Snigdha OS Decentralized is an independent, privacy-focused live operating system built on Arch Linux — volatile by default, fail-closed on the network, and verifiable down to the signature.
Public ISO release published with cryptographic signatures & SBOM.Inspect verification status & checksums
Modular i3 window manager with Everblush theme, Polybar indicators, and Picom blur.
Product philosophy
Snigdha OS Decentralized rejects empty security marketing. Eight foundational engineering principles drive the architecture and preserve user sovereignty under hostile conditions.
Privacy is not a secondary setting or optional extension. All system defaults prioritize metadata minimization, zero telemetry collection, and local cryptographic sovereignty.
Zero third-party trackers · no mandatory cloud accounts · randomized MAC addresses
All external communications are mediated by strict kernel-level firewall policies. Packets must either route safely through Tor or be dropped fail-closed.
NetGuard nftables ruleset in table inet · Tor TransPort redirection · UDP leak drop
Sessions leave zero traces on the computer's physical storage. The root filesystem operates in RAM and disappears upon shutdown or emergency USB extraction.
RAM OverlayFS · tmpfs upperdir · swap masked to /dev/null · media removal watchdog
Persistence is strictly optional and user-governed. When activated, persistent folders are isolated in an encrypted LUKS2 container unlocked only with explicit user consent.
LUKS2 with Argon2id memory-hard key derivation · selective bind mounts
Desktop applications are untrusted by default. Software runs confined within mandatory access control profiles and isolated unprivileged Linux user namespaces.
12 strict AppArmor enforce profiles · Bubblewrap containers · Seccomp-BPF filters
Security claims are backed by documented cryptographic models, public source code, verified test suites, and transparent operational boundaries.
Architecture blueprints · public test ledgers · unprivileged D-Bus telemetry
Every released ISO is deterministically reproducible from upstream sources, accompanied by detached OpenPGP signatures, SPDX 2.3 SBOMs, and SLSA v1.0 attestations.
ArchISO baseline profile · standalone snigdha-verify utility · pinned public keys
We reject marketing hyperbole. We clearly document what the operating system protects against, what it cannot protect against, and where physical hardware risks exist.
Residual risk disclosures: cold-boot DRAM attacks · X11 limits · traffic correlation
System subsystems
Every layer of Snigdha OS Decentralized operates under strict trust boundaries and explicit fail-closed guarantees. Explore each verified subsystem and the invariants that enforce it.
Phase 2Volatile memory execution leaving zero residual traces on internal disks.
All file writes, transient caches, and system modifications are directed to an in-memory tmpfs upperdir over a read-only dm-verity compressed erofs root. Internal storage devices are blocked from automounting, and all swap partitions are masked.
Phase 3Fail-closed nftables routing with zero external cleartext packets.
NetGuard enforces transparent torification at the kernel packet filter level. Non-Tor TCP traffic is redirected to Tor TransPort (9040), DNS queries are redirected to Tor DNSPort (5353), and raw UDP is blocked to eliminate QUIC and WebRTC leaks.
Phase 4Selective, cryptographically isolated storage on bootable media.
Persistence is disabled by default to maintain plausible deniability. When configured, an encrypted container formatted with LUKS2 and Argon2id key derivation houses user-selected folders via selective read-write bind mounts.
Phase 5Strict enforce-mode AppArmor confinement and unprivileged Bubblewrap sandboxes.
Untrusted and high-risk applications run within strict confinement boundaries. AppArmor profiles block access to raw network sockets and device files, while Bubblewrap isolates user namespaces and temporary directories.
Phase 7Real-time posture telemetry and diagnostics built with Rust & GTK4.
A native desktop application that aggregates live security posture into an Everblush-themed interface. Monitors NetGuard firewall rules, active Tor circuits, amnesic tmpfs consumption, and sandboxed processes without root escalation.
Phase 9Curated security tooling ecosystem with unprivileged signature verification.
Unifies official Arch Linux, BlackArch, and Chaotic-AUR repositories while strictly enforcing that third-party repositories remain disabled by default, preventing partial upgrades, and verifying all cryptographic package signatures.
User experience
A tailored, keyboard-driven environment engineered for speed, privacy, and visual coherence without unnecessary desktop bloat.
Every workspace is managed via precise tiling shortcuts. Picom provides subtle window depth and blur without high GPU overhead, while Dunst presents security alerts unobtrusively.
Launch applications with Super+d, open terminals with Super+Enter, and manage NetGuard directly with Super+n.
Real-time bar modules display active Tor circuits, volatile tmpfs RAM usage, and LUKS2 container lock states directly on your primary monitor.
Cohesive color coordination spanning GTK2, GTK3, GTK4, Polybar, Rofi, Kitty, and the DedSec GRUB2 bootloader theme for eye comfort in low-light environments.
Custom bundled Everblush artwork optimized for dark workstations.
Security ledger
We document the exact state of every security mechanism. No marketing claims of “unhackable” or “100% anonymous” — only verified engineering.
| Security domain | Subsystem | Status | Architectural detail & limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mandatory Access Control (AppArmor) | AppArmor LSM | Implemented & Verified | Active via `lsm=landlock,lockdown,yama,integrity,apparmor,bpf`. 12 dedicated profiles in strict enforce mode (flags=(enforce)). Zero complain mode in production. |
| Interactive Sandbox (Bubblewrap) | snigdha-sandbox | Implemented & Verified | Unprivileged user, mount, PID, IPC, and UTS namespaces. Private volatile tmpfs, masked sensitive files, and restricted home storage. |
| System Call Filtering (Seccomp-BPF) | snigdha-seccomp-compiler | Implemented & Verified | Compiles strict BPF bytecode attached at launch. Blocks ptrace, kexec_load, reboot, kernel module insertions, bpf, keyrings, and raw sockets. |
| Session D-Bus Filtering | xdg-dbus-proxy | Implemented & Verified | Filters D-Bus messages, rejecting unauthorized calls to NetGuard1, Persistence1, and systemd1 with AccessDenied. |
| System Service Hardening | systemd Drop-ins | Implemented & Verified | 9 drop-ins enforcing ProtectSystem=strict, PrivateTmp=yes, RestrictSUIDSGID=yes, ProtectKernelTunables=yes, and capability restrictions. |
| System-wide Tor Enforcement | NetGuard nftables | Implemented & Verified | table inet snigdha nat_output redirects all non-Tor TCP to Tor TransPort (9040). Filter output chain drops non-redirected traffic. Fail-closed on Tor failure. |
| DNS Leak Interception | NetGuard DNS | Implemented & Verified | UDP port 53 queries are redirected to Tor DNSPort (5353). Direct TCP DNS, DoT (853), and unauthorized resolvers are dropped fail-closed. |
| UDP & Leak Elimination | NetGuard Firewall | Implemented & Verified | Outbound non-Tor UDP traffic dropped fail-closed (meta l4proto udp drop), eliminating QUIC bypass, NTP leaks, and WebRTC STUN leaks. |
Snigdha OS Decentralized explicitly acknowledges that no operating system running on commodity hardware can magically overcome compromised motherboard UEFI firmware, microarchitectural side channels (Spectre/Meltdown), cryogenic DRAM cold-boot capacitor retention, or global end-to-end traffic correlation. Review our comprehensive threat model before deploying in life-critical threat environments.
Independent · Open Source · Verifiable
Snigdha OS Decentralized gives you the architectural tools to operate privately — without surveillance, silent network leaks, or physical storage persistence.
