I use autologin too with disk encryption and i don't see an issue. If you have the encryption password nothing can stop you anyway. And if you put your computer in any sleep mode you have to login after waking up.
this post was submitted on 14 Oct 2023
31 points (100.0% liked)
Linux
48145 readers
753 users here now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
it's fine, but I recommend only enabling autologin at boot so you can lock the screen without shutting down the entire PC
You could potentially do it even better the other way around. You can use clevis and tang to have network bound disk encryption setup. That way, anytime you're connected to your network the disk auto decrypts. For laptops, I like to put a decryption key on a USB drive that auto decrypts the drive. Network bound disk encryption doesn't work over wifi and this way I can still have it decrypt on the go but lock it by removing the USB key (like if you leave the laptop in the hotel room just take the USB out and keep it with you).
I'm not familiar with the environment, but depending upon how locked-down the system is and what permissions the auto-logged-in user gets, an attacker could use the session to modify the environment to grab the LUKS password for later collection.
Auto login works on remote sessions too though, right?
I can't speak for all methods but in the case of GNOME's greeter, autologin doesn't apply to remote sessions.
You mean SSH? I have it blocked by a firewall. Or do you mean anything else I am unaware of?
I've used this workflow for years and like you said, any attacker would have to know your LUKS passphrase or catch your desktop while the screen is unlocked.