0

I'm using CentOS 7 on a test server. Only the root user can login without any issues it seems.

After trying the following command, the connection gets closed immediately and I'm not sure where to look up the configuration of all options, except for my /etc/ssh/sshd_config

#       $OpenBSD: sshd_config,v 1.100 2016/08/15 12:32:04 naddy Exp $

# This is the sshd server system-wide configuration file.  See
# sshd_config(5) for more information.

# This sshd was compiled with PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin

# The strategy used for options in the default sshd_config shipped with
# OpenSSH is to specify options with their default value where
# possible, but leave them commented.  Uncommented options override the
# default value.

# If you want to change the port on a SELinux system, you have to tell
# SELinux about this change.
# semanage port -a -t ssh_port_t -p tcp #PORTNUMBER
#
#Port 22
#AddressFamily any
#ListenAddress 0.0.0.0
#ListenAddress ::

HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key
#HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key
HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key
HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key

# Ciphers and keying
#RekeyLimit default none

# Logging
#SyslogFacility AUTH
SyslogFacility AUTHPRIV
#LogLevel INFO

# Authentication:

#LoginGraceTime 2m
PermitRootLogin yes
#StrictModes yes
#MaxAuthTries 6
#MaxSessions 10

#PubkeyAuthentication yes

# The default is to check both .ssh/authorized_keys and .ssh/authorized_keys2
# but this is overridden so installations will only check .ssh/authorized_keys
AuthorizedKeysFile      .ssh/authorized_keys

#AuthorizedPrincipalsFile none

#AuthorizedKeysCommand none
#AuthorizedKeysCommandUser nobody

# For this to work you will also need host keys in /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts
#HostbasedAuthentication no
# Change to yes if you don't trust ~/.ssh/known_hosts for
# HostbasedAuthentication
#IgnoreUserKnownHosts no
# Don't read the user's ~/.rhosts and ~/.shosts files
#IgnoreRhosts yes

# To disable tunneled clear text passwords, change to no here!
#PasswordAuthentication yes
#PermitEmptyPasswords no
PasswordAuthentication yes

# Change to no to disable s/key passwords
#ChallengeResponseAuthentication yes
ChallengeResponseAuthentication no

# Kerberos options
#KerberosAuthentication no
#KerberosOrLocalPasswd yes
#KerberosTicketCleanup yes
#KerberosGetAFSToken no
#KerberosUseKuserok yes

# GSSAPI options
GSSAPIAuthentication yes
GSSAPICleanupCredentials no
#GSSAPIStrictAcceptorCheck yes
#GSSAPIKeyExchange no
#GSSAPIEnablek5users no

# Set this to 'yes' to enable PAM authentication, account processing,
# and session processing. If this is enabled, PAM authentication will
# be allowed through the ChallengeResponseAuthentication and
# PasswordAuthentication.  Depending on your PAM configuration,
# PAM authentication via ChallengeResponseAuthentication may bypass
PermitRootLogin no
# If you just want the PAM account and session checks to run without
# PAM authentication, then enable this but set PasswordAuthentication
# and ChallengeResponseAuthentication to 'no'.
# WARNING: 'UsePAM no' is not supported in Red Hat Enterprise Linux and may cause several
# problems.
UsePAM yes

#AllowAgentForwarding yes
#AllowTcpForwarding yes
#GatewayPorts no
X11Forwarding yes
#X11DisplayOffset 10
#X11UseLocalhost yes
#PermitTTY yes
#PrintMotd yes
#PrintLastLog yes
#TCPKeepAlive yes
#UseLogin no
#UsePrivilegeSeparation sandbox
#PermitUserEnvironment no
#Compression delayed
#ClientAliveInterval 0
#ClientAliveCountMax 3
#ShowPatchLevel no
#UseDNS yes
#PidFile /var/run/sshd.pid
#MaxStartups 10:30:100
#PermitTunnel no
#ChrootDirectory none
#VersionAddendum none

