Vanishing Secrets: Auto-Wipe Your Clipboard on Qubes OS

原始 JSON

{
  "kind": 30023,
  "id": "1ab643ac32a96142d6c440b96db5d1b6da2bdcba87acd36b79a53127c406731e",
  "pubkey": "b7ed68b062de6b4a12e51fd5285c1e1e0ed0e5128cda93ab11b4150b55ed32fc",
  "created_at": 1777543606,
  "tags": [
    [
      "d",
      "6fa83dd7a5fca8ba"
    ],
    [
      "image",
      "https://image.nostr.build/58ca8f1087379fe0aa1d5c4830949fc78c72ed031e948aee46bcb3b4f996debc.jpg"
    ],
    [
      "title",
      "Vanishing Secrets: Auto-Wipe Your Clipboard on Qubes OS"
    ],
    [
      "summary",
      "One command in your Qubes template installs `xsel` and creates an autostart service that wipes your clipboard 30 seconds after you copy anything. Works on Debian, Fedora, and Whonix minimal templates."
    ],
    [
      "published_at",
      "1764614401"
    ],
    [
      "t",
      "austrian-economics"
    ],
    [
      "t",
      "freedom-tech"
    ],
    [
      "t",
      "qubes-os"
    ],
    [
      "t",
      "opsec"
    ],
    [
      "t",
      "privacy"
    ],
    [
      "t",
      "open-source"
    ],
    [
      "t",
      "clipboard"
    ]
  ],
  "content": "When you copy a password, it sits in your clipboard until you copy something else or restart. That's a problem. Any application running in your AppVM can read it. Clipboard managers might log it. And you'll probably forget it's there.\n\nThe solution is simple: automatically wipe the clipboard 30 seconds after any copy operation.\n\n## The One-Liner\n\nRun this in your **template VM** (in the template directly), then shut it down and restart your AppVMs.\n\n**Debian 13 / Whonix 17:**\n\n```bash\nsudo apt install xsel -y \u0026\u0026 sudo tee /etc/xdg/autostart/clipboard-wipe.desktop \u003c\u003c 'EOF'\n[Desktop Entry]\nType=Application\nName=Clipboard Auto-Wipe\nExec=/bin/bash -c 'while true; do prev=\"\"; curr=$(xsel -ob 2\u003e/dev/null); while [ \"$curr\" = \"$prev\" ]; do sleep 1; curr=$(xsel -ob 2\u003e/dev/null); done; prev=\"$curr\"; sleep 30; [ \"$(xsel -ob 2\u003e/dev/null)\" = \"$prev\" ] \u0026\u0026 xsel -cp \u0026\u0026 xsel -cs \u0026\u0026 xsel -cb; done'\nHidden=false\nNoDisplay=true\nX-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true\nEOF\n```\n\n**Fedora 42:**\n\n```bash\nsudo dnf install xsel -y \u0026\u0026 sudo tee /etc/xdg/autostart/clipboard-wipe.desktop \u003c\u003c 'EOF'\n[Desktop Entry]\nType=Application\nName=Clipboard Auto-Wipe\nExec=/bin/bash -c 'while true; do prev=\"\"; curr=$(xsel -ob 2\u003e/dev/null); while [ \"$curr\" = \"$prev\" ]; do sleep 1; curr=$(xsel -ob 2\u003e/dev/null); done; prev=\"$curr\"; sleep 30; [ \"$(xsel -ob 2\u003e/dev/null)\" = \"$prev\" ] \u0026\u0026 xsel -cp \u0026\u0026 xsel -cs \u0026\u0026 xsel -cb; done'\nHidden=false\nNoDisplay=true\nX-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true\nEOF\n```\n\nThat's it. Every AppVM based on that template now auto-wipes its clipboard.\n\n## How it works\n\nThe script runs a background loop that:\n\n1. Polls the clipboard every second, detects when new content appears, and waits 30 seconds\n4. Verifies the content is unchanged (protects against wiping a fresh copy you made within the window)\n5. Clears all X11 selections: PRIMARY (mouse highlight), SECONDARY, and CLIPBOARD (Ctrl+C/V)\n\n## Why the built-in wipe falls short\n\nQubes does have `qvm-service --enable VMNAME gui-agent-clipboard-wipe`, but it triggers 1 minute after your last paste operation. Copy a password and skip the paste step, and it stays in the clipboard indefinitely.\n\nThis approach wipes 30 seconds after the copy, whether or not you paste.\n\n## Qubes' two clipboards\n\nQubes has two separate clipboard systems:\n\n- **Inter-VM clipboard** (Ctrl+Shift+C/V): Handled by dom0, auto-wipes after paste\n- **Local AppVM clipboard** (Ctrl+C/V): Standard X11, persists until cleared\n\nThe script above handles the local clipboard. The inter-VM clipboard already takes care of itself.\n\n## Security limitations\n\nDefense in depth, with real limits:\n\n- The clipboard is still readable for 30 seconds\n- X11 \"clearing\" doesn't cryptographically erase memory\n- Clipboard managers may keep history\n\nFor high-sensitivity operations, consider password managers with auto-type that bypass the clipboard entirely.",
  "sig": "33b8572af7fd7fabaf05769aeb25d0bc3365c08277e6bfa5e1d896cc5d66dd3ff95375d06477de26db62f6e5b4834ce648b25abde9d5e47cd225cef295f25762"
}