Whonix-Gateway Security

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This page is targeted at users who wish to improve the security of their Whonix-Gateway to become even more secure.

Introduction

Whonix comes with many security features . Whonix is Kicksecure^™ hardened by default and also provides extensive Documentation including a System Hardening Checklist. The more you know, the safer you can be.

This page is targeted at users who wish to improve the security of their Whonix-Gateway to become even more secure.

AppArmor

According to debian.org:

AppArmor is a Mandatory Access Control framework. When enabled, AppArmor confines programs according to a set of rules that specify what files a given program can access. This proactive approach helps protect the system against both known and unknown vulnerabilities.

AppArmor provides a number of advantages:

• It protects the operating system and applications from external or internal threats, including zero-day attacks.
• "Good behavior" is enforced and it mitigates exploits via unknown application flaws.
• AppArmor security policies define the system resources that individual applications can access, and with what privileges. For instance:
  • Network access.
  • Raw socket access.
  • Read, write or execute file permissions on specific paths.

It is recommended to use the Whonix AppArmor profiles which are available for various programs that run in both Whonix-Gateway^™ and Whonix-Workstation^™, such as Tor, Tor Browser, Thunderbird and more. The profiles are easy to apply and provide a considerable security benefit.

General Advice

Warning: Only use Whonix-Gateway (sys-whonix) for running Tor!

If Whonix-Gateway (sys-whonix) is ever compromised, the attacker can discover:

• The user's identity (public IP address).
• All destinations visited.
• The entirety of clear-text and onion service communication over Tor.

Before installing any extra packages in Whonix-Gateway, first consult the developers to check whether that is necessary and wise. As a rule of thumb, no additional programs should be run in Whonix-Gateway (sys-whonix).

Seccomp

According to Mozilla:

Seccomp stands for secure computing mode. It is a simple sandboxing tool in the Linux kernel, available since Linux version 2.6.12. When enabling seccomp, the process enters a "secure mode" where a very small number of system calls are available (exit(), read(), write(), sigreturn()). Writing code to work in this environment is difficult; for example, dynamic memory allocation (using brk() or mmap(), either directly or to implement malloc()) is not possible.

It is recommended to enable seccomp on Whonix-Gateway (Qubes-Whonix^™: sys-whonix), since it is easily applied and provides additional sandboxing protection for the Tor process. Be aware that pluggable transports like obfs4, meek-lite and Snowflake are incompatible with seccomp.

Note: Enabling seccomp on Whonix-Gateway currently prevents Tor from connecting. Help is most welcome, see: Cannot use Seccomp in sys-whonix after update.

Open file /usr/local/etc/torrc.d/50_user.conf in a text editor of your choice with sudoedit.

If you are using Qubes-Whonix^™, complete the following steps.

Qubes App Launcher (blue/grey "Q") → Whonix-Gateway™ ProxyVM (commonly named sys-whonix) → Tor User Config (Torrc)

If you are using a graphical Whonix-Gateway, complete the following steps.

Start Menu → Applications → Settings → /usr/local/etc/torrc.d/50_user.conf

If you are using a terminal-only Whonix-Gateway, complete the following steps. sudoedit /usr/local/etc/torrc.d/50_user.conf

Add.

Sandbox 1

Save and exit.

Tor Connection Padding

From Tor 3.1.7 onward, connection padding is available for the Tor process. This setting helps to resist traffic analysis, as The Tor Project explains (emphasis added):

Connections between clients and relays now send a padding cell in each direction every 1.5 to 9.5 seconds (tunable via consensus parameters). This padding will not resist specialized eavesdroppers, but it should be enough to make many ISPs’ routine network flow logging less useful in traffic analysis against Tor users.

Padding is negotiated using Tor’s link protocol, so both relays and clients must upgrade for this to take effect. Clients may still send padding despite the relay’s version by setting ConnectionPadding 1 in torrc, and may disable padding by setting ConnectionPadding 0 in torrc.

Note that since most relays are on the latest versions, keeping it on automatic is acceptable for anonymity, but setting it to 1 will not cause significant security or usability issues and may even help if you are connected to a relay running an older version of Tor.

Follow these steps to enable connection padding.

Open file /usr/local/etc/torrc.d/50_user.conf in a text editor of your choice with sudoedit.

If you are using Qubes-Whonix^™, complete the following steps.

Qubes App Launcher (blue/grey "Q") → Whonix-Gateway™ ProxyVM (commonly named sys-whonix) → Tor User Config (Torrc)

If you are using a graphical Whonix-Gateway, complete the following steps.

Start Menu → Applications → Settings → /usr/local/etc/torrc.d/50_user.conf

If you are using a terminal-only Whonix-Gateway, complete the following steps. sudoedit /usr/local/etc/torrc.d/50_user.conf

Add.

ConnectionPadding 1

Save and exit.

Forum discussion:
Tor Connection Padding

Warning: Bridged Networking

Note: While similar in name, there are two very different things.

• A) Bridges: These are used for censorship circumvention, to get around network bans. These are unrealted to this topic. For bridges, see its dedicated wiki page Bridges.
• B) Bridged Networking: This is a virtualizer specific setting such as in VirtualBox that can in theory be changed on the host operating system. For more information, see below in this wiki chapter.

Do not change VirtualBox settings on the host operating system for Whonix-Gateway's first or second network interface to a bridged network! This is unsupported, untested and should not be necessary. Users who feel it is necessary in their circumstances should get in contact for the purpose of community feedback.

For further interest, here is a discussion thread, and another one, debating whether NAT or a bridged network is more secure.

• https://forums.whonix.org/t/no-internet-connection-whonix-gateway/9077
• https://forums.whonix.org/t/help-connecting-2-network-cards-virtualbox/20113

Footnotes

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