SSHsec alternatives

Looking for an alternative tool to replace SSHsec? During the review of SSHsec we looked at other open source tools. Based on their category, tags, and text, these are the ones that have the best match.

Top 3

  1. ssh-audit (SSH auditing tool)
  2. Lynis (security scanner and compliance auditing tool)
  3. ssh_scan (SSH configuration and policy scanner)

These tools are ranked as the best alternatives to SSHsec.

Alternatives (by score)

60

ssh-audit

Introduction

The ssh-audit tool is of great help when scanning SSH servers to discover possible improvements. It is written in Python and with a simple 'git clone' it can already be started. You typically would use a tool like this to improve your own SSH configurations or as part of a security assignment.

Project details

ssh-audit is written in Python.

Strengths and weaknesses

  • + The source code is easy to read and understand
  • + Tool is easy to use
  • + More than 2000 GitHub stars
  • + Very low number of dependencies
  • + The source code of this software is available

    Typical usage

    • Application security
    • Penetration testing
    • Security assessment

    ssh-audit review

    100

    Lynis

    Introduction

    Lynis is an open-source security auditing tool that is available since 2007 and created by Michael Boelen. Its primary goal is to evaluate the security defenses of systems running Linux or other flavors of Unix. It provides suggestions to install, configure, or correct any security measures.

    Project details

    Lynis is written in shell script.

    Strengths and weaknesses

    • + The source code is easy to read and understand
    • + More than 100 contributors
    • + More than 8000 GitHub stars
    • + Tool is easy to use
    • + Available as package (simplified installation)
    • + Commercial support available
    • + Used language is shell script
    • + Very low number of dependencies
    • + Project is mature (10+ years)
    • + The source code of this software is available

      Typical usage

      • IT audit
      • Penetration testing
      • Security assessment
      • System hardening
      • Vulnerability scanning

      Lynis review

      60

      ssh_scan

      Introduction

      This tool is light on its dependencies, as it only uses Ruby and BinData. The scanner is simple to use, as it is limited in the number of parameters and options. There is also the ability to show the results on the screen or export the data to a JSON file. The latter is great if you want to do further processing of the details, or simply store them for later comparison.

      Project details

      ssh_scan is written in Ruby.

      Strengths and weaknesses

      • + More than 10 contributors
      • + Many releases available
      • + The source code of this software is available
      • + Supported by a large company

        Typical usage

        • Penetration testing
        • Security assessment
        • System hardening
        • Vulnerability scanning

        ssh_scan review

        68

        Cloud Security Suite (CS Suite)

        Introduction

        Cloud Security Suite (CS Suite) is a security toolkit that allows scanning Amazon, Google, and Azure cloud platforms. It leverages tools like Lynis, Prowler, and Scout2 to collect all information. The promise of the tool is to simplify the installation of the tools, their configuration, and the data collection.

        Project details

        Cloud Security Suite is written in Python.

        Strengths and weaknesses

        • + The source code of this software is available
        • - No releases on GitHub available

        Typical usage

        • IT audit
        • Configuration audit
        • Penetration testing
        • System hardening

        Cloud Security Suite review

        97

        CloudSploit scans

        Introduction

        CloudSploit scans is an open source software project to test security risks related to an AWS account. It runs tests against your Amazon account and aims to discover any potential misconfigured setting or other risks.

        Project details

        CloudSploit scans is written in Node.js.

        Strengths and weaknesses

        • + More than 10 contributors
        • + More than 500 GitHub stars
        • + The source code of this software is available
        • - No releases on GitHub available

        Typical usage

        • IT audit
        • Configuration audit
        • Security assessment

        CloudSploit scans review

        85

        Kube-Bench

        Introduction

        Tools like Kube-Bench help with quickly checking configuration weaknesses or discovering bad defaults.

        Project details

        Kube-Bench is written in Golang.

        Strengths and weaknesses

        • + The source code of this software is available

          Kube-Bench review

          64

          LUNAR

          Introduction

          LUNAR is short for Lockdown UNix Auditing and Reporting and runs on the system itself.

          Project details

          LUNAR is written in shell script.

