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SECURITY FEATURES FOR AUTHENTICATION AND ENCRYPTION OF TCP/IP CONNECTIONS
IN C-KERMIT 7.0 AND KERMIT 95 1.1.18
31 December 1999
CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
2. DISCLAIMERS
3. AVAILABILITY
3.1 Authentication and Encryption in Kermit 95
3.1.1 Kerberos in Kermit 95
3.1.2 Secure Remote Password (SRP) in Kermit 95
3.1.3 NTLM in Kermit 95
3.1.4 OpenSSL support for SSLv3 and TLSv1 in Kermit 95
3.2 Authentication and Encryption in C-Kermit
3.2.1 Kerberos in C-Kermit
3.2.2 Secure Remote Password (SRP) in C-Kermit
3.2.3 OpenSSL support for SSLv3 and TLSv1 in C-Kermit
3.2.4 Shadow Passwords in C-Kermit
3.2.5 Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM) in C-Kermit
4. GLOSSARY
5. AUTHENTICATION PROTOCOL OVERVIEWS
5.1 KERBEROS
5.2 SECURE REMOTE PASSWORD (SRP)
5.3 NT LAN MANAGER (NTLM)
5.4 SSLv3 and TLSv1
6. AUTHENTICATION AND ENCRYPTION COMMANDS
6.1. TELNET-Related Commands
6.2. The SET AUTHENTICATION Command
6.2.1. Kerberos settings
6.2.2. SRP settings
6.2.3. SSL and TLS settings
6.3. The AUTHENTICATE Command
7. EFFECTS OF ENCRYPTION ON FILE TRANSFER PERFORMANCE
8. MULTI-HOMED HOSTS AND NETWORK ADDRESS TRANSLATORS
9. OTHER NOTES
10. VARIABLES
10.1 GENERAL AUTHENTICATION VARIABLES
10.2 KERBEROS VARIABLES
10.3 SSL/TLS VARIABLES
11. FUNCTIONS
12. SCRIPTING HINTS
12.1. Kerberos Autoget
12.2. Autodestruction of Kerberos credentials
12.3. Automated Prompting for Usernames
12.4. Password Inclusion in Script Files
12.5 Using Kermit Scripts to Produce Secure Telnet Services
13. USING OTHER SECURITY METHODS WITH KERMIT
13.1 Implementing other security methods for Kermit 95
14. AN INTRODUCTION TO CERTIFICATES AND CERTIFICATE AUTHORITIES WITH OPENSSL
14.1 What Are Certificates, Private Keys, CSRs, CAs, and CRLs?
14.2 RSA Certificates v. DSA Certificates
14.3 Should You Be Your own Certificate Authority?
14.4 Generating a DSA CA (self-signed) certificate
14.5 Generating a DSA CSR
14.6 Generating a RSA CA (self-signed) certificate
14.7 Generating a RSA CSR
14.8 Signing a CSR with your CA certificate
14.9 Revoking a Certificate
14.10 Generating a CRL
1. INTRODUCTION
This document describes Kerberos(TM), Secure Remote Password (SRP)(TM)
protocol, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS), and
other security implementations in, or to be used with, current or
forthcoming releases of Kermit software. All information presented here
is preliminary and subject to review, change, or withdrawal prior to final
release. NOTE: The terms "Windows 95" and "Windows 9x" in this document
refer to both Windows 95 and Windows 98; the term "Windows NT" refers to
Windows NT 3.51 and later and to Windows 2000.
Security is a hot topic on the Internet, and security methods abound. Secure
connection methods are supported indirectly by the methods described in
"Supplement to 'Using C-Kermit', Second Edition", file ckermit2.txt, Section
2.7.4. This document describes authentication methods that can be built into
Kermit 95 and C-Kermit. Presently these are: Kerberos, Secure Remote Password
(SRP), Secure Sockets Layer(SSL)/Transport Layer Security(TLS), and Microsoft
NT LAN Manager (NTLM).
A secure connection is one that provides:
. Authentication of the user to the host/service without the transmission
of the user's password;
. Authentication of the host to the user; and:
. A shared secret that can be used with an encryption algorithm to ensure
the data transmitted over the connection is understood by only the
client and host.
C-Kermit and Kermit 95 are capable of creating and accepting secure
connections via a variety of methods:
. Incoming and outgoing secure connections may be established using Telnet
protocol coupled with Kerberos(TM), Secure Remote Password (SRP)(TM),
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS), and Microsoft
NTLM.
. Outgoing secure connections may be established using Rlogin protocol
coupled with Kerberos (TM).
. Incoming and outgoing secure connections may be established using
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS) alone.
1.1. Kerberos
Kerberos(TM) is a method, developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
by which two parties communicating over a TCP/IP connection can authenticate
each other through a trusted third party without sending passwords or
encryption keys in clear text over the network. Kerberos protocols are
defined in Internet RFCs 1510, 1964, and others. You can read more about
Kerberos at:
http://web.mit.edu/kerberos/www/
http://nii.isi.edu/info/kerberos/
http://nii.isi.edu/publications/kerberos-neuman-tso.html
There are, in fact, two Kerberos protocols: Kerberos IV (4) and Kerberos V
(5), the latter being the more flexible and secure protocol. The two are
totally separate and incompatible. Any given site might support neither,
either one, or both.
When both the client and server support the same version of Kerberos (4 or 5),
then Kerberos authentication with or without encryption can be negotiated.
A "Kerberized" version of Kermit can make a connection to a non-Kerberized
host, and a non-Kerberized host can accept a connection from a Kerberized
version of Kermit, as long as neither side is configured to require Kerberos
authentication.
1.2. SRP
Secure Remote Password (SRP)(TM) protocol is a method, developed at Stanford
University, by which two parties communicating over a TCP/IP connection can
authenticate each other in a secure manner through a Zero Knowledge
Identification system. SRP protocols have not yet been accepted as RFCs.
You can read more about SRP at:
http://srp.stanford.edu/srp/
Once authentication has been achieved with either Kerberos or SRP, a shared
secret is available which can be used to establish an encrypted session.
1.3. NTLM
NT Lan Manager (NTLM) authentication is only implemented in Kermit 95.
Its only use is to authenticate Kermit 95 to Microsoft's NT Services for
Unix Telnetd. NTLM does not negotiate a shared secret and therefore
cannot be used to establish encrypted sessions. Therefore, connections
made with NTLM should not be considered secure.
1.4. Encryption
Export of encryption software or algorithms is regulated by United States law
(see Section 2). United States and Canadian residents may contact the Kermit
Project for encryption modules that can be used to provide secure
communications using one of the following encryption algorithms via the Telnet
Encryption Option:
cast128_cfb64 cast5_40_cfb64 des_cfb64 des3_cfb64
cast128_ofb64 cast5_40_ofb64 des_ofb64 des3_ofb64
Netscape's Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and its IETF-approved successor,
Transport Layer Security (TLS), provide for authentication and encryption of
TCP/IP communications using a combination of public key and symmetric
cryptographic algorithms. Authentication of the server (and optionally the
client) is performed by exchanging ITU-T X.509 certificate chains (see Section
14 below), which are then verified by the receiver. Unlike raw public keys,
X.509 certificates may be revoked by issuing a certificate revocation list
(CRL) which is to be checked by the receiver during verification of the
certificate chain.
The encryption provided by SSL/TLS is more secure than the encryption
negotiatied by the Telnet Encryption Option. This additional security is
provided by a combination of the use of longer encryption keys; the
availability of stronger symmetric cryptographic algorithms; and the signing
of each transmitted block with a message digest algorithm.
TLS may be used in conjunction wth Telnet Authentication methods such as
Kerberos, Secure Remote Password, and NTLM to provide the highest level of
data privacy with the strongest forms of mutual authentication.
The Kermit modules used to implement SSL/TLS are available only to residents
of the United States and Canada due to the restrictions on the export of
software that provides "crypto with a hole" functionality.
2. DISCLAIMERS
Current US law forbids export of strong encryption software from the USA to
all countries except Canada. Thus security modules are not included with
Kermit; they must be obtained separately from the sources listed below, in
compliance with the terms and conditions given at those sites and with United
States and international law. For an overview of this issue, see (for
example):
http://www.mozilla.org/crypto-faq.html
Kermit software, when combined with the security modules listed in this
document, has been verified to negotiate and conduct authenticated and
encrypted sessions with Kerberos and/or SRP services on Internet hosts at
Columbia University and other test sites, with Kermit features such as
interactive terminal access, file transfer, and scripting operating
successfully over Kerberized connections, with any exceptions noted below.
The Kermit Project does not and can not claim or warrant the external
Kerberos, SRP, OpenSSL or other third-party modules to be free of loopholes
or bugs. Authentication via Kerberos and/or SRP is not unbreakable. Any
encryption method can be broken. Any software that is used for
authentication or encryption should be analyzed for weaknesses, backdoors,
bugs, and loopholes by the site and/or end user before use.
The Kermit Project and Columbia University make no claim or warranty as to any
particular level of security achievable by Kermit software in conjunction with
either Kerberos or Secure Remote Password protocol, and may on no account be
held liable for any damage resulting from its use (a more complete statement
to this effect is found in the C-Kermit 7.0 license).
Functional limitations:
. Kerberos authentication is available only on Telnet and Rlogin connections.
. Secure Remote Password authentication is available only on Telnet
connections.
. NTLM authentication is available only on Windows 95/98 and NT and only
on Telnet connections.
. SSL/TLS may be used as its own connection protocol or on Telnet
connections.
. Kerberos support is not available in Kermit 95 for OS/2 due to lack
of Kerberos implementations for OS/2.
3. AVAILABILITY
3.1 Authentication and Encryption in Kermit 95
Kermit 95 comes precompiled with support for Kerberos 4, Kerberos 5, Secure
Remote Password, NT Lan Manager authentication, and OpenSSL's SSLv3 and TLSv1.
3.1.1. Kerberos in Kermit 95
Beginning with version 1.1.16, Kermit 95 supports Kerberos Telnet
Authentication when any of the following Kerberos IV or Kerberos V
implementations are installed on a Windows 95 or Windows NT workstation:
Kerberos version 4:
. MIT Leash distribution:
http://web.mit.edu/is/help/mink/
For version 5:
. MIT distribution:
http://web.mit.edu/kerberos/www/
. Cygnus Solutions' KerbNet 1.2:
http://www.cygnus.com/techie/kerbnet/
Both Kerberos IV and Kerberos V may be installed on the same PC, and the same
copy of Kermit 95 can use either Kerberos version to make Telnet connections.
As of Kermit 95 1.1.18 Kerberized Rlogin connections are supported if the
Kerberos DLLs export necessary functionality.
When Kerberos IV and/or Kerberos V are installed and the DLLs are located in
the PATH, Kermit 95 attempts to negotiate authentication with the host's
Telnet server if the host is Kerberized and if you have not instructed
Kermit 95 to the contrary.
In addition, if the appropriate encryption patch (obtained from the Kermit
Project) is installed, two-way encryption is also negotiated and used if
authentication was negotiated. The encryption patch is available WITH EXPORT
RESTRICTIONS at:
http://www.kermit-project.org/noexport.html
Due to the length of the shared secret negotiated by Kerberos only 56-bit DES
encryption can be used.
Per-PC configuration files may or may not be necessary at your installation.
If your site's DNS servers supply Kerberos realm information, no
configuration files are needed and you can skip ahead to Section 3.1.2.
3.1.1.1 Notes on the Kerberos IV configuration files:
MIT's Leash uses three configuration files which are placed into the \WINDOWS
directory: LEASH.INI (user settings), KRB.CON and KRBREALM.CON. KRB.CON and
KRBREALM.CON are used by Kerberos IV to map your host's domain name to a
realm and then to determine the name of the Kerberos server for that realm.
As distributed from MIT, these files are set up for MIT's realm, domain,
and host information, so if you are not at MIT you'll need to substitute the
information for your own site; for example:
KRB.CON:
CC.COLUMBIA.EDU
CC.COLUMBIA.EDU kerberos.cc.columbia.edu
KERMIT.COLUMBIA.EDU kerberos.cc.columbia.edu
COLUMBIA.EDU kerberos.cc.columbia.edu
.KERBEROS.OPTION. dns
The first line is the default Kerberos IV realm to be used. The subsequent
lines list realms and the hostnames to be used to contact the KDC for that
realm.
