key-switcheroo 0.0.7

Rotate SSH keys, stored in the cloud!

key-switcheroo: SSH key rotator toolkit

Table of Contents

1. What is it?
2. Features
   1. Publisher
   2. Retriever
   3. Key Rotation
3. Where to get it
4. How to use
   1. Publisher
   2. Retriever
5. Dependencies
6. Contributing

What is it?

key-switcheroo is a Python package that provides tools for easy :smile:, reliable :white_check_mark:, and secure :lock: SSH key management. The package contains tools to allow users to generate SSH public/private key pairs and securely store the public key either on AWS S3 or locally based on user preferences. The package also contains a tool used by the server host to retrieve and match the public keys with the corresponding private key during SSH connection attempts. Additionally, the package supports a feature for periodic rotation and swapping of public keys to enhance security.

Features

Publisher

The publisher tool offers a user-friendly interface to securely generate SSH public/private key pairs. It allows users to specify the storage location for the public key, either on AWS S3 or on their local machine. The generated private key is stored securely and can be used for SSH authentication.

Retriever

The retriever tool is designed to be used by server hosts for retrieving the public keys stored by the publisher. When an SSH connection attempt is made, the retriever fetches the corresponding public key associated with the private key used in the connection attempt. The tool compares the retrieved public key with the provided public key, ensuring a secure and authenticated connection.

Key rotation

To enhance security, key-switcheroo supports a key rotation feature. The user simply needs to call the publisher script again with the same credentials and the program will swap and rotate the stored public keys. This process helps mitigate the risks associated with long-term key exposure and strengthens the overall security posture.

Where to get it

The source code is currently hosted on GitHub at: https://github.com/SSH-key-rotation-AWS/team-henrique

Binary installer for the latest released version is available at the Python Package Index (PyPI).

pip install key-switcheroo

How to use

Once the package is installed, commands can be called from the user's CLI for both the publisher and retriever using different optional arguments.

For help with command-line arguments,

publisher --help or publisher -h

retriever --help or retriever -h

Publisher

When using the publisher for creating and publishing new SSH keys, the user has a couple of different optional arguments, in addition to the required arguments.

Required Arguments:

1. hostname - host server
2. user - username of the connecting client

Optional Arguments:

• --datastore local or -ds local
  • Stores the public key on the local file system
• --datastore s3 or -ds s3
  • Stores the public key in an S3 bucket
  • If s3 is selected, the user MUST also input --bucket, followed by a name for their S3 bucket
  • If no --datastore is selected, the program will default to s3

Example

publisher 127.0.0.1 johndoe --datastore s3 --bucket mybucket

publisher 127.0.0.1 johndoe -ds local

Retriever

When using the retriever for fetching the public SSH keys, the user has a couple of different optional arguments, in addition to the required arguments.

Required Arguments:

1. user - username of the client whose key is being fetched

Optional Arguments:

• --datastore local or -ds local
  • Retrieves the public key from the local file system
  • If local is selected, the user can input --sshdir followed by the absolute path to the directory that stores the keys (defaults to local .ssh home directory)
• --datastore s3 or -ds s3
  • Retrieves the public key from the S3 bucket
  • If s3 is selected, the user MUST also input --bucket, followed by their S3 bucket name
  • If no --datastore is selected, the program will default to s3

Example

retriever johndoe --datastore s3 --bucket mybucket

retriever johndoe -ds local --sshdir /home/johndoe/.ssh

Dependencies

• boto3 - Adds support for publishing public SSH keys to S3 using the AWS SDK for Python
• pycryptodome - Provides tools for generating secure public/private SSH key pairs

Contributing to key-switcheroo

Contributions to key-switcheroo are welcome! If you encounter any issues, have suggestions, or would like to add new features, please feel free to open an issue or submit a pull request on the GitHub repository.