SSH keys without passphrases are just fancy credential files sitting in your .ssh/ directory, basically like writing your passwords on paper and leaving it in your desk drawer.
Take a look at ssh-agent. It’s bundled with ssh-client and designed to solve this problem.
The quick usage is, create a terminal and run:
eval `ssh-agent`
ssh-add /path/to/your/encrypted/key1
#type in password
ssh-add /path/to/your/encrypted/key2
...
# all commands in this terminal will use the keys above w/o asking you for a password
git clone git@githib.com...
git push...
etc
So, basically you type your credentials once during the life cycle of your terminal.
If you really want to go full power-user, simple run ssh-agent (without the eval) and you’ll see it just sets some env-vars, which can be imported into any terminal/shell you have open.
So, if you put some logic in your shells rc file, you can effectively share a single ash-agent between all your shells, meaning you just need to type your password for your keys once when you log into your system… and your now passwordless for any future terminals you create (this is my setup).
Also, if you’re interested take a peek at the man pages for ash-agent. It has a few interesting features (ie: adding a password lock for your agent, removing keys from the agent, etc).
I see they really wanted to fit the acronym to RAMBO, lol.
But it makes sense. Considering, we keep out mobile phones in around a metre’s reach, it would be trivial to just get that information just from key sounds.
Guess I better get one of those high frequency faraday cages, huh?
I had mine on paper for years before i learned about Keepass. I trusted it more than a cloud based manager because someone would have to physically be in my room.
I am a lot more careful these days but that is not beyond the pale for a lot of folks haha
I think this post is about git CLI, not www.github.com.
SSH keys are very secure and you can still encrypt them with a password if you wish.
It’s not about encryption/security it’s about creating something that can’t be phished.
We know that 2fa is secure. But if an attacker can trick you into giving them the code, or typing it in a fake box. Then they own you.
Passkeys are made so that there’s nothing to give, nothing to type. You must control the device.
SSH keys are more like passkeys than passwords.
I’d love to see the state of online banking if everyone were to manage their own ssh keys
In all seriousness, they are similar, but not quite in this context.
There’s a good project on how to make ssh key infra more scalable and innately secure. Then you can use passkeys on top if you’d like.
https://github.com/openpubkey/openpubkey
https://github.com/openpubkey/opkssh
I personally use this on all my servers.
Most people couldn’t figure out how to download a binary release from a GitHub repo, much less clone it, regardless of HTTP or SSH.
True, not the point though
SSH keys without passphrases are just fancy credential files sitting in your
.ssh/directory, basically like writing your passwords on paper and leaving it in your desk drawer.but they require chmod 400 and they’re ideally in on an encrypted disk
So the desk drawer is locked and the codes are Luks encrypted.
And for critical stuff, you should also have a password on the key.
If your ssh keys are like a passwords on paper in a drawer, you’re doing it wrong.
TIL some people store SSH keys unencrypted
Yeah, but who wants to type in a password everytime they push/pull?
Take a look at
ssh-agent. It’s bundled with ssh-client and designed to solve this problem.The quick usage is, create a terminal and run:
eval `ssh-agent` ssh-add /path/to/your/encrypted/key1 #type in password ssh-add /path/to/your/encrypted/key2 ... # all commands in this terminal will use the keys above w/o asking you for a password git clone git@githib.com... git push... etcSo, basically you type your credentials once during the life cycle of your terminal.
If you really want to go full power-user, simple run
ssh-agent(without the eval) and you’ll see it just sets some env-vars, which can be imported into any terminal/shell you have open.So, if you put some logic in your shells rc file, you can effectively share a single ash-agent between all your shells, meaning you just need to type your password for your keys once when you log into your system… and your now passwordless for any future terminals you create (this is my setup).
Also, if you’re interested take a peek at the man pages for ash-agent. It has a few interesting features (ie: adding a password lock for your agent, removing keys from the agent, etc).
I have
if [ -z "$SSH_AUTH_SOCK" ] ; then eval $(ssh-agent -s) fiAt the end of .bashrc and
AddKeysToAgent yesIn .ssh/config so that it auto-adds keys I unlock.
I do it.
Every time.
And I keep a wired keyboard for it.
Get a load of Ross Ulbricht ovah here!
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/cyber-security/researchers-snoop-data-from-air-gapped-pcs-ram-sticks-by-monitoring-em-radiation-from-23-feet-away
I get keyboards probably have more range, but i worry privacy was gone a long time ago.
I see they really wanted to fit the acronym to RAMBO, lol.
But it makes sense. Considering, we keep out mobile phones in around a metre’s reach, it would be trivial to just get that information just from key sounds. Guess I better get one of those high frequency faraday cages, huh?
There are a few on audio, I saw one where they read HDMI over the air from 60 ft away.
I’d kinda like to see Bluetooth shored up a bit maybe require a tap to bind every day.
Wow! Was that stuff even EMCD compliant?
You can read the cables, you can read the transceivers in the video card, in a lot of the screens you can even read the panel changing itself.
Our ability is to remote sense EMF is absolutely ridiculous these days.
Then there’s crap like the espionage where they change fan speeds. Or flash an infrared proximity sensor on a cell phone to exfiltrate data.
I had mine on paper for years before i learned about Keepass. I trusted it more than a cloud based manager because someone would have to physically be in my room.
I am a lot more careful these days but that is not beyond the pale for a lot of folks haha