KRBREALM.CON:
.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU CC.COLUMBIA.EDU
CC.COLUMBIA.EDU CC.COLUMBIA.EDU
.COLUMBIA.EDU CC.COLUMBIA.EDU
COLUMBIA.EDU CC.COLUMBIA.EDU
.KERMIT.COLUMBIA.EDU CC.COLUMBIA.EDU
KERMIT.COLUMBIA.EDU CC.COLUMBIA.EDU
Each line specifies either a domain name prefaced with a '.' or a host name
and the Kerberos IV realm to which it belongs.
The Leash Kerberos IV implementation does not contain support for server
side functionality. Therefore, K95 cannot authenticate incoming connections
with Kerberos IV. It also does not include support for pre-authenticated
ticket granting ticket requests.
3.1.1.2. Notes on the Kerberos V configuration file
Kerberos V uses a single configuration file, KRB5.CONF (or KRB5.INI on
Windows). This file must be customized for the domains, realms, and hosts
used in your network environment. For example:
[libdefaults]
default_realm = CC.COLUMBIA.EDU
default_tkt_enctypes = des-cbc-crc
default_tgs_enctypes = des-cbc-crc
ticket_lifetime = 600
dns_fallback = true
[domain_realm]
.cc.columbia.edu = CC.COLUMBIA.EDU
cc.columbia.edu = CC.COLUMBIA.EDU
.columbia.edu = CC.COLUMBIA.EDU
columbia.edu = CC.COLUMBIA.EDU
[realms]
CC.COLUMBIA.EDU = {
kdc = kerberos.columbia.edu:88
admin_server = kerberos.columbia.edu:749
default_domain = cc.columbia.edu
supported_enctypes = des-cbc-crc:normal des-cbc-crc:v4
supported_keytypes = des:normal des-cbc-crc:v4
}
3.1.2. Secure Remote Password protocol in Kermit 95
Beginning with version 1.1.16, Kermit 95 supports Telnet Authentication via
Secure Remote Password protocol without any additional software.
In addition, if the appropriate encryption patch (obtained from the Kermit
Project) is installed, two-way encryption is also negotiated and used if
authentication was negotiated. The encryption patch is available WITH EXPORT
RESTRICTIONS at:
http://www.kermit-project.org/noexport.html
Kermit 95 contains support for authenticating incoming connections using SRP.
Unfortunately, there are no Windows based tools for creating the SRP password
file. However, once a password and config file are created on Unix they can
be copied to Windows. Use the SRP_ETC or ETC environment variables to specify
where the "tpasswd" and "tpasswd.conf" files are stored.
3.1.3. NT LAN Manager Authentication in Kermit 95
NTLM authentication is a feature of Windows 95/98, NT, and Windows 2000. It
is used to authenticate Windows clients to Windows services. Telnet Auth
NTLM is implemented in the Microsoft Telnet Daemon that ships with NT
Services for Unix and with Windows 2000.
Windows 95/98 only contains support for the client whereas NT contains
support for both client and server. Kermit 95 can authenticate incoming
connections with NTLM when it is executing on NT.
3.1.4. OpenSSL support for SSLv3 and TLSv1 in Kermit 95
OpenSSL security is available in Kermit 95 1.1.18 and later. OpenSSL sources
may be retrieved from the web site http://www.openssl.org/. As of this
writing the current release of OpenSSL is 0.9.4 and 0.9.5 is under
development. Kermit 95 works with the binaries produced by compiling either
0.9.4 or 0.9.5. Patches to enable OpenSSL to be compiled for OS/2 are
located at:
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Hills/8057/files/openssl.html
On Windows, OpenSSL must be compiled and linked to use the NT DLL option
without Debug information. Compiling the DLLs with support for debugging
links the DLLs to an incompatible C Run Time Library DLL.
On OS/2, OpenSSL must be compiled to use the DLL version of the run time
library.
For proper operation of OpenSSL and Kermit 95, the OpenSSL DLLs must be
available in the PATH. In addition, the OPENSSL_CONF environment variable
should also be defined appropriately.
OpenSSL does not define default locations for certificates and revocation
lists therefore the appropriate SET AUTH { SSL, TLS } commands must be
specified in the K95CUSTOM.INI (or IKSD.KSC) file in order for certificate
verification to be performed.
Due to patent licensing restrictions on RSA and IDEA algorithms within the
United States, any binaries that the Kermit Project might distribute to
provide SSL/TLS support for Kermit 95 do not contain RSA key exchange;
RSA authentication; or RC2, RC4, and IDEA ciphers.
If you wish to provide support for authentication of clients using public
key certificates you must provide a custom X509_to_user() function to
provide the certificate to local userid mapping. An example function which
uses the /UID field of the Certificate Subject name follows:
int
X509_to_user(X509 *peer_cert, char *userid, int len)
{
int err;
if (!(peer_cert && userid) || len <= 0)
return -1;
/* userid is in cert subject /UID */
err = X509_NAME_get_text_by_NID(X509_get_subject_name(peer_cert),
NID_uniqueIdentifier, userid, len);
if (err > 0)
return 0;
return -1;
}
This function must be compiled into a DLL called "X5092UID.DLL". It should
be linked to the OpenSSL libraries and the DLL version of the run time
library.
3.2. Authentication and Encryption in C-Kermit 7.0
C-Kermit 7.0 may be compiled with support Kerberos 4, Kerberos 5, Secure
Remote Password, and OpenSSL's SSLv3 and TLSv1.
3.2.1. Kerberos in C-Kermit 7.0
This section is current as of C-Kermit 7.0.196 Beta.11.
Kerberos IV and Kerberos V support is available for Unix versions of C-Kermit
7.0. Kerberos support in C-Kermit is provided for both outgoing and incoming
connections (SET HOST /SERVER * <port> /TELNET or the Internet Kermit
Service).
Kerberized C-Kermit binaries are not available due to export restrictions (see
Section 2); you must build your own binary from a combination of Columbia
source code and Kerberos libraries from other sources.
1a. Retrieve a Kerberos 5 1.1 source code kit from the appropriate site:
http://web.mit.edu/kerberos/www/ or
http://web.mit.edu/network/kerberos-form.html
1b. Choose a Kerberos 4 installation (from MIT) and retrieve a source code
kit from the appropriate site:
http://web.mit.edu/kerberos/www/ or
http://web.mit.edu/network/kerberos-form.html
2. Obtain the C-Kermit Authentication and Encryption support modules from
Columbia University. These are not available by FTP due to export
restrictions. Contact kermit-support@columbia.edu for details.
3. Build and install Kerberos on your system according to the instructions
that come with the Kerberos distribution you have chosen.
4. Add a new entry to the C-Kermit makefile for your platform, that adds the
following CFLAGS:
-DCK_AUTHENTICATION -DCK_KERBEROS
For Kerberos 4 include:
-DKRB4
For Kerberos 5 include:
-DKRB5
For Kerberos 4 compatibility mode with Kerberos 5:
-DKRB5 -DKRB524 -DKRB4
If you have the source file ck_crp.c and desire DES encryption include:
-DCK_ENCRYPTION -DCK_DES
Use "krbmit" as the target for builds with ck_crp.c and "krbmit-export"
for builds without ck_crp.c.
Add the path to the Kerberos header files using the -I switch. The
location of these files are host specific. For example:
-I/usr/kerberos/include
Add the path to the Kerberos libraries using the -L switch. The
location of these files are host specific. For example:
-L/usr/kerberos/lib
Add the appropriate libraries. For Kerberos 4 include:
-lkrb
For Kerberos 5 include:
-lkrb5 -lcom_err -lcrypto
For Kerberos 4 compatibility mode with Kerberos 5 include:
-ldes425 -lkrb5 -lcom_err -lcrypto
Make sure the new entry points to the appropriate include files, and links
with the appropriate libraries. Use the "linux+krb5", "linux+krb5+krb4",
and "sunos41gcc+krb4" makefile entries as models.
Note that the select() version of the CONNECT-command module (ckucns.c) must
be used rather than the older fork() based (ckucon.c) version.
Keep the Kerberos support modules private, and put the C-Kermit binary where
it can be used, but not where it can be accessed by anonymous ftp or by anyone
who is outside the USA or Canada.
When C-Kermit 7.0 is built with Kerberos support and installed as an Internet
Kermit Service Daemon (IKSD), Kerberos is offered for authenticating incoming
connections. To authenticate incoming connections there must be a valid
keytab file providing local access to the key necessary for decrypting
meesages encoded in the server's key.
3.2.2. Secure Remote Password protocol in C-Kermit
This section is current as of C-Kermit 7.0.196 Beta.11.
Secure Remote Password (SRP) support is available for Unix versions of
C-Kermit 7.0. SRP support in C-Kermit is provided for both outgoing and
incoming connections (SET HOST /SERVER * <port> /TELNET or the Internet Kermit
Service).
SRP C-Kermit binaries are not available due to export restrictions (see
Section 2); you must build your own binary from a combination of Columbia
source code and SRP libraries from other sources.
1. Retrieve the SRP 1.5.0 source code kit from:
http://srp.stanford.edu/srp/
2. Obtain the C-Kermit Authentication and Encryption support modules from
Columbia University. These are not available by FTP due to export
restrictions. Contact kermit-support@columbia.edu for details.
3. Build SRP with the GMP math library. Be sure to read the installation
instructions before installing because SRP replaces many standard Unix
system files and failure to follow the procedures may leave you locked
out of your system.
4. Add a new entry to the C-Kermit makefile for your platform, that adds
the following CFLAGS:
-DCK_AUTHENTICATION -DCK_SRP
If you have the source file ck_crp.c include:
-DCK_ENCRYPTION
For CAST encryption (requires ck_crp.c) add:
-DCK_CAST
If using the Eric A. Young DES encryption library (available separately
and as a part of the OpenSSL project <http://www.openssl.org>)
(requires ck_crp.c) add:
-DCK_DES -DLIBDES
Use "srpmit" as the target for builds with ck_crp.c and "srpmit-export"
for builds without ck_crp.c.
Add the path to the SRP header files using the -I switch. The
location of these files are host specific. For example:
-I/usr/srp/include
Add the path to the SRP libraries using the -L switch. The
location of these files are host specific. For example:
-L/usr/srp/lib
Add the appropriate libraries. (Include des only if you have the
Eric A. Young library):
-lsrp -lgmp -ldes
Make sure the new entry points to the appropriate include files, and
links with the appropriate libraries. Use the "linux+srp" and
"linux+krb5+krb4+srp" makefile entries as models.
Note that the select() version of the CONNECT-command module (ckucns.c) must
be used rather than the older fork() based (ckucon.c) version.
Keep the SRP support modules private, and put the C-Kermit binary where
it can be used, but not where it can be accessed by anonymous ftp or by anyone
who is outside the USA or Canada.
When C-Kermit 7.0 is installed as an Internet Kermit Service (IKSD), SRP
is offered for authenticating incoming connections.
3.2.3 OpenSSL support for SSLv3 and TLSv1 in C-Kermit 7.0.
This section is current as of C-Kermit 7.0.196 Beta.11.
OpenSSL support is available for Unix versions of C-Kermit 7.0. SSLv3 and
TLSv1 support in C-Kermit is provided for both outgoing and incoming
connections (SET HOST /SERVER * <port> /TELNET or the Internet Kermit Service).
OpenSSL C-Kermit binaries are not available due to export restrictions (see
Section 2); you must build your own binary from a combination of Columbia
source code and the OpenSSL libraries from other sources.
1. Retrieve the OpenSSL 0.9.4 source code kit from:
http://www.openssl.org/
2. Obtain the C-Kermit Authentication and Encryption support modules from
Columbia University. These are not available by FTP due to export
restrictions. Contact kermit-support@columbia.edu for details.
3. Build OpenSSL according to the installation instructions. Be aware that
OpenSSL includes support for algorithms which are covered by patents
or claimed as intellectual property in the United States (and perhaps
some other countries.) Use of these algorithms without the proper
licenses can make you liable to legal action. Be sure to read the
entire README file before building and installing OpenSSL.
