Multi Factor Authentication with SSH

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This is howto setup MFA using the Google Authenticator.

Installation

  • Only one package is required to install:
apt install libpam-google-authenticator

Default Setup

  • Configuration /etc/pam.d/sshd

Put the following sting underneath of @include common-auth 

auth required pam_google_authenticator.so
  • Configuration /etc/ssh/sshd_config
LogLevel DEBUG3
PasswordAuthentication no
ChallengeResponseAuthentication yes
UsePAM yes

NOTE that this setup will allow users to bypass the MFA setup when using public keys

Enforce MFA together with public keys

  • Configuration /etc/pam.d/sshd, comment @include common-auth
#@include common-auth
auth required pam_google_authenticator.so


  • Configuration /etc/ssh/sshd_config
LogLevel DEBUG3
PasswordAuthentication no
ChallengeResponseAuthentication yes
UsePAM yes
AuthenticationMethods publickey,keyboard-interactive

NOTE that this setup will allow users to login using public keys but MFA will still apply.
Users without a public key cannot login

Alternative methods

  • auth [success=done new_authtok_reqd=done default=die] pam_google_authenticator.so nullok
  • auth sufficient pam_google_authenticator.so

Reference

'https://serverfault.com/questions/629883/trying-to-get-ssh-with-public-key-no-password-google-authenticator-working-o 'https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-combine-ssh-key-authentication-and-two-factor-authentication-on-linux/

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