Security :: Security Of OpenVPN With Premade Keys?
Jan 2, 2010
Im a total beginner when it comes cryptography and networking. Finally managed to create a connection with OpenVPN on Ubuntu to a vpn provider called ivacy. On this page:http://ivacy.com/en/doc/user/setup/winxp_openvpn they give configuration files and keys, which I used. The question is, if someone wanted to see my network traffic, could they do it using the keys provided on that page. Reading the OpenVPN documentation i saw that it is also possible to create your own keys. Would that be more secure?
I am not very security minded...I'm aware of it, and always made sure I had up-to-date overall protection in Windows but firewalls, and the blasted passwords are largely a thorn in my side!When I got my iPhone last year I suddenly discovered password managers & "wallets" to keep all that kind of information in and syncable across different devices. My life got so much easier. Of course now I need to figure out encryption keys, and how they work (I'm clueless). I also need to find a program or system that I can move my existing low-tech info (mailnly user name & passwords) that will also accomodate the increased needs of Ubuntu security and still be sync-able. I started a little research weeks ago, but my current "wallet" only exports .csv so I quit since I'm going to have to do a lot of data entry whatever I go with.So here goes:
1) what is the difference (bare bones) between using an encryption key (e.k.) vs. a standard user created password? what situations are better suited for e.k.?
2) I have seahorse (default intall with Ubuntu I guess) but the only thing in it is Login under passwords which leads to a login keyring (?) and a drop-down list of about 6-10 of the gazillon passwords I use daily. The other tabs are for keys which I don't have any concept of.
3) I know FF also "remembers" user id & passwords as you choose to have it do so. Is that information transferable into seahorse or another program?
4)I'm also (today) getting ready to really set up my system for user names & security across my little home network. How can I integrate that into whichever program/app I go with to store my pwds and keys?
5)give me links to fairly current documentation on this stuff?
6) Any program/app recommendations.Pros/cons uses, what they can & can't do or be used for, etc.
I have a running proxy server that I wish to also turn into a VPN server.The VPN is not used so much that a user can access the network but is used so that they can obtain a geo specific IP address for their applications (the proxy server only does this for HTTP).I would therefore like to block off the VPN from accessing any of my Linux box's ports such as email, web server etc.Clients are given local IPs of 172.16.0.x.What should I take into consideration to block off clients from accessing dangerous stuff on the network?
A couple of weeks ago I was using openvpn with a provider of PVNs on a home wifi network with no problems.I had installed openvpn using apt-get install and downloaded theopvn PVN files from the organization.erything worked fine.I would type sudo openvpn nameoffile.ovpn and then add my username and password during the installation process.However, when I try to do the same on an Ethernet network, the installation work fines (as above) and informs me that everything is connected (same as on the home Wifi network) but Firefox and all other software cannot connect to anything on the Internet.I contacted the organization who said the DNS was a problem and I needed to install resolvconf then modify each .opvn file using up /etc/openvpn/update-resolv-conf and down /etc/openvpn/update-resolv-confcauses the installation to hang because it does not like openvpn pointing to an external file.Irrespective of the problem I have with this "solution", previously I could use openvpn without modifying the .ovpn files. It just worked! I wonder if anyone knows why using the exact same configuration on an Ethernet network (which I have not used before with openvpn) is causing problems
I'm running Ubuntu 10.04 LTS as a VM in Hyper-V, and accessing it via VNC with a machine in the same broadcast domain. I'm using OpenVPN to connect to XeroBank. I have instructions for configuring iptables to permit establishing and using the XeroBank connection, while blocking all other traffic on eth0. I've followed them successfully. I need to also permit the VNC connection, and haven't managed that. FWIW, the VM is at 192.168.111.12::5900 and the workstation is 192.168.111.2.
The attachment to this post lists the recommended contents for each Shorewall file. Which files need changed, and what do I add to each?
I just installed OpenVPN using apt, and it doesn't seem to have components which are distributed with the source, such as easy-rsa. Why would tools like this be excluded from the package? I prefer to use apt rather than compiling from source, to keep things neat and simple.
I installed OpenVPN and gadmin-openvpn-server from the repos and I can't seem to activate the openvpn server in the gui. I have the server certificate generated, and all the information on encryption protocols setup, and accounts named and ready, despite accounts that were already there, such as www-data, bind, ossec, etc being listed. The server log states:
PLUGIN_INIT: could not load plugin shared object /usr/lib/openvpn-pam-auth.so: /usr/lib/openvpn/openvpn-pam-auth.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory.
I use vpntunnel.se and followed their tutorial for OpenVPN and it connects and assigns an IP. However, once the sequence is initiated and I open my browser I cannot connect to a webpage and get a "cannot resolve" error. I e-mailed their support and they suggested I change the DNS of my network settings. I did that but the same problem. Once I close OpenVPN my internet works again. It works in windows, so I know it is not my router...I use a wireless connection with my router. I don't know if this has something to do with anything...