If you wish to support ADH ciphers you must define SSL_ALLOW_ADH when
building OpenSSL.
4. Add a new entry to the C-Kermit makefile for your platform, that adds
the following CFLAGS:
-DCK_AUTHENTICATION -DCK_SSL
Use "krbmit" as the target for builds.
Add the path to the OpenSSL header files using the -I switch. The
location of these files is host-specific. For example:
-I/usr/local/ssl/include
Add the path to the OpenSSL libraries using the -L switch. The
location of these files is host-specific. For example:
-L/usr/local/ssl/lib
Add the appropriate libraries:
-lssl -lcrypto
Make sure the new entry points to the appropriate include files, and
links with the appropriate libraries. Use the "linux+openssl" and
"linux+krb5+krb4+srp+openssl" makefile entries as models.
Note that the select() version of the CONNECT-command module (ckucns.c) must
be used rather than the older fork() based (ckucon.c) version.
Keep the OpenSSL support modules private, and put the C-Kermit binary where
it can be used, but not where it can be accessed by anonymous ftp or by anyone
who is outside the USA or Canada.
When C-Kermit 7.0 is installed as an Internet Kermit Service (IKSD), TLSv1
is offered for authenticating incoming connections via the Telnet START_TLS
option.
If you wish to provide support for authentication of clients using public
key certificates you must provide a custom X509_to_user() function to
provide the certificate to local userid mapping. An example function which
uses the /UID field of the Certificate Subject name may be activated by
specifying
make <entry> KFLAGS=-DX509_UID_TO_USER
when compiling C-Kermit. The X509_to_user() function is the last function
in the ck_ssl.c module.
3.2.4. Shadow Passwords in C-Kermit 7.0.
Shadow password files are used in many versions of Unix to provide a greater
level of security for user passwords stored on the local disk. The standard
Unix password file must be world readable in order to processes to determine
the location of the user's shell, home directory, and other permissions. By
moving the passwords into a separate file that only stores passwords, access
to the file can be restricted to only those processes that are authorized to
perform authentication.
When C-Kermit 7.0 is used as the Internet Kermit Service on systems that are
configured to use shadow passwords the following CFLAG must be added to the
makefile entry:
-DCK_SHADOW
3.2.5. Pluggable Authentication Module (PAM) support in C-Kermit 7.0
PAM is implemented in many versions of Unix so system administrators can
add new forms of authentication for interactive login (console, telnet,
rlogin, ...) without requiring recompilation of each service.
When C-Kermit 7.0 is used as the Internet Kermit Service on systems that are
configured to use PAM the following CFLAG must be added to the makefile
entry:
-DCK_PAM
and the following libraries may have to be included:
-lpam -ldl
C-Kermit 7.0's support for PAM is limited to Interactive Login. PAM is
not compatible with the Kermit Protocol's REMOTE LOGIN mechanism.
4. KERBEROS GLOSSARY
Listed alphabetically, not topologically.
Entity
In this document, a user, host, or service.
Authentication
The process by which one entity proves its identity to another
entity on the Internet.
Client
An entity that can obtain a ticket (see Ticket).
Credentials Cache
The location where Kerberos stores tickets. The credentials cache
can be a file or a buffer in memory.
Expiration
Invalidation of a ticket after a certain period of time. A ticket's
lifetime is chosen by the user when obtaining the ticket; the maximum
allowable lifetime for different kinds of tickets is set by the site
administrator.
Forwardable Tickets
Kerberos tickets that can be forwarded (copied) to a remote machine,
where they can be used, eliminating the need to obtain new Ticket Granting
Tickets (q.v.) on that machine, e.g. for Telnetting from machine A to
machine B and then from machine B to machine C.
Host
A computer that can be accessed over a network.
KDC
Key Distribution Center, a machine that issues Kerberos tickets.
Preauthenticated Ticket Granting Ticket Request
The client must include a time stamp encrypted with the user's password
when requesting the TGT from the KDC. This allows the KDC to only
deliver a TGT to a valid user. When preauthentication is not used
the TGT may be attacked offline to determine the user's password.
Postdated Ticket
A ticket that does not become valid until after a specified time.
This allows for secure unattended operations.
Principal
A string that names a specific entity to which a set of credentials may
be assigned. It generally has three parts, primary/instance@REALM:
1. Primary: Identifies the user or service.
2. Instance: Usually a hostname or REALM.
3. REALM: Logical network served by a single Kerberos database and KDC.
Proxiable Ticket
A ticket that may be given to a service to allow the service to impersonate
the user for whom the ticket has been issued.
Ticket
A temporary set of electronic credentials that verifies the identity of
its owner to a particular service.
TGT
Ticket Granting Ticket. A special ticket that lets its owner obtain
additional tickets within the same realm. A TGT is obtained during the
initial authentication process.
5. OVERVIEW OF AUTHENTICATION PROTOCOLS
The following sections attempt to provide an overview of how each of the
supported authentication protocols operates.
5.1 KERBEROS OVERVIEW
Before making a Kerberized connection, you have to know which Kerberos
version, 4 or 5, is supported by the host or service you want to connect
to, and you must be registered in the Kerberos database at the host's
site. Contact the site administrator for details.
Before authentication to a specific service (such as Telnet) can succeed, you
must login to the site's Kerberos Ticket Granting Server. Depending on the
Kerberos implementation and installation options this may be done
automatically when you log in to your operating system. Otherwise you can
do it with external utilities from MIT or Cygnus (such as Leash, KRB5, or
KerbNet), or with Kermit's built-in functionality, explained below.
Once a Ticket Granting Ticket (TGT) is retrieved, Kermit can use it to retrieve
additional tickets for each host (service) you wish to connect to. These
service tickets may be used to authenticate you with the host automatically
during a specified time interval. When authentication is successful, you are
logged in to the host and no Login: or Password: prompt does appear when
connecting.
Besides providing credentials for use during authentication, the service
ticket also contains a session key to be used for encrypting the
communications. After the connection is authenticated, Kermit (if the
necessary encryption capabilities are available) attempts to negotiate
bidirectional encryption using either the DES-CFB64 or DES-OFB64 algorithms.
If one of these is negotiated, it is used in one or both directions,
depending on what the server agreed to.
When Kerberos V authentication is used, Kermit supports credential forwarding
by transferring your Ticket Granting Tickets to the host that you are
connecting to, so you can make additional authenticated connections from that
host to any others that accept those tickets. This provides a single sign-on
capability to the network.
Successful operation of Kerberos requires that all machines have their dates
and times synchronized. Be aware that PC clocks can drift, and this can
cause authentication failures.
5.2 SECURE REMOTE PASSWORD (SRP) OVERVIEW
SRP requires no special configuration of the client. When Kermit is used to
connect to a host that supports SRP, the user name is transmitted
automatically to the host and then a Password prompt is displayed in the
Kermit command screen. This indicates that the password will not be sent to
the host over the communication channel. Instead the password is used as part
of a negotiation in which authentication is either mutual or none at all.
The result of a mutual authentication is a shared secret which is used to
generate two different keys for encrypting the incoming and outgoing data.
SRP hosts support CAST-128-CFB64, CAST-128-OFB64, CAST-40-CFB64,
CAST-40-OFB64, DES-CFB64, DES-OFB64, DES3-CFB64, DES3-OFB64 encryption
algorithms.
5.3 NT LAN MANAGER (NTLM) OVERVIEW
Microsoft's native authentication method is NTLM. It is implemented in
Windows 9x and NT and requires no configuration on the part of the user.
When K95 is used on either Win9x or NT it can be used as an NTLM Telnet
client to authenticate to Microsoft's NT Services for Unix Telnet Server
or to a K95 configured to accept incoming connections.
When K95 is used on NT it can be configured to accept incoming connections
and authenticate NTLM Telnet clients.
NTLM is a weak form of authentication. It provides no shared secret
and cannot be used as a means of securing a connection with encryption.
5.4 SSLv3 and TLSv1 OVERVIEW
(Also see Section 14 for an introduction to the concept of certificates.)
Secure Sockets Layer Version 3 (SSLv3) and its successor Transport Layer
Security Version 1 (TLSv1) were originally designed for use by Web browsers.
They provide a framework for using public-key certificates to negotiate
server and (optionally) client authentication and bidirectional encryption.
The encryption provided by SSLv3 and TLSv1 is stronger than that provided
by the Telnet Encryption option.
SSLv3 and TLSv1 connections may be negotiated in two different ways. First,
the connection may be SSL/TLS-only, which is used when connecting to HTTPS
services or SSL/TLS tunnels. SSL/TLS may also be negotiatied after the
connection is established via negotiations performed in some other protocol
(such as Telnet.)
Kermit supports both kinds of connections:
. Pure SSLv3 connections via SET HOST <host> <port> /SSL
. Pure TLSv1 connections via SET HOST <host> <port> /TLS
. SSLv3 connections negotiated by Tim Hudson's Telnet AUTH SSL option
. TLSv1 connections negotiated by the IETF TN3270E Working Group's
TELNET START_TLS option
The SSL and TLS negotations provide the client with authentication of the
host computer when the host's X.509 certificate is verified. Authentication
of the client may be performed by the use of an X.509 certificate issued to
the end user, or via one of the supported Telnet Authentication methods.
Even though the data channel is encrypted, the transmission of passwords to
the host should still be avoided to prevent theft by a compromised host.
For verification of certificates to be performed, the root certificates of
the certificate authorities (CAs) must be available. If you are not acting
as your own CA you might want to use the file of root certificates at
http://www.e-softinc.com/cacerts.txt. This file is produced by E-Soft, Inc.,
as part of its monthly survey on secure server usage. After downloading,
this file can be used by Kermit via the command:
SET AUTH SSL VERIFY-FILE <path>/cacerts.txt
When Kermit is used as an IKSD, client certificates can be used for automatic
login. If a certificate-to-userid mapping function is provided, the IKSD
logs the user in automatically if the certificate is verified and the
specified userid exists on the system. Kermit also supports the use of a
".tlslogin" file that allows a certificate to be used to login automatically
to an account without a certificate-to-userid mapping function. When Kermit
receives a username via the Telnet New-Environment variable after it has
received and verified a client certificate, it looks in the home directory
corresponding to the username for a file called ".tlslogin". If the file
contains the certificate presented by the client, the client is logged in as
the requested user without a password.
The method for negotiating Tim Hudson's Telnet AUTH SSL option is open to a
man-in-the-middle attack which is capable of disabling the use of SSL before
the negotiation is begun. It should only be used in conjunction with:
SET TELNET AUTHENTICATION TYPE SSL
SET TELOPT AUTHENTICATION REQUIRED
When using IKSD with START_TLS you should create an /etc/iksd.conf file
and place within it commands pointing to the certificate and key files:
set auth tls rsa-cert-file /usr/local/ssl/certs/telnetd-rsa.pem
set auth tls rsa-key-file /usr/local/ssl/certs/telnetd-rsa-key.pem
set auth tls dsa-cert-file /usr/local/ssl/certs/telnetd-dsa.pem
set auth tls dsa-key-file /usr/local/ssl/certs/telnetd-dsa-key.pem
as well as the list of ciphers that you are willing to accept:
set auth tls cipher 3DES:DSS
Note: A Unix telnetd that supports START_TLS is available from
ftp://ftp.runestig.com/pub/starttls/inetutils-1.3.2-tls.tar.gz
This telnetd supports verification of certificate chains for both client and
server including support for certificate revocation lists.
6. AUTHENTICATION AND ENCRYPTION COMMANDS
Kermit has a full repertoire of commands for selecting and controlling
security. Bear in mind that these are targeted primarily at the network
or site manager and not at the "ordinary" user. In a typical application,
a university that has a site license for Kermit 95 creates a customized
installation CD for its user community that contains all the appropriate
security (and other) setups, so end users get secure connections without
doing anything special or even knowning that they have them.
In all Kermit commands:
KERBEROS4 can be abbreviated KRB4 or K4
KERBEROS5 can be abbreviated KRB5 or K5
Some of Kermit's Kerberos-related commands are rather complex, but remember
that you don't have to memorize them, or any other Kermit commands. Use "?"
at any point to feel your way through the command, or type HELP for the
desired command to see a brief explanation.
The CHECK KERBEROS command tells whether your version of Kermit has been built
to include the Kerberos support even if it cannot function on your system.
