rssh

Restrict Users to SCP and SFTP and Block SSH Shell Access with rssh

Posted By vivek On December 31, 2007 @ 6:59 am In Howto, Linux, RedHat/Fedora Linux, Security, Sys

FTP is insecure protocol, but file-transfer is required all time. You can use OpenSSH Server to transfer file using SCP and SFTP (secure ftp) without setting up an FTP server. However, this feature also grants ssh shell access to a user. Basically OpenSSH requires a valid shell. Here is how sftp works:

SCP/SFTP -> SSHD -> Call sftpd subsystem -> Requires a shell -> User can login to server and run other commands.

In this [3] article series we will help you provide secure restricted file-transfer services to your users without resorting to FTP. It also covers chroot jail setup instructions to lock down users to their own home directories (allow users to transfer files but not browse the entire Linux / UNIX file system of the server) as well as per user configurations.
rssh ~ a restricted shell

rssh is a restricted shell for use with OpenSSH, allowing only scp and/or sftp. It now also includes support for rdist, rsync, and cvs. For example, if you have a server which you only want to allow users to copy files off of via scp, without providing shell access, you can use rssh to do that.
Supported operations using rssh

Restricted shell only allows following operations only:

* scp - Secure file copy
* sftp - Secure FTP
* cvs - Concurrent Versions System ~ you can easily retrieve old versions to see exactly which change caused the bug
* rsync - Backup and sync file system
* rdist - Backup / RDist program maintains identical copies of files on multiple hosts.

Install rssh
CentOS / Fedora / RHEL Linux rssh installation

Visit Dag's repo to grab [4] rssh package
# cd /tmp
# wget http://dag.wieers.com/rpm/packages/rssh/rssh-2.3.2-1.2.el5.rf.i386.rpm
# rpm -ivh rssh-2.3.2-1.2.el5.rf.i386.rpm

- nixCraft - http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips -

How to: Configure User Account to Use a Restricted Shell ( rssh )

Posted By vivek On November 27, 2007 @ 1:02 pm In Linux, Security, Sys admin, Tips, UNIX | 3 Comments
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[3] Now rssh is installed. Next logical step is configure user to use rssh. All you have to do is set a user account shell to /usr/bin/rssh. The following examples adds user didi to system with /usr/bin/rssh.
Create a new user with /usr/bin/rssh

Login as the root user

Type the following command to create a new user called didi:
# useradd -m -d /home/didi -s /usr/bin/rssh didi
# passwd didi
Change existing user shell to /usr/bin/rssh

Use [4] chsh command or usermod command to change user login shell:
# usermod -s /usr/bin/rssh old-user-name
# usermod -s /usr/bin/rssh vivek
# chsh -s /usr/bin/rssh vivek
Try login via ssh or sftp

Now try login via ssh or sftp using username didi:
$ sftp didi@my.backup.server.com
OR
$ ssh didi@my.backup.server.com
Output:

didi@my.backup.server.com's password: TYPE-THE-PASSWORD
Linux my.backup.server.com 2.6.22-14-generic #1 SMP Tue Dec 18 08:02:57 UTC 2007 i686

Last login: Thu Dec 27 16:35:04 2007 from localhost

This account is restricted by rssh.
This user is locked out.

If you believe this is in error, please contact your system administrator.

Connection to my.backup.server.com closed.

By default rssh configuration locks down everything including any sort of access.
Grant access to sftp and scp for all users

The default action for rssh to lock down everything. To grant access to scp or sftp open /etc/rssh.conf file:
# vi /etc/rssh.conf
Append or uncomment following two lines
allowscp
allowsftp

Save and close the file. rssh reads configuration file on fly (there is no rssh service exists). Now user should able to run scp and sftp commands, but no shell access is granted:
$ scp /path/to/file didi@my.backup.server.com:/.
OR
$ sftp didi@my.backup.server.com:/.
Output:

Connecting to lmy.backup.server.com...
didi@my.backup.server.com's password:
sftp> pwd
Remote working directory: /home/didi
sftp>

Understanding command configuration options

You need to add following keywords / directives to allow or disallow scp / sftp and other commands:

* allowscp : Tells the shell that scp is allowed.
* allowsftp : Tells the shell that sftp is allowed.
* allowcvs : Tells the shell that cvs is allowed.
* allowrdist : Tells the shell that rdist is allowed.
* allowrsync : Tells the shell that rsync is allowed.

Tip: Create a group for rssh users, and limit executable access to the binaries to users in that group to improve security. Please use standard file permissions carefully and appropriately.

- nixCraft - http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips -

Linux Configure rssh Chroot Jail To Lock Users To Their Home Directories Only

Posted By vivek On November 27, 2007 @ 1:28 pm In Security, Sys admin, Tips, UNIX, Ubuntu Linux | 5 Comments
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[3]

rssh support chrooting option. If you want to chroot users, use chrootpath option. It is used to set the directory where the root of the chroot jail will be located. This is a security feature.

