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Security: Sbenazar/vocalinux

Security

SECURITY.md

Security Policy

Supported Versions

Version Supported
0.10.x
0.9.x
0.8.x
< 0.8

Reporting a Vulnerability

We take security seriously. If you discover a security vulnerability within Vocalinux, please follow these steps:

Do NOT

  • Open a public GitHub issue for security vulnerabilities
  • Disclose the vulnerability publicly before it's fixed

Do

  1. Email the maintainer directly: Send an email to jatinkrmalik@gmail.com with:

    • A clear description of the vulnerability
    • Steps to reproduce the issue
    • Potential impact assessment
    • Any suggested fixes (optional)
  2. Use the subject line: "Vocalinux Security Vulnerability Report"

  3. Wait for acknowledgment: You should receive a response within 48 hours

What to Expect

  1. Acknowledgment: We'll confirm receipt within 48 hours
  2. Assessment: We'll evaluate the severity and impact
  3. Timeline: We'll provide an estimated fix timeline
  4. Fix: We'll work on a fix and coordinate disclosure
  5. Credit: If desired, we'll credit you in the release notes

Security Considerations

Privacy

Vocalinux is designed with privacy in mind:

  • Offline by default: whisper.cpp (default), Whisper, and VOSK engines all work completely offline
  • Local processing: All speech recognition happens on your device
  • No data collection: We don't collect or transmit your voice data
  • No telemetry: We don't track usage or behavior

whisper.cpp (Default Engine)

whisper.cpp is the default speech recognition engine:

  • High-performance C++ implementation
  • Processes completely locally on your machine
  • Models are downloaded once and cached locally
  • No audio data is sent to external servers
  • Supports Vulkan GPU acceleration for AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA GPUs

Whisper AI (OpenAI)

OpenAI's Whisper is also available as an alternative:

  • PyTorch-based implementation
  • Processes locally on your machine
  • Models are downloaded once and cached locally
  • No audio data is sent to external servers

File Permissions

The application stores data in:

  • ~/.config/vocalinux/ - Configuration (mode 700)
  • ~/.local/share/vocalinux/ - Data and models (mode 700)

Known Limitations

  1. Text injection: Uses xdotool/wtype which may have implications for input monitoring
  2. Keyboard shortcuts: Global keyboard hooks require appropriate permissions
  3. Virtual environments: Running in a venv provides some isolation

Updates

Keep your installation updated to receive security fixes:

cd vocalinux
git pull origin main
pip install --upgrade -e .

Contact

For security concerns: jatinkrmalik@gmail.com

For general issues: https://github.com/jatinkrmalik/vocalinux/issues

There aren't any published security advisories