The CHECK NTLM command tells whether your version of Kermit has been built
to include the NTLM support even if it cannot function on your system.
The CHECK SRP command tells whether your version of Kermit has been built
to include the SRP support even if it cannot function on your system.
The CHECK SSL/TLS command tells whether your version of Kermit has been built
to include the SSL/TLS support even if it cannot function on your system.
IF AVAILABLE KERBEROS4 (or KRB4, or K4) tells whether Kerberos 4 is actually
available in your version of Kermit (e.g. if the Kerberos 4 DLLs are installed
on your Windows 95 PC).
IF AVAILABLE KERBEROS5 (KRB5, K5) tells whether Kerberos 5 is available in
your version of Kermit.
IF AVAILABLE NTLM tells whether NT Lan Manager protocol is available in your
version of Kermit.
IF AVAILABLE SRP tells whether Secure Remote Password protocol is available
in your version of Kermit.
IF AVAILABLE { SSL, TLS } tells whether SSL/TLS protocol is available in your
version of Kermit.
6.1. TELNET-Related Security Commands
SET TELOPT [{ /CLIENT, /SERVER }] AUTHENTICATION
{ ACCEPTED, REFUSED, REQUESTED, REQUIRED }
ACCEPT or REFUSE authentication bids, or actively REQUEST authentication.
REQUIRED refuses and closes the connection if authentication is not
successfully negotiated when either making or accepting connections.
ACCEPTED by default.
SET TELNET AUTHENTICATION TYPE { AUTOMATIC, KERBEROS4, KERBEROS5, NTLM, SRP,
SSL, NONE }
AUTOMATIC allows the host to choose the preferred type of authentication.
Other values allow a specific authentication method to be specified.
AUTOMATIC is the default. The list of options varies depending on the
authentication types selected at compilation time. When combined with SET
TELOPT AUTH REQUIRED, a specific authentication method can be required.
SET TELNET AUTHENTICATION FORWARDING { ON, OFF }
When Kermit is the client, set this to ON to forward forwardable Kerberos V
Ticket Granting Tickets to the host after authentication is complete, so you
can make additional authenticated connections from there. When Kermit is
the server, set this to ON to accept forwardable Kerberos V TGTs from the
client. OFF by default.
SET TELNET AUTHENTICATION HOW-FLAG { ANY, MUTUAL, ONE-WAY }
Specifies which values for the HOW-FLAG should be accepted as a client
or offered as a server. The default is ANY.
SET TELNET AUTHENTICATION ENCRYPT-FLAG { ANY, NONE, TELOPT }
Specifies which values for the ENCRYPT-FLAG should be accepted as a client
or offered as a server. The default is ANY.
SET TELOPT [{ /CLIENT, /SERVER }] ENCRYPTION
{ ACCEPTED, REFUSED, REQUESTED, REQUIRED }
{ ACCEPTED, REFUSED, REQUESTED, REQUIRED }
The first parameter specifies the Kermit to peer state. The second
parameter specifies the peer to Kermit state. The default is ACCEPTED
ACCEPTED.
SET TELNET ENCRYPTION TYPE { AUTOMATIC, CAST128_CFB64, CAST128_OFB64,
CAST5_40_CFB64, CAST5_40_OFB64, DES_CFB64, DES_OFB64,
DES3_CFB64, DES3_OFB64, NONE }
AUTOMATIC allows the host to choose the preferred type of encryption.
Other values allow a specific encryption method to be specified.
AUTOMATIC is the default. The list of options varies depending
on the encryption types selected at compilation time. An encryption
method can only be used if there is enough key data available.
Kerberos can use only DES encryption because it provides a shared
secret only 56 bits in length.
SET TELOPT [{ /CLIENT, /SERVER }] START_TLS
{ ACCEPTED, REFUSED, REQUESTED, REQUIRED }
ACCEPT or REFUSE a request to negotiate TLS, or actively REQUEST
that TLS be negotiated. REQUIRED refuses and closes the connection if
the peer refuses to negotiate TLS or the TLS negotiations end in failure.
ACCEPTED by default when a client. REQUESTED by default when a server.
SET TELNET ENVIRONMENT USER <name>
SET LOGIN USERID <name>
If a <name> is given, it sent to host during Telnet negotiations; if this
switch is given but the string is omitted, no user ID is sent to the host.
If this command is not given, your current USERID value, \v(userid), is
sent. When a userid is sent to the host it is a request to login as the
specified user.
SET LOGIN PASSWORD <password>
If a <password> is given, it is treated as the password to be used (if
required) by any Telnet Authentication protocol (Kerberos Ticket retrieval,
Secure Remote Password (SRP), or X.509 certificate private key decryption.)
If no password is specified a prompt is issued to request the password if
one is required for the negotiated authentication method.
SET TELNET DEBUG ON
Displays all TELNET negotiations in full detail.
TELNET /AUTH:<type> /ENCRYPT:<type> /USERID:[<name>] /PASSWORD:[<string>]
<host> <port>
The TELNET command is a shortcut for making interactive connections.
It is the equivalent of specifying:
SET TELOPT AUTH ...
SET TELNET AUTH TYPE ...
SET TELOPT ENCRYPT ...
SET TELNET ENCRYPT TYPE ...
SET LOGIN USERID ...
SET LOGIN PASSWORD ...
SET HOST /CONNECT <host> <port> /TELNET
/AUTH:<type> is equivalent to SET TELNET AUTH TYPE <type> and
SET TELOPT AUTH REQUIRED with the following exceptions. If the type
is AUTO, then SET TELOPT AUTH REQUESTED is executed and if the type
is NONE, then SET TELOPT AUTH REFUSED is executed.
/ENCRYPT:<type> is equivalent to SET TELNET ENCRYPT TYPE <type>
and SET TELOPT ENCRYPT REQUIRED REQUIRED with the following exceptions.
If the type is AUTO then SET TELOPT AUTH REQUESTED REQUESTED is executed
and if the type is NONE then SET TELOPT ENCRYPT REFUSED REFUSED is
executed.
/USERID:[<name>]
This switch is equivalent to SET LOGIN USERID <name> or SET TELNET
ENVIRONMENT USER <name>. If a string is given, it sent to host during
Telnet negotiations; if this switch is given but the string is omitted, no
user ID is sent to the host. If this switch is not given, your current
USERID value, \v(userid), is sent. When a userid is sent to the host
it is a request to login as the specified user.
/PASSWORD:[<string>]
This switch is equivalent to SET LOGIN PASSWORD. If a string is given,
it is treated as the password to be used (if required) by any Telnet
Authentication protocol (Kerberos Ticket retrieval, Secure Remote
Password, or X.509 certificate private key decryption.) If no password
switch is specified a prompt is issued to request the password if one
is required for the negotiated authentication method.
SHOW TELNET
Displays current TELNET settings, including authentication and
encryption.
6.2. The SET AUTHENTICATION Command
The SET AUTHENTICATION command lets you configure the behavior of Kermit's
authentication methods and set defaults for the AUTHENTICATE commands so you
don't always have to include all the switches if you give more than one
AUTHENTICATE command in one Kermit session:
If you always use the same setup, you can put the appropropriate SET
AUTHENTICATION commands in your Kermit customization file: k95custom.ini
(Windows) or .mykermrc (UNIX).
6.2.1 Kerberos Set Commands
SET AUTHENTICATION { KERBEROS4, KERBEROS5 } AUTODESTROY
{ ON-CLOSE, ON-EXIT, NEVER }
When ON, Kermit destroys all credentials in the default
credentials cache upon Kermit termination. Default is NEVER.
SET AUTHENTICATION { KERBEROS4, KERBEROS5 } AUTOGET { ON, OFF }
When ON, if the host offers Kerberos 4 or Kerberos 5 authentication and
Kermit is configured to use that authentication method and there is no
TGT, Kermit automatically attempts to retrieve one by prompting for the
password (and principal if needed.) Default is ON.
SET AUTHENTICATION KERBEROS5 CREDENTIALS-CACHE <filename>
Specifies an alternative credentials cache. This is useful when you need
to maintain two or more sets of credentials for different realms or
roles. The default is specified by the environment variable KRB5CCNAME
or as reported by the Kerberos 5 library.
SET AUTHENTICATION KERBEROS5 FORWARDABLE { ON, OFF }
ON specifies that Kerberos 5 credentials should be forwardable to the
host. If SET TELNET AUTHENTICATION FORWARDING is ON, forwardable
credentials are sent to the host. Default is OFF.
SET AUTHENTICATION KERBEROS5 GET-K4-TGT { ON, OFF }
ON specifies that Kerberos 4 credentials should be requested each
time Kerberos 5 credentials are requested with AUTH KERBEROS5 INIT.
The default is OFF.
SET AUTHENTICATION KERBEROS4 INSTANCE <instance>
Allows a Kerberos 4 instance to be specified as a default (if needed).
SET AUTHENTICATION { KERBEROS4, KERBEROS5 } LIFETIME <minutes>
Specifies the lifetime of the TGTs requested from the KDC. The default
is 600 minutes (10 hours).
SET AUTHENTICATION KERBEROS4 PREAUTH { ON, OFF }
Allows Kerberos 4 preauthenticated TGT requests to be turned off. The
default is ON. Only use if absolutely necessary. We recommend that
preauthenticated requests be required for all tickets returned by a KDC
to a requestor.
SET AUTHENTICATION { KERBEROS4, KERBEROS5 } PRINCIPAL <name>
When Kermit starts, it attempts to set the principal name to that stored
in the current credentials cache. If no credential cache exists, the
current SET LOGIN USERID value is used. SET LOGIN USERID is set to the
operating systems current username when Kermit is started. To force
Kermit to prompt the user for the principal name when requesting TGTs,
place
SET AUTH K4 PRINCIPAL {}
SET AUTH K5 PRINCIPAL {}
in the Kermit initialization file or connection script.
SET AUTHENTICATION { KERBEROS4, KERBEROS5 } PROMPT PASSWORD <prompt>
Specifies a custom prompt to be used when prompting for a password. The
Kerberos prompt strings may contain two "%s" replacement fields. The
first %s is replaced by the principal name; the second by the realm.
SET AUTHENTICATION { KERBEROS4, KERBEROS5 } PROMPT PRINCIPAL <prompt>
Specifies a custom prompt to be used when prompting for the Kerberos
principal name. No %s replacement fields may be included. Kermit
prompts for a principal name when retrieving a TGT if the command:
SET AUTHENTICATION { KERBEROS4, KERBEROS5 } PRINCIPAL {}
has been issued.
SET AUTHENTICATION KERBEROS5 PROXIABLE { ON, OFF }
When ON, specifies that Kerberos 5 credentials should be proxiable.
The default is OFF.
SET AUTHENTICATION KERBEROS5 RENEWABLE <minutes>
When <minutes> is greater than the ticket lifetime a TGT may be
renewed with AUTH K5 INIT /RENEW instead of granting a new ticket
as long as the ticket is not expired and it's within the renewable
lifetime. Default is 0 (zero) minutes.
SET AUTHENTICATION { KERBEROS4, KERBEROS5 } REALM <name>
If no default is set, the default realm configured for the Kerberos
libraries is used. Abbreviations are accepted.
SET AUTHENTICATION { KERBEROS4, KERBEROS5 } SERVICE-NAME <name>
This command specifies the service ticket name used to authenticate
to the host when Kermit is used as a client; or the service ticket
name accepted by Kermit when it is acting as the host.
If no default is set, the default service name for Kerberos 4 is
"rcmd" and for Kerberos 5 is "host".
6.2.2 SRP Set Commands
SET AUTHENTICATE SRP PROMPT PASSWORD <text>
Specifies a custom prompt to be used when prompting for a password.
<prompt> may contain a single instance of "%s" which is replaced
by the user's login name.
6.2.3 SSL and TLS (OpenSSL) Set Commands
In all of the following commands "SSL" and "TLS" are aliases.