          Strengths and weaknesses

          • + The source code of this software is available

            Typical usage

            • Security assessment
            • Self-assessment
            • System hardening

            LUNAR review

            89

            OpenSCAP

            Introduction

            The OpenSCAP project provides a wide variety of hardening guides, configuration baselines, and tools to test for vulnerabilities and configuration issues. It uses SCAP as the protocol to store the underlying data.

            Project details

            OpenSCAP is written in C.

            Strengths and weaknesses

            • + More than 25 contributors
            • + The source code of this software is available
            • + Supported by a large company

              Typical usage

              • Security assessment
              • Vulnerability scanning

              OpenSCAP review

              85

              Prowler

              Introduction

              Prowler is a security tool to check systems on AWS against the related CIS benchmark. This benchmark provides a set of best practices for AWS. The primary usage for this tool is system hardening and compliance checking.

              Project details

              Prowler is written in shell script.

              Strengths and weaknesses

              • + More than 25 contributors
              • + More than 500 GitHub stars
              • + The source code of this software is available

                Typical usage

                • Compliance testing
                • Security assessment
                • System hardening

                Prowler review

                60

                VHostScan

                Introduction

                Tools like VHostScan are powerful to perform reconnaissance and discover configuration defaults. This can be useful during penetration tests or security testing, to see if a system has been stripped from default pages. If not, this tool might discover them and provide valuable information about the system.

                Project details

                VHostScan is written in Python.

                Strengths and weaknesses

                • + The source code of this software is available

                  Typical usage

                  • Penetration testing
                  • Reconnaissance

                  VHostScan review

                  64

                  Zeus

                  Introduction

                  Zeus is a tool to perform a quick security scan of an AWS environment. It helps to find missing security controls, so additional system hardening measures can be applied to systems.

                  Project details

                  Zeus is written in shell script.

                  Strengths and weaknesses

                  • + Used language is shell script
                  • + The source code of this software is available
                  • - No releases on GitHub available

                  Typical usage

                  • Configuration audit
                  • Security assessment
                  • Self-assessment
                  • System hardening

                  Zeus review

                  60

                  iniscan

                  Introduction

                  Iniscan scans a given php.ini file and tests it against security best practices. It reports back the results by showing a Pass or Fail for each related test. As it is a command-line utility, it can be used in automated testing.

                  Project details

                  iniscan is written in PHP.

                  Strengths and weaknesses

                  • + More than 25 contributors
                  • + More than 1000 GitHub stars
                  • + The source code of this software is available

                    Typical usage

                    • Configuration audit
                    • Security assessment

                    iniscan review

                    60

                    orthrus

                    Introduction

                    Orthrus is a security framework and auditing tool. It allows monitoring and analyzing security configurations across multiple environments.

                    Project details

                    orthrus is written in Golang.

                    Strengths and weaknesses

                    • + The source code of this software is available
                    • - Project is in early phase and may be unstable

                    Typical usage

                    • Security assessment
                    • Self-assessment
                    • System hardening
                    • Vulnerability scanning

                    orthrus review

                    60

                    otseca

                    Introduction

                    Tools like otseca help with data collection. This could be useful for system administrators to collect data on a regular interval. This data then can be compared with a future data capture. Another possibility is to use it during pentesting. In that case one should have already obtained root access, as the tool requires this as well.

                    Project details

                    otseca is written in shell script.

                    Strengths and weaknesses

                    • + The source code is easy to read and understand
                    • + Tool is modular and extendable
                    • + The source code of this software is available

                      Typical usage

                      • Configuration audit
                      • Penetration testing
                      • Security assessment

                      otseca review

                      60

                      sysechk (System Security Checker)

                      Introduction

                      System Security Checker, or sysechk, is a tool to perform a system audit against a set of best practices. It uses a modular approach to test the system.

                      Project details

                      sysechk is written in shell script.

