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Nextcloud Server-Side Encryption

This document - provided by SysEleven - describes the server-side encryption scheme implemented by Nextcloud's default encryption module. This includes:

  • the encryption and signature of files with a master key.
  • the encryption and signature of files with a public sharing key.
  • the encryption and signature of files with a recovery key.
  • the encryption and signature of files with a user key.

These conventions apply throughout this document:

  • Given file paths in this document are relative to the Nextcloud data directory that can be retrieved as datadirectory from the Nextcloud configuration file ("config/config.php").
  • Placeholders are denoted as $variable. The variable has to be replaced with the appropriate information.
  • Static strings are denoted as "some string".
  • The concatenation of strings is denoted as $variable."some string".

Key Types

Master Key

While the master key encryption had to be enabled explicitly by calling ./occ encryption:enable-master-key in older versions of Nextcloud it is now the default encryption mode in newer versions including Nextcloud 16. With master key encryption enabled there is one central key that is used to secure the files handled by Nextcloud. The master key is protected by a password that can be generated by the server administrator. The advantage of the master key encryption is that the encryption is transparent to the users but has the disadvantage that the server administrator is able to decrypt user files without knowing any user password.

Public Sharing Key

The public sharing key is used to secure files that have been publicly shared. The public sharing key is protected by a password that can be generated by the server administrator. The advantage of the public sharing key is that it is independent of the selected encryption mode so that Nextcloud is able to provide publicly shared files to outside parties.

Recovery Key

The recovery key is used to provide a restore mechanism in cases where the user key encryption is enabled and users have lost their passwords. The recovery key is protected by a recovery password that the server administrator should store securely. The advantage of the recovery key is that files can be recovered but has the disadvantage that the server administrator is able to decrypt user files without knowing any user password.

User Key

While the user key encryption has been enabled by default in older versions of Nextcloud it now has to be enabled explictly in newer versions including Nextcloud 16 by calling ./occ encryption:disable-master-key. With user key encryption enabled all users have their own user keys that are used to secure the files handled by Nextcloud. The user keys are protected by the user passwords. The advantage is that the server administrator is not able to decrypt user files without knowing any user password - unless the file is publicly shared or a recovery key is defined - but has the disadvantage that files are permanently lost if the users forget their user passwords - unless the files are (publicly) shared or a recovery key is defined.

File Types

Public Key Files

Public key files contain RSA public keys that are used to encrypt/seal the share key files.

File Format

Public key files are stored in PEM format.

File Locations

The locations of public key files depend on their key type:

  • master public key: "files_encryption/OC_DEFAULT_MODULE/master_".$random.".publicKey"
  • public sharing public key: "files_encryption/OC_DEFAULT_MODULE/pubShare_".$random.".publicKey"
  • recovery public key: "files_encryption/OC_DEFAULT_MODULE/recoveryKey_".$random.".publicKey"
  • user public key: $username."/files_encryption/OC_DEFAULT_MODULE/".$username.".publicKey"

Private Key Files

Private key files contain RSA private keys that are used to decrypt/unseal the share key files. The RSA private key is encrypted and signed with a password and stored in a format that is specific to the Nextcloud encryption module.

File Format

The RSA private key that is represented in PEM format is encrypted and Base64 encoded (denoted as $encryption). For the encryption an initialization vector of 16 bytes is selected (denoted as $iv). Furthermore a hexadecimally encoded message authentication code of 64 bytes is calculated (denoted as $signature). The resulting file contains:

"HBEGIN:cipher:AES-256-CTR:keyFormat:hash:HEND".
$encrypted."00iv00".$iv."00sig00".$signature."xxx"

File Locations

The locations of private key files depend on their key type:

  • master private key: "files_encryption/OC_DEFAULT_MODULE/master_".$random.".privateKey"
  • public sharing private key: "files_encryption/OC_DEFAULT_MODULE/pubShare_".$random.".privateKey"
  • recovery private key: "files_encryption/OC_DEFAULT_MODULE/recoveryKey_".$random.".privateKey"
  • user private key: $username."/files_encryption/OC_DEFAULT_MODULE/".$username.".privateKey"

Share Key Files

Share key files contain so-called envelope keys that are needed to decrypt the file key files. The envelope keys are created by openssl_seal() during the encryption and are needed for openssl_open() during the decryption. The envelope keys are encrypted with the public keys of the recipients that are allowed to read the actual files.

File Format

The envelope keys are stored in binary format.

File Locations

The locations of share key files depend on the type of the encrypted file:

  • regular file: $username."/files_encryption/keys/files/".$filename."/OC_DEFAULT_MODULE/".$recipient.".shareKey"
  • version file: version files use the same location for the share key file as their regular file
  • trashed file: $username."/files_encryption/keys/files_trashbin/files/".$filename.".d".$timestamp."/OC_DEFAULT_MODULE/".$recipient.".shareKey"
  • trashed version file: trashed version files use the same location for the share key file as their trashed file

File Key Files

File key files contain symmetric keys used to encrypt the actual files. The file keys consist of 32 random bytes and are encrypted/sealed with the envelope keys stored in the share key files.

