Is it possible for an ssh user to generate symmetric key used to encrypt a session? I have read about asymmetric key generation using ssh-keygen. Is something similar available?
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1Any user can generate ssh keys, if ssh-keygen is accessible. Being connected through ssh is not important.– nex84Mar 16, 2016 at 11:22
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ssh-keygen is used to generate asymmetric keys. I cant find any reference where it is used to generate symmetric key.– nid_kurupMar 16, 2016 at 12:06
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1 Answer
No, ssh-keygen doesn't do that. It only generates authentication keys.
However, all SSH sessions are already encrypted. The SSH client automatically creates a symmetric key during the "kex" or "key exchange" stage using DH or ECDH, and uses it encrypt the whole session. (In fact, you cannot even turn it off.) So there's no reason to generate such keys manually.
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So would that mean i cannot use any external methods to generate session keys ? Mar 16, 2016 at 13:26
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