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    Securing SSH

    IT Discussion
    ssh ssh keys security
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    • scottalanmillerS
      scottalanmiller @Dashrender
      last edited by

      @Dashrender said in Securing SSH:

      Is it normal to use the same key over many servers at a user level? or a different key for each server for each person?

      Yes, that is standard.

      JaredBuschJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • scottalanmillerS
        scottalanmiller @pmoncho
        last edited by

        @pmoncho said in Securing SSH:

        @IRJ said in Securing SSH:

        @Dashrender said in Securing SSH:

        Is it normal to use the same key over many servers at a user level? or a different key for each server for each person?

        Yes. You would use the same key per user (not sever) , but have some form of MFA.

        You would store your key in an encrypted drive like druva or one drive

        Just to make sure I get this right.

        I create my pub/private keys, put my own private key in an encrypted drive, then copy my public key to serverA, serverB, serverC, etc., correct?

        (its one of those foggy brained days)

        Correct. We put our public keys into scripts to deploy and have them listed on a wiki, too. So that it is easy to add users to a system.

        pmonchoP 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • pmonchoP
          pmoncho @scottalanmiller
          last edited by

          @scottalanmiller said in Securing SSH:

          @pmoncho said in Securing SSH:

          @IRJ said in Securing SSH:

          @Dashrender said in Securing SSH:

          Is it normal to use the same key over many servers at a user level? or a different key for each server for each person?

          Yes. You would use the same key per user (not sever) , but have some form of MFA.

          You would store your key in an encrypted drive like druva or one drive

          Just to make sure I get this right.

          I create my pub/private keys, put my own private key in an encrypted drive, then copy my public key to serverA, serverB, serverC, etc., correct?

          (its one of those foggy brained days)

          Correct. We put our public keys into scripts to deploy and have them listed on a wiki, too. So that it is easy to add users to a system.

          Interesting. I am starting to add more linux systems so I will look into doing the same.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • stacksofplatesS
            stacksofplates
            last edited by

            Here's some ideas for you. https://mangolassi.it/topic/10391/fairly-hardened-jump-box

            IRJI JaredBuschJ 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 2
            • stacksofplatesS
              stacksofplates
              last edited by

              I used duo for MFA with push on my phone and yubikeys.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
              • IRJI
                IRJ @stacksofplates
                last edited by

                @stacksofplates said in Securing SSH:

                Here's some ideas for you. https://mangolassi.it/topic/10391/fairly-hardened-jump-box

                I would also look at CIS benchmarks when creating your images.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • IRJI
                  IRJ @hobbit666
                  last edited by

                  @hobbit666 said in Securing SSH:

                  I think the common things i've seen so far are -

                  PasswordLess access i.e. Public/Private Keys
                  Timeouts
                  Disallow root logon
                  Harden Firewall
                  White-list IP's that can access.

                  That is a good quick list, but we can add use vpn and/bastion host for access to that list.

                  stacksofplatesS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • JaredBuschJ
                    JaredBusch @IRJ
                    last edited by

                    @IRJ said in Securing SSH:

                    You would store your key in an encrypted drive like druva or one drive

                    Umm WUT.

                    You don't store your key anywhere. Because that makes it useless.

                    Are you reusing the same key on different user devices?

                    pmonchoP IRJI 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • JaredBuschJ
                      JaredBusch @scottalanmiller
                      last edited by

                      @scottalanmiller said in Securing SSH:

                      @Dashrender said in Securing SSH:

                      Is it normal to use the same key over many servers at a user level? or a different key for each server for each person?

                      Yes, that is standard.

                      More clearly, each user generates a keypair on their device and then the pub part of that pair is copied to each server.

                      I have a laptop and a desktop. I have generated a keypair on each device and have those public keys copied to the servers I connect to.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • JaredBuschJ
                        JaredBusch @stacksofplates
                        last edited by

                        @stacksofplates said in Securing SSH:

                        Here's some ideas for you. https://mangolassi.it/topic/10391/fairly-hardened-jump-box

                        And this one
                        https://www.mangolassi.it/topic/19858/ssh-hardening

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • pmonchoP
                          pmoncho @JaredBusch
                          last edited by

                          @JaredBusch said in Securing SSH:

                          @IRJ said in Securing SSH:

                          You would store your key in an encrypted drive like druva or one drive

                          Umm WUT.

                          You don't store your key anywhere. Because that makes it useless.

                          Are you reusing the same key on different user devices?

                          Little lost here.

                          If I use putty on windows to create my key pair and I put my public key on my linux machine (authorized_keys file).

                          So what do you do with the private key from the key pair?

                          JaredBuschJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • JaredBuschJ
                            JaredBusch @pmoncho
                            last edited by

                            @pmoncho said in Securing SSH:

                            @JaredBusch said in Securing SSH:

                            @IRJ said in Securing SSH:

                            You would store your key in an encrypted drive like druva or one drive

                            Umm WUT.

                            You don't store your key anywhere. Because that makes it useless.

                            Are you reusing the same key on different user devices?

                            Little lost here.

                            If I use putty on windows to create my key pair and I put my public key on my linux machine (authorized_keys file).

