How secure is vsftpd? What alternative is there for more secure access?

Gum · 03-23-2009, 06:32 PM

I heard a rumor that passwords are sent across the Internet without any sort of encryption when using vsftpd as the server. How big of a security issue is this? I wouldn't so much mind people reading the data as it streams by, but the passwords need to remain secure.

I want to allow users to ftp website data, html's and jpeg's mostly, to the server without risking a security breach. Some of those websites they are updating will be businesses and process credit cards, so security is a big deal. I want them to be able to use the same name and password as they would for SSH, and I want them to be able to use the built-in "publish" commands in Dreamweaver, MS Publisher, or whatever software they want.

Thanks for your help

jschiwal · 03-23-2009, 06:48 PM

The problem is with the ftp protocol and not vsftp. As far as I know the vs in vsftp is from the server point of view. The ftp protocol itself doesn't transmit passwords or data securely.

Since you said that your clients have ssh access, do the programs they use support sftp?

If you want to support sftp & scp but not ssh, I believe there is a sftp-shell or something similar to use instead of
/bin/sh in /etc/passwd.

If you want to support sftp, scp and ssh, then google for "openssh chroot". For example, there is a sourceforge project for this.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/chrootssh/

There is also an entry in the LQ Wiki.
http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/OpenSSH_chrooting

I'm not a web designer or web master. Don't some of the programs you mentioned only produce code that assumes they run on IIS servers? ( E.G. use activex, etc. )

unSpawn · 03-23-2009, 08:15 PM

...besides, Vsftpd has ssl_enable, meaning you can wrap both control and data channel comms in SSL.

Gum · 03-23-2009, 11:45 PM

Which do more clients support, vsftpd with SSL or sFTP? I might as well go with the more widely accepted choice.

Gum · 03-24-2009, 02:02 PM

The following address has a list of many FTP clients and whether or not they support sFTP and FTP-SSL.
http://geekswithblogs.net/bvamsi/arc.../23/73147.aspx

Turns out that sFTP is more widely accepted by FTP-client programs like FileZilla, although FTP-SSL is also widely accepted. Newer versions of Dreamweaver also support sFTP. According to that webpage sFTP is the better choice for security and popularity.

rweaver · 03-24-2009, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gum

The following address has a list of many FTP clients and whether or not they support sFTP and FTP-SSL.
http://geekswithblogs.net/bvamsi/arc.../23/73147.aspx

Turns out that sFTP is more widely accepted by FTP-client programs like FileZilla, although FTP-SSL is also widely accepted. Newer versions of Dreamweaver also support sFTP. According to that webpage sFTP is the better choice for security and popularity.

Most of the extremely popular choices for client support both. I've had better luck running sftp generally and it lets you remove a daemon from the system (if you're running openssh for instance).