ownKeepass

[Bug reports go here] 8 - [Translations here] 9

Status

Release 1.0.21 is available in Jolla store! It contains bugfixes for the new Qt 5.2 based firmware update 1.1.0.39 Uitukka. Release 1.0.22 submitted.

Release 1.0.22 is available on [openrepos.net] 7 and through the warehouse app on your Jolla phone, too. Adding Swedish and Finnish translation.

For those of you who do not have access to Jolla store (e.g. developer build for Nexus 4) or want to try new versions which are not yet in Jolla store have a look [here] 1

Current limitations/known bugs:

KeepassX 2 databases (.kdbx) are not yet supported
Database open and create dialogs are a bit difficult to use due to free text input for file name and path (if "expert user mode" is used)

Roadmap

List of planned features for ownKeepass to happen somewhere the next time. Priority in descending order.

Add file/directory chooser for opening and creating new Keepass databases.
Keepass 2 database support. Planning to reuse database code from KeepassX 2 project.
Integrating WebDav support for loading and saving your Keepass database to a server like ownCloud.
Activate password expiration feature which can remind you to change a specific password.

The status of my todo list for the next release can be looked up [here] 6.

What is this?

ownKeepass is a password safe application for the Jolla Smartphone with the purpose to protect sensible data like passwords for web pages, credit card numbers, PINs, TANs and other bits of information which should be kept secret. All that information is saved in a database file which is encrypted and stored locally on your phone. To open the database you need to know the master password of the database. The used database format is compatible to Keepass version 1. That means you can use [Keepass classic 1.27+] 2 or [KeepassX 0.4.3] 3 on your desktop system to decrypt and open that database file, too.

Please note that currently ownKeepass cannot load or save Keepass version 2 databases. This is planned for a future release of ownKeepass.

Why?

I started to work on this project beginning of 2012 when QML started to get usable from development point of view for the Nokia N9. Writing a QML UI for the stable KeepassX 0.4.3 version was just born out of the idea to take my favourite Password Safe application to new Qt platforms like the Nokia N9. Although ownKeepass was quite usable for me on my Nokia N9 I never released it for the Nokia N9 due to lack of time and motivation (Nokia's Qt strategy disruption) to make the application usable for a wider audience. Mid of 2013 I decided to continue development on the new Sailfish OS platform from the finnish Smartphone start-up Jolla. This platform offers Qt5 with QtQuick2 and Wayland which really marks the edge of UI development. This is so much of technical motivation to me to do some great UI stuff with ownKeepass :)

Some words about Keepass database security

The database code in ownKeepass is based on the [KeepassX project] 3 and as such conains a lot of security related features. It uses proven encryption algorithms like Advanced Encryption Standard (AES / Rijndael) or Twofish with 128 bits block size and 256 bits key size, SHA-256 as hashing algorithm and in-memory encryption of all passwords. Furthermore it protects the master password against Brute-Force and Dictonary Attacks by hashing and encrypting it before using it to decrypt the Keepass database. This feature is called key transformation rounds and can be adjusted in database settings. Anyway that all just adds additional security to two points which you should be aware of:

Always use a long enough and difficult to guess master password.
Protect your system from spyware which might be specialized to attack ownKeepass.

The second is law #1 of the [10 Immutable Laws of Security] 4: "If a bad guy can persuade you to run his program on your computer, it's not your computer anymore".

Sharing Keepass database between your jolla phone and your desktop PC

The Keepass database file format is perfect to share your password safe between different systems like phones, tablets, desktop PC and so on. That is because there are a lot of Keepass implementations available for those platforms. Have a look at the [Keepass download page] 5 to get the classic Keepass 1 version for the desktop PC. There is also a list of alternative Keepass implementations on that page. I would also like to point you to [KeepassX version 0.4.3] 3 which is also compatible with Keepass version 1. You can share your Keepass database file via SD card or via a cloud service like Dropbox. When using a cloud server I would recommend to use a key file in addition to the master password. The additional key file will be used by ownKeepass to decrypt the database. Store this key file only locally on your phone and on your desktop PC. Do not upload it to the cloud service. If an attacker hacks your cloud service he will be left without the key file. By doing so you make it even harder for an attacker to crack your Keepass database because the key file content is usually impossible to guess.

Some technical notes for QML hackers

If you want to dig deeper into the code here are some hints to help you getting an overview of the code. The interface for the Keepass database code is split into four classes which are exposed as objects to the QML world:

KdbDatabase: That object enables the QML side to open an existing Keepass database, create a new empty database and close a database.
KdbListModel: That object is used to get a list of Keepass groups and entries for a dedicated Keepass group or the root group from the Keepass database. It also provides the possibility to search for a specific group and entry in the database.
KdbGroup: This object provides the posibility to create a new group or change the name for an existing group in the database.
KdbEntry: With the use of that object the QML code can read all properties from a Keepass entry like webpage, username, password, comment, etc. Through this object it is also possible to create new entries and save them in the Keepass database.

Features (already working)

Load and save (automatically in background) kdb database file
Create, modify and delete Keepass groups and entries
Create new and open existing keepass files from Phone's Documents folder, SD Card or Android Storage
Database settings adjustable like master password, encryption algorithm and key transformation rounds
Search keepass entries in whole database
Copy username and password from within cover page and use cover page to peak from other apps to look up username and password
Clear clipboard after 10 seconds and a lot of more

That's it so far.

07-Nov-2014