Kismiter

Tool for baking install ISO of single-purpose, largely *STIG-compliant Kismet workstation/platform on Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS (x86_64) (*Security Technical Implementation Guidelines)

Components:

File	Description
sbom/kismiter-sbom.spdx	Software Bill of Materials (Ubuntu 24.04 LTS + limited additions)
build-kismiter-iso.sh	Builds custom Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS ISO with Ubuntu Subiquity automations
setup.sh	Orchestrates most Kismiter customizations applied during Subiquity installer
README.md	The document you are currently reading
LICENSE	GNU General Public License 3.0

Prerequisites:

• A modern Debian-based system recommended, to generate the Kismiter ISO
• Internet connection capable of downloading the Ubuntu Server ISO
• Ubuntu Pro token (required for Ubuntu's official STIG tooling; free)
• Wired Ethernet Internet connection for the system being imaged with the ISO

Usage:

• Download build-kismiter-iso.sh and setup.sh, placing them in the same folder
• Run the build-kismiter-iso.sh script to create the ISO:

chmod +x build-kismiter-iso.sh
./build-kismiter-iso.sh

• Burn the resulting ISO to a bootable media/USB thumb drive with sufficient free space

sudo dd if=ubuntu-24.04-kismiter-YYYYMMDD.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=4M status=progress oflag=sync conv=fsync

• Boot the media
• Prompt for new hostname if desired
• Prompt for password for the default user
• Prompt for a LUKS drive encryption passphrase
• Prompt for Ubuntu Pro token (skip to omit STIGs)
• Walk away, return to completed install (LUKS prompt to decrypt)

Primary Tools:

• kismet for wireless collection and analysis
• wireshark for viewing Kismet PCAPNG output
• google-earth-pro-stable for viewing Kismet KML map output
• firefox for viewing Kismet GUI and opening Kismet JSON files
• Misc. from vanilla-gnome-desktop (ex., Libreoffice for viewing CSV)
• Misc. from Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS (standard GNU tools, tmux, etc.)

What/Why?:

• Rapidly image multiple single-purpose systems for Kismet wireless analysis
• Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS for nexus of maximized stability, and Kismet and STIG compatibility
• Minimizing attack surface (Ubuntu Server minimal install, add specific desired components)
• Providing analyst graphical environment for analysis versus headless with remote connection need
• STIGs pre-applied, SBOM generated, for best-effort compliance (user must manage their own risk)
• Removes unneeded Ubuntu junk (cloud-init, systemd-networkd-wait-online, Yaru, etc.)
• Adds minimal required Kismet hardware support (ex., gpsd, linux-generic-hwe-24.04 for drivers)
• Adds important quality-of-life tooling (ex., wireshark, non-snap firefox, Google Earth, etc.)
• Adds default user to all the necessary groups (kismet, wireshark, dialout, etc.)
• Wired Ethernet DHCP assumed during setup to K.I.S.S. (drop to another TTY to enable WiFi)
• Install pulls latest from official vetted repos versus baking offline install into media
• Customizations for commonality with other internal tooling

Notes:

• Ubuntu Pro usg is used for STIG application to limit additional tooling added to SBOM
• Ubuntu Pro tokens are attached for STIG application then immediately detached (returned to account)
• The shell scripts are separated for simplicity because setup.sh is baked into the ISO for Subiquity