Zero-Trust Credential Vault: A Secure Archive Solution

This document outlines a potential solution for storing critical passwords and credentials in a secure, portable archive using the ZIP format combined with public-key encryption.

Overview

The proposed system uses the ZIP archive format as an open, inspectable container to store credentials. The security of the archive is ensured through modern authenticated encryption, ensuring that data cannot be altered, replaced, or corrupted without detection. The private key used for decryption will never exist as a file on the computer and will instead be protected by secure hardware, such as a TPM (Trusted Platform Module) or an external device like a YubiKey.

Key Components

• ZIP Archive: Acts as the open, inspectable container format to store credentials.
• Authenticated Encryption: Provides confidentiality and tamper detection for the encrypted archive.
• Public-Key Cryptography: Enables device authorization using authorized public keys.
• Secure Hardware: Protects the private key from unauthorized access.
• Local Authentication: Authorizes access to the private key through local authentication methods.

How it Works

1. The user creates a ZIP archive containing their credentials.
2. The archive is encrypted using a randomly generated symmetric key.
3. The symmetric key is then encrypted separately for one or more authorized public keys.
4. Access to the archive is granted by providing an authorized private key and successful local authentication.
5. The encrypted vault can be stored in various locations, such as Git, cloud storage, a USB drive, or an untrusted backup server.

Benefits

• Zero-Trust Model: Security depends on possession of an authorized private key and successful local authentication, rather than trusting the machine or service storing the archive.
• Portability: The encrypted vault can be easily moved between devices without compromising security.
• Auditing: The system provides a transparent audit trail for credential management.

Conclusion

The proposed zero-trust credential vault solution combines the benefits of ZIP format, authenticated encryption, public-key cryptography, and secure hardware to create a practical and auditable credential management system. By keeping critical passwords and credentials in a secure, portable archive, users can maintain control over their sensitive information while ensuring the security of their data. This is one application for this library: The ZIP archive format, combined with carefully designed public-key encryption, could provide an excellent foundation for a zero-trust credential vault.

It's much better than using a cloud provider for the same problem. This solution can actually be trusted.