SET AUTHENTICATE { SSL, TLS } CIPHER-LIST <list of ciphers>
This command applies to both SSL and TLS. A colon-separated list of any
of the following (case-sensitive) options is accepted, depending on the
options chosen when OpenSSL was compiled (without the doublequotes):
Key Exchange Algorithms:
"kRSA" RSA key exchange
"kDHr" Diffie-Hellman key exchange (key from RSA cert)
"kDHd" Diffie-Hellman key exchange (key from DSA cert)
"kEDH' Ephemeral Diffie-Hellman key exchange (temporary key)
Authentication Algorithm:
"aNULL" No authentication
"aRSA" RSA authentication
"aDSS" DSS authentication
"aDH" Diffie-Hellman authentication
Cipher Encoding Algorithm:
"eNULL" No encodiing
"DES" DES encoding
"3DES" Triple DES encoding
"RC4" RC4 encoding
"RC2" RC2 encoding
"IDEA" IDEA encoding
MAC Digest Algorithm:
"MD5" MD5 hash function
"SHA1" SHA1 hash function
"SHA" SHA hash function (should not be used)
Aliases:
"ALL" all ciphers
"SSLv2" all SSL version 2.0 ciphers (should not be used)
"SSLv3" all SSL version 3.0 ciphers
"EXP" all export ciphers (40-bit)
"EXPORT56" all export ciphers (56-bit)
"LOW" all low strength ciphers (no export)
"MEDIUM" all ciphers with 128-bit encryption
"HIGH" all ciphers using greater than 128-bit encryption
"RSA" all ciphers using RSA key exchange
"DH" all ciphers using Diffie-Hellman key exchange
"EDH" all ciphers using Ephemeral Diffie-Hellman key exchange
"ADH" all ciphers using Anonymous Diffie-Hellman key exchange
"DSS" all ciphers using DSS authentication
"NULL" all ciphers using no encryption
Each item in the list may include a prefix modifier:
"+" move cipher(s) to the current location in the list
"-" remove cipher(s) from the list (may be added again by
a subsequent list entry)
"!" kill cipher from the list (it may not be added again
by a subsequent list entry)
If no modifier is specified the entry is added to the list at the current
position. "+" may also be used to combine tags to specify entries such as
"RSA+RC4" describes all ciphers that use both RSA and RC4.
For example, all available ciphers not including ADH key exchange:
ALL:!ADH:RC4+RSA:+HIGH:+MEDIUM:+LOW:+SSLv2:+EXP
All algorithms including ADH and export but excluding patented algorithms:
HIGH:MEDIUM:LOW:EXPORT56:EXP:ADH:!kRSA:!aRSA:!RC4:!RC2:!IDEA
The OpenSSL command
openssl ciphers -v <list of ciphers>
may be used to list all of the ciphers and the order described by a specific
<list of ciphers>.
SET AUTHENTICATE { SSL, TLS } CRL-DIR <directory>
Specifies a directory that contains certificate revocation files, where
each file is named by the hash of the certificate issuer name.
OpenSSL expects the hash symlinks to be made like this:
ln -s crl.pem `openssl crl -hash -noout -in crl.pem`.r0
Since all file systems do not have symlinks you can use the following
command in Kermit to copy the crl.pem file to the hash file name:
copy crl.pem {\fcommand(openssl crl -hash -noout -in crl.pem).r0}
This produces a hash based on the issuer field in the CRL such
that the issuer field of a Cert may be quickly mapped to the
correct CRL.
SET AUTHENTICATE { SSL, TLS } CRL-FILE <filename>
Specifies a file that contains a list of certificate revocations.
SET AUTHENTICATE { SSL, TLS } DEBUG { ON, OFF }
Tells whether debug information should be displayed about the SSL/TLS
connection. When DEBUG is ON, the VERIFY command does not terminate
connections when set to FAIL-IF-NO-PEER-CERT and a certificate is
presented that cannot be successfully verified; instead each error is
displayed but the connection automatically continues.
SET AUTHENTICATE { SSL, TLS } DH-PARAM-FILE <filename>
Specifies a file containing DH parameters which are used to generate
temporary DH keys. If a DH parameter file is not provided Kermit uses a
fixed set of parameters depending on the negotiated key length. Kermit
provides DH parameters for key lengths of 512, 768, 1024, 1536, and 2048
bits.
SET AUTHENTICATE { SSL, TLS } DSA-CERT-FILE <filename>
Specifies a file containing a DSA certificate to be sent to the peer to
authenticate the host or end user. The file may contain the matching DH
private key instead of using the DSA-KEY-FILE command.
SET AUTHENTICATE { SSL, TLS } DSA-KEY-FILE <filename>
Specifies a file containing the private DH key that matches the DSA
certificate specified with DSA-CERT-FILE. This command is only necessary
if the private key is not appended to the certificate in the file
specified by DSA-CERT-FILE.
Note: When Kermit is running as an IKSD it cannot support encrypted private
keys. If your private key file is encrypted you can use the following command
to unencrypted (provided you know that pass phrase):
openssl dsa -in <encrypted-key-file> -out <unencrypted-key-file>
SET AUTHENTICATE { SSL, TLS } RSA-CERT-FILE <filename>
Specifies a file containing a RSA certificate to be sent to the peer to
authenticate the host or end user. The file may contain the matching RSA
private key instead of using the RSA-KEY-FILE command.
SET AUTHENTICATE { SSL, TLS } RSA-KEY-FILE <filename>
Specifies a file containing the private RSA key that matches the RSA
certificate specified with RSA-CERT-FILE. This command is only necessary
if the private key is not appended to the certificate in the file
specified by RSA-CERT-FILE.
Note: When Kermit is running as an IKSD it cannot support encrypted private
keys. If your private key file is encrypted you can use the following command
to unencrypted (provided you know that pass phrase):
openssl rsa -in <encrypted-key-file> -out <unencrypted-key-file>
SET AUTHENTICATE { SSL, TLS } VERBOSE { ON, OFF }
Specifies whether information about the authentication (the certificate
chain) should be displayed upon making a connection.
SET AUTHENTICATE { SSL, TLS } VERIFY { NO, PEER-CERT, FAIL-IF-NO-PEER-CERT }
Specifies whether certificates should be requested from the peer; whether
they should be verified when they are presented; and whether they should
be required. When set to NO (the default for IKSD), Kermit does not
request that the peer send a certificate and if one is presented it is
ignored. When set to PEER-CERT (the default when not IKSD), Kermit
requests a certificate be sent by the peer. If the certificate is
presented, it is verified. Any errors during the verification process
result in queries to the end user. When set to FAIL-IF-NO-PEER-CERT,
Kermit asks the peer to send a certificate. If the certificate is not
presented or fails to verify successfully, the connection is terminated
without querying the user.
If an anonymous cipher (i.e., ADH) is desired the NO setting must be
used; otherwise the receipt of the peer certificate request is
interpreted as a protocol error and the negotiation fails.
If you wish to allow the peer to authenticate using either an X.509
certificate to userid mapping function or via use of a ~/.tlslogin file,
you must use either PEER-CERT or FAIL-IF-NO-PEER-CERT. Otherwise, any
certificates that are presented are ignored. In other words, use NO if
you want to disable the ability to use certificates to authenticate a
peer.
SET AUTHENTICATE { SSL, TLS } VERIFY-DIR <directory>
Specifies a directory that contains root CA certificate files used to
verify the certificate chains presented by the peer. Each file is named
by a hash of the certificate.
OpenSSL expects the hash symlinks to be made like this:
ln -s cert.pem `openssl x509 -hash -noout -in cert.pem`.0
Since all file systems do not have symlinks you can use the following
command in Kermit to copy the cert.pem file to the hash file name:
copy cert.pem {\fcommand(openssl x509 -hash -noout -in cert.pem).0}
This produces a hash based on the subject field in the cert such that the
certificate may be quickly found.
SET AUTHENTICATE { SSL, TLS } VERIFY-FILE <file>
Specifies a file that contains root CA certificates to be used for
verifying certificate chains.
6.3. The AUTHENTICATE Command (Kerberos Only)
The AUTHENTICATE command obtains or destroys Kerberos tickets and lists
information about them. The general format is:
AUTHENTICATE { KERBEROS4, KERBEROS5 [ switches ] } <action> [ switches ]
The use of command switches is described in ckermit2.txt, section 1.5.
The actions are INITIALIZE, DESTROY, and LIST-CREDENTIALS:
AUTH {K4,K5} { INITIALIZE [switches], DESTROY, LIST-CREDENTIALS [switches] }
The INITIALIZE command is the most complex, and its format is different for
Kerberos 4 and Kerberos 5. For Kerberos 4, the format is:
AUTH K4 INITIALIZE [ /INSTANCE:<name> /LIFETIME:<minutes> -
/PASSWORD:<password> /PREAUTH /REALM:<name> <principal> ]
All switches are optional. Kerberos 4 INITIALIZE switches are as follows:
/INSTANCE:<name>
Allows an Instance to be specified (see Glossary).
/LIFETIME:<number>
Specifies the requested lifetime in minutes for the ticket. If no lifetime
is specified, 600 minutes is used. If the lifetime is greater than the
maximum supported by the ticket granting service, the resulting lifetime
is shortened accordingly.
/NOT-PREAUTH
Instructs Kermit to send a ticket granting ticket (TGT) request to the KDC
without any preauthentication data.
/PASSWORD:<string>
Allows the inclusion of a password in a script file. If no /PASSWORD switch
is included, you are prompted on a separate line. The password switch is
provided for use by automated scripts. However, we strongly recommend that
it not be used because clear text passwords can be easily compromised.
/PREAUTH
Instructs Kermit to send a preauthenticated ticket granting ticket (TGT)
request to the KDC instead of a plaintext request. The default when
supported by the Kerberos libraries.
/REALM:<name>
Allows an alternative Realm to be specified (see Glossary).
<principal>
may be of the form:
userid[.instance[.instance]]@[realm]
Can be omitted if it is the same as your username or SET LOGIN USERID
value on the client system.
The format for Kerberos 5 is as follows:
AUTH K5 [ /CACHE:<filename> ] { INITIALIZE ..., DESTROY, LIST-CREDENTIALS ...}
The INITIALIZE command for Kerberos 5 can include a number of switches;
all are optional:
AUTH K5 [ /CACHE:<filename> ] INITITIALIZE [ /ADDRESSES:<addr-list>
/FORWARDABLE /KERBEROS4 /LIFETIME:<minutes> /PASSWORD:<password>
/POSTDATE:<date-time> /PROXIABLE /REALM:<name> /RENEW /RENEWABLE:<minutes>
/SERVICE:<name> /VALIDATE <principal> ]
Kerberos 5 INITIALIZE switches are:
/ADDRESSES:{list of ip-addresses}
Specifies a list of IP addresses that should be placed in the Ticket
Granting Ticket in addition to the local machine addresses.
/FORWARDABLE
Requests forwardable tickets.
/KERBEROS4
Instructs Kermit to get Kerberos 4 tickets in addition to Kerberos 5
tickets. If Kerberos 5 tickets are not supported by the server, a mild
warning is printed and Kerberos 4 tickets are requested.
/LIFETIME:<number>
Specifies the requested lifetime in minutes for the ticket. If no
lifetime is specified, 600 minutes is used. If the lifetime is greater
than the maximum supported by the ticket granting service, the resulting
lifetime is shortened.
/NO-KERBEROS4
Instructs Kermit to not attempt to retrieve Kerberos 4 credentials.
/NOT-FORWARDABLE
Requests non-forwardable tickets.
/NOT-PROXIABLE
Requests non-proxiable tickets.
/PASSWORD:<string>
Allows the inclusion of a password in a script. If no password is
specified you are prompted for one. The password switch is provided for
use by automated scripts. However, we strongly recommend that it not be
used because clear-text passwords can be easily compromised. See Chapter
19 of "Using C-Kermit".
/POSTDATE:<date-time>
Requests a postdated ticket, valid starting at <date-time>. Postdated
tickets are issued with the invalid flag set, and need to be fed back to
the KDC before use with the /VALIDATE switch. See ckermit2.txt section
1.6 for acceptable date-time formats.
/PROXIABLE
Requests proxiable tickets.
/REALM:<string>
Allows an alternative realm to be specified.
/RENEW
Requests renewal of a renewable Ticket Granting Ticket. Note that
an expired ticket cannot be renewed even if it is within its renewable
lifetime.
/RENEWABLE:<number>
Requests renewable tickets, with a total lifetime of <number> minutes.
