Bugtraq mailing list archives

Re: [FD] SSH host key fingerprint - through HTTPS


From: John Leo <johnleo () checkssh com>
Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 19:06:49 +0800

Good to hear from you!

"marginally better"
We never said this is perfect. checkssh.com stops LOCAL bad boys. That's all.

"both myself and that site are BOTH falling victim"
Ah, here is the source code...
https://checkssh.com/result/indexdotphp.txt
It's extremely short and easy to read. You can set up your own Check SSH(where you trust).

"more robust alternatives"
Trust me - HTTPS is more mature. And our code is more simple.

Best Wishes,

On 2014-9-1 16:43, Stephanie Daugherty wrote:
Sure it shows me the fingerprint, but it doesn't tell me for sure if that's the RIGHT fingerprint or the fingerprint of 
an imposter,

It's entirely possible that both myself and that site are BOTH falling victim to a MITM attack.(routing attacks, DNS 
attacks, etc)

Proper host key verification (which nobody does) ideally means one or more of:
* Verification that the SSH host key is connected via certificate chain to a trusted certificate,
* Comparison to a fingerprint being posted on the organization's OWN https site
* Comparison to a fingerprint provided with a GPG or S/MIME signature from the administrator of the machine.
* Voice verification of the host public key or its fingerprint with the administrator of the machine.
* Obtaining a printed copy of the host public key or its fingerprint directly from the administrator.


Although this might be marginally better than trust on first contact (TOFC), the danger of a false sense of security likely 
outweigh any potential security gains over TOFC, particularly when more robust alternatives (MonkeySphere, signed host keys, 
use of an organization's own HTTPS site) exist and are clearly superior.



On Mon, Sep 1, 2014 at 12:41 AM, John Leo <johnleo () checkssh com <mailto:johnleo () checkssh com>> wrote:

    This tool displays SSH host key fingerprint - through HTTPS.

    SSH is about security; host key matters a lot here; and you can know for sure by using this tool. It means you know 
precisely how to answer this question:
    The authenticity of host 'blah.blah.blah (10.10.10.10)' can't be established.
    RSA key fingerprint is a4:d9:a4:d9:a4:d9a4:d9:a4:__d9a4:d9a4:d9a4:d9a4:d9a4:d9.
    Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?

    https://checkssh.com/

    We hackers don't want to get hacked. :-) SSH rocks - when host key is right. Enjoy!

    Best Wishes,


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