# no default banner path
#Banner none

# Accept locale-related environment variables
AcceptEnv LANG LC_CTYPE LC_NUMERIC LC_TIME LC_COLLATE LC_MONETARY LC_MESSAGES
AcceptEnv LC_PAPER LC_NAME LC_ADDRESS LC_TELEPHONE LC_MEASUREMENT
AcceptEnv LC_IDENTIFICATION LC_ALL LANGUAGE
AcceptEnv XMODIFIERS

# override default of no subsystems
Subsystem       sftp    /usr/libexec/openssh/sftp-server

# Example of overriding settings on a per-user basis
#Match User anoncvs
#       X11Forwarding no
#       AllowTcpForwarding no
#       PermitTTY no
#       ForceCommand cvs server

# Eigen invulling

#Match User testuser
#ChrootDirectory /home/testuser

It's time to try to connect to the server with the ssh command. This is what I get back:

ssh -vvv testuser@12.34.56.78

OpenSSH_7.4p1, OpenSSL 1.0.2k-fips  26 Jan 2017
debug1: Reading configuration data /etc/ssh/ssh_config
debug1: /etc/ssh/ssh_config line 58: Applying options for *
debug2: resolving "12.34.56.78" port 22
debug2: ssh_connect_direct: needpriv 0
debug1: Connecting to 12.34.56.78 [12.34.56.78] port 22.
debug1: Connection established.
debug1: permanently_set_uid: 0/0
debug1: key_load_public: No such file or directory
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_rsa type -1
debug1: key_load_public: No such file or directory
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_rsa-cert type -1
debug1: key_load_public: No such file or directory
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_dsa type -1
debug1: key_load_public: No such file or directory
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_dsa-cert type -1
debug1: key_load_public: No such file or directory
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_ecdsa type -1
debug1: key_load_public: No such file or directory
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_ecdsa-cert type -1
debug1: key_load_public: No such file or directory
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_ed25519 type -1
debug1: key_load_public: No such file or directory
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_ed25519-cert type -1
debug1: Enabling compatibility mode for protocol 2.0
debug1: Local version string SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_7.4
debug1: Remote protocol version 2.0, remote software version OpenSSH_7.4
debug1: match: OpenSSH_7.4 pat OpenSSH* compat 0x04000000
debug2: fd 3 setting O_NONBLOCK
debug1: Authenticating to 12.34.56.78:22 as 'testuser'
debug3: hostkeys_foreach: reading file "/root/.ssh/known_hosts"
debug3: record_hostkey: found key type ECDSA in file /root/.ssh/known_hosts:7
debug3: load_hostkeys: loaded 1 keys from 12.34.56.78
debug3: order_hostkeyalgs: prefer hostkeyalgs: ecdsa-sha2-nistp256-cert-v01@openssh.com,ecdsa-sha2-nistp384-cert-v01@openssh.com,ecdsa-sha2-nistp521-cert-v01@openssh.com,ecdsa-sha2-nistp256,ecdsa-sha2-nistp384,ecdsa-sha2-nistp521
debug3: send packet: type 20
debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT sent
debug3: receive packet: type 20
debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT received
debug2: local client KEXINIT proposal
