Stealth SSH Tunneling for Windows

Transcription

1 Stealth SSH Tunneling for Windows In situations where you are behind a strong firewall, Deep Packet Inspection device or proxy that blocks all ports and only allow outgoing connections on ports 80(HTTP) and 443 (HTTPS), we do offer a stealth SSH Tunneling which will enable you to create a secure SSH tunnel (SSH Socks 5 proxy) using only a web browser and Putty. All that is required is a Java enabled web browser which allows the user to automatically load and start the pre-configured Putty SSH tunneling for all our SSH servers. The user simply logs in to the web based interface using a browser and clicks on Putty icon already pre-configured for each SSH server. Users are not required to download Putty client manually on their computer. Putty is automatically launched on the user computer from the remote server Since Putty does not require any Administrative rights to run, you can easily setup a secure SSH tunnel using this technique on any PC in which you cannot install software such as public computer due to lack of admin rights. How It Works: Our SSL server runs outside the restricted network and it acts as a normal HTTPS server. A client program (A light weight Java client) from inside the protected network starts up and listen for incoming connection on some local port. The Java client is downloaded and launched by the client browser when the user connects to the server via the browser. The Java client then intercepts TCP/IP requests on the configured port and forward them to the SSL server which in turn routes them to the SSH server. When a new connection is received on this local port, the client program communicates with the SSL server over the restricted network proxy or firewall, and requests the connection to the predefined SSH server.

2 Step-by Step Instructions on How to Setup (Part 1) 1. Ensure that Java is installed on your system. If you do not already have Java installed, download and install Java Run Time Environment for your operating system using the link below: 2. Using your Java enabled Web Browser (Firefox is Recommended) go to the stealth SSH tunneling web panel URL provided to you Active subscribers will be provided the URL after signup. Type your Username and Press Enter or click the Login Icon. 3. Enter your password and press Enter or click the Login icon: 4. Accept the self signed certificate when prompted by your browser

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4 5. After you have login, go to Resources and then My Applications. There you will see all our SSH servers with Putty icons. Each server has been configured on a local port To start your tunnel, first decide on the server you wish to connect to and then click on the server Putty icon. Once clicked, the SSH tunnel will be initialized and a Putty window will automatically open in your computer. You do not have to install or download Putty on your local computer as the SSL Explorer will automatically download and start the Putty.

5 When you login, the SSL Explorer Agent icon will have white nodes/points as shown above. After you start a tunnel, the nodes will be turn to Green which indicates that the Agent is now running. This is shown below: Instead of starting individual resources for each server (SSL Tunnels and Applications), you can also start all the resources for all servers by simply clicking the SSL Explorer Agent icon as shown above. Once the agent is started you can execute any resource assigned to you directly from the SSL Monitor icon in the taskbar. Clicking the right button, the agent icon will present a list of resources that can be executed directly from the agent without having to go through SSL-Explorer. To start the resource, simply select the server and click on it.

6 As soon as the SSL Explorer Agent is started, you will be prompted to verify the site SSL certificate. Simply tick Always trust content from this publisher and click on YES

7 . Accept the security warning and click on Yes. Then finally you will be presented Putty window for Authentication. Simply authenticate using your SSH username and password which corresponds to your member username and password.

8 Note: You must leave the Putty window open. Do not close it or attempt to enter any command. You must leave the window open throughout your tunnel session. This will connect to your local SSL Explorer Agent first, which negotiates with the remote server, and finally the ssh<=>sshd communication will begin and after authentication you will be dropped to a shell and have a SOCKS proxy running on port To confirm that the SSH tunnel that was successfully initialized, go to the SSL Explorer Agent icon on your taskbar and click on Tunnel Monitor. There you will see the tunnel server that was successfully initialized and active for tunneling.

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10 That s all you need to do to open the tunnel. Now you're ready to configure Maxthon web browser or any other web browser with the Socks 5 proxy details shown below: Host: localhost Port: 8080 Proxy Type: Socks 5 (Requires no authentication)

11 How to Configure Browser to use the SSH Socks Proxy (Part 2) After creating the SSH tunnel and the SSH Socks proxy, you can configure your browser to use the address 'localhost' and port This will tunnel your browser traffic over the SSH connection. DNS Leaks Since SSH tunnels can be victim to DNS leaks, we strongly recommend that you do not use Firefox browser because there is a DNS leak issue with Firefox. Although there appears to be fix which can be done by editing about:config configuration settings, we would still recommend that you use Maxthon because Maxthon is not prone to DNS leaks. We tested this setup extensively with Maxthon and never experienced any DNS leaks. When connected to the SSH tunnel, it is extremely important that all traffic originating from your computer is routed through the SSH tunnel. If any traffic leaks via the underlying connection, any entity monitoring your traffic will be able to log your activity. DNS leaks occur when a DNS look up is requested this is then queried against your ISP DNS server, which potentially means your ISP can view all the websites you visit while connected to the tunnel. About MAXTHON: Maxthon Browser Overview Maxthon Browser is a powerful tabbed browser built for all users. Besides basic browsing functionality, Maxthon Browser provides a rich set of features to improve your surfing experience. Configuring MAXTHON 3 With SSH Socks Proxy 1. Download Maxthon Browser from the developer website below: 2. To add a proxy, click on the smiley avater and then on Options to go to the settings page as shown below:

12 3. Click on the Proxy link on the left panel of the settings page and then select the Proxy type Use Custom Proxy Settings :

13 4. Then click on Use custom Proxy Settings and click Add to add the new Socks 5 proxy details: In the 'Name' field enter any name such as SSH Tunnel into the box. In the 'Address' field enter localhost into the box. In the 'Type' field select SOCKS 5. In the 'Port' field enter 8080 into the box. Leave the username and password fields blank

14 After adding the Socks 5 proxy, it will be displayed as shown below:

15 Close Maxthon Browser and restart it again and you can then proceed to confirm the IP and check for DNS LEAKS by going to: On the DNS result page, make sure that the servers listed do not belong to your ISP. The servers should correspond to the SSH server DNS servers.

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