I was thinking about how all of my passwords are compromised if I have malware on my system. It made me wonder, does Vaultwarden or KeePassXC/KeePassDX offer better protection on a malware infected system?

Vaultwarden

  • Only accessed locally via LAN/VPN
  • Set up for 2 factor authentication using WebAuthn (FIDO)

KeePasssXC/KeePassDX

  • Synced locally via syncthing
  • Set up for 2 factor authentication using HMAC-SHA1 Challenge-Response
  • All clients blocked from internet access

I don’t use browser extensions and I manually copy/paste my passwords to fill in entries.

KeePass has good memory protection, but the 2FA can be read from USB and doesn’t change every time the database is decrypted. Vaultwarden enables the more secure FIDO2 2FA, but to my knowledge has less secure memory management as the entire entire database is decrypted on unlock.

  • solrize@lemmy.world
    4·
    2 days ago

    For high value accounts, use 2fa with hardware tokens if you can, and maybe use a dedicated computer (old laptop) with a bare bones software installation to minimize the likelihood of malware.