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Two Factor Authentication (2FA) for Linux Logon and SSH Access

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miniOrange Two Factor Authentication (2FA) SSH Module provides a secure way to login into the linux servers that enhance the security and makes the brute force attacks more difficult. Two Factor Authentication (2FA) on top of SSH Access, adds an extra layer of security to increase the identity assurance and reduce risk and exposure. miniOrange Two Factor Authentication (2FA) module can be installed on Linux operating systems to add Two-Factor authentication on the top of local and Remote login.

miniOrange supports following methods for Linux Two Factor Authentication (2FA):

• miniOrange Push Notifications (miniOrange Authenticator App)
• miniOrange Soft Token (miniOrange Authenticator App)
• OTP Over SMS / Email
• Google Authenticator
• Hardware Token

The miniOrange Linux 2FA module has been well tested on the following Linux distributions.

(If you have other than the following mentioned distributions please Contact us)

• Ubuntu
• RHEL based systems
  e.g. Red Hat, CentOS

Step by step guide to enable Two Factor Authentication (2FA) ​on SSH access (Linux)

1. Download 2FA for Linux SSH Module

• Login into miniOrange Admin Console.
• Go to Apps >> Manage Apps.



• Click on Add Applicaton button.



• In Choose Application Type click on Create App button in Desktop application type.



• Click on Linux/Unix.



• Click on download the 2FA Module link to download the module.

2. Install and Configure MO-SSH Module

• Install the following extensions which are required to proceed for further configuration.
  curl, jq & python
• Download the “mo-ssh” file.
• Open your Linux terminal and make sure you are the root user.
• Execute the following command to install “mo-ssh” module.
  # bash mo-ssh install < path >
  e.g. # bash mo-ssh install /usr/local/bin



• Enter the miniOrange account credentials.



• Proceed for the following steps once you have successfully logged in.



• Execute the below command to enable the Two Factor Authentication (2FA) for the users.
  ‹path of mo-ssh file› enable ‹local_username› ‹miniOrange_email›
  e.g. # /usr/local/bin enable ec2-user ec2user@xecurify.com



• Two Factor Authentication (2fa) is now enabled for the user. You can now test your 2fa setup.



• In case you have set OTP over SMS 2FA method. Enter the otp that you will recieve on your phone number. Please enter the otp.



• After entering the correct otp the test authentication will be successful.



• In case you have set Google Authenticator 2FA method. You will need to enter the token number.



• Enter the token number from google authenticator app. The test authentication will be successful.



• Execute the below command to restart the sshd service.
  $ service sshd restart

3. Configure Two Factor Authentication (2FA)

• Login into your End-User Dashboard using Active Directory Credentials.
• Select Configure 2FA from left panel.



• Browse through the Second factor options and choose an appropriate method to be used by the particular End-User during login.
• In this guide, we have selected the method "OTP OVER SMS". You can explore the guide to setup other methods here.



• Click on configure/reconfigure "OTP OVER SMS".
• Enter you phone number along with the necessary country code and click on SAVE below. After the Phone details are saved successfully, click on the Save button on the top bar to set this as your 2FA method.



• To use a particular method of 2FA, we configure that method first and then select the method and click on SAVE.
• Currently used method is denoted by green color.



• Click Here to configure the 2FA method from miniOrange Admin dashboard.
• Click here for step by step guide to configure 2FA methods for end-users.

4. Test your setup

• Initiate SSH into your system and enter your username. It will prompt for the two factor authentication (2fa) verification.
• If you have set OTP over SMS 2FA method. Enter the otp will recieve on your phone number.



• After entering the correct otp the authentication will be successful.



• If you have set Google Authenticator 2FA method. You will need to enter the token number.



• Enter the token number from google authenticator app. The authentication will be successful.



• Execute the below command to uninstall the module.
  # < path > mo-ssh uninstall
  e.g. # /usr/local/bin/mo-ssh uninstall



• The module is uninstalled successfully.

5. Configure Your User Directory

• Setup AD as User Directory
• Setup miniOrange as Identity Provider

• Log in to miniOrange Admin Console.
• From the left side menu, click on User Stores >> Add User Store.



• Select User Store type as AD/LDAP.