                            So what do you do with the private key from the key pair?

                            Nothing. it is only ever on your one machine.

                            Also WTF with putty? SSH is native to even Windows now.

                            pmonchoP 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • pmonchoP
                              pmoncho @JaredBusch
                              last edited by

                              @JaredBusch said in Securing SSH:

                              @pmoncho said in Securing SSH:

                              @JaredBusch said in Securing SSH:

                              @IRJ said in Securing SSH:

                              You would store your key in an encrypted drive like druva or one drive

                              Umm WUT.

                              You don't store your key anywhere. Because that makes it useless.

                              Are you reusing the same key on different user devices?

                              Little lost here.

                              If I use putty on windows to create my key pair and I put my public key on my linux machine (authorized_keys file).

                              So what do you do with the private key from the key pair?

                              Nothing. it is only ever on your one machine.

                              Ok. Got it.

                              Now if I have my work machine and home laptop (used for remote work), should I create multiple keys, one for each machine or just copy and use the same private key?

                              Also WTF with putty? SSH is native to even Windows now.

                              It is what I initially used so it was the first thing that popped in my head.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • JaredBuschJ
                                JaredBusch
                                last edited by

                                Open a terminal session and run ssh-keygen to properly generate a valid keypair.
                                I use the ed25519 algorithm because it creates a short public key and the comments are useful

                                ssh-keygen -o -a 100 -t ed25519 -C "[email protected] Desktop"
                                
                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • IRJI
                                  IRJ @JaredBusch
                                  last edited by

                                  @JaredBusch said in Securing SSH:

                                  @IRJ said in Securing SSH:

                                  You would store your key in an encrypted drive like druva or one drive

                                  Umm WUT.

                                  You don't store your key anywhere. Because that makes it useless.

                                  Are you reusing the same key on different user devices?

                                  Not your personal key of course. A break glass key for root access. You get a root key for all cloud servers that should be different from your user key. That was the key I was talking about storing.

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • black3dynamiteB
                                    black3dynamite
                                    last edited by black3dynamite

                                    On my Fedora laptop and desktop this is what I do.

                                    # Generating a new ED25519 key with a password
                                    ssh-keygen -o -a 100 -t ed25519 -C "$(whoami)@$(hostname)_$(date +%Y-%m-%d_%H:%M:%S%z)" -f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
                                    
                                    # Generating a new ED25519 key without a password
                                    ssh-keygen -o -a 100 -t ed25519 -N '' -C "$(whoami)@$(hostname)_$(date +%Y-%m-%d_%H:%M:%S%z)" -f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
                                    

                                    When I use a key that requires a password, I use ssh-agent so I don't have to enter my password.

                                    # Run ssh-agent and then use ssh-add
                                    eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
                                    ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
                                    
                                    pmonchoP 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • stacksofplatesS
                                      stacksofplates @IRJ
                                      last edited by

                                      @IRJ said in Securing SSH:

                                      @hobbit666 said in Securing SSH:

                                      I think the common things i've seen so far are -

                                      PasswordLess access i.e. Public/Private Keys
                                      Timeouts
                                      Disallow root logon
                                      Harden Firewall
                                      White-list IP's that can access.

                                      That is a good quick list, but we can add use vpn and/bastion host for access to that list.

                                      Yeah this wasn't for a cloud deployment so it was the perimeter device. I incorrectly called it a jump box for some reason. It's really a bastion host.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • pmonchoP
                                        pmoncho @black3dynamite
                                        last edited by

                                        @black3dynamite said in Securing SSH:

                                        On my Fedora laptop and desktop this is what I do.

                                        # Generating a new ED25519 key with a password
                                        ssh-keygen -o -a 100 -t ed25519 -C "$(whoami)@$(hostname)_$(date +%Y-%m-%d_%H:%M:%S%z)" -f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
                                        

                                        May be a stupid question but, should we use passwords?

                                        DustinB3403D black3dynamiteB 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • DustinB3403D
                                          DustinB3403 @pmoncho
                                          last edited by

                                          @pmoncho said in Securing SSH:

                                          @black3dynamite said in Securing SSH:

                                          On my Fedora laptop and desktop this is what I do.

                                          # Generating a new ED25519 key with a password
                                          ssh-keygen -o -a 100 -t ed25519 -C "$(whoami)@$(hostname)_$(date +%Y-%m-%d_%H:%M:%S%z)" -f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
                                          

                                          May be a stupid question but, should we use passwords?

                                          You can, but you'd have to enter that password every time to connect using your SSH key.

                                          black3dynamiteB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • black3dynamiteB
                                            black3dynamite @pmoncho
                                            last edited by

                                            @pmoncho said in Securing SSH:

                                            @black3dynamite said in Securing SSH:

                                            On my Fedora laptop and desktop this is what I do.

                                            # Generating a new ED25519 key with a password
                                            ssh-keygen -o -a 100 -t ed25519 -C "$(whoami)@$(hostname)_$(date +%Y-%m-%d_%H:%M:%S%z)" -f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
                                            

                                            May be a stupid question but, should we use passwords?

                                            It's for protecting your private key.

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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