Kali linux ssh root

Kali linux ssh root

There are some cases where you may need to use superuser, root, for an extended period of time. In these cases we can easily access the root account with a simple sudo su (which will ask for the current user’s password), selecting the root terminal icon in the Kali menu, or alternatively using su — (which will ask for the root user’s password) if you have set a password for the root account that you know of. When finished, exit or CTRL+D will take us out of this elevated shell.

However, there may be other times where you may want to use root across multiple sessions without the hassle of elevating privileges. In these situations we will need to install a package and make a few modifications to fully enable the root account for use due to security reasons of keeping the root account disabled by default.

Enabling the root account

The first thing to do is set a root password, which should be different to the current user’s password (in this case kali ). We can do this by doing the following:

[email protected]:~$ sudo passwd [sudo] password for kali: New password: Retype new password: passwd: password updated successfully [email protected]:~$ 

Please note that the password prompt will not display output as you are typing in the password, but it will still register the keystrokes.

The next thing we need to decide is if we are wanting to use root via SSH or through the login prompt on whichever desktop environment is installed.

Enabling root for SSH

If we look at /etc/ssh/sshd_config we will see a PermitRootLogin line. We will want to change this line to match our use case:

[email protected]:~$ grep PermitRootLogin /etc/ssh/sshd_config #PermitRootLogin prohibit-password # the setting of "PermitRootLogin without-password". [email protected]:~$ [email protected]:~$ man sshd_config | grep -C 1 prohibit-password PermitRootLogin Specifies whether root can log in using ssh(1). The argument must be yes, prohibit-password, forced-commands-only, or no. The default is prohibit-password. If this option is set to prohibit-password (or its deprecated alias, without-password), password and keyboard-interactive authentication are disabled for root. [email protected]:~$ [email protected]:~$ sudo systemctl restart ssh [email protected]:~$ 

If we have set up SSH key based login for the root account, then we can simply uncomment the appropriate line and continue on. Otherwise, we should change PermitRootLogin to be yes which will allow us to input a password.

Enabling root for GNOME and KDE login

We will first install kali-root-login to change multiple configuration files that will permit us to login to the root account through the GNOME GDM3 and the KDE login prompt. This step is not necessary when using other desktop environments:

[email protected]:~$ sudo apt -y install kali-root-login Reading package lists. Done Building dependency tree Reading state information. Done The following NEW packages will be installed: kali-root-login 0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 1516 not upgraded. Need to get 6,776 B of archives. After this operation, 33.8 kB of additional disk space will be used. Get:1 http://kali.download/kali kali-rolling/main amd64 kali-root-login all 2019.4.0 [6,776 B] Fetched 6,776 B in 1s (10.9 kB/s) Selecting previously unselected package kali-root-login. (Reading database . 333464 files and directories currently installed.) Preparing to unpack . /kali-root-login_2019.4.0_all.deb . Adding 'diversion of /etc/gdm3/daemon.conf to /etc/gdm3/daemon.conf.original by kali-root-login' Adding 'diversion of /etc/pam.d/gdm-password to /etc/pam.d/gdm-password.original by kali-root-login' Adding 'diversion of /etc/pam.d/gdm-autologin to /etc/pam.d/gdm-autologin.original by kali-root-login' Adding 'diversion of /etc/pam.d/lightdm-autologin to /etc/pam.d/lightdm-autologin.original by kali-root-login' Adding 'diversion of /etc/pam.d/sddm to /etc/pam.d/sddm.original by kali-root-login' Adding 'diversion of /etc/sddm.conf to /etc/sddm.conf.original by kali-root-login' Unpacking kali-root-login (2019.4.0) . Setting up kali-root-login (2019.4.0) . Installing /usr/share/kali-root-login/daemon.conf as /etc/gdm3/daemon.conf Installing /usr/share/kali-root-login/gdm-password as /etc/pam.d/gdm-password Installing /usr/share/kali-root-login/gdm-autologin as /etc/pam.d/gdm-autologin Installing /usr/share/kali-root-login/lightdm-autologin as /etc/pam.d/lightdm-autologin Installing /usr/share/kali-root-login/sddm as /etc/pam.d/sddm Installing /usr/share/kali-root-login/sddm.conf as /etc/sddm.conf [email protected]:~$ 

We can now log out of our non-root user account and login to root using the password that we set earlier.

