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AUTHPF(8) DragonFly System Manager's Manual AUTHPF(8)
NAME
authpf -- authenticating gateway user shell
SYNOPSIS
authpf
DESCRIPTION
authpf is a user shell for authenticating gateways. It is used to change
pf(4) rules when a user authenticates and starts a session with sshd(8)
and to undo these changes when the user's session exits. It is designed
for changing filter and translation rules for an individual source IP
address as long as a user maintains an active ssh(1) session. Typical
use would be for a gateway that authenticates users before allowing them
Internet use, or a gateway that allows different users into different
places. authpf logs the successful start and end of a session to
syslogd(8). This, combined with properly set up filter rules and secure
switches, can be used to ensure users are held accountable for their
network traffic.
authpf can add filter and translation rules using the syntax described in
pf.conf(5). authpf requires that the pf(4) system be enabled before use.
authpf is meant to be used with users who can connect via ssh(1) only.
On startup, authpf retrieves the client's connecting IP address via the
SSH_CLIENT environment variable and, after performing additional access
checks, reads a template file to determine what filter and translation
rules (if any) to add. On session exit the same rules that were added at
startup are removed.
Each authpf process stores its rules in a separate ruleset inside a pf(4)
anchor shared by all authpf processes. By default, the anchor name
"authpf" is used, and the ruleset names equal the username and PID of the
authpf processes as "username(pid)". The following rules need to be
added to the main ruleset /etc/pf.conf in order to cause evaluation of
any authpf rules:
nat-anchor authpf
rdr-anchor authpf
binat-anchor authpf
anchor authpf
FILTER AND TRANSLATION RULES
Filter and translation rules for authpf use the same format described in
pf.conf(5). The only difference is that these rules may (and probably
should) use the macro user_ip, which is assigned the connecting IP
address whenever authpf is run. Additionally, the macro user_id is
assigned the user name.
Filter and nat rules will first be searched for in
/etc/authpf/users/$USER/ and then in /etc/authpf/. Per-user rules from
the /etc/authpf/users/$USER/ directory are intended to be used when non-
default rules are needed on an individual user basis. It is important to
ensure that a user can not write or change these configuration files.
Filter and translation rules are loaded from the file
/etc/authpf/users/$USER/authpf.rules. If this file does not exist the
file /etc/authpf/authpf.rules is used. The authpf.rules file must exist
in one of the above locations for authpf to run.
Translation rules are also loaded from this file. The use of translation
rules in an authpf.rules file is optional.
CONFIGURATION
Options are controlled by the /etc/authpf/authpf.conf file. If the file
is empty, defaults are used for all configuration options. The file
consists of pairs of the form name=value, one per line. Currently, the
allowed values are as follows:
anchor=name
Use the specified anchor name instead of "authpf".
USER MESSAGES
On successful invocation, authpf displays a message telling the user he
or she has been authenticated. It will additionally display the contents
of the file /etc/authpf/authpf.message if the file exists and is
readable.
There exist two methods for providing additional granularity to the
control offered by authpf - it is possible to set the gateway to
explicitly allow users who have authenticated to ssh(1) and deny access
to only a few troublesome individuals. This is done by creating a file
with the banned user's login name as the filename in /etc/authpf/banned/.
The contents of this file will be displayed to a banned user, thus
providing a method for informing the user that they have been banned, and
where they can go and how to get there if they want to have their service
restored. This is the default behaviour.
It is also possible to configure authpf to only allow specific users
access. This is done by listing their login names, one per line, in
/etc/authpf/authpf.allow. If "*" is found on a line, then all usernames
match. If authpf is unable to verify the user's permission to use the
gateway, it will print a brief message and die. It should be noted that
a ban takes precedence over an allow.
On failure, messages will be logged to syslogd(8) for the system
administrator. The user does not see these, but will be told the system
is unavailable due to technical difficulties. The contents of the file
/etc/authpf/authpf.problem will also be displayed if the file exists and
is readable.
CONFIGURATION ISSUES
authpf maintains the changed filter rules as long as the user maintains
an active session. It is important to remember however, that the
existence of this session means the user is authenticated. Because of
this, it is important to configure sshd(8) to ensure the security of the
session, and to ensure that the network through which users connect is
secure. sshd(8) should be configured to use the ClientAliveInterval and
ClientAliveCountMax parameters to ensure that a ssh session is terminated
quickly if it becomes unresponsive, or if arp or address spoofing is used
to hijack the session. Note that TCP keepalives are not sufficient for
this, since they are not secure.
authpf will remove statetable entries that were created during a user's
session. This ensures that there will be no unauthenticated traffic
allowed to pass after the controlling ssh(1) session has been closed.
authpf is designed for gateway machines which typically do not have
regular (non-administrative) users using the machine. An administrator
must remember that authpf can be used to modify the filter rules through
the environment in which it is run, and as such could be used to modify
the filter rules (based on the contents of the configuration files) by
regular users. In the case where a machine has regular users using it,
as well as users with authpf as their shell, the regular users should be
prevented from running authpf by using the /etc/authpf/authpf.allow or
/etc/authpf/banned/ facilities.
authpf modifies the packet filter and address translation rules, and
because of this it needs to be configured carefully. authpf will not run
and will exit silently if the /etc/authpf/authpf.conf file does not
exist. After considering the effect authpf may have on the main packet
filter rules, the system administrator may enable authpf by creating an
appropriate /etc/authpf/authpf.conf file.
