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Secure Shell is a program to log into another computer over a network,
to execute commands in a remote machine, and to move files from one
machine to another. It provides strong authentication and secure
communications over insecure channels. It is intended as a replacement
for rlogin, rsh, and rcp.
FEATURES
o Complete replacement for rlogin, rsh, and rcp.
o Strong authentication. Closes several security holes (e.g., IP,
routing, and DNS spoofing). New authentication methods: .rhosts
together with RSA based host authentication, and pure RSA
authentication.
o Improved privacy. All communications are automatically and
transparently encrypted. RSA is used for key exchange, and a
conventional cipher (normally IDEA, DES, or triple-DES) for
encrypting the session. Encryption is started before
authentication, and no passwords or other information is
transmitted in the clear. Encryption is also used to protect
against spoofed packets.
o Secure X11 sessions. The program automatically sets DISPLAY on
the server machine, and forwards any X11 connections over the
secure channel. Fake Xauthority information is automatically
generated and forwarded to the remote machine; the local client
automatically examines incoming X11 connections and replaces the
fake authorization data with the real data (never telling the
remote machine the real information).
o Arbitrary TCP/IP ports can be redirected through the encrypted channel
in both directions (e.g., for e-cash transactions).
o No retraining needed for normal users; everything happens
automatically, and old .rhosts files will work with strong
authentication if administration installs host key files.
o Never trusts the network. Minimal trust on the remote side of
the connection. Minimal trust on domain name servers. Pure RSA
authentication never trusts anything but the private key.
o Client RSA-authenticates the server machine in the beginning of
every connection to prevent trojan horses (by routing or DNS
spoofing) and man-in-the-middle attacks, and the server
RSA-authenticates the client machine before accepting .rhosts or
/etc/hosts.equiv authentication (to prevent DNS, routing, or
IP-spoofing).
o Host authentication key distribution can be centrally by the
administration, automatically when the first connection is made
to a machine (the key obtained on the first connection will be
recorded and used for authentication in the future), or manually
by each user for his/her own use. The central and per-user host
key repositories are both used and complement each other. Host
keys can be generated centrally or automatically when the software
is installed. Host authentication keys are typically 1024 bits.
o Any user can create any number of user authentication RSA keys for
his/her own use. Each user has a file which lists the RSA public
keys for which proof of possession of the corresponding private
key is accepted as authentication. User authentication keys are
typically 1024 bits.
o The server program has its own server RSA key which is
automatically regenerated every hour. This key is never saved in
any file. Exchanged session keys are encrypted using both the
server key and the server host key. The purpose of the separate
server key is to make it impossible to decipher a captured session by
breaking into the server machine at a later time; one hour from
the connection even the server machine cannot decipher the session
key. The key regeneration interval is configurable. The server
key is normally 768 bits.
o An authentication agent, running in the user's laptop or local
workstation, can be used to hold the user's RSA authentication
keys. Ssh automatically forwards the connection to the
authentication agent over any connections, and there is no need to
store the RSA authentication keys on any machine in the network
(except the user's own local machine). The authentication
protocols never reveal the keys; they can only be used to verify
that the user's agent has a certain key. Eventually the agent
could rely on a smart card to perform all authentication
computations.
o The software can be installed and used (with restricted
functionality) even without root privileges.
o The client is customizable in system-wide and per-user
configuration files. Most aspects of the client's operation can
be configured. Different options can be specified on a per-host basis.
o Automatically executes conventional rsh (after displaying a
warning) if the server machine is not running sshd.
o Optional compression of all data with gzip (including forwarded X11
and TCP/IP port data), which may result in significant speedups on
slow connections.
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