File Format

The file keys are stored in binary format.

File Locations

The locations of the file key files depend on the type of the encrypted file:

  • regular file: $username."/files_encryption/keys/files/".$filename."/OC_DEFAULT_MODULE/fileKey"
  • version file: version files use the same location for the file key file as their regular file
  • trashed file: $username."/files_encryption/keys/files_trashbin/files/".$filename.".d".$delete_timestamp."/OC_DEFAULT_MODULE/fileKey"
  • trashed version file: trashed version files use the same location for the file key file as their trashed file

Files

Files contain the actual file content. The file content is encrypted and signed with a password and stored in a format that is specific to the Nextcloud encryption module.

File Format

The file content is split into blocks of 6072 bytes. Each block is encrypted and Base64 encoded (denoted as $encryption[0..$n]). For the encryption an initialization vector of 16 bytes is selected for each block (denoted as $iv[0..$n]). Furthermore a hexadecimally encoded message authentication code of 64 bytes is calculated of each block (denoted as $signature[0..$n]). An encrypted block has a total size of 8192 bytes (8096 bytes for $encrypted[], 6 bytes for "00iv00", 16 bytes for $iv[], 7 bytes for "00sig00", 64 bytes for $signature[] and 3 bytes for "xxx"). Only the last encrypted block may be shorter. The header of the encrypted file is padded with 8147 bytes of "-" (denoted as $padding) to a total of 8192 bytes. The resulting file contains:

"HBEGIN:cipher:AES-256-CTR:keyFormat:hash:HEND".$padding.
$encrypted[0]."00iv00".$iv[0]."00sig00".$signature[0]."xxx".
$encrypted[1]."00iv00".$iv[1]."00sig00".$signature[1]."xxx".
$encrypted[2]."00iv00".$iv[2]."00sig00".$signature[2]."xxx".
[...]
$encrypted[$n]."00iv00".$iv[$n]."00sig00".$signature[$n]."xxx"

File Locations

The locations of the files depend on the type of the encrypted file:

  • regular file: $username."/files/".$filename
  • version file: $username."/files_versions/".$filename.".v".$version_timestamp
  • trashed file: $username."/files_trashbin/files/".$filename.".d".$delete_timestamp
  • trashed version file: $username."/files_trashbin/versions/".$filename.".v".$version_timestamp.".d".$delete_timestamp

Key Generation Steps

Generate the Key Pair

The key pair has to be generated with the openssl_pkey_new() function. Then the private key and public key are extracted from the the key resource with the openssl_pkey_export() function.

Store the Public Key

The public key is written to the $username.".publicKey" file.

Store the Private Key

Derive the Encryption Key

The salt for the encryption key is derived by creating a raw SHA256 hash of $uid.$instanceId.$instanceSecret with the hash() function. $instanceId can be retrieved as instanceid from the Nextcloud configuration file ("config/config.php"). $instanceSecret can be retrieved as secret from the Nextcloud configuration file ("config/config.php").

The encryption key is then derived by creating a raw SHA256-PBKDF2 hash of the password with the salt, 100.000 rounds and (by default) with a target size of 32 bytes (as required for AES-256-CTR) with the hash_hmac() function (denoted as $passphrase).

The used password depends on the key type:

  • master private key: use secret from the Nextcloud configuration file ("config/config.php")
  • public sharing private key: use an empty password
  • recovery private key: use the recovery password
  • user private key: use the user password

Encrypt the Private Key

The initialization vector is generated as a random string of 16 bytes with the random_bytes() function (denoted as $iv). The private key is (by default) AES-256-CTR encrypted with the $iv and the $passphrase with the openssl_encrypt() function and returned as Base64 encoded without zero-padding (denoted as $encrypted).

Sign the Private Key

The message authentication key is derived by creating a raw SHA512 hash of $passphrase.$version.$position."a" with the hash() function.

  • $version is always "0".
  • $position is always "0".

The signature is then derived by creating a hexadecimally encoded SHA256-HMAC of $encrypted and the message authentication key with the hash_hmac() function (denoted as $signature).

Store the Private Key

The private key is written to the $username.".privateKey" file with the derived $encrypted, $iv and $signature as documented in the section "File Types".

Encryption Steps

Generate the File Key

Generate the File Key

The file key is generated as a random string of 32 bytes with the random_bytes() function (denoted as $filekey).

Read the Public Key

The public keys of the recipients are read from the $username.".publicKey" files.

Encrypt/Seal the File Key

The file key is encrypted/sealed with the openssl_seal() function with the public keys. This returns the encrypted file key and the encrypted envelope keys for the recipients.

Store the File Key

The encrypted file key is stored in the "fileKey" file.

