Setting Up Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) on a Server with Google Authenticator for SSH Logins

Note#88

notes
Published

2023-05-22

Google Authenticator provides 2-factor authentication (2FA), which can enhance the security of SSH logins.

Install Google Authenticator on the server

sudo apt install libpam-google-authenticator

Generate the secret key and QR code

In this section, we will generate a secret key and a QR code for Google Authenticator.

Run the Google Authenticator PAM module

google-authenticator

During the google-authenticator command, you will be asked a series of questions:

  • Generate a new secret key? - Y
  • Do you want me to update your /home/user/.google_authenticator file? - Y
  • Do you want to disallow multiple uses of the same authentication token? - Y
  • By default, a new token is generated every 30 seconds. Do you want to change the time step size? - N
  • Do you want to enable rate-limiting? - Y

For scripting purposes, use the following command with the specified options

google-authenticator -t -f -d -w 3 -e 10 -r 3 -R 30

This command executes the following functions:

  • -t to generate a new secret key for time-based authentication
  • -f to overwrite any existing secret key
  • -d to provide the secret key and a URL that generates a QR code
  • -w 3 to set a limit of 3 time skew windows
  • -e 10 to set 10 emergency scratch codes
  • -r 3 -R 30 to limit the rate of new tokens to 3 every 30s

The QR code can be scanned with a standard authenticator app on your smartphone, such as Bitwarden, Google Authenticator, or Proton Pass. Alternatively, you can manually enter the provided secret key.

Edit the PAM configuration for SSH on the server

Now, let’s modify the PAM configuration for SSH on the server.

Open the PAM configuration for SSH

sudo vim /etc/pam.d/sshd

At the bottom of the file, add the following lines

# Google Authenticator 2FA configuration
auth required pam_google_authenticator.so nullok
auth required pam_permit.so

The nullok option in the line auth required pam_google_authenticator.so nullok allows users, who have not yet configured Google Authenticator, to log in using their SSH keys. This feature can assist in the transition to 2FA. If this option is not required, feel free to remove it.

If you wish to necessitate password authentication in addition to the 2FA, insert the following line before the previously mentioned lines:

auth requisite pam_unix.so

The order will determine how the user is prompted for authentication. To be extra clear, the following line will prompt the user in this order: 1) password; 2) 2FA code.

# Google Authenticator 2FA configuration
auth requisite pam_unix.so
auth required pam_google_authenticator.so nullok
auth required pam_permit.so

Control Flags in PAM

In the PAM (Pluggable Authentication Modules) configuration, control flags like required and requisite are used to determine how the system reacts to the success or failure of a module:

  • required: If a module flagged as required fails, the system will continue processing the rest of the modules before failing the authentication. This avoids revealing exactly which part of the process failed to potential attackers.

  • requisite: If a requisite flagged module fails, the authentication process fails immediately. The system won’t continue to process the other modules. This gives instant failure feedback, but may also reveal more information to potential attackers about what part of the authentication process failed.

The choice between required and requisite depends on your specific security needs and strategy.

At the beginning of the file, you should comment out the following line

# Standard Un*x authentication.
#@include common-auth

Update SSHD configuration

Edit the SSHD configuration file

sudo vim /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Ensure that the following lines are present and not commented out

# Enabled for 2FA with Google Authenticator
ChallengeResponseAuthentication yes
KbdInteractiveAuthentication yes
UsePAM yes

At the bottom of the file, add one of the following lines based on the desired behavior

  • To require both an SSH key and either a password or the 2FA code:
AuthenticationMethods publickey,password publickey,keyboard-interactive
  • To require both an SSH key and the 2FA code:
AuthenticationMethods publickey,keyboard-interactive

If you want it, don’t forget to enable public key authentication:

PubkeyAuthentication yes

Restart the SSHD service

sudo systemctl restart sshd

Disabling 2FA

If you wish to disable 2FA, you can either remove or comment out the associated lines in /etc/pam.d/sshd and /etc/ssh/sshd_config. Following this, remember to restart the SSHD service.

References