedded public key. - FPR pinning: Parse
VALIDSIGand require exact match with the build-time pinned FPR. - Optional: Script self-IA – hash the executed hook and compare against the signed list (drift/bitrot detector).
Core call (initramfs):
/usr/bin/gpgv --no-default-keyring --keyring "$KEYFILE" --status-fd 1 --verify sha512sum.txt.sig sha512sum.txt
# parse [GNUPG:] VALIDSIG ... <FPR> ...
9. Late Root-FS Attestation and dmsetup Health (CISS hook 0045, live-bottom)
Goal: After LUKS unlock, validate the decrypted contents and the actual mapping topology.
- Attestation files:
/.ciss/attest/rootfs.sha512[.sig] - Key source:
/etc/ciss/keys/*.gpg(accepted only if FPR == build-pin) - Health check:
dmsetup table --showkeys→ topcrypt(AES-XTS), childintegrity(HMAC-SHA-512, 4096 B)
Core calls (initramfs):
# 1) Signature and FPR pin (no agent)
/usr/bin/gpgv --no-default-keyring --keyring "$KEYFILE" --status-fd 1 --verify "$SIG" "$DATA"
# 2) Optional: Content hash verification
( cd "$ROOTMP" && /usr/bin/sha512sum -c --strict --quiet "$DATA" )
# 3) dmsetup health
dmsetup table --showkeys /dev/mapper/crypt_liveiso
dmsetup table --showkeys CHILD # expect integrity hmac sha512 4096
10. Failure Policy (fail-closed, deterministic)
- Abort on: missing
VALIDSIG, FPR mismatch, missing key/signature, or a deviatingdmsetuptopology.
11. Dropbear (Hardened Remotely Unlock)
• Public-key auth only, no passwords
• Modern KEX/AEAD (e.g., curve25519, sntrup761x25519-sha512, mlkem768x25519-sha256; AES-GCM)
• No agent/X11/TCP forwarding, no SFTP
• Strict timeouts/keep-alives, restricted cipher/KEX set
• Port 42137 (per CISS convention)
Concrete selection compiled via your localoptions.h at ISO build time.
12. Integration Points & Paths
- Hooks (build view):
/usr/lib/live/boot/0022-ciss-overlay-tmpfs,/usr/lib/live/boot/0024-ciss-crypt-squash,/usr/lib/live/boot/0026-ciss-early-sysctl,/usr/lib/live/boot/0030-ciss-verify-checksums,/usr/lib/live/boot/0042-ciss-post-decrypt-attest,
- Hooks (boot view):
/scripts/live-premount/0022-ciss-overlay-tmpfs,/scripts/live-premount/0024-ciss-crypt-squash,/scripts/live-premount/0026-ciss-early-sysctl,/scripts/live-bottom/0030-ciss-verify-checksums,/scripts/live-bottom/0042-ciss-post-decrypt-attest
- Key files:
- ISO edge (for 0030): embedded public key blob (project-specific fpr)
- Root FS (for 0042):
/etc/ciss/keys/<FPR>.gpg
- Mounts (typical):
/run/live/rootfs,/run/live/overlay
13. Diagram: Trust Chain & Verification Paths
flowchart TD;
%%
A[Build time: pin EXP_FPR + embed ISO key] --> B[ISO artifacts: sha512sum.txt + .sig];
B --> C[Boot early (0030): gpgv verify + FPR pin];
C -->|OK| D[LUKS open (0025)];
D --> E[Mount RootFS];
E --> F[Boot late (0045): gpgv verify + FPR pin (root key)];
F --> G[dmsetup health: crypt(XTS) over integrity(HMAC-SHA-512)];
C -- FAIL --> X[Abort];
F -- FAIL --> X;
G -- FAIL --> X;
14. Closing Remark
This achieves a portable, self-contained trust chain without a Microsoft-db, providing strong protection against medium tampering, bitrot and active attacks both before and after decryption. The dual verification phases plus dmsetup health make the state transparent and deterministic.
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