debug2: KEX algorithms: curve25519-sha256,curve25519-sha256@libssh.org,ecdh-sha2-nistp256,ecdh-sha2-nistp384,ecdh-sha2-nistp521,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256,diffie-hellman-group16-sha512,diffie-hellman-group18-sha512,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha1,diffie-hellman-group14-sha256,diffie-hellman-group14-sha1,diffie-hellman-group1-sha1,ext-info-c
debug2: host key algorithms: ecdsa-sha2-nistp256-cert-v01@openssh.com,ecdsa-sha2-nistp384-cert-v01@openssh.com,ecdsa-sha2-nistp521-cert-v01@openssh.com,ecdsa-sha2-nistp256,ecdsa-sha2-nistp384,ecdsa-sha2-nistp521,ssh-ed25519-cert-v01@openssh.com,ssh-rsa-cert-v01@openssh.com,ssh-dss-cert-v01@openssh.com,ssh-ed25519,rsa-sha2-512,rsa-sha2-256,ssh-rsa,ssh-dss
debug2: ciphers ctos: chacha20-poly1305@openssh.com,aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr,aes128-gcm@openssh.com,aes256-gcm@openssh.com,aes128-cbc,aes192-cbc,aes256-cbc
debug2: ciphers stoc: chacha20-poly1305@openssh.com,aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr,aes128-gcm@openssh.com,aes256-gcm@openssh.com,aes128-cbc,aes192-cbc,aes256-cbc
debug2: MACs ctos: umac-64-etm@openssh.com,umac-128-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-256-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-512-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha1-etm@openssh.com,umac-64@openssh.com,umac-128@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-512,hmac-sha1
debug2: MACs stoc: umac-64-etm@openssh.com,umac-128-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-256-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-512-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha1-etm@openssh.com,umac-64@openssh.com,umac-128@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-512,hmac-sha1
debug2: compression ctos: none,zlib@openssh.com,zlib
debug2: compression stoc: none,zlib@openssh.com,zlib
debug2: languages ctos:
debug2: languages stoc:
debug2: first_kex_follows 0
debug2: reserved 0
debug2: peer server KEXINIT proposal
debug2: KEX algorithms: curve25519-sha256,curve25519-sha256@libssh.org,ecdh-sha2-nistp256,ecdh-sha2-nistp384,ecdh-sha2-nistp521,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256,diffie-hellman-group16-sha512,diffie-hellman-group18-sha512,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha1,diffie-hellman-group14-sha256,diffie-hellman-group14-sha1,diffie-hellman-group1-sha1
debug2: host key algorithms: ssh-rsa,rsa-sha2-512,rsa-sha2-256,ecdsa-sha2-nistp256,ssh-ed25519
debug2: ciphers ctos: chacha20-poly1305@openssh.com,aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr,aes128-gcm@openssh.com,aes256-gcm@openssh.com,aes128-cbc,aes192-cbc,aes256-cbc,blowfish-cbc,cast128-cbc,3des-cbc
debug2: ciphers stoc: chacha20-poly1305@openssh.com,aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr,aes128-gcm@openssh.com,aes256-gcm@openssh.com,aes128-cbc,aes192-cbc,aes256-cbc,blowfish-cbc,cast128-cbc,3des-cbc
debug2: MACs ctos: umac-64-etm@openssh.com,umac-128-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-256-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-512-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha1-etm@openssh.com,umac-64@openssh.com,umac-128@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-512,hmac-sha1