A chroot on Linux or Unix OS is an operation that changes the root directory. It affects only the current process and its children. If your default home directory is /home/vivek normal user can access files in /etc, /sbin or /bin directory. This allows an attacker to install programs / backdoor via your web server in /tmp. chroot allows to restrict file system access and locks down user to their own directory.
Configuring rssh chroot

=> Chroot directory: /users.
Tip: If possible mount /users filesystem with the noexec/nosuid option to improve security.

=> Required directories in jail:

* /users/dev - Device file
* /users/etc - Configuration file such as passwd
* /users/lib - Shared libs
* /users/usr - rssh and other binaries
* /users/bin - Copy default shell such as /bin/csh or /bin/bash

=> Required files in jail at /users directory (default for RHEL / CentOS / Debian Linux):

* /etc/ld.so.cache
* /etc/ld.so.cache.d/*
* /etc/ld.so.conf
* /etc/nsswitch.conf
* /etc/passwd
* /etc/group
* /etc/hosts
* /etc/resolv.conf
* /usr/bin/scp
* /usr/bin/rssh
* /usr/bin/sftp
* /usr/libexec/openssh/sftp-server OR /usr/lib/openssh/sftp-server
* /usr/libexec/rssh_chroot_helper OR /usr/lib/rssh/rssh_chroot_helper (suid must be set on this binary)
* /bin/sh or /bin/bash (default shell)

Tip: Limit the binaries which live in the jail to the absolute minimum required to improve security. Usually /bin/bash and /bin/sh is not required but some system may give out error.
A note about jail file system

Note: The files need to be placed in the jail directory (such as /users) in directories that mimic their placement in the root (/) file system. So you need to copy all required files. For example, /usr/bin/rssh is located on / file system. If your jail is located at /users, then copy /usr/bin/rssh to /users/usr/bin/rssh. Following instuctions are tested on:

* FreeBSD
* Solaris UNIX
* RHEL / Redhat / Fedora / CentOS Linux
* Debian Linux

Building the Chrooted Jail

Create all required directories:
# mkdir -p /users/{dev,etc,lib,usr,bin}
# mkdir -p /users/usr/bin
# mkdir -p /users/libexec/openssh

Create /users/dev/null:
# mknod -m 666 /users/dev/null c 1 3
Copy required /etc/ configuration files, as described above to your jail directory /users/etc:
# cd /users/etc
# cp /etc/ld.so.cache .
# cp -avr /etc/ld.so.cache.d/ .
# cp /etc/ld.so.conf .
# cp /etc/nsswitch.conf .
# cp /etc/passwd .
# cp /etc/group .
# cp /etc/hosts .
# cp /etc/resolv.conf .
Open /usres/group and /users/passwd file and remove root and all other accounts.

Copy required binary files, as described above to your jail directory /users/bin and other locations:
# cd /users/usr/bin
# cp /usr/bin/scp .
# cp /usr/bin/rssh .
# cp /usr/bin/sftp .
# cd /users/usr/libexec/openssh/
# cp /usr/libexec/openssh/sftp-server .
OR
# cp /usr/lib/openssh/sftp-server .
# cd /users/usr/libexec/
# cp /usr/libexec/rssh_chroot_helper
OR
# cp /usr/lib/rssh/rssh_chroot_helper
# cd /users/bin/
# cp /bin/sh .
OR
# cp /bin/bash .
Copy all shared library files

The library files that any of these binary files need can be found by using the ldd / strace command. For example, running ldd against /usr/bin/sftp provides the following output:
ldd /usr/bin/sftp
Output:

linux-gate.so.1 =>  (0x00456000)
libresolv.so.2 => /lib/libresolv.so.2 (0x0050e000)
libcrypto.so.6 => /lib/libcrypto.so.6 (0x0013e000)
libutil.so.1 => /lib/libutil.so.1 (0x008ba000)
libz.so.1 => /usr/lib/libz.so.1 (0x00110000)
libnsl.so.1 => /lib/libnsl.so.1 (0x0080e000)
libcrypt.so.1 => /lib/libcrypt.so.1 (0x00a8c000)
libgssapi_krb5.so.2 => /usr/lib/libgssapi_krb5.so.2 (0x00656000)
libkrb5.so.3 => /usr/lib/libkrb5.so.3 (0x00271000)
libk5crypto.so.3 => /usr/lib/libk5crypto.so.3 (0x00304000)
libcom_err.so.2 => /lib/libcom_err.so.2 (0x00777000)
libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x00123000)
libnss3.so => /usr/lib/libnss3.so (0x00569000)
libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00b6c000)
libkrb5support.so.0 => /usr/lib/libkrb5support.so.0 (0x00127000)
libkeyutils.so.1 => /lib/libkeyutils.so.1 (0x00130000)
/lib/ld-linux.so.2 (0x00525000)
libplc4.so => /usr/lib/libplc4.so (0x008c9000)
libplds4.so => /usr/lib/libplds4.so (0x00133000)
libnspr4.so => /usr/lib/libnspr4.so (0x00d04000)
libpthread.so.0 => /lib/libpthread.so.0 (0x0032a000)
libselinux.so.1 => /lib/libselinux.so.1 (0x00341000)
libsepol.so.1 => /lib/libsepol.so.1 (0x00964000)

