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Setup Ubuntu to require Yubikey Challenge-Response during authentication

This will configure Ubuntu to check for the presence of the correct Yubikey using the Challenge-Response protocol during the authentication of any user in the yubikey group. The use of the Challenge-Response protocol allows authentication without Internet access but it is not usable for ssh access because it requires direct hardware access to the Yubikey. Based on this wiki article and this forum thread.

Requirements

  • A Yubikey, get one from: Yubico
  • A free slot on the Yubikey to be configured for Challenge-Response
  • Ubuntu (Works with Windows, Mac OS, and other flavors of Linux as well, but this guide is for Ubuntu)

Issues

  • Logins using a GUI without a terminal visible will show a Password Incorrect error when Yubikey authentication fails even if the actual password was correct. There is no indication that authentication failed because a Yubikey is not connected. Logins in a terminal will correctly show a Yubikey error.
  • If a login attempt is made without the Yubikey connected the next attempt will also fail even if the Yubikey is connected during the second attempt. The second attempt after the Yubikey is plugged in will work.

Setup

  • Start by making an account that will be able to login to the machine without a Yubikey so if something goes wrong you can get in and reset the changes. Use the following command to enable the root account so it can be used for this purpose. (You can just add another account with sudo privileges (do not add it to the yubikey group!) if you do not want to enable the root account). Make sure to use a strong password as this account will not be making use of 2-Factor Authentication.

      sudo passwd root
    
  • Add the Yubico PPA update your software sources

      sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yubico/stable
      sudo apt-get update
    
  • Install the libpam-yubico package

      sudo apt-get install libpam-yubico
    
  • Install the yubikey-personalization package (optionally also install yubikey-personalization-gui if you want a gui to change the settings of your Yubikey)

      sudo apt-get install yubikey-personalization
    
  • Plug in your Yubikey and run the following command to configure slot 2 for Challenge-Response

      sudo ykpersonalize -2 -ochal-resp -ochal-hmac -ohmac-lt64 -oserial-api-visible
    
  • Create the yubikey group

      sudo groupadd yubikey
    
  • Add the users that should be authenticated using a Yubikey to the group

    sudo usermod -aG yubikey username
  • Create /etc/pam.d/yubikey

      sudo gedit /etc/pam.d/yubikey
      ...
      auth [success=1 default=ignore] pam_succeed_if.so quiet user notingroup yubikey
      auth		    required	    pam_yubico.so mode=challenge-response
    
  • Edit /etc/pam.d/common-auth and add an include for yubikey at the top of the file

      sudo gedit /etc/pam.d/common-auth
      ...
      ######################
      # Manually added block
      @include yubikey
      #####################
    
  • Run this command to set the current user up for Yubikey login:

      ykpamcfg -2 -v
    
  • Logout and log back in. You should still only be asked for your password but Yubikey Challenge-Response authentication is happening behind the scenes. Try logging in with your Yubikey unplugged to confirm you are unable to login.

Automatically lock the screen when the Yubikey is unplugged

This guide will configure your PC to lock automatically whenever your Yubikey is unplugged.

Requirements

  • Successfully complete the previous guide

Issues

  • If the Yubikey is unplugged when the computer is woken (i.e. you move the mouse or touch the keyboard and the screen turns on) the first login attempt will fail. The second attempt will succeed as normal.

Setup

  • Install finger

      sudo apt-get install finger
    
  • Create /etc/udev/rules.d/yubikey-screenlock.rules

      sudo gedit /etc/udev/rules.d/yubikey-screenlock.rules
      ...
      ACTION=="remove", ENV{ID_VENDOR}=="Yubico", RUN+="/usr/local/bin/gnome-screensaver-lock"
    
  • Create /usr/local/bin/gnome-screensaver-lock

      sudo gedit /usr/local/bin/gnome-screensaver-lock
      ...
      #!/bin/sh
      # Locks the screen if a Yubikey is not plugged in
    
      getXuser() {
          user=`finger | grep -m1 ":$displaynum " | awk '{print $1}'`
    
          if [ x"$user" = x"" ]; then
                  user=`finger| grep -m1 ":$displaynum" | awk '{print $1}'`
          fi
          if [ x"$user" != x"" ]; then
                  userhome=`getent passwd $user | cut -d: -f6`
                  export XAUTHORITY=$userhome/.Xauthority
          else
                  export XAUTHORITY=""
          fi
      }
    
      if [ -z "$(lsusb | grep Yubico)" ] ; then
          for x in /tmp/.X11-unix/*; do
              displaynum=`echo $x | sed s#/tmp/.X11-unix/X## | sed s#/##`
              getXuser
              if [ x"$XAUTHORITY" != x"" ]; then
                  # extract current state
                  export DISPLAY=":$displaynum"
              fi
          done
    
          GNOME_SCREENSAVER_PROC=`ps xa | grep gnome-screensaver | head -n 1 | perl -p -e '$_=join(",", (split)[0]);'`
          export `grep -z DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS /proc/$GNOME_SCREENSAVER_PROC/environ`
    
          logger "YubiKey Removed - Locking Workstation"
          su $user -c "/usr/bin/gnome-screensaver-command --lock"
      fi
    
  • Make /usr/local/bin/gnome-screensaver-lock executable

      sudo chmod u+x /usr/local/bin/gnome-screensaver-lock
    
  • Finished. When you unplug your Yubikey the screen will automatically lock.



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Posted By

Marek Litomisky

Published

01 January 2014

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