Updated on: 2023-Mar-06
Author: gamb1t

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How to Enable SSH in Kali Linux

In the mid-90s, telnet spawned a secure successor called the secure shell. This is a protocol to communicate with other computers. There are other protocols where you can log in and perform functions as performed by SSH, but it is not safe because it is not encrypted, so people can hijack your sessions and data. However, SSH encrypts the data through a tunnel so that you can securely log in to a remote machine, transmit files, or safely issue remote commands. SSH is applied in the client-server model to transfer and receive the files. There are two terms involved, here: the SSH server and the SSH client. One system acts as a server and the other acts as a client. A public key and a private key is locally stored on the SSH server and client, respectively. The SSH client will make contact with the SSH server and provide the ID of the key pair it wants to use to prove its identity. The challenge is created by the SSH server, which is encrypted by the public key and sent to the client. The client receives the challenge, decrypts it with the private key, and the original challenge is sent back to the SSH server. After the consultation, a secure connection is established. SSH protocol was invented to replace the tunnel so that you could identify the server you are connected to.

We will now take a look at how to enable SSH in Kali Linux.

Install Kali Linux remote SSH-OpenSSH server

Usually, Kali Linux has an OpenSSH server running on it or installed on it. Once you start this server, you can log in via SSH. So, you do not have to install the server, but if you do find yourself in a situation where you do not have it, then you can follow this simple command to install and enable the remote SSH open server in Kali Linux.

Note: Enabling the SSH server is quite risky, as anyone who knows your password can break into your machine. Securing your password should be your first priority. If you want your service to run for the whole time, then you may follow the next step.

Enable Kali Linux Remote SSH Service

First, you must remove the run levels by entering the following command.

The next step is to load SSH defaults.

After loading, next, you will check whether the service is running.

If you want to see a lot more, then you can install chkconfig, which can be installed by entering the following command code.

You can run chkconfig by entering the command given below.

Change Kali Default SSH Keys to Avoid MITM Attack

Every Kali Linux system installed has a chance of a MITM (Man In The Middle) attack. MITM attacks are usually observed in a client-server environment. A MITM attack occurs when a hacker gets in between these two components. Hackers can take advantage of unencrypted communication through the MITM attack and can listen in on all of your traffic. To avoid MITM attacks, you can follow the below procedure.

The first step is to move Kali SSH keys to a new folder.

The second step is to regenerate the keys by entering the following command.

]

The third step is to verify that the SSH key hashes are different. Enter the following command for verification.

Finally, enter the following command code to restart the SSH.

Set MOTD with a Nice ASCII

MOTD (Message of the Day) is used to send a common message to all the users. The banner is usually boring, so you can edit the files and add the text of your choice, then save the file.

Troubleshooting

By changing SSH keys in the middle, you may experience a warning sign. Enter the following command to fix this problem.

Delete the line that is causing the troubleshoot and restart the SSH.

Change SSH Server Port for Safety

The port number can be changed by entering the following command.

The SSH_config file can be edited further by entering the following command.

Now, you can restart the OpenSSH server

Use the SSH for the next time you use it.

Here, 10101 is the destination port, p stands for port, and the hostname can be IP or FQDN.

Conclusion

The term ‘SSH’ describes a set of rules and guidelines that tells your computer how to send data from one place to the other. The administrators, such as the application owner, administrators responsible for the entire system, or privileged users with higher levels of access mainly use the SSH server. I hope this article helped you with enabling SSH in Kali Linux.

About the author

Younis Said

I am a freelancing software project developer, a software engineering graduate and a content writer. I love working with Linux and open-source software.

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How to install SSH ( secure shell ) service on Kali Linux

The objective is to install SSH ( secure shell ) service on Kali Linux.

Requirements

Privileged access to your Kali Linux installation or Live system is required.

Difficulty

Conventions

• # – requires given linux commands to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of sudo command
• $ – requires given linux commands to be executed as a regular non-privileged user

Instructions

Install SSH

From the terminal use apt-get command to install SSH packages:

# apt-get update # apt-get install ssh

Enable and Start SSH

To make sure that secure shell starts after reboot use systemctl command to enable it:

To start SSH for a current session execute:

Allow SSH Root Access

By default SSH would not allow you to SSH login as root user, thus the following error message will appear:

Permission denied, please try again.

You have two options in order to be able to SSH into your Kali Linux. First option is to create a new non-privileged user and use its credentials to log in. Second, allow the root user to access the secure shell. To do so, either edit or insert the following line within the /etc/ssh/sshd_config SSH config file:

FROM: #PermitRootLogin prohibit-password TO: PermitRootLogin yes

After you have made the above change of the /etc/ssh/sshd_config , restart ssh service before you attempt SSH login as a root user:

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