You need to copy all those libraries to /lib and other appropriate location. However, I recommend using my automated script called [4] l2chroot:
# cd /sbin
# wget -O l2chroot http://www.cyberciti.biz/files/lighttpd/l2chroot.txt
# chmod +x l2chroot
Open l2chroot and set BASE variable to point to chroot directory (jail) location:
BASE="/users"
Now copy all shared library files
# l2chroot /usr/bin/scp
# l2chroot /usr/bin/rssh
# l2chroot /usr/bin/sftp
# l2chroot /usr/libexec/openssh/sftp-server
OR
# l2chroot /usr/lib/openssh/sftp-server
# l2chroot /usr/libexec/rssh_chroot_helper
OR
# l2chroot /usr/lib/rssh/rssh_chroot_helper
# l2chroot /bin/sh
OR
# l2chroot /bin/bash
Modify syslogd configuration

The syslog library function works by writing messages into a FIFO file such as /dev/log. You need to pass -a /path/to/chroot/dev/log option. Using this argument you can specify additional sockets from that syslogd has to listen to. This is needed if you’re going to let some daemon run within a chroot() environment. You can use up to 19 additional sockets. If your environment needs even more, you have to increase the symbol MAXFUNIX within the syslogd.c source file. Open /etc/sysconfig/syslog file:
# vi /etc/sysconfig/syslog
Find line that read as follows:
SYSLOGD_OPTIONS="-m 0"
Append -a /users/dev/log
SYSLOGD_OPTIONS="-m 0 -a /users/dev/log"
Save and close the file. Restart syslog:
# /etc/init.d/syslog restart
If you are using Debian / Ubuntu Linux apply changes to /etc/default/syslogd file.
Set chroot path

Open configuration file /etc/rssh.conf:
# vi /etc/rssh.conf
Set chrootpath to /users
chrootpath=/users
Save and close the file. If sshd is not running start it:
# /etc/init.d/sshd start
Add user to jail

As explained eariler, [2] configure rssh user account. For example, add user vivek in chrooted jail with the following command:
# useradd -m -d /users/vivek -s /usr/bin/rssh vivek
# passwd vivek
Now vivek can login using sftp or copy files using scp:

sftp vivek@my-server.com
vivek@my-server.com's password:
sftp> ls
sftp> pwd
Remote working directory: /vivek
sftp> cd /tmp
Couldn't canonicalise: No such file or directory

User vivek is allowed to login to server to trasfer files, but not allowed to browse entier file system.

- nixCraft - http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips -

rssh: Per User Configuration Options For Chroot Jail

Posted By vivek On December 22, 2007 @ 12:00 am In Debian Linux, File system, FreeBSD, Howto, Linux, Networking, RedHat/Fedora Linux, Security, Suse Linux, Sys admin, Tuning, UNIX, Ubuntu Linux, User Management | 1 Comment
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[2]

rssh is a restricted shell for providing limited access to a host via ssh. It also allows system wide configuration and per user configuration. From the man page:
The user configuration directive allows for the configuration of options on a per-user basis. THIS KEYWORD OVERRIDES ALL OTHER KEYWORDS FOR THE SPECIFIED USER. That is, if you use a user keyword for user foo, then foo will use only the settings in that user line, and not any of the settings set with the keywords above. The user keyword’s argument consists of a group of fields separated by a colon (:), as shown below. The fields are, in order:

* username : The username of the user for whom the entry provides options
* umask : The umask for this user, in octal, just as it would be specified to the shell access bits. Five binary digits, which indicate whether the user is allowed to use rsync, rdist, cvs, sftp, and scp, in that order. One means the command is allowed, zero means it is not.
* path : The directory to which this user should be chrooted (this is not a command, it is a directory name).

rssh examples of configuring per-user options

Open /etc/rssh.conf file:
# vi /etc/rssh.conf
All user tom to bypass our chroot jail:
user=tom:077:00010
Provide jerry cvs access with no chroot:
user=jerry:011:00100
Provide spike rsync access with no chroot:
user=spike:011:10000
Provide tyke access with chroot jail located at /users
user="tyke:011:00001:/users" # whole user string can be quoted
if your chroot_path contains spaces, it must be quoted. Provide nibbles scp access with chroot directory:
user=nibbles:011:00001:"/usr/local/tv/shows/tom and jerry"