Score:1

What issues can I face with having two OSes access files?

vn flag

I want to access LUKS encrypted storage on Windows. I mount the storage on a Ubuntu 21.04 VM which shares the files with Windows 11.

Is it safe to have Windows modify the files (through samba)? Second part of question, does it compromise the encryption in any way?

David avatar
cn flag
No such version of Ubuntu as 21.
cn flag
If there are issues it is unlikely due to the encyption itself. There is no 100% support for NTFS from Linux so there is always a potential risk. Samba is not without flaws either. That is why we create backups; and more than 1 even :-)
Score:1
cn flag

Yes, it is safe with regard to file integrity. It does not compromise the encryption. The filesystem is not encrypted while being accessed anyway. Also, take into consideration that if you close the VM without shutting down the ubuntu guest, your files are not encrypted (This is true for any kind of disk encryption).

ChaseH. avatar
vn flag
Thanks for the response @Bruni. A bit off topic, but do you think the same could be done with a Raspberry Pi Zero (as a pass through decryptor)?
Bruni avatar
cn flag
@ChaseH Could you elaborate a bit on that?
ChaseH. avatar
vn flag
For example, make a Raspberry Pi Zero (with a keypad) decrypt a LUKS partition locally and present itself (the partition) as a USB mass storage device through the data micro USB cable (like with usb-boot). Something like the Encrypted SATA to USB HDD enclosures. What issues could I face with that use?
Bruni avatar
cn flag
From an encryption standpoint, in principle the same issues. Mainly that the drive is not encrypted while mounted and therefore your data is safe from a local attacker, but not from a remote attacker. From a data integrity point, I am not so sure how you want this to work under windows, so I am probably not the right person to answer. sounds like a question for the raspberry stack exchange site though.
ChaseH. avatar
vn flag
Okay, thanks. Will ask there.
Score:0
in flag

One possible issue that can arise when writing plain text files (*.txt, *.xml, ...) from both Windows and Linux is that both use different line endings. Windows/DOS uses carriage return + line feed (\n\r) while Linux uses only line feed (\n). This can potentially trip up programs that are sensitive to that.

dos2unix is a tool that can automatically convert line endings from DOS to *nix format, unix2dos for the other way around.

ChaseH. avatar
vn flag
Thanks, @Sebastian.
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