using sssd 2.6.3 (current latest version on the ubuntu packages) to facilitate SSH authentication via GSSAPI.
# /etc/sssd/sssd.conf
[sssd]
domains = asia.earth.local
config_file_version = 2
services = nss, pam
[domain/asia.earth.local]
default_shell = /bin/bash
krb5_store_password_if_offline = True
cache_credentials = False
krb5_realm = ASIA.EARTH.LOCAL
realmd_tags = manages-system joined-with-adcli
id_provider = ad
fallback_homedir = /home/%u
ad_domain = asia.earth.local
use_fully_qualified_names = True
ldap_id_mapping = True
access_provider = simple
simple_allow_groups = [email protected], Domain [email protected], Domain [email protected]
# /etc/ssh/sshd_config
# This is the sshd server system-wide configuration file. See
# sshd_config(5) for more information.
# This sshd was compiled with PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games
# The strategy used for options in the default sshd_config shipped with
# OpenSSH is to specify options with their default value where
# possible, but leave them commented. Uncommented options override the
# default value.
Include /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/*.conf
#Port 22
#AddressFamily any
#ListenAddress 0.0.0.0
#ListenAddress ::
#HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key
#HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key
#HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key
# Ciphers and keying
#RekeyLimit default none
# Logging
#SyslogFacility AUTH
#LogLevel INFO
# Authentication:
#LoginGraceTime 2m
#PermitRootLogin prohibit-password
#StrictModes yes
#MaxAuthTries 6
#MaxSessions 10
#PubkeyAuthentication yes
# Expect .ssh/authorized_keys2 to be disregarded by default in future.
#AuthorizedKeysFile .ssh/authorized_keys .ssh/authorized_keys2
#AuthorizedPrincipalsFile none
#AuthorizedKeysCommand none
#AuthorizedKeysCommandUser nobody
# For this to work you will also need host keys in /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts
#HostbasedAuthentication no
# Change to yes if you don't trust ~/.ssh/known_hosts for
# HostbasedAuthentication
#IgnoreUserKnownHosts no
# Don't read the user's ~/.rhosts and ~/.shosts files
#IgnoreRhosts yes
# To disable tunneled clear text passwords, change to no here!
# PasswordAuthentication no
#PermitEmptyPasswords no
# Change to yes to enable challenge-response passwords (beware issues with
# some PAM modules and threads)
KbdInteractiveAuthentication no
# Kerberos options
KerberosAuthentication yes
#KerberosOrLocalPasswd yes
KerberosTicketCleanup yes
#KerberosGetAFSToken no
# GSSAPI options
GSSAPIAuthentication yes
GSSAPICleanupCredentials yes
GSSAPIStrictAcceptorCheck no
GSSAPIKeyExchange yes
# Set this to 'yes' to enable PAM authentication, account processing,
# and session processing. If this is enabled, PAM authentication will
# be allowed through the KbdInteractiveAuthentication and
# PasswordAuthentication. Depending on your PAM configuration,
# PAM authentication via KbdInteractiveAuthentication may bypass
# the setting of "PermitRootLogin without-password".
# If you just want the PAM account and session checks to run without
# PAM authentication, then enable this but set PasswordAuthentication
# and KbdInteractiveAuthentication to 'no'.
UsePAM yes
#AllowAgentForwarding yes
#AllowTcpForwarding yes
#GatewayPorts no
X11Forwarding yes
#X11DisplayOffset 10
#X11UseLocalhost yes
#PermitTTY yes
PrintMotd no
#PrintLastLog yes
#TCPKeepAlive yes
#PermitUserEnvironment no
#Compression delayed
#ClientAliveInterval 0
#ClientAliveCountMax 3
#UseDNS no
#PidFile /run/sshd.pid
#MaxStartups 10:30:100
#PermitTunnel no
#ChrootDirectory none
#VersionAddendum none
# no default banner path
#Banner none
# Allow client to pass locale environment variables
AcceptEnv LANG LC_*
# override default of no subsystems
Subsystem sftp /usr/lib/openssh/sftp-server
# Example of overriding settings on a per-user basis
#Match User anoncvs
# X11Forwarding no
# AllowTcpForwarding no
# PermitTTY no
# ForceCommand cvs server
PubkeyAcceptedKeyTypes=+ssh-rsa
authenticating to this endpoint with the Kerberos ticket of a machine account named root$ from the asia.earth.local domain seems to incorrectly map to the local root user.
$ klist
Ticket cache: FILE:/tmp/krb5cc_1000
Default principal: [email protected]
Valid starting Expires Service principal
07/06/2025 05:53:45 07/06/2025 15:53:45 krbtgt/[email protected]
renew until 07/07/2025 05:53:43
$ ssh 10.5.20.74 -l root id
uid=0(root) gid=0(root) groups=0(root)
the same behavior can be observed using any domain account, in this example testuser1234 exists in both the asia.earth.local realm as well as a local user at 10.5.20.74.
$ kinit [email protected]
Password for [email protected]:
$ ssh 10.5.20.74 -l testuser1234 id
uid=1003(testuser1234) gid=1003(testuser1234) groups=1003(testuser1234)
$ ssh '[email protected]'@10.5.20.74 id
[email protected]@10.5.20.74's password:
uid=1753602609([email protected]) gid=1753600513(domain [email protected]) groups=1753600513(domain [email protected])
since by default, domain users can create up to 10 machine accounts this could be dangerous.
using sssd
2.6.3(current latest version on the ubuntu packages) to facilitate SSH authentication via GSSAPI.authenticating to this endpoint with the Kerberos ticket of a machine account named
root$from theasia.earth.localdomain seems to incorrectly map to the localrootuser.the same behavior can be observed using any domain account, in this example
testuser1234exists in both theasia.earth.localrealm as well as a local user at10.5.20.74.since by default, domain users can create up to 10 machine accounts this could be dangerous.