                      Strengths and weaknesses

                      • + Used language is shell script
                      • + The source code of this software is available

                        Typical usage

                        • IT audit
                        • System hardening

                        sysechk review

                        74

                        testssl.sh

                        Introduction

                        Key features of testssl.sh include:

                        • Clear output: you can tell easily whether anything is good or bad
                        • Ease of installation: It works for Linux, Darwin, FreeBSD, NetBSD and MSYS2/Cygwin out of the box: no need to install or configure something, no gems, CPAN, pip or the like.
                        • Flexibility: You can test any SSL/TLS enabled and STARTTLS service, not only webservers at port 443
                        • Toolbox: Several command line options help you to run YOUR test and configure YOUR output
                        • Reliability: features are tested thoroughly
                        • Verbosity: If a particular check cannot be performed because of a missing capability on your client side, you'll get a warning
                        • Privacy: It's only you who sees the result, not a third party
                        • Freedom: It's 100% open source. You can look at the code, see what's going on and you can change it.

                        Project details

                        testssl.sh is written in shell script.

                        Strengths and weaknesses

                        • + Used language is shell script
                        • + The source code of this software is available

                          Typical usage

                          • Application testing
                          • Configuration audit

                          testssl.sh review

                          70

                          Cowrie

                          Introduction

                          Cowrie is a honeypot to emulate SSH and telnet services. It can be used to learn attack methods and as an additional layer for security monitoring.

                          Project details

                          Cowrie is written in Python.

                          Strengths and weaknesses

                          • + More than 50 contributors
                          • + More than 1000 GitHub stars

                            Typical usage

                            • Information gathering
                            • Learning
                            • Security monitoring
                            • Threat discovery

                            Cowrie review

                            56

                            Dockpot

                            Introduction

                            Using an SSH honeypot is a good way to learn about common attacks on the SSH service. It can provide insights on the number of scans and probes on the network.

                            Project details

                            Dockpot is written in Python.

                            Strengths and weaknesses

                            • + The source code of this software is available
                            • - No releases on GitHub available

                            Typical usage

                            • Learning
                            • Threat discovery

                            Dockpot review

                            89

                            Fail2ban

                            Introduction

                            Fail2Ban is an intrusion prevention software framework that protects computer servers from brute-force attacks

                            Project details

                            Fail2ban is written in Python.

                            Strengths and weaknesses

                            • + More than 2000 GitHub stars
                            • + The source code of this software is available

                              Typical usage

                              • Network traffic filtering
                              • Security monitoring

                              Fail2ban review

                              64

                              HonSSH

                              Introduction

                              HonSSH is a high-interaction SSH honeypot to collect information about attackers that target the SSH service.

                              Project details

                              HonSSH is written in Python.

                              Strengths and weaknesses

                              • + The source code of this software is available
                              • - Unknown project license

                              Typical usage

                              • Learning
                              • Threat discovery

                              HonSSH review

                              63

                              Kojoney

                              Introduction

                              Kojoney is a mix of the Spanish word cojon (s/c/k/) and honey.

                              Project details

                              67

                              OpenSSH

                              Introduction

                              OpenSSH is a much-used connectivity tool for remote administration of Linux systems. It uses the SSH protocol and encrypts all traffic to eliminate eavesdropping, connection hijacking, and other related attacks.

                              Project details

                              60

                              SSH Honeypot

                              Introduction

                              SSH Honeypot is as the name implies a honeypot to emulate the SSH service. It can be used to learn about threats and commands used by attackers.

                              Project details

                              SSH Honeypot is written in C.

                              Strengths and weaknesses

                              • + The source code of this software is available

                                Typical usage

                                • Learning
                                • Threat discovery

                                SSH Honeypot review

                                74

                                known_hosts_bruteforcer

                                Introduction

                                This utility is useful when you obtained a known_hosts file, but can't decipher the hashed hostnames from it.

                                Project details

                                known_hosts_bruteforcer is written in Perl.

                                Strengths and weaknesses

                                • + The source code of this software is available
                                • - No updates for a while

                                Typical usage

                                • Digital forensics
                                • Penetration testing

                                known_hosts_bruteforcer review

                                52

                                sshttp

                                Introduction

                                This tool allows you to run a web server and SSH daemon on the same TCP port. It can be useful to bypass some firewall restrictions.

                                Project details

                                sshttp is written in C++.

                                Strengths and weaknesses

                                • + Project is mature (5+ years)
                                • - Unknown project license

                                Typical usage

                                • Bypassing firewall rules
                                • Protocol multiplexing

                                sshttp review

                                Some relevant tool missing as an alternative to SSHsec? Please contact us with your suggestion.