/SERVICE:<string>
Allows a service other than the ticket granting service to be specified.
/VALIDATE
Requests that the Ticket Granting Ticket in the cache (with the invalid
flag set) be passed to the KDC for validation. If the ticket is within
its requested time range, the cache is replaced with the validated
ticket.
<principal>
May be of the form:
userid[/instance][@realm]
Can be omitted if it is the same principal as stored in the current ticket
cache at the time Kermit started; or the current username if a ticket
cache did not exist.
Note: Kerberos 5 always attempts to retrieve a Ticket Granting Ticket (TGT)
using the preauthenticated TGT request.
AUTHORIZE K5 LIST-CREDENTIALS [ /ADDRESSES /ENCRYPTION /FLAGS ]
Shows start time, expiration time, service or principal name, plus
the following additional information depending the switches:
/ADDRESSES
Displays the hostnames and/or IP addresses embedded within the
tickets.
/ENCRYPTION displays the encryption used by each ticket (if applicable):
DES-CBC-CRC
DES-CBC-MD4
DES-CBC-MD5
DES3-CBC-SHA
/FLAGS provides the following information (if applicable) for each ticket:
F - Ticket is Forwardable
f - Ticket was Forwarded
P - Ticket is Proxiable
p - Ticket is a Proxy
D - Ticket may be Postdated
d - Ticket has been Postdated
i - Ticket is Invalid
R - Ticket is Renewable
I - Ticket is the Initial Ticket
H - Ticket has been authenticated by Hardware
A - Ticket has been Pre-authenticated
6.4. OTHER SECURITY-RELATED COMMANDS
SET TCP ADDRESS [ <ip-address> ]
Specify the IP address of the computer that C-Kermit is running on.
Normally this is not necessary. The exceptions would be if the host is
multihomed (e.g. one host pointed to by many IP addresses, or one of many
hosts pointed to by a "common" IP address) or has multiple physical network
adapters, with a different address for each adapter, AND you want C-Kermit
to either (a) accept an incoming TCP connection ("set host *") or (b) get a
Kerberos ticket.
SET TCP REVERSE-DNS-LOOKUP { ON, OFF }
Specifies whether or not a Reverse DNS Lookup should be performed to
determine the hostname assigned to the IP address used to connect to the
host.
In order for mutual authentication to succeed, the client and the server
must agree on the name to be used for the server. It is common for servers
to have more than one name. This is especially true for clusters of servers
that provide the same function and are referenced by an alias. For instance
www.foo.com might be an alias for three machines www-1.foo.com,
www-2.foo.com, and www-3.foo.com. If the hosts are configured to use
separate credentials for authentication it will be necessary to know which
host is actually in use since "www.foo.com" is not equal to "www-1.foo.com".
On the other hand, since DNS is not a secure service, using an additional
lookup to verify the name associated with a particular IP address increases
the susceptibility that the authentication may be forged by an attacker.
For the highest level of security, Reverse DNS Lookups should be turned OFF.
7. EFFECTS OF ENCRYPTION ON FILE TRANSFER PERFORMANCE
Encryption and the subsequent decryption of a data stream can result in 10%
to 60% reduction in file transfer performance depending on the encryption
algorithm. Encrypted data streams are uncompressible, thus reducing
throughput on PPP connections.
8. MULTI-HOMED HOSTS AND NETWORK ADDRESS TRANSLATORS
Kermit is designed to allow authentication with hosts whose names resolve to
multiple (randomized) IP addresses.
However, this does not always work on Windows 95 or Windows NT 3.5x due to
their caching of DNS information. For instance, at Columbia University the
CUNIX name resolves to one of six machines, each with a different name, such
as HOSTA, HOSTB, etc. When telneting to CUNIX, you might be given IP address
128.59.35.136. But even though the DNS servers are properly configured to
return the proper name (e.g. HOSTB) for that IP address, Windows 95 returns
CUNIX because it retrieves the information from its internal cache instead of
performing another network call. This means that instead of retrieving a
ticket for the service:
rcmd.hostb@CC.COLUMBIA.EDU
we get a ticket for:
rcmd.cunix@CC.COLUMBIA.EDU
This use of the wrong ticket produces the following error: "Can't decode
authenticator (krb_rd_req)".
Kerberos 4 has no problems with NATs but fails with Multihomed systems. Why?
A K4 ticket has room for only a single IP address and that IP address is
assigned not by the client but by the KDC. The result is that when K4 is
used from behind a NAT the IP address that is placed into the ticket is the
IP address of the NAT, not the IP address of the client machine. This means
the ticket is good only on the far side of the NAT and not on the near side.
It also means that when a K4 ticket is used with a multihomed host that the
ticket is good only on the interface that was used to acquire the ticket in
the first place.
Kerberos 5 has no problems with multihomed hosts because the ticket supports
multiple IP addresses and those IP addresses are inserted into the ticket by
the client, not by the KDC. However, this also means that K5 fails when it
is used through a NAT. The address in the ticket is the private IP address
and not the address that the KDC sees. This can be worked around if the
client uses a kinit that allows a list of additional IP addresses to be
specified for inclusion in the TGT. Kermit supports this capability with the
AUTH K5 INIT /ADDRESSES:{list of addresses}
command. The only problem is that in most cases the end user does not
know what the IP addresses is on the far side of the NAT.
9. OTHER NOTES
In Kermit 95, the authentication type and encryption levels are displayed in
the terminal-screen status Line as follows:
K4 - Kerberos IV
K5 - Kerberos V
NTLM- NT Lan Manager
SRP - Secure Remote Password
pp - No encryption
Ep - Encryption to host, plaintext from host
pD - Plaintext to host, encryption from host
ED - Encryption both directions
SSL - Secure Sockets Layer (both directions)
TLS - Transport Layer Security (both directions)
Encrypted sessions become unreadable if even one bit of data is inserted into
or deleted from the data stream. One damaged bit results in nine damaged
bytes but subsequent bytes remain readable. But since TCP/IP is a reliable
transport by definition, none of this should occur.
Windows login names are not case-sensitive. However, Unix login names are.
If the Unix login name is "fred" but Windows was logged in using the name
"Fred", authentication appears to succeed but telnetd closes the connection
after Telnet negotiations are complete. There are several solutions to this
problem:
. Make sure the Windows login name is case identical to the Unix login name.
(If Windows has recorded the login in the registry as "Fred" it won't
matter if you login to Windows using "fred". The only way to correct
this problem is to edit the Registry.)
. Use the SET LOGIN USERID <name> command to set the proper login name
before connecting to the telnet server.
. Use the SET AUTHENTICATE { KERBEROS4, KERBEROS5 } PRINCIPAL <name> command
to set the proper principal name before connecting to the telnet server.
. Specify the remote username in the <principal> of your AUTHENTICATE Kxxx
INITIALIZE command.
Kermit adjusts the case of the name if and only if a case insensitive
comparison of the SET LOGIN USERID name and the name in the authentication
ticket shows no differences.
10. VARIABLES
10.1 GENERAL AUTHENTICATION VARIABLES
\v(authname) - Only valid when Kermit is accepting a connection. This
variable contains the name of the user that has been
authenticated as opposed to \v(userid) which contains the
name the user chose to login as. This distinction is
important for \v(authstate) = "user" since this means that
although we were able to authenticate the user as \v(authname)
we could not verify that she has authorization to access
the account of \v(userid).
\v(authstate) - String indicating current state of authentication:
"rejected" - Rejected or otherwise not authenticated
"unknown" - Anonymous connection
"other" - We know him, but not his name
"user" - We know his name
"valid" - We know him, and he needs no password
\v(authtype) - String indicating which telnet (or other) authentication method
is in use.
"NULL" - No authentication
"KERBEROS_V4" - Kerberos 4
"KERBEROS_V5" - Kerberos 5
"SRP" - Secure Remote Password
"NTLM" - NT Lan Manager
"X_509_CERTIFICATE" - X.509 certificate
10.2 KERBEROS VARIABLES
\v(krb5cc) - Current kerberos V credentials cache.
\v(krb5princ) - Current kerberos V principal name.
\v(krb5realm) - Current kerberos V realm name.
\v(krb5errno) - Last Kerberos V errno
\v(krb5errmsg)- Last Kerberos V error message
\v(krb4princ) - Current kerberos IV principal name.
\v(krb4realm) - Current kerberos IV realm name.
\v(krb4errno) - Last Kerberos IV errno
\v(krb4errmsg)- Last Kerberos IV error message
10.3 SSL/TLS VARIABLES
\v(x509_issuer) - The issuer string from the peer's X.509 certificate
\v(x509_subject) - The subject string from the peer's X.509 certificate
11. FUNCTIONS
All Kerberos functions require the Kerberos version number, 4 or 5, as the
first argument (n).
\fkrbtickets(n)
The number of active Kerberos n (4 or 5) tickets. This resets the
ticket list used by \fkrbnextticket(n).
\fkrbnextticket(n)
The next ticket in the Kerberos n (4 or 5) ticket list that was set up by
the most recent invocation of \fkrbtickets(n).
\fkrbisvalid(n,name)
The name is a ticket name, as returned by \fkrbnextticket(n). Returns
1 if the ticket is valid, 0 if not valid. A ticket is valid if all the
following conditions are true:
(i) it exists in the current cache file;
(ii) it is not expired;
(iii) it is not marked invalid (K5 only);
(iv) it was issued from the current IP address
This value can be used in an IF statement, e.g.:
if \fkrbisvalid(4,krbtgt.FOO.BAR.EDU@FOO.BAR.EDU) ...
\fkrbtimeleft(n,name)
The name is a ticket name, as returned by \fkrbnextticket(n). Returns
the number of seconds remaining in the ticket's lifetime.
\fkrbflags(n,name)
The name is a ticket name, as returned by \fkrbnextticket(n). Returns
the flags string as reported with AUTH K5 LIST /FLAGS. This string can
be searched for a particular flag using the \findex() function when
SET CASE is ON (for case sensitive searches). Flag strings are only
available for K5 tickets.
Kerberos 5 functions operate against the current credential-cache file as set
by SET AUTHORIZATION K5 CREDENTIALS-FILE <filename>.
12. SCRIPTING HINTS
12.1. Kerberos Autoget
When developing scripts to be used without user interaction you should turn
off the Kerberos AutoGet TGT feature with
SET AUTHENTICATION KERBEROS4 AUTOGET OFF
SET AUTHENTICATION KERBEROS5 AUTOGET OFF
When autoget mode is disabled, Kermit does not automatically perform the
function of KINIT. Instead this automation can be scripted; for example:
SET TELOPT AUTHENTICATION REQUIRED
SET HOST <host>:<port> /TELNET
IF FAILURE {
AUTHENTICATE K4 INIT ; (or K5)
SET HOST <host>:<port>
IF FAILURE { do whatever on failure }
}
or place the following in your K95CUSTOM.INI file to insure a valid
Ticket Granting Ticket each time you start K95:
IF AVAILABLE KERBEROS4 {
IF NOT \Fkrbisvalid(4,krbtgt.\v(krb4realm)@\v(krb4realm)) {
echo Kerberos 4 Ticket Granting Ticket is invalid!
AUTH K4 INIT
}
}
IF AVAILABLE KERBEROS5 {
IF NOT \Fkrbisvalid(5,krbtgt/\v(krb5realm)@\v(krb5realm)) {
echo Kerberos 5 Ticket Granting Ticket is invalid!
AUTH K5 INIT
}
}
12.2. Autodestruction of Kerberos Credentials
When Kermit is used on a machine in a public lab and Kerberos is used for
authentication it is often desireable to not have the Kerberos credentials
survive the current session. To automate the destruction of Kerberos
credentials use:
SET AUTH {K4, K5} AUTODESTROY { ON-CLOSE, ON-EXIT }
12.3. Automated prompting for usernames
To prevent Kermit from using the username reported by the local operating
system for the remote userid and kerberos principal use:
SET LOGIN USERID {}
SET AUTHENTICATION KERBEROS4 PRINCIPAL {}
SET AUTHENTICATION KERBEROS5 PRINCIPAL {}
This forces Kermit to prompt the user for the userid and principal
when requesting credentials.
