/ownkeepass

ownKeepass is a password safe application for Sailfish OS. It is build on top of KeepassXC database sources.

Primary LanguageQMLGNU General Public License v2.0GPL-2.0

ownKeepass

I am sorry to say but I don't have the time to continue working on ownKeepass. That might change but currenlty I am too exhausted by private issues and duties.

Bug reports go here - Translations here

Status

Development towards 2.0.0

  • Removed legacy code for Keepass 1 support
  • New created databases have now Keepass 2 file format
  • Default encryption algorithm, key derivation function (kdf) and key transformation rounds for a new Keepass 2 database can be adjusted in application settings

Release 1.2.6

  • Added support for KDBX 4 database format by changing database code from KeepassX to KeepassXC (many thanks to 24mu13)
  • Added support for new database cipher algorithms and key derivation functions like Twofish, Chacha20 and Argon2 for Keepass 2 databases
  • Show used database cipher, key derivation function and key transformation rounds for a Keepass 2 database in database settings dialog
  • Added new translation for Belgisch-Nederlands
  • Updated translations from transifex

Roadmap

List of planned features for ownKeepass to happen somewhere the next time. Priority in descending order.

  • Implement importing old Keepass 1 database into a new Keepass 2 database
  • Do some art work: new icons, wall paper, better support for light ambiances
  • Merge databases (local and remote copy) which have diverged e.g. when using Syncthing for syncing databases across devices
  • Integrate WebDav support for loading and saving Keepass database to a server (Has low prio since Syncthing works flawlessly here)

Building

In order to succesfully build this application, you need the following steps:

  • Clone this repository including the KeepassXC submodule (git clone --recursive)
  • Make sure the Sailfish OS Build Engine has the following packages. Currently these packages are only available from 3rd-party repositories.
    • libgcrypt18-devel (special handling needed, see below)
    • libargon2-devel
    • libsodium-devel
  • Build the project using Qt Creator

How to use a 3rd-party repository on Sailfish OS Build Engine

In order to use a 3rd-party repository, you need to add it to the Build Engine. First ssh into Sailfish OS build engine:

$ ssh -p 2222 -i ~/SailfishOS/vmshare/ssh/private_keys/engine/mersdk mersdk@localhost

Add the repository to all applicable Kits, e.g.:

$ sb2 -t SailfishOS-3.1.0.12-armv7hl -m sdk-install -R zypper ar -f http://repo.merproject.org/obs/home:/yeoldegrove:/crypt/sailfish_latest_armv7hl crypt
$ sb2 -t SailfishOS-3.1.0.12-armv7hl -m sdk-install -R zypper ar -f http://repo.merproject.org/obs/home:/nielnielsen/sailfish_latest_armv7hl sodium
$ sb2 -t SailfishOS-3.1.0.12-armv7hl -m sdk-install -R zypper ref
$ sb2 -t SailfishOS-3.1.0.12-i486 -m sdk-install -R zypper ar -f http://repo.merproject.org/obs/home:/yeoldegrove:/crypt/sailfish_latest_i486 crypt
$ sb2 -t SailfishOS-3.1.0.12-i486 -m sdk-install -R zypper ar -f http://repo.merproject.org/obs/home:/nielnielsen/latest_i486 sodium
$ sb2 -t SailfishOS-3.1.0.12-i486 -m sdk-install -R zypper ref

See also: https://gist.github.com/skvark/49a2f1904192b6db311a

Now with these repositories added the build engine can automatically install libargon2-devel and libsodium-devel as they are listed under PkgConfigBR in the harbour-ownkeepass.yaml config file.

However the libgcrypt18-devel package needs special handling. The build engine will refuse to install it automatically because it clashes with version 1.5 of libgcrypt-devel package from jolla official repo.

Thus it needs to be installed manually in the Sailfish OS Manage Targets tool or from command line:

$ sb2 -t SailfishOS-3.1.0.12-i486 -m sdk-install -R zypper in libgcrypt18-devel
$ sb2 -t SailfishOS-3.1.0.12-armv7hl -m sdk-install -R zypper in libgcrypt18-devel

Now building ownKeepass in Qt Creator should proceed succesfully.

What is this?

ownKeepass is a password safe application for the Jolla Smartphone with the purpose to protect sensible data like passwords for web pages, credit card numbers, PINs, TANs and other bits of information which should be kept secret. All that information is saved in a database file which is encrypted and stored locally on your phone. To open the database you need to know the master password of the database. ownKeepass can use Keepass version 1 and 2 databases. That means you can use Keepass or KeepassX on your desktop system to decrypt and open that database file, too.

Why?

I started to work on this project beginning of 2012 when QML started to get usable from development point of view for the Nokia N9. Writing a QML UI for the stable KeepassX 0.4.3 version was just born out of the idea to take my favourite Password Safe application to new Qt platforms like the Nokia N9. Although ownKeepass was quite usable for me on my Nokia N9 I never released it for the Nokia N9 due to lack of time and motivation (Nokia's Qt strategy disruption) to make the application usable for a wider audience. Mid of 2013 I decided to continue development on the new Sailfish OS platform from the finnish Smartphone start-up Jolla. This platform offers Qt5 with QtQuick2 and Wayland which really marks the edge of UI development. This is so much of technical motivation to me to do some great UI stuff with ownKeepass :)

Some words about Keepass database security

The database code in ownKeepass is based on the KeepassX project and as such contains a lot of security related features. It uses proven encryption algorithms like Advanced Encryption Standard (AES / Rijndael) or Twofish with 128 bits block size and 256 bits key size, SHA-256 as hashing algorithm and in-memory encryption of all passwords. Furthermore it protects the master password against Brute-Force and Dictonary Attacks by hashing and encrypting it before using it to decrypt the Keepass database. This feature is called key transformation rounds and can be adjusted in database settings. Anyway that all just adds additional security to two points which you should be aware of:

  • Always use a long enough and difficult to guess master password.
  • Protect your system from spyware which might be specialized to attack ownKeepass.

The second is law #1 of the 10 Immutable Laws of Security: "If a bad guy can persuade you to run his program on your computer, it's not your computer anymore".

Sharing Keepass database between your jolla phone and your desktop PC

The Keepass database file format is perfect to share your password safe between different systems like phones, tablets, desktop PC and so on. That is because there are a lot of Keepass implementations available for those platforms. Have a look at the Keepass download page to get the classic Keepass 1 or the new Keepass version 2 for the desktop PC. There is also a list of alternative Keepass implementations on that page. I would also like to point you to KeepassX which is also compatible with Keepass version 1 and 2 databases. You can share your Keepass database file via SD card or via a cloud service like Dropbox. When using a cloud server I would recommend to use a key file in addition to the master password. The additional key file will be used by ownKeepass to decrypt the database. Store this key file only locally on your phone and on your desktop PC. Do not upload it to the cloud service. If an attacker hacks your cloud service he will be left without the key file. By doing so you make it even harder for an attacker to crack your Keepass database because the key file content is usually impossible to guess.

Optionally you could use Syncthing to sync the password safe between different devices. Syncthing is available for all platforms including Sailfish OS. For Sailfish OS it is available in openrepos as the core and a GUI. Syncthing does not require a sync over the internet but it can sync locally between devices.

Copyright 2014 - 2017 Marko Koschak. Licensed under GPLv2. See LICENSE for more info.