Enabling U2F Hardware token in Linux

I recently switched from MacOS to Linux for my work computer and found out that using a hardware U2F USB token is not so easy as on MacOS. I'm using a Yubikey and several self-made Tomu-based U2F tokens and now i wanted to also use them on Linux.

For this purpose all steps below are performed on Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia but this should work with all reasonable new Linux distributions with at least udev v188 or later.

The problem?

The "problem" is actually a security measure by Linux that does not allow all USB devices to just work - also U2F tokens. But we will fix that now.

Here is a quick solution from Yubico, who did a tremendous job by adding all possible U2F token vendor and product ids - even from competitors - into a single udev rule file (Kudos!).

Keep in mind that your specific key might not be in the list - as my Tomu U2F token was not - but we can add it easily by ourselves later!

Create a new udev rule config in /etc/udev/rules.d/70-u2f.rules and add the following (udev rules from Yubico)[https://github.com/Yubico/libu2f-host/blob/master/70-u2f.rules] in there:

# Copyright (C) 2013-2015 Yubico AB
#
# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
# under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1, or (at your option)
# any later version.
#
# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
# WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU Lesser
# General Public License for more details.
#
# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
# along with this program; if not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.

# this udev file should be used with udev 188 and newer
ACTION!="add|change", GOTO="u2f_end"

# Yubico YubiKey
KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1050", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0113|0114|0115|0116|0120|0121|0200|0402|0403|0406|0407|0410", TAG+="uaccess", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"

# Happlink (formerly Plug-Up) Security KEY
KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="2581", ATTRS{idProduct}=="f1d0", TAG+="uaccess", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"

# Neowave Keydo and Keydo AES
KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1e0d", ATTRS{idProduct}=="f1d0|f1ae", TAG+="uaccess", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"

# HyperSecu HyperFIDO
KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="096e|2ccf", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0880", TAG+="uaccess", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"

# Feitian ePass FIDO, BioPass FIDO2
KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="096e", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0850|0852|0853|0854|0856|0858|085a|085b|085d", TAG+="uaccess", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"

# JaCarta U2F
KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="24dc", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0101|0501", TAG+="uaccess", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"

# U2F Zero
KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="10c4", ATTRS{idProduct}=="8acf", TAG+="uaccess", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"

# VASCO SecureClick
KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1a44", ATTRS{idProduct}=="00bb", TAG+="uaccess", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"

# Bluink Key
KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="2abe", ATTRS{idProduct}=="1002", TAG+="uaccess", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"

# Thetis Key
KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1ea8", ATTRS{idProduct}=="f025", TAG+="uaccess", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"

# Nitrokey FIDO U2F, Nitrokey FIDO2, Safetech SafeKey
KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="20a0", ATTRS{idProduct}=="4287|42b1|42b3", TAG+="uaccess", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"

# Google Titan U2F
KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="18d1", ATTRS{idProduct}=="5026", TAG+="uaccess", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"

# Tomu board + chopstx U2F + SoloKeys
KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0483", ATTRS{idProduct}=="cdab|a2ca", TAG+="uaccess", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"

# SoloKeys
KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1209", ATTRS{idProduct}=="5070|50b0", TAG+="uaccess", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"

# Trezor
KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="534c", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0001", TAG+="uaccess", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"
KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1209", ATTRS{idProduct}=="53c1", TAG+="uaccess", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"

# Infineon FIDO
KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="058b", ATTRS{idProduct}=="022d", TAG+="uaccess", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"

# Ledger Nano S and Nano X
KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="2c97", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0001|0004", TAG+="uaccess", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"

# Kensington VeriMark
KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="06cb", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0088", TAG+="uaccess", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"

# Longmai mFIDO
KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="4c4d", ATTRS{idProduct}=="f703", TAG+="uaccess", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"

# eWBM FIDO2 - Goldengate 310, 320, 500, 450
KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="311f", ATTRS{idProduct}=="4a1a|4c2a|5c2f|f47c", TAG+="uaccess", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"

# OnlyKey (FIDO2 / U2F)
KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1d50", ATTRS{idProduct}=="60fc", TAG+="uaccess", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"

LABEL="u2f_end"

Then save it and reboot your machine. Afterwards you should be able to use your U2F like before.

My U2F token is not in the list!?

I had the same issue, dispite that my token is also a Tomu U2F token and that it's in the list, it is not supported.

We can easily fix that.

1. Insert your U2F token and in the terminal run lsusb
2. In my case, my Tomu was found as Bus 001 Device 002: ID 16d0:0e90 MCS
3. Write down the part after ID. The first part is the vendor id and the second is the product id.
4. Reopen the udev rules file from above and just add another config line in there - copy&paste and existing one - and add it just above the LABEL="u2f_end" line.
5. Mine looks like so: KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="16d0", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0e90", TAG+="uaccess", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"
6. Save, exit and reboot

Now, even your previously unknown U2F token should be recognized normally and can be used for whatever you want to use it.