path: root/ssh-audit.1

.TH SSH-AUDIT 1 "March 2, 2021"
.SH NAME
\fBssh-audit\fP \- SSH server & client configuration auditor
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B ssh-audit
.RI [ options ] " <target_host>"
.SH DESCRIPTION
.PP
\fBssh-audit\fP analyzes the configuration of SSH servers & clients, then warns the user of weak, obsolete, and/or un-tested cryptographic primitives.  It is very useful for hardening SSH tunnels, which by default tend to be optimized for compatibility, not security.
.PP
See <https://www.ssh\-audit.com/> for official hardening guides for common platforms.

.SH OPTIONS
.TP
.B -h, \-\-help
.br
Print short summary of options.

.TP
.B -1, \-\-ssh1
.br
Only perform an audit using SSH protocol version 1.

.TP
.B -2, \-\-ssh2
.br
Only perform an audit using SSH protocol version 2.

.TP
.B -4, \-\-ipv4
.br
Prioritize the usage of IPv4.

.TP
.B -6, \-\-ipv6
.br
Prioritize the usage of IPv6.

.TP
.B -b, \-\-batch
.br
Enables grepable output.

.TP
.B -c, \-\-client\-audit
.br
Starts a server on port 2222 to audit client software configuration.  Use -p/--port=<port> to change port and -t/--timeout=<secs> to change listen timeout.

.TP
.B -d, \-\-debug
.br
Enable debug output.

.TP
.B -j, \-\-json
.br
Output results in JSON format.  Specify twice (-jj) to enable indent printing (useful for debugging).

.TP
.B -l, \-\-level=<info|warn|fail>
.br
Specify the minimum output level.  Default is info.

.TP
.B -L, \-\-list-policies
.br
List all official, built-in policies for common systems.  Their full names can then be passed to -P/--policy.

.TP
.B \-\-lookup=<alg1,alg2,...>
.br
Look up the security information of an algorithm(s) in the internal database.  Does not connect to a server.

.TP
.B -m, \-\-manual
.br
Print the man page (Windows only).

.TP
.B -M, \-\-make-policy=<custom_policy.txt>
.br
Creates a policy based on the target server.  Useful when other servers should be compared to the target server's custom configuration (i.e.: a cluster environment).  Note that the resulting policy can be edited manually.

.TP
.B -n, \-\-no-colors
.br
Disable color output.

.TP
.B -p, \-\-port=<port>
.br
The TCP port to connect to when auditing a server, or the port to listen on when auditing a client.

.TP
.B -P, \-\-policy=<"built-in policy name" | path/to/custom_policy.txt>
.br
Runs a policy audit against a target using the specified policy (see \fBPOLICY AUDIT\fP section for detailed description of this mode of operation).  Combine with -c/--client-audit to audit a client configuration instead of a server.  Use -L/--list-policies to list all official, built-in policies for common systems.

.TP
.B -t, \-\-timeout=<secs>
.br
The timeout, in seconds, for creating connections and reading data from the socket.  Default is 5.

.TP
.B -T, \-\-targets=<hosts.txt>
.br
A file containing a list of target hosts.  Each line must have one host, in the format of HOST[:PORT].  Use --threads to control concurrent scans.

.TP
.B     \-\-threads=<threads>
.br
The number of threads to use when scanning multiple targets (with -T/--targets).  Default is 32.

.TP
.B -v, \-\-verbose
.br
Enable verbose output.


.SH STANDARD AUDIT
.PP
By default, \fBssh-audit\fP performs a standard audit.  That is, it enumerates all host key types, key exchanges, ciphers, MACs, and other information, then color-codes them in output to the user.  Cryptographic primitives with potential issues are displayed in yellow; primitives with serious flaws are displayed in red.


.SH POLICY AUDIT
.PP
When the -P/--policy option is used, \fBssh-audit\fP performs a policy audit.  The target's host key types, key exchanges, ciphers, MACs, and other information is compared to a set of expected values defined in the specified policy file.  If everything matches, only a short message stating a passing result is reported.  Otherwise, the field(s) that did not match are reported.

.PP
Policy auditing is helpful for ensuring a group of related servers are properly hardened to an exact specification.

.PP
The set of official built-in policies can be viewed with -L/--list-policies.  Multiple servers can be audited with -T/--targets=<servers.txt>.  Custom policies can be made from an ideal target server with -M/--make-policy=<custom_policy.txt>.


.SH EXAMPLES
.LP
Basic server auditing:
.RS
.nf
ssh-audit localhost
ssh-audit 127.0.0.1
ssh-audit 127.0.0.1:222
ssh-audit ::1
ssh-audit [::1]:222
.fi
.RE

.LP
To run a standard audit against many servers (place targets into servers.txt, one on each line in the format of HOST[:PORT]):
.RS
.nf
ssh-audit -T servers.txt
.fi
.RE

.LP
To audit a client configuration (listens on port 2222 by default; connect using "ssh -p 2222 anything@localhost"):
.RS
.nf
ssh-audit -c
.fi
.RE

.LP
To audit a client configuration, with a listener on port 4567:
.RS
.nf
ssh-audit -c -p 4567
.fi
.RE

.LP
To list all official built-in policies (hint: use their full names with -P/--policy):
.RS
.nf
ssh-audit -L
.fi
.RE

.LP
To run a built-in policy audit against a server (hint: use -L to see list of built-in policies):
.RS
.nf
ssh-audit -P "Hardened Ubuntu Server 20.04 LTS (version 1)" targetserver
.fi
.RE


.LP
To run a custom policy audit against a server (hint: use -M/--make-policy to create a custom policy file):
.RS
.nf
ssh-audit -P path/to/server_policy.txt targetserver
.fi
.RE

.LP
To run a policy audit against a client:
.RS
.nf
ssh-audit -c -P ["policy name" | path/to/client_policy.txt]
.fi
.RE

.LP
To run a policy audit against many servers:
.RS
.nf
ssh-audit -T servers.txt -P ["policy name" | path/to/server_policy.txt]
.fi
.RE

.LP
To create a policy based on a target server (which can be manually edited; see official built-in policies for syntax examples):
.RS
.nf
ssh-audit -M new_policy.txt targetserver
.fi
.RE

.SH RETURN VALUES
When a successful connection is made and all algorithms are rated as "good", \fBssh-audit\fP returns 0.  Other possible return values are:

.RS
.nf
1 = connection error
2 = at least one algorithm warning was found
3 = at least one algorithm failure was found
<any other non-zero value> = unknown error
.fi
.RE

.SH SSH HARDENING GUIDES
Hardening guides for common platforms can be found at: <https://www.ssh\-audit.com/>

.SH BUG REPORTS
Please file bug reports as a Github Issue at: <https://github.com/jtesta/ssh\-audit/issues>

.SH AUTHOR
.LP
\fBssh-audit\fP was originally written by Andris Raugulis <moo@arthepsy.eu>, and maintained from 2015 to 2017.
.br
.LP
Maintainership was assumed and development was resumed in 2017 by Joe Testa <jtesta@positronsecurity.com>.