debug2: MACs stoc: umac-64-etm@openssh.com,umac-128-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-256-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-512-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha1-etm@openssh.com,umac-64@openssh.com,umac-128@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-512,hmac-sha1
debug2: compression ctos: none,zlib@openssh.com
debug2: compression stoc: none,zlib@openssh.com
debug2: languages ctos:
debug2: languages stoc:
debug2: first_kex_follows 0
debug2: reserved 0
debug1: kex: algorithm: curve25519-sha256
debug1: kex: host key algorithm: ecdsa-sha2-nistp256
debug1: kex: server->client cipher: chacha20-poly1305@openssh.com MAC: <implicit> compression: none
debug1: kex: client->server cipher: chacha20-poly1305@openssh.com MAC: <implicit> compression: none
debug1: kex: curve25519-sha256 need=64 dh_need=64
debug1: kex: curve25519-sha256 need=64 dh_need=64
debug3: send packet: type 30
debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_KEX_ECDH_REPLY
debug3: receive packet: type 31
debug1: Server host key: ecdsa-sha2-nistp256 SHA256:wBQwiaVf8SVDhzHahavqvpdwGebvQHI2FYZnGRTB9Wc
debug3: hostkeys_foreach: reading file "/root/.ssh/known_hosts"
debug3: record_hostkey: found key type ECDSA in file /root/.ssh/known_hosts:7
debug3: load_hostkeys: loaded 1 keys from 12.34.56.78
debug1: Host '12.34.56.78' is known and matches the ECDSA host key.
debug1: Found key in /root/.ssh/known_hosts:7
debug3: send packet: type 21
debug2: set_newkeys: mode 1
debug1: rekey after 134217728 blocks
debug1: SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS sent
debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS
debug3: receive packet: type 21
debug1: SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS received
debug2: set_newkeys: mode 0
debug1: rekey after 134217728 blocks
debug2: key: /root/.ssh/id_rsa ((nil))
debug2: key: /root/.ssh/id_dsa ((nil))
debug2: key: /root/.ssh/id_ecdsa ((nil))
debug2: key: /root/.ssh/id_ed25519 ((nil))
debug3: send packet: type 5
debug3: receive packet: type 7
debug1: SSH2_MSG_EXT_INFO received
debug1: kex_input_ext_info: server-sig-algs=<rsa-sha2-256,rsa-sha2-512>
debug3: receive packet: type 6
debug2: service_accept: ssh-userauth
debug1: SSH2_MSG_SERVICE_ACCEPT received
debug3: send packet: type 50
debug3: receive packet: type 51
debug1: Authentications that can continue: publickey,gssapi-keyex,gssapi-with-mic,password
debug3: start over, passed a different list publickey,gssapi-keyex,gssapi-with-mic,password
debug3: preferred gssapi-keyex,gssapi-with-mic,publickey,keyboard-interactive,password
debug3: authmethod_lookup gssapi-keyex
debug3: remaining preferred: gssapi-with-mic,publickey,keyboard-interactive,password
debug3: authmethod_is_enabled gssapi-keyex
debug1: Next authentication method: gssapi-keyex
debug1: No valid Key exchange context
debug2: we did not send a packet, disable method
debug3: authmethod_lookup gssapi-with-mic
debug3: remaining preferred: publickey,keyboard-interactive,password
debug3: authmethod_is_enabled gssapi-with-mic
debug1: Next authentication method: gssapi-with-mic
debug1: Unspecified GSS failure.  Minor code may provide more information
No Kerberos credentials available (default cache: KEYRING:persistent:0)

