zbox
A zero-details, privacy-focused in-app file system that encrypts files and directories into a secure repository.
What is zbox?
ZboxFS is an in-app, embedded file system that provides secure, encrypted storage for applications. It solves data privacy and security challenges by encapsulating files into an encrypted repository accessible only to the authorized process. Developers can use it to store sensitive data without relying on external, less secure storage solutions.
Developers building applications that require secure, private file storage, such as password managers, document editors, or any software handling sensitive user data across platforms (Linux, macOS, Windows, Android).
ZboxFS offers a unique combination of full encryption, multiple storage backends, and built-in data deduplication in a single embedded library. Unlike disk encryption tools or OS-level file systems, it provides exclusive per-process access, versioning, and ACID transactions without requiring complex configuration.
Overview
Zero-details, privacy-focused in-app file system.
Use Cases
Best For
- Securely storing sensitive user data in mobile or desktop applications
- Building encrypted document or note-taking apps with version history
- Adding private, encrypted file storage to existing Rust projects
- Developing cross-platform applications that need consistent storage encryption
- Implementing secure backup solutions with deduplication and compression
- Creating privacy-focused software that avoids cloud provider lock-in
Not Ideal For
- Applications requiring shared file access across multiple processes
- Projects dependent on POSIX file permissions or symbolic links
- Systems with 32-bit architectures or unsupported operating systems
- High-performance use cases where encryption overhead degrades speed
Pros & Cons
Pros
Encrypts all file contents, metadata, and directory structures using AES-256-GCM or XChaCha20-Poly1305, ensuring no data leaks to underlying storage, as stated in the README's feature list.
Supports memory, OS files, SQLite, Redis, and cloud storage via abstracted IO layers, allowing developers to choose based on deployment needs, with specific URI identifiers and Cargo features.
Implements content-based and file-based deduplication with optional LZ4 compression, optimizing storage efficiency, as detailed in the specs and features section.
Provides ACID-compliant transactional operations and file content versioning with copy-on-write semantics, ensuring data integrity, highlighted in the comparison table.
Runs on 64-bit Linux, macOS, Windows, and Android, enabling consistent encrypted storage across platforms, though limited to 64-bit systems per the README.
Cons
Only supports 64-bit systems; 32-bit and other OS are not supported yet, restricting deployment options, as explicitly noted in the README's platform section.
Lacks symbolic links, file permissions, and other standard file system capabilities, which may break compatibility with applications expecting full POSIX compliance, as shown in the comparison table.
Encryption and deduplication introduce significant slowdowns, with performance tests showing read/write speeds much lower than baseline file operations, indicating a trade-off for security.
Requires libsodium >= 1.0.17, adding an external dependency that needs manual installation or bundling, complicating setup unless features like 'libsodium-bundled' are used.
Open Source Alternative To
zbox is an open-source alternative to the following products:
TrueCrypt was an open-source disk encryption software for creating encrypted virtual drives and encrypting entire partitions or storage devices.
VeraCrypt is a free open-source disk encryption software for Windows, macOS, and Linux that creates encrypted virtual disks and encrypts entire partitions or storage devices.
EncFS is an encrypted filesystem in user-space that uses FUSE to provide transparent encryption of files and directories.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Projects
OpenDALApache OpenDAL: One Layer, All Storage.
tempfileTemporary file library for rust
CaminoLike Rust's std::path::Path, but UTF-8.
fs_extraExpanding opportunities standard library std::fs and std::io
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