12.4. Password Inclusion in Script Files
Although it is not recommended (since storing passwords openly in a file,
especially on a PC, is a serious security risk), connections may be scripted
without user interaction:
SET HOST /PASSWORD:<password> /USERID:<user> <host> <port> /TELNET
The security risk can be avoided if the script prompts for the password:
ASKQ \%p Password:
SET HOST PASSWORD:\%p /USERID:<user> <host> <port> /TELNET
UNDEF \%p
Of course, if the /PASSWORD switch is not specified Kermit prompts for the
password automatically when the host requests the use of authentication.
12.5 Using Kermit Scripts to Produce Secure Telnet Services
The following series of commands causes a Kermit script to accept only
authenticated and encrypted connections:
SET TELOPT /SERVER AUTH REQUIRE
SET TELOPT /SERVER ENCRYPT REQUIRE REQUIRE
SET HOST * <port> /TELNET
IF FAILURE { do appropriate error handling }
The \v(authstate) variable tells the script which level of authentication has
been achieved. If the value is "valid" that means that the account specified
by \v(userid) has been authenticated and authorized for use by \v(authname).
If the value of \v(authstate) is "user" then \v(authname) has been
authenticated but she does not have known authorization to access the account
\v(userid). This usually means that some additional verification is needed.
IF EQ "\v(authstate)" "valid" {
proceed without further authorization
}
IF EQ "\v(authstate)" "user" {
perform further authorization before providing service
}
It is important to realize that when a Kermit script is used in this manner,
the Telnet negotiations provide authentication of the user and potentially
encryption of the data communication. There is no facility in a Kermit script
to change the ownership of the currently running process from the user that
started it to the user ID of the authenticated user. This means that the
script the authenticated user is accessing has all of the privileges of the
process executer and not the authenticated user.
Another important fact to remember is that secure access to an insecure
environment is not secure. If you are using Windows 95 or 98 to run scripts,
while it is possible to use Kerberos or SRP to authenticate the incoming
clients, the insecure nature of the Windows environment means that it is
impossible for the Kerberos service key tables and SRP password databases to
be protected from tampering; the security in this case is no stronger than
than the security of Windows 9x.
13. USING OTHER SECURITY METHODS WITH KERMIT
Other protocols can be used to create secure connections that are not
currently implemented in Kermit, such as Secure Shell (SSH). The fact that
SSH is not integrated into Kermit software does not mean that Kermit cannot
be used in conjunction with it. SSH provides for tunneling, which allows a
localhost proxy to be configured to take insecure connections on the local
machine and connect them via secure connections to remote hosts.
Secure connection clients can be used as the communication channel in C-Kermit
7.0 and Kermit 95 1.1.16 via the PTY (Unix only) and PIPE commands.
See Section 2.7 of ckermit2.txt for details.
Firewalls based on access lists, proxies, and SOCKS do not provide secure
connections. However, they do restrict the ports that may be used to
communicate between the Internet and the Intranet which makes it more
difficult for someone to break into the Intranet from outside. They do not
protect the network from internal attacks nor do they protect a connection,
once made, from eavesdropping or hijacking. They may be used in conjunction
with secure connection systems but should not be used as a replacement for
them. (The Windows 95 and NT versions of Kermit 95 do not support SOCKS; the
OS/2 version has built-in support for SOCKS4. C-Kermit can be built as a
SOCKS client if you have a SOCKS library; otherwise you can run SOCKSified
Telnet or Rlogin clients through C-Kermit with the PIPE command.)
NEC distributes a SOCKS5 Winsock shim for Windows 9x/NT at
ftp://ftp.nec.co.jp/pub/packages/sotools/
13.1 Implementing Other Security Methods for Kermit 95
Kermit 95 provides an interface that allows it to use a DLL to provide an
alternative mechanism for implementing secure communication methods. The DLL
is loaded via a network type command:
SET NETWORK TYPE DLL <dll-file>
The connection is then made with a SET HOST command
SET HOST <command line>
where the <command line> is passed to the DLL after the normal Kermit quoting
rules are applied.
/* Kermit 95 - External Network DLL specification
* July 16 1998
* Jeffrey Altman <jaltman@columbia.edu>
*
* The following specification defines a set of functions to be exported from
* a DLL in order for the DLL to work with Kermit 95 version 1.1.17 or higher.
*
* The DLL is loaded by Kermit 95 via use of the command:
* SET NETWORK TYPE DLL <dllname>
*
* Notes:
* The functions specified here must be thread safe. It is possible
* for multiple threads to be calling any combination of functions
* simultaneously.
*
* The 1.1.17 interface does not provide for the ability of the
* DLL to query the user with echoing input, nor is the a method
* for querying the values of Kermit variables such as 'userid'
* or Kermit version number. This will be added in a later release.
*/
/*
* N E T O P E N - Network Open
*
* The network open function is called by Kermit 95 when a new connection
* is desired. Usually in response to:
* SET HOST <command_line>
*
* Parameters:
* command_line - the command line specified in the SET HOST command
* after quoting rules and variables have been applied.
* termtype - a string representing either the currently selected
* terminal type or a user specified string as per
* SET TELNET TERMINAL <string>
* height - initial height of the terminal window (chars)
* width - initial width of the terminal window (chars)
* readpass - a pointer to a function to be used to read a password
* without echoing
*
* Return values:
* 0 on success
* < 0 on failure
*
* return codes should be defined such that they can be passed to
* errorstr() to retrieve an appropriate error message for the user.
*/
int
netopen(char * command_line, char * termtype, int height, int width,
int (* readpass)(char * prompt,char * buffer, int length));
/*
* N E T C L O S - Network Close
*
* The network close function is called by Kermit 95 when the user requests
* a disconnect or in response to fatal error.
*
* Parameters: None
*
* Return values:
* 0 on success
* < 0 on failure
*
* return codes should be defined such that they can be passed to
* errorstr() to retrieve an appropriate error message for the user.
*/
int
netclos(void) ;
/*
* N E T T C H K - Network Terminal I/O Check
*
* The network terminal i/o check function is called regularly by Kermit 95
* to poll the status of the connection and to retrieve the number of input
* characters waiting to be processed. Because it is called frequently this
* function should be designed to be low cost.
*
* Parameters: None
*
* Return values:
* >= 0 number of characters waiting in the input queue
* < 0 indicates a fatal error on the connection and the connection
* should be closed.
*
* return codes should be defined such that they can be passed to
* errorstr() to retrieve an appropriate error message for the user.
*/
int
nettchk(void);
/*
* N E T F L U I - Network Flush Input
*
* The network flush input function should clear the connection's input
* queue.
*
* Parameters: None
*
* Return values:
* 0 indicates success
* < 0 indicates an error
*
* return codes should be defined such that they can be passed to
* errorstr() to retrieve an appropriate error message for the user.
*/
int
netflui(void);
/*
* N E T B R E A K - Network Break
*
* The network break signal is called in response to a user initiated
* break command. For example, on a serial device this should result in
* a Break signal and on a Telnet connection a Break Command is sent.
* For connection types without an equivalent simply return 0.
*
* Parameters: None
*
* Return values:
* 0 indicates success
* < 0 indicates an error
*
* return codes should be defined such that they can be passed to
* errorstr() to retrieve an appropriate error message for the user.
*/
int
netbreak(void);
/*
* N E T I N C - Network Input Character
*
* The network input character is used to read the next character from
* the input queue.
*
* Parameters:
* timeout - 0 indicates no timeout, block until the next character
* is available;
* > 0 indicates a timeout value in seconds;
* < 0 indicates a timeout value in milliseconds;
*
* Return values:
* >= 0 is interpreted as a valid character
* -1 is a timeout [errorstr() is not called]
* < -1 is a fatal error
*
* return codes < -1 should be defined such that they can be passed to
* errorstr() to retrieve an appropriate error message for the user.
*/
int
netinc(int timeout);
/*
* N E T X I N - Network Extended Input
*
* The network extended input is called to read a large number of waiting
* input characters. It will never be called with a number larger than
* reported as available and waiting by nettchk(). The function may return
* fewer characters than is requested. This function should not block.
*
* Parameters:
* count - number of characters to be read
* buffer - buffer of length count to be used to store the data
*
* Return values:
* >= 0 the number of characters actually returned by the function
* < 0 indicates an error
*
* return codes should be defined such that they can be passed to
* errorstr() to retrieve an appropriate error message for the user.
*/
int
netxin(int count, char * buffer);
/*
* N E T T O C - Network Terminal Output Character
*
* The network terminal output character transmits a single character
*
* Parameters:
* c - a single character to be output
*
* Return values:
* 0 indicates success
* < 0 indicates an error
*
* return codes should be defined such that they can be passed to
* errorstr() to retrieve an appropriate error message for the user.
*/
int
nettoc(int c);
/*
* N E T T O L - Network Terminal Output Line
*
* The network terminal output line is used to output one or more
* characters.
*
* Parameters:
* buffer - contains the characters to be output
* count - the number of characters to be output from buffer
*
* Return values:
* >= 0 the number of characters actually output. The function
* should make its best attempt to transmit all 'count'
* characters.
* < 0 indicates a fatal error
*
* return codes should be defined such that they can be passed to
* errorstr() to retrieve an appropriate error message for the user.
*/
int
nettol(char * buffer, int count);
/*
* T T V T - Terminal to Virtual Terminal Mode
*
* Terminal to Virtual Terminal Mode is called to notify the DLL that
* Kermit 95 is about to enter terminal mode communications. This means
* either the CONNECT or DIAL commands will be sending output. In most
* cases, this will be either printable text or escape sequences.
*
* Parameters: None
*
* Return values:
* 0 indicates success
* < 0 indicates an error
*
* return codes should be defined such that they can be passed to
* errorstr() to retrieve an appropriate error message for the user.
*/
int
ttvt(void);
/*
* T T P K T - Terminal to Packet Mode
*
* Terminal to Packet Mode is called to notify the DLL that
* Kermit 95 is about to enter file transfer operations.
*
* Parameters: None
*
* Return values:
* 0 indicates success
* < 0 indicates an error
*
* return codes should be defined such that they can be passed to
* errorstr() to retrieve an appropriate error message for the user.
*/
int
ttpkt(void);
/*
* T T R E S - Terminal Restore Mode
*
* Terminal Restore Mode is called to notify the DLL that it should
* Kermit 95 restore to default settings.
*
* Parameters: None
*
* Return values:
* 0 indicates success
* < 0 indicates an error
*
* return codes should be defined such that they can be passed to
* errorstr() to retrieve an appropriate error message for the user.
*/
int
ttres(void);
/*
* T E R M I N F O - Terminal Information
*
* The terminal information function is called whenever the terminal
* type or window size is changed.
*
* Parameters:
* termtype - a string representing either the currently selected
* terminal type or a user specified string as per
* SET TELNET TERMINAL <string>
* height - initial height of the terminal window (chars)
* width - initial width of the terminal window (chars)
*
* Return values: None
*/
void
terminfo(char * termtype, int height, int width);
/*
* V E R S I O N - Version String
*
* Version is called to get a user displayable version string for use
* as part of the SHOW NETWORK command.
*
* Parameters: None
*
* Return values:
* a string which will not be deleted by the caller.
*/
const char *
version(void);
/*
* E R R O R S T R - Error String
*
* Error string is called to retrieve a user displayable error message
* describing the type of error being reported by the function.
*
* Parameters:
* error - the error value reported by the DLL function.
*
* Return values:
* a string which will not be deleted by the caller.
*/
const char *
errorstr(int error);
14. AN INTRODUCTION TO CERTIFICATES AND CERTIFICATE AUTHORITIES WITH OPENSSL
This is a brief introduction to certificates, certificate authorities and how
to use them. RSA Security, Inc., has a very good Frequently Asked Questions
list:
http://www.rsasecurity.com/rsalabs/faq/questions.html
The FAQ covers many topics related to cryptography as well as how public key
certificates work and how they are to be used.
14.1 What Are Certificates, Private Keys, CSRs, CAs, and CRLs?
Public key (asymetric) cryptography defines a class of algorithms for key
exchange that include RSA and Diffie-Hellman (DH). These algorithms provide a
mechanism to create a shared secret that can be used for encrypting future
communications. Anyone listening to the exchange would be no closer to
figuring out the value of the shared secret than if they were to take a guess.