debug1: Unspecified GSS failure.  Minor code may provide more information
No Kerberos credentials available (default cache: KEYRING:persistent:0)

debug2: we did not send a packet, disable method
debug3: authmethod_lookup publickey
debug3: remaining preferred: keyboard-interactive,password
debug3: authmethod_is_enabled publickey
debug1: Next authentication method: publickey
debug1: Trying private key: /root/.ssh/id_rsa
debug3: no such identity: /root/.ssh/id_rsa: No such file or directory
debug1: Trying private key: /root/.ssh/id_dsa
debug3: no such identity: /root/.ssh/id_dsa: No such file or directory
debug1: Trying private key: /root/.ssh/id_ecdsa
debug3: no such identity: /root/.ssh/id_ecdsa: No such file or directory
debug1: Trying private key: /root/.ssh/id_ed25519
debug3: no such identity: /root/.ssh/id_ed25519: No such file or directory
debug2: we did not send a packet, disable method
debug3: authmethod_lookup password
debug3: remaining preferred: ,password
debug3: authmethod_is_enabled password
debug1: Next authentication method: password
testuser@12.34.56.78's password:
debug3: send packet: type 50
debug2: we sent a password packet, wait for reply
debug3: receive packet: type 52
debug1: Authentication succeeded (password).
Authenticated to 12.34.56.78 ([12.34.56.78]:22).
debug1: channel 0: new [client-session]
debug3: ssh_session2_open: channel_new: 0
debug2: channel 0: send open
debug3: send packet: type 90
debug1: Requesting no-more-sessions@openssh.com
debug3: send packet: type 80
debug1: Entering interactive session.
debug1: pledge: network
debug3: receive packet: type 80
debug1: client_input_global_request: rtype hostkeys-00@openssh.com want_reply 0
debug3: receive packet: type 91
debug2: callback start
debug2: fd 3 setting TCP_NODELAY
debug3: ssh_packet_set_tos: set IP_TOS 0x10
debug2: client_session2_setup: id 0
debug2: channel 0: request pty-req confirm 1
debug3: send packet: type 98
debug1: Sending environment.
debug3: Ignored env XDG_SESSION_ID
debug3: Ignored env HOSTNAME
debug3: Ignored env NVM_CD_FLAGS
debug3: Ignored env TERM
debug3: Ignored env SHELL
debug3: Ignored env HISTSIZE
debug3: Ignored env SSH_CLIENT
debug3: Ignored env OLDPWD
debug3: Ignored env SSH_TTY
debug3: Ignored env NVM_DIR
debug3: Ignored env USER
debug3: Ignored env LS_COLORS
debug3: Ignored env MAIL
debug3: Ignored env PATH
debug3: Ignored env PWD
debug3: Ignored env EDITOR
debug1: Sending env LANG = en_US.UTF-8
debug2: channel 0: request env confirm 0
debug3: send packet: type 98
debug3: Ignored env HISTCONTROL
debug3: Ignored env SHLVL
debug3: Ignored env HOME
debug3: Ignored env LOGNAME
debug3: Ignored env VISUAL
debug3: Ignored env SSH_CONNECTION
debug3: Ignored env NVM_BIN
debug3: Ignored env LESSOPEN
debug3: Ignored env XDG_RUNTIME_DIR
debug3: Ignored env _
debug2: channel 0: request shell confirm 1
debug3: send packet: type 98
debug2: callback done
debug2: channel 0: open confirm rwindow 0 rmax 32768
debug3: receive packet: type 99
debug2: channel_input_status_confirm: type 99 id 0
debug2: PTY allocation request accepted on channel 0
debug2: channel 0: rcvd adjust 2097152
debug3: receive packet: type 99
debug2: channel_input_status_confirm: type 99 id 0
debug2: shell request accepted on channel 0
Last login: Mon Aug 15 13:13:09 2022 from (office IP address)
debug3: receive packet: type 98
debug1: client_input_channel_req: channel 0 rtype exit-status reply 0
debug3: receive packet: type 98
debug1: client_input_channel_req: channel 0 rtype eow@openssh.com reply 0
debug2: channel 0: rcvd eow
debug2: channel 0: close_read
debug2: channel 0: input open -> closed
debug3: receive packet: type 96
debug2: channel 0: rcvd eof
debug2: channel 0: output open -> drain
debug2: channel 0: obuf empty
debug2: channel 0: close_write
debug2: channel 0: output drain -> closed
debug3: receive packet: type 97
debug2: channel 0: rcvd close
debug3: channel 0: will not send data after close
debug2: channel 0: almost dead
debug2: channel 0: gc: notify user
debug2: channel 0: gc: user detached
debug2: channel 0: send close
debug3: send packet: type 97
debug2: channel 0: is dead
debug2: channel 0: garbage collecting
debug1: channel 0: free: client-session, nchannels 1
debug3: channel 0: status: The following connections are open:
  #0 client-session (t4 r0 i3/0 o3/0 fd -1/-1 cc -1)

debug3: send packet: type 1
Connection to 12.34.56.78 closed.
Transferred: sent 2312, received 2512 bytes, in 0.1 seconds
Bytes per second: sent 34940.2, received 37962.7
debug1: Exit status 1

I don't see what's going wrong at first glance. Does anyone know what it could be?