Store the Envelope Keys

The encrypted envelope keys for the recipients are stored in the $username.".shareKey" files.

Encrypt the File

Split the File

The file is split into 6072 bytes sized blocks. Only the last encrypted block may be shorter. Each block is referenced by its zero-based index within the file (denoted as $position).

Encrypt the Blocks

For each block the initialization vector is generated as a random string of 16 bytes with the random_bytes() function (denoted as $iv[$position]). The block is (by default) AES-256-CTR encrypted with the $iv[$position] and the $filekey with the openssl_encrypt() function and returned as Base64 encoded without zero-padding (denoted as $encrypted[$position]).

Sign the Blocks

The message authentication key is derived by creating a raw SHA512 hash of $filekey.$version.$position."a" with the hash() function.

  • $version is the encrypted value that can be retrieved from the oc_filecache table in the database and must not be zero. Take into account that a file in the oc_filecache table is identified by its path value as well as its storage value which references the numeric_id field in the oc_storages table. Including $version into the message authentication key prevents blocks from being swapped between different versions of the same file.
  • $position is the index of the current block starting at "0" and is appended with "end" for the last block of the file. Including $position into the message authentication key prevents blocks from being swapped within the same file. Furthermore, adding "end" to the message authentication key of the last block prevents file truncation attacks.

The signature is then derived by creating a hexadecimally encoded SHA256-HMAC of $encrypted[$position] and the message authentication key with the hash_hmac() function (denoted as $signature[$position]).

Store the File

The encrypted file is written to the file with the derived $encrypted[0..$n], $iv[0..$n] and $signature[0..$n] as documented in the section "File Types".

Decryption Steps

Read the Private Key

Read the Private Key File

The private key is read from the $username.".privateKey" file and the values $encrypted, $iv and $signature are parsed as documented in the section "File Types".

Derive the Decryption Key

The salt for the decryption key is derived by creating a raw SHA256 hash of $uid.$instanceId.$instanceSecret with the hash() function. $instanceId can be retrieved as instanceid from the Nextcloud configuration file ("config/config.php"). $instanceSecret can be retrieved as secret from the Nextcloud configuration file ("config/config.php").

The decryption key is then derived by creating a raw SHA256-PBKDF2 hash of the password with the salt, 100.000 rounds and (by default) with a target size of 32 bytes (as required for AES-256-CTR) with the hash_hmac() function (denoted as $passphrase).

The used password depends on the key type:

  • master private key: use secret from the Nextcloud configuration file ("config/config.php")
  • public sharing private key: use an empty password
  • recovery private key: use the recovery password
  • user private key: use the user password

Check the Signature

The message authentication key is derived by creating a raw SHA512 hash of $passphrase.$version.$position."a" with the hash() function.

  • $version is always "0".
  • $position is always "0".

The signature is then derived by creating a hexadecimally encoded SHA256-HMAC of $encrypted and the message authentication key with the hash_hmac() function. Only proceed when the derived signature is equal to $signature which is checked with the hash_equals() function.

Decrypt the Private Key

The private key is (by default) AES-256-CTR decrypted with the $iv and the $passphrase with the openssl_decrypt() function.

Read the File Key

Read the File Key

The encrypted file key is read from the "fileKey" file.

Read the Envelope Key

The encrypted envelope key for the recipient is read from the $username.".shareKey" file.

Decrypt/Unseal the File Key

The encrypted file key is decrypted/unsealed with the openssl_open() function with the private key and encrypted envelope key for the recipient (denoted as $filekey).

Decrypt the File

Split the File

The encrypted file is split into a 8192 bytes sized header and one or more 8192 bytes sized blocks. Only the last encrypted block may be shorter. Each block is referenced by its zero-based index within the file (denoted as $position). The values $encrypted[0..$n], $iv[0..$n] and $signature[0..$n] are parsed as documented in the section "File Types".

Check the Block Signatures

The message authentication key of each block is derived by creating a raw SHA512 hash of $passphrase.$version.$position."a" with the hash() function.

  • $version is the encrypted value that can be retrieved from the oc_filecache table in the database and must not be zero. Take into account that a file in the oc_filecache table is identified by its path value as well as its storage value which references the numeric_id field in the oc_storages table. Including $version into the message authentication key prevents blocks from being swapped between different versions of the same file.
  • $position is the index of the current block starting at "0" and is appended with "end" for the last block of the file. Including $position into the message authentication key prevents blocks from being swapped within the same file. Furthermore, adding "end" to the message authentication key of the last block prevents file truncation attacks.

The signature is then derived by creating a hexadecimally encoded SHA256-HMAC of $encrypted[$position] and the message authentication key with the hash_hmac() function. Only proceed when the derived signature is equal to $signature[$position] which is checked with the hash_equals() function.

Decrypt the Blocks

Each block is (by default) AES-256-CTR decrypted with the $iv[$position] and the $filekey with the openssl_decrypt() function.

Sources