Honest limits
Known Limitations
No operating system protects against everything. Here is what Kodachi does not cover, why, and what you can do about it, followed by the protections that stay off until you turn them on.
Threat model · Defaults · Opt-in protections
Threat model
Fingerprinting
OPSEC
Defaults
What Kodachi Does Not Protect Against
Kodachi routes your traffic, hardens the system and gives you tools to check and recover it. Some threats are outside what any operating system can stop, and some depend on how you use it. This page lists them plainly, so you can plan for them instead of finding out later.
| Out of scope | Why | What helps |
|---|---|---|
| Browser fingerprinting beyond what Tor Browser makes uniform | A site can still recognise a browser by its window size, fonts, extensions, settings and TLS handshake. Changing your IP address does not change any of that, and a browser other than Tor Browser looks like itself. | Use Tor Browser for anonymous browsing and keep its window size, settings and extensions as shipped. The Fingerprint tab of the IP tool shows what your browser gives away (TLS fingerprint). |
| A compromised machine or malware that is already running | Software running with your rights, or as root, sees what you type and what is on screen before anything is encrypted or routed. Kodachi SOC reports findings; it does not block or stop anything. | Start from a verified ISO, check Kodachi's own files with integrity-check, read SOC findings, and open untrusted programs in Firejail or Podman with the Isolation Manager. |
| A machine seized while it is running | Disk encryption protects data only while the machine is off. The RAM wipe runs from a shutdown hook and needs an orderly shutdown, so a running machine that is taken is not covered by it (cold-boot answer). | Shut down when you leave the machine, keep the screen lock on, and learn the panic controls and the boot-time LUKS nuke before you need them (the difference). |
| Your own operational security | Signing in to an account that knows who you are, reusing a username, or keeping the same habits links your sessions together, whatever route the traffic takes. No tool guarantees anonymity by itself (answer). | Keep identities apart, do not mix personal accounts with private work in one session, and pick the route for your threat model with the Routing Switch guide. |
| Services that are breached or hand over your data | What you gave an email provider, a shop or any website is stored on their side. Kodachi cannot protect it once it has left your machine. | Give each service as little as you can, use separate addresses per service, and prefer end-to-end encrypted apps. |
| Physical access to the machine | Someone who can open or rewire the machine can add a hardware keylogger or tamper with it while you are away. Secure Boot checks the boot files of an installed UEFI system, not the hardware. | Use full-disk encryption, turn on Secure Boot on an installed system, boot the live system with the DMA Protection entry when ports may be untrusted, and keep the machine with you. |
| Traffic and timing correlation | An observer who can watch both your connection and the destination can match them by timing and volume. Tor and VPNs make this harder, and Kodachi's checks cannot rule it out (what the checks can show). | Choose routes for your threat model, and do not rely on one route for everything you do. |
| Metadata seen by Kodachi's own service | Service-backed features (built-in VPN nodes, proxy pool, encrypted DNS) need an online sign-in. It asks for no name, email or phone number, but the service still processes a derived device identifier and network metadata (answer). | The operating system runs without signing in. Use your own VPN provider or Tor when you do not want to use Kodachi's service. |
Off By Default Or Opt-In
Some protections change your system, cost performance or can lock you out of a device, so they wait until you turn them on. None of these is active after a fresh boot unless the row says so.
| Feature | Default | How to turn it on |
|---|---|---|
| AutoShield steps | Only Authenticate, Randomize Hostname and Randomize Timezone are on. MAC randomization, VPN connect, DNS mode and Torrify are off. | Switch the steps on in AutoShield; the enabled ones run when the countdown ends (AutoShield). |
| Torrify System and DNS | Off in AutoShield, because it can conflict with a WireGuard connection on first boot. | Connect the VPN first, then torrify separately (why). |
| RAM wipe at shutdown | Off. No boot entry wipes RAM at shutdown on its own. | From the dashboard, or sudo health-control wipe-ram-install && sudo health-control ram-wipe-enable; check it with sudo health-control wipe-ram-test (details). |
| Boot-time LUKS nuke | Not set up. | Needs an encrypted install from the "Boot-Nuke Compatible" text installer entry, then a nuke password (prerequisites). |
| USB Guard | Off. | Dashboard Hardening page, USB tab, or sudo health-control usb-guard-enable. Keyboards and mice stay allowed; USB storage and network adapters are blocked until you whitelist them (USB Guard). |
| Host Exposure watcher | Off. | Switch it on in the dashboard. If you turn it off again, an APT upgrade leaves it off. |
| Hardened boot entries | The default entry is Kodachi Live. | Pick Full Hardening, CPU Hardened, Kernel Lockdown or another tier in the boot menu. Some services or hardware may not work there (which tier). |
| Keeping changes on a live USB | The default Live mode keeps nothing after a reboot. | Boot Kodachi Persistent or Encrypted Persistence, which need a persistent partition (persistence). |
| Secure Boot for DKMS modules | Tirdad, AmneziaWG and some Wi-Fi drivers are refused by the kernel until you enroll this machine's signing key. | Follow the Secure Boot guide. |
| Idle screen lock | On for installed systems, with either installer; off on live sessions. | Your desktop's screen lock settings. |
| Kodachi AI provider routing | Off. Local processing is the default. | Choose a provider yourself (what is sent). |
Check what is active
The dashboard shows the live state of each control. The health-control reference lists the matching commands.
Related Documentation
- FAQ, answers about anonymity, authentication and each feature above.
- If the system will not boot, recovery steps for an installed system.
- System security overview, the security tools and how they fit.
- Support, where to ask for help.