Introducing Airgap OS

Airgap OS is a live amnesic operating system that prevents network communication. It is designed for security purposes.

Here are some typical use-cases where Airgap OS may be useful:

• handling highly confidential data,
• using and storing PKI root private key,
• handling information in covert operations abroad,
• storing cryptocurrency cold wallet keys.

Features

• Debian bookworn (12) based Linux with MATE Desktop.
• x86-64 architecture (open an issue if you need another one).
• LibreOffice, VLC, GIMP and other usual tools.
• Unprivileged manipulation of storage devices.
• Only 1G of RAM required.
• Keepass2.
• steghide.
• GnuPG2 with graphical interface.
• age.
• crypt0 and sign0 for long term data protection.
• xca and OpenSSL for PKI management.
• Smartcard support.
• Yubikey related softwares.

Getting started: download the ISO

Download the ISO from the release section of this repository and burn it to a DVD or a flashdrive.

The default password is changeme and the default keyboard layout is QWERTY.

Security

The security model of Airgap OS should prevent the vast majority of cyberattacks, including those involving 0days.

Integrity

Software integrity only relies on the integrity of the build environment, Debian and the content of this repository.

Integrity references can be found in /usr/share/Airgap-OS-integrity.txt.

Security features

Airgap OS have the following security properties.

• There is no way to communicate with the OS through IP protocols coming from outside.
• Unprivileged software cannot communicate with the outside world through IP protocols.

Security limitations

Here are some known security limitations.

• In the event of malicious physical access to the used device, a lot of scary shit can happen.
• Firmwares may have their own network stacks that are out of control from the OS. This can be solved by physically removing or neutralizing network hardware.
• A privileged malware may enable networking again. This can be solved by physically removing or neutralizing network hardware or by disabling them in pre-boot environment.
• A privileged malware may alter the ISO image. This can be solved by using a read-only storage.
• An unprivileged malware could use a covert channel to communicate with attackers. The range of such channels is usually short.
• Data could leak through various side channels, like TEMPEST.
• I have no ways to protect my build environment from 3 letters actors. Build the ISO yourself to avoid this issue. :-)

Build

Install deboostrap and run ./build.sh as root. You may want to use the provided Dockerfile to create a build environment. When building in a Docker container, run it with --privileged=true in order to allow internal mounts.