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74 lines
3.5 KiB
Markdown
74 lines
3.5 KiB
Markdown
---
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layout: doc
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title: Anonymizing your MAC Address
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permalink: /doc/anonymizing-your-mac-address/
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redirect_from:
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- /doc/randomizing-your-mac-address/
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---
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Anonymizing your MAC Address
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============================
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Although it is not the only metadata broadcast by network hardware, changing the default [MAC Address](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAC_address) of your hardware could be [an important step in protecting privacy](https://tails.boum.org/contribute/design/MAC_address/#index1h1).
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Currently, Qubes OS *does not* automatically "anonymize" or spoof the MAC Address, so unless this gets implemented by default you can randomize your MAC Address with the following guide.
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## Upgrading and configuring Network Manager in Qubes
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Newer versions of Network Manager have options for randomizing MAC addresses, and can handle the entire process across reboots, sleep/wake cycles and different connection states.
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In particular, versions 1.4.2 and later should be well suited for Qubes. Qubes R4.0's default sys-net should have 1.8.2-4 by default.
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However, use of the NetworkManager GUI to set these options is **unreliable** - there are numerous reports of changes not being saved for particular cards or interfaces.
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You should check carefully that any settings you make in the GUI are saved, before relying on this method.
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If the settings are not saved, you can use the method described below using a config file.
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Network Manager 1.4.2 or later is available from the Fedora 25 repository as well as the Debian 10 repository.
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Check that Network Manager version is now at least 1.4.2:
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~~~
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$ sudo NetworkManager -V
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1.4.2
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~~~
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## Randomize a single connection
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Right click on the Network Manager icon of your NetVM in the tray and click 'Edit Connections..'.
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Select the connection to randomize and click Edit.
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Select the Cloned MAC Address drop down and set to Random or Stable.
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Stable will generate a random address that persists until reboot, while Random will generate an address each time a link goes up.
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Save the change and reconnect the connection (click on Network Manager tray icon and click disconnect under the connection, it should automatically reconnect).
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## Randomize all Ethernet and Wifi connections
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These steps should be done inside a template to be used to create a NetVM as it relies on creating a config file that would otherwise be deleted after a reboot due to the nature of AppVMs.
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Write the settings to a new file in the `/etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/` directory, such as `00-macrandomize.conf`.
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The following example enables Wifi and Ethernet MAC address randomization while scanning (not connected), and uses a randomly generated but persistent MAC address for each individual Wifi and Ethernet connection profile.
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~~~
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[device]
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wifi.scan-rand-mac-address=yes
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[connection]
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wifi.cloned-mac-address=stable
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ethernet.cloned-mac-address=stable
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connection.stable-id=${CONNECTION}/${BOOT}
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~~~
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* `stable` in combination with `${CONNECTION}/${BOOT}` generates a random address that persists until reboot.
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* `random` generates a random address each time a link goes up.
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To see all the available configuration options, refer to the man page: `man nm-settings`
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Next, create a new NetVM using the edited template and assign network devices to it.
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Finally, shutdown all VMs and change the settings of sys-firewall, etc. to use the new NetVM.
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You can check the MAC address currently in use by looking at the status pages of your router device(s), or inside the NetVM with the command `sudo ip link show`.
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