There are two parts to the exchange. A private key that is never disclosed,
and a public key that may be viewed by all. A X.509 certificate is a standard
package for distributing a public key with identifying features such that the
authenticity and validity of the public key may be verified by a recipient.
The authenticity and validity of a certificate is provided by a combination of
information provided within the certificates (the subject, the issuer, dates
of validity, ...) as well as the trust that is placed in the certificate
issuer (the Certificate Authority, or CA). The CA signs each of the
certificates that it issues with its own certificate. With a copy of the CA's
certificate it is possible to validate all of the certificates that were
signed by the CA's private key.
A user who wants to have a certificate signed by a CA creates a Certificate
Signing Request (CSR). The CSR is an unsigned certificate which is presented
to the CA along with information verifying the identity and desired use for
the certificate. The CA signs the CSR producing a certificate that is valid
for a specific time frame which is then returned to the user.
If the private key of the certificate were to be compromised the CA may revoke
the certificate. The CA publishes a Certificate Revocation List (CRL) on a
periodic basis containing a list of all certificates that would otherwise be
valid if they were not revoked. It is the responsibility of the verifier to
check not only the authenticity of the certificate but also whether or not it
has been revoked by the issuer.
14.2 RSA certificates vs. DSA Certificates
The important differences between RSA and DSA certificates are:
. The RSA algorithms are faster than DSA.
. The RSA algorithms are supported by all the major browsers whereas DSA
are not.
. The RSA algorithms are patented in the United States (until Sept 29, 2000)
which requires payments of licensing fees for producers of software
utilizing them, whereas DSA is free.
. The RSA private and public key pairs may be used for encrypting data as
well as signing. DSA private and public key pairs may only be used for
signing. Therefore, products incorporating DSA algorithms are easier to
export from the United States.
Due to the patent issues surrounding the RSA algorithms, the Kermit Project
does not maintain a library or distribute any binaries that are built with the
RSA algorithms. This policy can change when the RSA patent expires.
14.3 Should You Be Your Own Certificate Authority?
There are many companies that believe that providing CA services is big
business. These include but are not limited to:
Verisign <http://www.verisign.com>
Thawte Consulting <http://www.thawte.com>
CertiSign Cerificadora Digital Ltda. <http://www.certisign.com.br>
IKS CmbH <http://www.iks-jena.de>
Uptime Commerce Ltd. <http://www.uptimecommerce.com>
BelSign NV/SA <http://www.belsign.be>
The root CA certificates of these companies certificates are included most of
the popular browsers. This provides an ease-of-use advantage to the
recipients of certificates they sign since the root certificates do not need
to be otherwise distributed in order to authenticate the signed certificates.
On the other hand, as is pointed out by C. Ellison and B. Schneier in their
paper, "Ten Risks of PKI: What You're Not Being Told About Public Key
Infrastructure" <http://www.counterpane.com/pki-risks.html>, using the
commercial CA services it makes it difficult to decide whether or not a
certificate should be trusted for a particular purpose, especially if you want
to use certificates to authenticate an end user to a system for remote access.
In this situation it is necessary to not only be able to authenticate a
certificate but be able to know that the information within the certificate,
such as the uniqueIdentifier used for the User ID, is tightly controlled and
in fact unique in your environment.
If you choose to be your own CA you will need to configure your environment.
Create the following directory trees to store the DSA and RSA CAs.
openssl/dsaCA/certs/
openssl/dsaCA/crl/
openssl/dsaCA/private/
openssl/dsaCA/newcerts/
openssl/dsaCA/requests/
openssl/rsaCA/certs/
openssl/rsaCA/crl/
openssl/rsaCA/private/
openssl/rsaCA/newcerts/
openssl/rsaCA/requests/
Place the openssl.cnf file into the openssl directory. Edit it to meet the
requirements of your organization. Create two sections [ CA_DSA ] and
[ CA_RSA ]:
[ CA_DSA ]
dir = <openssl_path>/dsaCA/ # Where everything is kept
certs = $dir/certs # Where the issued certs are kept
crl_dir = $dir/crl # Where the issued crl are kept
database = $dir/index.txt # database index file.
new_certs_dir = $dir/newcerts # default place for new certs.
certificate = $dir/certs/cacert.pem # The CA certificate
serial = $dir/ca.srl # The current serial number
crl = $dir/crl.pem # The current CRL
private_key = $dir/private/cakey.pem # The private key
RANDFILE = $dir/private/.rand # private random number file
x509_extensions = x509v3_extensions # The extentions to add to the cert
default_days = 365 # how long to certify for
default_crl_days= 30 # how long before next CRL
default_md = sha1 # which md to use.
preserve = no # keep passed DN ordering
[ CA_RSA ]
dir = <openssl_path>/rsaCA/ # Where everything is kept
certs = $dir/certs # Where the issued certs are kept
crl_dir = $dir/crl # Where the issued crl are kept
database = $dir/index.txt # database index file.
new_certs_dir = $dir/newcerts # default place for new certs.
certificate = $dir/certs/cacert.pem # The CA certificate
serial = $dir/ca.srl # The current serial number
crl = $dir/crl.pem # The current CRL
private_key = $dir/private/cakey.pem # The private key
RANDFILE = $dir/private/.rand # private random number file
x509_extensions = x509v3_extensions # The extentions to add to the cert
default_days = 365 # how long to certify for
default_crl_days= 30 # how long before next CRL
default_md = sha1 # which md to use.
preserve = no # keep passed DN ordering
If you wish to use the uniqueIdentifier field to perform certificate to user
ID mapping, add it after the emailAddress field.
To avoid the need to specify the location of the openssl.cnf file, set the
environment variable OPENSSL_CNF to be equal to the full path of the file.
If you do not create this environment variable you will need to include the
option:
-config <path>/openssl.cnf
to each openssl command.
Create the file that stores the next available serial number for each CA:
openssl/dsaCA/ca.srl
openssl/rsaCA/ca.srl
The format of this file is a hex value followed by a LF (0x0A) character.
The value "01" is an appropriate initial value.
Create an empty file to store the index of signed certificates:
openssl/dsaCA/index.txt
openssl/rsaCA/index.txt
Now you are ready to create the DSA and RSA CA certificates for your
organization.
14.4 Generating a DSA CA (self-signed) Certificate
Change the current working directory to openssl/dsaCA/.
Generate the DSA parameters to be used when generating the keys for use with
your certificates.
openssl dsaparam 1024 -out dsa1024.pem
Generate the self-signed certificate you will use as the CA certificate for
your organization.
openssl req -x509 -newkey dsa:dsa1024.pem -days <days> \
-keyout private/cakey.pem -out certs/cacert.pem
The <days> parameter should be replaced by the number of days you want this
certificate to remain valid. All certificates signed by this certificate
become invalid when this certificate expires.
Be sure to not forget the pass-phrase you use to protect the private key of
the CA certificate. If you do not wish to encrypt the CA's private key you
may specify the -nodes option. But this is highly discouraged.
You can check the contents of the CA certificate with the command:
openssl x509 -text -in certs/cacert.pem
14.5 Generating a DSA CSR
Change the current working directory to openssl/dsaCA/.
If you have not already created a set of DSA parameters, you must generate a
set:
openssl dsaparam 1024 -out dsa1024.pem
It is safe to reuse the DSA parameters.
Generate the DSA certificate request
openssl req -newkey dsa:dsa1024.pem -keyout private/<name>-key.pem \
-out requests/<name>-req.pem
<name> should be replaced by something that identifies the files. Perhaps
the hostname or userid for which the certificate is being generated.
If you are generating a CSR for use as a host certificate, be sure to specify
the fully qualified domain name as reported by the DNS as the Common Name for
the certificate. Otherwise, it will not be recognized as belonging to the
host it is installed on by its clients.
Be sure not to forget the pass-phrase you use to protect the private key of
the CA certificate. The certificate (after signing) is unusable without it.
Use the -nodes option if you wish to store the key unencrypted.
You can check the contents of the CSR with the command:
openssl req -text -in requests/<name>-req.pem
The CSR now stored in requests/<name>-req.pem may be sent to one of the
commerical CAs if you do not wish to be your own CA.
14.6 Generating a RSA CA (self-signed) certificate
Change the current working directory to openssl/rsaCA/.
Generate the self-signed certificate you will use as the CA certificate for
your organization.
openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:1024 -days <days> \
-keyout private/cakey.pem -out certs/cacert.pem
The <days> parameter should be replaced by the number of days you want this
certificate to remain valid. All certificates signed by this certificate
become invalid when this certificate expires.
Be sure not to forget the pass-phrase you use to protect the private key of
the CA certificate. If you do not wish to encrypt the CA's private key you
may specify the -nodes option. But this is highly discouraged.
You can check the contents of the CA certificate with the command:
openssl x509 -text -in certs/cacert.pem
14.7 Generating a RSA CSR
Change the current working directory to openssl/rsaCA/.
openssl req -newkey rsa:1024 -keyout private/<name>-key.pem \
-out requests/<name>-req.pem
<name> should be replaced by something that identifies the files. Perhaps
the hostname or userid for which the certificate is being generated.
If you are generating a CSR for use as a host certificate be sure to specify
the fully qualified domain name as reported by the DNS as the Common Name for
the certificate. Otherwise, it is not recognized as belonging to the host it
is installed on by its clients.
Be sure not to forget the pass-phrase you use to protect the private key of
the CA certificate. The certificate (after signing) is unusable without it.
Use the -nodes option if you wish to store the key unencrypted.
You can check the contents of the CSR with the command:
openssl req -text -in requests/<name>-req.pem
The CSR now stored in requests/<name>-req.pem may be sent to one of the
commerical CAs if you do not wish to be your own CA.
14.8 Signing a CSR with your CA certificate
If you are signing a DSA certificate change directory to openssl/dsaCA/ and
use a <caname> of "CA_DSA". If you are signing a RSA certificate change
directory to openssl/rsaCA/ and use a <caname> of "CA_RSA".
openssl ca -name <caname> -in requests/<name>-req.pem \
-out certs/<name>.pem -days <days>
The <days> parameter should be replaced by the number of days you want the
signed certificate to remain valid. If you want to specify a specific date
range you can replace the -days parameters with:
-startdate YYMMDDHHMMSSZ - certificate validity notBefore
-enddate YYMMDDHHMMSSZ - certificate validity notAfter
The file certs/<name>.pem now contains a signed certificate that may be used
by a host or client for authentication in conjunction with its matching
private key (private/<name>-key.pem.)
An alternative method of signing the CSR is to use the command:
openssl x509 -req -in requests/<name>-req.pem -CA certs/cacert.pem \
-CAkey private/cakey.pem -out certs/<name>.pem -days <days> \
-CAserial ca.srl -CAcreateserial
The "openssl x509" command provides greater functionality at the expense of
ease of use. The X509 may be used to assign X.509v3 certificate extensions
with the -extfile and -extensions switches. It may also be used to produce
certificates that may only be used for specific purposes.
You can check the contents of the CA certificate with the command:
openssl x509 -text -in certs/<name>.pem
14.9 Revoking a Certificate
If you are revoking a DSA certificate change directory to openssl/dsaCA/ and
use a <caname> of "CA_DSA". If you are revoking a RSA certificate change
directory to openssl/rsaCA/ and use a <caname> of "CA_RSA".
openssl ca -name <caname> -revoke -in certs/<name>.pem
marks the certificate as being revoked in the index.txt file. It is
necessary to revoke a certificate with a given subject name if you wish to
generate a new certificate with an identical subject name. Once a
certificate is revoked it is listed in the next generated CRL.
14.10 Generating a CRL
If you are generating a CRL for your DSA certificates change directory to
openssl/dsaCA/ and use a <caname> of "CA_DSA". If you are generating a CRL
for your RSA certificate change directory to openssl/rsaCA/ and use a <caname>
of "CA_RSA".
openssl ca -name <caname> -gencrl -out crl/<date>-crl.pem
<date> should be replaced by the date the crl was generated.
You can check the contents of the CRL with the command
openssl crl -in crl/<date>-crl.pem -text
The current CRL should be placed somewhere it is publicly and easily
accessible. For instance, by HTTP or FTP. The CRL is signed by the CA
certificate
(End)