Why is that certificates need to be revoked with openvpn?I simply removed them from the keys folder but everytime the client connects it just places the certificates back into the keys folder itself?! Should that be possible?
Secondly, I have a problems etting the revoke command.Is there a known setting on the openssl.cnf file that might cause this?
[root@server]# source ./vars NOTE: If you run ./clean-all, I will be doing a rm -rf on /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/2.0/keys [root@server]# ./revoke-full client2 Using configuration from /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/2.0/openssl.cnf error on line 282 of config file '/etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/2.0/openssl.cnf' 21368:error:0E065068:configuration file routines:STR_COPY:variable has no value:conf_def.c:629:line 282 code....
I have a virtual private server running ubuntu server edition that I have set up as an openvpn client. The problem I have is that the moment I turn on openvpn, I am no longer able to ssh into the machine. Is there a way to enable me to connect to it even when it is tunneling?
I have to say, I'm a little astonished at how anxious people are to bypass password checks on networks, all for the convenience of having things come up automatically. But given the world as we find it, I'm seeking a different approach.
I have an OpenVPN network. It works fine, but for my laptop, I've selected a client certificate that requires a password, so that if it falls into nefarious hands, the thief will not have immediate access to the VPN.
I'm trying not to have any data at all on the laptop (yes, a waste of a 500GB drive). So I want the VPN up even before I log in through the GUI.
It would be nice if the boot-up sequence would pause for the openvpn start script to ask for this password. I see the script contains a line "# X-Interactive: true" which I understand from documentation is supposed to accomplish this. But it doesn't. OpenVPN simply fails to start, which is better than the alternative, but a pain.
I have already disabled the splash screen (having been around Linux for over ten years, I am more comfortable seeing boot-up messages anyway, though even on this x86 they flash on so quickly I'm not sure I'm really gaining anything).
I generated RSA keys on Karmic, added the id_rsa.pub to the authorized_keys file on FreeNAS, then removed the id_rsa.pub from Karmic (this is a poorly documented but necessary step I learned).My Karmic username is shawn, FreeNAS username is shawnboy.from Karmic it prompts me for my RSA key passphrase which it should do, but after I enter it, it fails and moves on to prompt me for my password. I know this isn't a FreeNAS forum, but this works perfectly using Putty SSH with RSA keys on Windows XP, so I figure it's more appropriate to ask here than in FreeNAS forums.
Scenario 1. I am doing this from /home/deploy directory I am trying to set up ssh with github for capistrano deployment. this has been an absolute nightmare. when I do ssh git@github.com as the deploy account I get Permission denied (publickey). so may be the key is not being found, so If I do a ssh-add /home/deploy/.ssh/id_rsa Could not open a connection to your authentication agent. (i did verify that the ssh-agent was running) If I do exec ssh-agent bash and then repeat the ssh-add then the key does get added and I can ssh into github. Now I exit from the ssh connection to my server and ssh back in and I can't ssh into github anymore! Scenario 2 if I login to my remote server and then cd into my .ssh directory and ssh into github then it all works fine I guess there is a problem with locating the key and for some reason the agent isn't funcitoning correctly.
My primary Ubuntu server has SSH exposed to the internet so I can remotely access it. I have configured OpenSSH to use only RSA key authentication. Each computer I use has a separate RSA key unique to it. I also have a unique RSA key on a USB thumb-drive I carry with me. The purpose of the USB key is for emergencies if I have to access the server from some remote system. The problem is that I may not trust the remote machine (university/public library computer for example).
What I would like to do is have a set of one-time use RSA keys that, after I log in to SSH with them, are removed from the authorized_keys file. This would hopefully keep my system safe even if the remote machine I was using was compromised and had copied my private key and key-logged the password I used to decrypt it. I would like to have these keys be separate from the keys I have for my trusted computers.
I have enabled ssh key based logins for one of my servers and disabled normal password based logins. It just occurred to me that the public key which I generated on my pc, and uploaded to the servers authorized_keys, may in fact only apply to my local PC / user account. So basically if my system crashes I would have no way to login to the server...? Is it not possible to "share" public keys so other people (PCs / accounts) can use them?
I've installed the ssh server on my Ubuntu desktop and the very first time I accessed the server from my laptop, it got a message asking me whether to permanently add the key of the server. After I added this, it gave me a message saying that the key had been permanently added. My question is how do I remove this key? I just want to know how to do this because I'm going to disable password based logins and I want to start anew.
I want to block some ips permanently ie. even I as the root user cannot unblock these ips without having to format the whole system.
So i thought if some blocking software provided passwords for editing rules and I put a 'junk' password there and so that I can't delete the rules without the 'junk' password which I don't know.
So I examined iptables and I saw that it is a kernel module so there is no use of that since I can probably throw it away.
But the basic question is to block ips and gulp the key.
