(answers assume OpenSSH, since that's what the options look like.)
Peter Valdemar Mørch (Lists) wrote:
Question
--------
I often know and accept that portX on serverY is not the same as it was
10 minutes ago. Therefore I don't want to use ~/.ssh/known_hosts. So
I use "ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null
-p portX serverY" but it is very lengthy to type and always yields this
message:
Warning: Permanently added '<host>,<ip>' (RSA) to the list of known hosts
where 'list of known hosts' presumably is /dev/null.
Is there a better way to suppress using host keys? I wish there was a
--no-hostkeys or similar option to do this.
If not, is there a way to avoid the above warning? It is misleading, and
I prefer not to train myself to avoid warnings.
You could use LogLevel quiet.
(Yes, there are security problems when not using host keys. I know.)
I've tried to search the mailing list, but
http://marc.info/?l=secure-shell&w=2&r=1&s=stricthostkeychecking&q=b
shows some really weird results (try it!)
Further background
------------------
- We're on a LAN where our DHCP server is messed up. And corporate
wisdom dictates that it isn't worth it to ensure that hosts get the same
IP address at every reboot. We have to deal with it.
- We use port forwarding a lot, so port 2223 on serverX is forwarded to
a particular host right now, but a different one in 10 minutes. That is
reality for us.
For this one you can use "HostKeyAlias serverX" and "CheckHostIP no".
- Also, we often test fresh installations, where each test involves
installation of the ssh package and hence the host keys differ from test
to test.
This one is not so easy to handle automatically, since it's pretty much
indistinguishable from a MITM attack.
You could use ssh-keygen -R [machine you just reinstalled] or the
StrictHostKeyChecking / UserKnownHostsFile / LogLevel combination
described above only for the install-test machines.
From a security standpoint an easy option to disable host keys when we
*know* they won't work is better than putting the
StrictHostKeyChecking=no and UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null in
~/.ssh/config and then teaching the eye not to see the "Warning:
Permanently added..." message, isn't it?
Peter
--
Darren Tucker (dtucker at zip.com.au)
GPG key 8FF4FA69 / D9A3 86E9 7EEE AF4B B2D4 37C9 C982 80C7 8FF4 FA69
Good judgement comes with experience. Unfortunately, the experience
usually comes from bad judgement.
