Feasibility of NTS (Network Time Security) on current IPFire?

Network
1

Hi everyone,

Potential new user here looking to harden my time synchronization stack. I’m evaluating IPFire as a perimeter firewall and want to know if Network Time Security (NTS) support is feasible on the current release.

Specifically:

  1. Does the standard chrony package in the official repositories include NTS support (i.e., is it version 4.2 or newer)?
  2. If not, is there a recommended workaround for cryptographically verifying upstream NTP servers on IPFire today?

My goal is to prevent time-based MITM attacks, so standard ntp.org authentication isn’t sufficient.

Thanks in advance for any insights!

2

IPFire can be configured to act as an NTP server. However, it must synchronize with a time source. The configuration does not support any verification protocol. If you need a reliable and secure time source, you should purchase a ready-made solution or build one yourself.

3

Thank you kindly for your answer.