Within the documentation of example OpenVPN setups there is a setup that shows an OpenVPN Server with two network interfaces. One interfaces is plugged into the public internet network and the second interface is plugged into the private network.
Normally I assume that it would be best to place the OpenVPN system inside the network behind the router and firewall and open only the ports needed on the router to allow access to the OpenVPN system. All other router ports would be closed. This is the first example they show. To see what I am talking about see page(s) 6-7 here -> [URL]
If one were to use the two interface public facing setup, when would that setup best be justified? I guess if you didn't want to open any ports on the router/firewall then this could be justified but then you have to lock down this public system individually instead of having it protected by the network firewall.
Since I have installed Fedora 13 it seems that I can't connect to WLAN APs which aren't secured by WPA. I'm surprised about the inserts to the messages logfile:
[Code]...
Most surprising insert for me: Jul 5 20:43:21 nbtobiaslnx NetworkManager[1328]: <info> Config: added 'key_mgmt' value 'WPA-PSK' Is this the reason for my problem? I use KDE and Network Manager for managing my networkconnections.
What is the easiest way to encrypt plain text content with a password only? I need to encrypt client login information, but I hate dealing with all the unnecessary complexities of Linux's encryption systems.
I know I am going to get a bunch of people telling me how perfect Seahorse and whatever is, but Seahorse and the default /home directly encryption have both given me too many problems when decrypting my information. I prefer to preserve my data rather than using these methods.
Can i login to my server using my root account and create a public+private key for one of my users and then manually paste it into his authorized_keys file and give him the private key?
The user im giving it to has a chrooted FTP account...
Is it still ok that i used the root account to create it? He is not going to have root access or nothing is he? This is not a security breach in any way is it?
The user doesn't have shell access to create their own so this is the only way i can think of doing it...
Also what access should the user have to their .ssh folder + the authorized_keys file...?
Are they allowed to read the key? What about write?
I recently upgraded to Ubuntu 10.04. I love the passwords and keys application, but was somewhat surprised at the lack of a context menu in gnome to encrypt a file.
In general, I cannot find how to encrypt files using the keys I generate. Maybe I'm missing something? Probably, I just thought since Ubuntu comes with OOB key generation it would have OOB encryption capabilities.
I've read about seahorse and other ways to ADD encryption, I'm just wondering if ubuntu does it natively. It'd be a good idea to add to brainstorms, right click and encrypt.
Ubuntu 10.10 Server is loaded. Openssh has been loaded.
I have multiple users which need access to server via ssh.
My impression from reading about ssh is that a key needs generated for each person. Thus, each key will have a passphrase that is unique to them.
In /etc/ssh/sshd_config, the default sshd_config suggest using:
%h/.ssh/authorized_keys
My assumption is %h is a variable that will allow the current user to use the public key stored in his home directory under the .ssh folder in a file called authorized_keys. Is their a command string that automatically populates the authorized_keys file?
I am surprised that even though there are a number of hidden (e.g. .****) files located in the home folder, there is not one automatically generated as .ssh. It appears I have to create that directory myself. I am especially surprised by this since it appears the instructions for generating a key seems to load the key in the home directory instead of proceeding to create a .ssh folder to store the keys in.
It is not clear, but it appears that the public key needs to be copied or appended to the authorized_keys file, but, using the scheme above, the public key needs to be copied or appended to each users authorized_keys file instead of appending all public keys to a single authorized_keys location.
It then appears that each persons authorized_keys file needs permissions set to 600.
It also appears that if I decide to use RSA instead of DSA, I would do the same thing above but would use authorized_keys2 file instead.
Why doesn't the home folder which gets automatically set up for each user automatically get a .ssh folder generated? i.e Why does it have to be created by hand? Does it need the same permission on the .ssh folder? ie 600?
My aim is to allow many to log on via ssh simultaneously and then allow many to simultaneously vnc into their respective gnome desktops.
I am trying to lock down a server using audit.rules. I intend to use ausearch to review certain entries from time to time. I noticed that it's possible to assign a "key" to each rule and then use `ausearch -k` to show only the records that have that key.Unfortunately, the key feature seems broken. I started with the following rule in audit.rules:
Code: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S open -S openat -F exit=-EACCES -k deny I do a `cat /etc/shadow` and a `ausearch -ts today -k deny` and it seems all went well.
At the moment we have one SSH server with the private key being on a usb flash drive, and the public key being on the server in authorized_keys2. Now that three more servers are coming online, should we generate new keys, so we have muliple private and public keys (one pair for each server), or use the same two keys to access all the servers
I am using Nautilus to connect to an external server. Currently, I use password authentication, and all works fine. I just type sftp://SERVER and the connection is established after providing the login credentials. However, I changed the server to only accept Public Key Authentication and disabled password authentication, and as a consequence I could not login using Nautilus anymore. Is there some way to make this work?