FILES
/etc/authpf/authpf.conf
/etc/authpf/authpf.allow
/etc/authpf/authpf.rules
/etc/authpf/authpf.message
/etc/authpf/authpf.problem
EXAMPLES
Control Files - To illustrate the user-specific access control
mechanisms, let us consider a typical user named bob. Normally, as long
as bob can authenticate himself, the authpf program will load the
appropriate rules. Enter the /etc/authpf/banned/ directory. If bob has
somehow fallen from grace in the eyes of the powers-that-be, they can
prohibit him from using the gateway by creating the file
/etc/authpf/banned/bob containing a message about why he has been banned
from using the network. Once bob has done suitable penance, his access
may be restored by moving or removing the file /etc/authpf/banned/bob.
Now consider a workgroup containing alice, bob, carol and dave. They
have a wireless network which they would like to protect from
unauthorized use. To accomplish this, they create the file
/etc/authpf/authpf.allow which lists their login ids, one per line. At
this point, even if eve could authenticate to sshd(8), she would not be
allowed to use the gateway. Adding and removing users from the work
group is a simple matter of maintaining a list of allowed userids. If
bob once again manages to annoy the powers-that-be, they can ban him from
using the gateway by creating the familiar /etc/authpf/banned/bob file.
Though bob is listed in the allow file, he is prevented from using this
gateway due to the existence of a ban file.
Distributed Authentication - It is often desirable to interface with a
distributed password system rather than forcing the sysadmins to keep a
large number of local password files in sync. The login.conf(5)
mechanism in OpenBSD can be used to fork the right shell. To make that
happen, login.conf(5) should have entries that look something like this:
shell-default:shell=/bin/csh
default:\
...
:shell=/usr/sbin/authpf
daemon:\
...
:shell=/bin/csh:\
:tc=default:
staff:\
...
:shell=/bin/csh:\
:tc=default:
Using a default password file, all users will get authpf as their shell
except for root who will get /bin/csh.
SSH Configuration - As stated earlier, sshd(8) must be properly
configured to detect and defeat network attacks. To that end, the
following options should be added to sshd_config(5):
Protocol 2
ClientAliveInterval 15
ClientAliveCountMax 3
This ensures that unresponsive or spoofed sessions are terminated within
a minute, since a hijacker should not be able to spoof ssh keepalive
messages.
Banners - Once authenticated, the user is shown the contents of
/etc/authpf/authpf.message. This message may be a screen-full of the
appropriate use policy, the contents of /etc/motd or something as simple
as the following:
This means you will be held accountable by the powers that be
for traffic originating from your machine, so please play nice.
To tell the user where to go when the system is broken,
/etc/authpf/authpf.problem could contain something like this:
Sorry, there appears to be some system problem. To report this
problem so we can fix it, please phone 1-900-314-1597 or send
an email to remove@bulkmailerz.net.
Packet Filter Rules - In areas where this gateway is used to protect a
wireless network (a hub with several hundred ports), the default rule set
as well as the per-user rules should probably allow very few things
beyond encrypted protocols like ssh(1) or ssl(8). On a securely switched
network, with plug-in jacks for visitors who are given authentication
accounts, you might want to allow out everything. In this context, a
secure switch is one that tries to prevent address table overflow
attacks.
Example /etc/pf.conf:
# by default we allow internal clients to talk to us using
# ssh and use us as a dns server.
internal_if="fxp1"
gateway_addr="10.0.1.1"
nat-anchor authpf
rdr-anchor authpf
binat-anchor authpf
block in on $internal_if from any to any
pass in quick on $internal_if proto tcp from any to $gateway_addr \
port = ssh
pass in quick on $internal_if proto udp from any to $gateway_addr \
port = domain
anchor authpf
For a switched, wired net - This example /etc/authpf/authpf.rules makes
no real restrictions; it turns the IP address on and off, logging TCP
connections.
external_if = "xl0"
internal_if = "fxp0"
pass in log quick on $internal_if proto tcp from $user_ip to any \
keep state
pass in quick on $internal_if from $user_ip to any
Dealing with NAT - The following /etc/authpf/authpf.rules shows how to
deal with NAT, using tags:
ext_if = "fxp1"
ext_addr = 129.128.11.10
int_if = "fxp0"
# nat and tag connections...
nat on $ext_if from $user_ip to any tag $user_ip -> $ext_addr
pass in quick on $int_if from $user_ip to any
pass out log quick on $ext_if tagged $user_ip keep state
With the above rules added by authpf, outbound connections corresponding
to each users NAT'ed connections will be logged as in the example below,
where the user may be identified from the ruleset name.
# tcpdump -n -e -ttt -i pflog0
Oct 31 19:42:30.296553 rule 0.bbeck(20267).1/0(match): pass out on fxp1: \
129.128.11.10.60539 > 198.137.240.92.22: S 2131494121:2131494121(0) win \
16384 <mss 1460,nop,nop,sackOK> (DF)
SEE ALSO
pf(4), pf.conf(5), ftp-proxy(8)
HISTORY
The authpf program first appeared in OpenBSD 3.1.
BUGS
Configuration issues are tricky. The authenticating ssh(1) connection
may be secured, but if the network is not secured the user may expose
insecure protocols to attackers on the same network, or enable other
attackers on the network to pretend to be the user by spoofing their IP
address.
authpf is not designed to prevent users from denying service to other
users.
DragonFly 5.1 April 21, 2018 DragonFly 5.1