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> With SSH certificates you have to go back to the "keys to the kingdom" antipattern and just hope for the best. Whut? This is literally the opposite. With CA
by cyberax 7mo ago
> With SSH certificates you have to go back to the "keys to the kingdom" antipattern and just hope for the best.
Whut? This is literally the opposite.
With CA certs you can create short-lived certificates, so you can easily grant access to a system for a short time.
- namibj 7mo agoAnd what about the CA?
- cyberax 7mo agoIt's no different compared to regular SSH private keys. You need to protect it from compromise. However, it provides you an additional layer of protection, because it does not need to be on the critical path for every SSH connection. My CA is a Nitrokey HSM, for example. I issue myself temporary certs that are valid only for 6 hours for ephemeral private keys.
- otabdeveloper4 7mo agoYes it is different. SSH CA keys are harder to secure and attackers have a much bigger incentive to steal them.
- _bernd 7mo agoYou can also configure multiple CA for client auth, and on the client side multiple ca to verify host keys.