SSH Protocol

SSH Protocol

The SSH protocol (also referred to as Secure Shell) is a method for secure remote login from one computer to another. It provides several alternative options for strong authentication, and it protects the communications security and integrity with strong encryption. It is a secure alternative to the non-protected login protocols (such as telnet, rlogin) and insecure file transfer methods (such as FTP). 

Typical uses of the SSH protocol

The protocol is used in corporate networks for:

• providing secure access for users and automated processes

• interactive互相影响的 and automated file transfers

• issuing remote commands

• managing network infrastructure and other mission-critical system components.

 

How does the SSH protocol work

The protocol works in the client-server model, which means that the connection is established by the SSH client connecting to the SSH server.

The SSH client drives the connection setup process and uses public key cryptography to verify the identity of the SSH server.

After the setup phase the SSH protocol uses strong symmetric encryption and hashing algorithms to ensure the privacy and integrity of the data that is exchanged between the client and server.

The figure below presents a simplified setup flow of a secure shell connection.

 

Strong authentication with SSH keys

There are several options that can be used for user authentication. The most common ones are passwords and public key authentication.

The public key authentication method is primarily used for automation and sometimes by system administrators for single sign-on. It has turned out to be much more widely used than we ever anticipated. The idea is to have a cryptographic key pair - public key and private key - and configure the public key on a server to authorize access and grant anyone who has a copy of the private key access to the server. The keys used for authentication are called SSH keys. Public key authentication is also used with smartcards, such as the CAC and PIV cards used by US government.

The main use of key-based authentication is to enable secure automation. Automated secure shell file transfers are used to seamlessly integrate applications and also for automated systems & configuration management.

We have found that large organizations have way more SSH keys than they imagine, and managing SSH keys has become very important. SSH keys grant access as user names and passwords do. They require a similar provisioning and termination processes.

In some cases we have found several million SSH keys authorizing access into production servers in customer environments, with 90% of the keys actually being unused and representing access that was provisioned but never terminated. Ensuring proper policies, processes, and audits also for SSH usage is critical for proper identity and access management. Traditional identity management projects have overlooked as much as 90% of all credentials by ignoring SSH keys. We provide services and tools for implementing SSH key management.

 

SSH原理与运用（一）：远程登录

二、最基本的用法

SSH主要用于远程登录。假定你要以用户名user，登录远程主机host，只要一条简单命令就可以了。

　　$ ssh user@host

如果本地用户名与远程用户名一致，登录时可以省略用户名。

　　$ ssh host

SSH的默认端口是22，也就是说，你的登录请求会送进远程主机的22端口。使用p参数，可以修改这个端口。

　　$ ssh -p 2222 user@host

上面这条命令表示，ssh直接连接远程主机的2222端口。

 

三、中间人攻击

SSH之所以能够保证安全，原因在于它采用了公钥加密。

整个过程是这样的：（1）远程主机收到用户的登录请求，把自己的公钥发给用户。（2）用户使用这个公钥，将登录密码加密后，发送回来。（3）远程主机用自己的私钥，解密登录密码，如果密码正确，就同意用户登录。

这个过程本身是安全的，但是实施的时候存在一个风险：如果有人截获了登录请求，然后冒充远程主机，将伪造的公钥发给用户，那么用户很难辨别真伪。因为不像https协议，SSH协议的公钥是没有证书中心（CA）公证的，也就是说，都是自己签发的。

可以设想，如果攻击者插在用户与远程主机之间（比如在公共的wifi区域），用伪造的公钥，获取用户的登录密码。再用这个密码登录远程主机，那么SSH的安全机制就荡然无存了。这种风险就是著名的"中间人攻击"（Man-in-the-middle attack）。

 

五、公钥登录

公钥登录和上面的ssh根据用户名密码登录，是两套完全不同的的东西

ssh根据用户名和密码登录，使用的公钥和私钥，是服务器自带的一套；而公钥登录中的公钥和私钥都是用户自己生成的，用户把公钥放在服务器，私钥保留在本地。

使用密码登录，每次都必须输入密码，非常麻烦。好在SSH还提供了公钥登录，可以省去输入密码的步骤。

所谓"公钥登录"，原理很简单，就是用户将自己的公钥储存在远程主机上。登录的时候，远程主机会向用户发送一段随机字符串，用户用自己的私钥加密后，再发回来。远程主机用事先储存的公钥进行解密，如果成功，就证明用户是可信的，直接允许登录shell，不再要求密码。

 

SSH 证书登录教程

一、非证书登录的缺点

密码登录和密钥登录，都有各自的缺点。

密码登录需要输入服务器密码，这非常麻烦，也不安全，存在被暴力破解的风险。

密钥登录需要服务器保存用户的公钥，也需要用户保存服务器公钥的指纹。这对于多用户、多服务器的大型机构很不方便，如果有员工离职，需要将他的公钥从每台服务器删除。

二、证书登录是什么？

证书登录就是为了解决上面的缺点而设计的。它引入了一个证书颁发机构（Certificate1 authority，简称 CA），对信任的服务器颁发服务器证书，对信任的用户颁发用户证书。

登录时，用户和服务器不需要提前知道彼此的公钥，只需要交换各自的证书，验证是否可信即可。

证书登录的主要优点有两个：（1）用户和服务器不用交换公钥，这更容易管理，也具有更好的可扩展性。（2）证书可以设置到期时间，而公钥没有到期时间。针对不同的情况，可以设置有效期很短的证书，进一步提高安全性。

 

作者:Chuck Lu    GitHub