From 5cd5fa72f64fdff08c0ab2350c56f1b83cf89905 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: =?UTF-8?q?Antoine=20Beaupr=C3=A9?= Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2015 11:29:22 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] warn users about the environment on multi-user systems --- docs/faq.rst | 5 +++++ docs/quickstart.rst | 7 ++++++- 2 files changed, 11 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/docs/faq.rst b/docs/faq.rst index 91306a0bc..c1745a130 100644 --- a/docs/faq.rst +++ b/docs/faq.rst @@ -81,6 +81,11 @@ automated encrypted backups. Another option is to use key file based encryption with a blank passphrase. See :ref:`encrypted_repos` for more details. +.. caution:: When passing the passphrase through the environment, the + passphrase can be read by any user on the same system, so + the use of this technique is strongly discouraged on + multi-user systems. + When backing up to remote encrypted repos, is encryption done locally? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- diff --git a/docs/quickstart.rst b/docs/quickstart.rst index 9ad86d5e2..ff3aa80ea 100644 --- a/docs/quickstart.rst +++ b/docs/quickstart.rst @@ -150,7 +150,12 @@ by providing the correct passphrase. For automated backups the passphrase can be specified using the `BORG_PASSPHRASE` environment variable. -**The repository data is totally inaccessible without the key:** +.. caution:: When passing the passphrase through the environment, the + passphrase can be read by any user on the same system, so + the use of this technique is strongly discouraged on + multi-user systems. + +.. important:: The repository data is totally inaccessible without the key:** Make a backup copy of the key file (``keyfile`` mode) or repo config file (``repokey`` mode) and keep it at a safe place, so you still have the key in case it gets corrupted or lost.