1. STORE LDAP CONFIGURATION IN MINIORANGE: Choose this option if you want to keep your configuration in miniOrange. If active directory is behind a firewall, you will need to open the firewall to allow incoming requests to your AD.
2. STORE LDAP CONFIGURATION ON PREMISE: Choose this option if you want to keep your configuration in your premise and only allow access to AD inside premises. You will have to download and install miniOrange gateway in your premise.




• Enter LDAP Display Name and LDAP Identifier name.
• Select Directory Type as Active Directory.
• Enter the LDAP Server URL or IP Address against LDAP Server URL field.
• Click on Test Connection button to verify if you have made a successful connection with your LDAP server.



• In Active Directory, go to the properties of user containers/OU's and search for Distinguished Name attribute.



• Enter the valid Bind account Password.
• Click on Test Bind Account Credentials button to verify your LDAP Bind credentials for LDAP connection.



• Search Base is the location in the directory where the search for a user begins. You will get this from the same place you got your Distinguished name.



• Select a suitable Search filter from the drop down menu. To use custom Search Filter select "Custom Search Filter" option and customize it accordingly.



• You can also configure following options while setting up AD. Enable Activate LDAP in order to authenticate users from AD/LDAP. Click on the Save button to add user store.




Here's the list of the attributes and what it does when we enable it. You can enable/disable accordingly.

Attribute	Description
Activate LDAP	All user authentications will be done with LDAP credentials if you Activate it
Sync users in miniOrange	Users will be created in miniOrange after authentication with LDAP
Backup Authentication	If LDAP credentials fail then user will be authenticated through miniOrange
Allow users to change password	This allows your users to change their password. It updates the new credentials in your LDAP server
Enable administrator login	On enabling this, your miniOrange Administrator login authenticates using your LDAP server
Show IdP to users	If you enable this option, this IdP will be visible to users
Send Configured Attributes	If you enable this option, then only the attributes configured below will be sent in attributes at the time of login



• Click on Save. After this, it will show you the list of User stores. Click on Test Configuration to check whether you have enter valid details. For that, it will ask for username and password.



• On Successful connection with LDAP Server, a success message is shown.
• Click on Test Attribute Mapping.



• Enter a valid Username. Then, click on Test. Mapped Attributes corresponding to the user are fetched.



• After successful Attribute Mapping Configuration, go back to the ldap configuration and enable Activate LDAP in order to authenticate users from AD/LDAP.

Refer our guide to setup LDAPS on windows server.

• Log in to miniOrange Admin Console.
• Go to Userstore >> Add Userstore.



• Select Userstore type as miniOrange and click on Add miniOrange Identity Source.



• Once done with adding Identity Source, make it default by clicking on Select against the recently added miniOrange Identity Source.
  
  
  
• There are 3 ways to add users in miniOrange:

1. Create User in miniOrange

2. Bulk Upload Users

3. Self User Registration

1. Create User in miniOrange

• Click on Users >> Add User.



• Here, fill the user details without the password and then click on the Create User button.



• After successful user creation a notification message "An end user is added successfully" will be displayed at the top of the dashboard.



• Click on On Boarding Status tab. Check the email, with the registered e-mail id and select action Send Activation Mail with Password Reset Link from Select Action dropdown list and then click on Apply button.



• Now, Open your email id. Open the mail you get from miniOrange and then click on the link to set your account password.
• On the next screen, enter the password and confirm password and then click on the Single Sign-On (SSO) reset password button.



• Now, you can log in into miniOrange account by entering your credentials.

2. Bulk Upload Users in miniOrange via Uploading CSV File.

• Navigate to Users >> User List. Click on Add User button.



• In Bulk User Registration Download sample csv format from our console and edit this csv file according to the instructions.



• To bulk upload users, choose the file make sure it is in comma separated .csv file format then click on Upload.



• After uploading the csv file successfully, you will see a success message with a link.
• Click on that link you will see list of users to send activation mail. Select users to send activation mail and click on Send Activation Mail. An activation mail will be sent to the selected users.

3. Self User Registration

• miniOrange self user registration allows end users to register themselves using customized registration form. miniOrange admin users can customize the registration form by adding more custom fields according to their choice. Follow the miniOrange guide to customize user self registration page.

Further References

• https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-setup-two-factor-authentication-in-linux/