  • does `ssh user@host -t bash --noprofile --norc` spawn a shell? – criztovyl Aug 15 '22 at 15:57
  • Are you using SSH keys to get into the server? – telometto Aug 15 '22 at 20:03
  • @criztovyl This does not help in any way. I get a confirmation that the bash command request is being executed, but that's all. This adds the following lines: debug1: Sending command: bash --noprofile --norc debug2: channel 0: request exec confirm 1 debug3: send packet: type 98 debug2: callback done debug2: channel 0: open confirm rwindow 0 rmax 32768 debug3: receive packet: type 99 debug2: channel_input_status_confirm: type 99 id 0 debug2: PTY allocation request accepted on channel 0 debug2: channel 0: rcvd adjust 2097152 ----- Note how there's no last login – Patrickkasie Aug 16 '22 at 13:52
  • You might want to remove your hostname/IP from the output (search for `chello.nl`) – mtak Aug 16 '22 at 14:33

2 Answers2

0

I'd be curious to see what is logged in /var/log/messages when a non root user attempts to log in.

At any rate, I do see some differences In how we have our sshd_config defined. Now I'm no expert on these settings and I do apologize for providing such a weak answer but below are excerpts of differences which may help.

# Authentication:

PermitRootLogin no

PermitRootLogin, in my opinion, should be set to no. I don't think it is good practice to allow root to login from anything but the console. However, since you are setting up a test server (VM or bare metal?) then it should be fine for now. After you get this working for your regular users, I would suggest you go back in and set this to "no"

The next difference deals with passwords. see this SU answer for some background

# To disable tunneled clear text passwords, change to no here!
#PasswordAuthentication yes
PermitEmptyPasswords no
PasswordAuthentication no

# Change to no to disable s/key passwords
#ChallengeResponseAuthentication yes
ChallengeResponseAuthentication yes

Basically all this is doing is setting a more secure password acceptance process. the "ChallengeResponseAuthentication" handles all keyboard-interactive password authentication

However, I think the biggest difference, and probably the one I would start with first is:

# only allow members of ssh group remote access
AllowGroups ssh

There should already be a group named ssh. Add your regular users to this groups using either:

usermod -aG ssh [username] or adduser -G ssh [username]

Hopefully, this one little change will fix your issue. However, if you get a chance, before you try this, check /var/log/messages after a regular user tries to log in and post any messages regarding the login attempt.

Paul Stoner
  • 101
  • 4
  • usermod -aG ssh [username] - usermod: group 'ssh' does not exist. Upon inspecting the /etc/ssh/sshd_config , it also doesn't have the AllowGroups option. So I've instead added AllowUsers username instead. This did not work either. /var/log/messages spouted out the following: systemd: Created slice User Slice of username. systemd-logind: New session 13439 of user rikred. systemd: Started Session 13439 of user rikred. systemd-logind: Removed session 13439. systemd: Removed slice User Slice of rikred. I'll also work on bolstering the authentication methods according to your suggestions – Patrickkasie Aug 22 '22 at 07:11
  • I'd like to add there's another [username2] in the system which can be logged in to. It's specifically [username] that cannot login. Both username and username2 are in the AllowUsers option. Is there any chance there's a blacklist for this specific username? And no, it's not a weird password which could be the culprit – Patrickkasie Aug 22 '22 at 07:21
  • @Patrickkasie, check out this [ServerFault answer](https://serverfault.com/a/691875) to see if by chance username has been set to no login. If that is not the issue, then I'm at a loss. – Paul Stoner Aug 23 '22 at 17:28
  • This last reply did it. I'll answer my question and mark it as the answer. Thank you very much for the suggestion! How does one even come up with this to look such thing up? – Patrickkasie Aug 29 '22 at 08:40
  • Just experience. I've worked with linux servers off and on for the last 20 years. I've seen this stuff before, so that helps me on knowing what to google. Glad it worked out – Paul Stoner Aug 29 '22 at 13:29
0

I had to check /etc/passwd and saw it was /bin/false in the user at the end of the line. Changing this to /bin/bash solved the problem.

Answer by Paul Stoner.

Reference: https://serverfault.com/a/691875