OpenSSH SSH2 private key

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Kino
Guest

OpenSSH SSH2 private key

I can't connect using SSH2 private key :( But it works with Secure CRT & SecureFX programs. Did I do something wrong or WinSCP don't support this method?
Authentication log (see session log for details):
Using username "test".
Unable to use key file "C:\Documents and Settings\user\Desktop\.ssh\id_dsa" (OpenSSH SSH2 private key)
No supported authentication methods left to try!

Connection has been unexpectedly closed. Server sent command exit status 0.
. Looking up host "192.168.0.22"
. Connecting to 192.168.0.22 port 22
. Server version: SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_3.5p1 FreeBSD-20030924
. We claim version: SSH-2.0-WinSCP-release-3.6.1
. Using SSH protocol version 2
. Doing Diffie-Hellman group exchange
. Doing Diffie-Hellman key exchange
. Host key fingerprint is:
. ssh-dss 1024 dd:b9:a8:29:0a:d8:22:3c:cc:52:36:f9:32:e8:51:cf
. Initialised AES-256 client->server encryption
. Initialised AES-256 server->client encryption
! Using username "test".
. Reading private key file "C:\Documents and Settings\user\Desktop\.ssh\id_dsa"
. Unable to use this key file (OpenSSH SSH2 private key)
! Unable to use key file "C:\Documents and Settings\user\Desktop\.ssh\id_dsa" (OpenSSH SSH2 private key)
! No supported authentication methods left to try!
. No supported authentications offered. Disconnecting
* (ESshFatal) Authentication failed.

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DoNoEvil
Guest

Re: [problem] OpenSSH SSH2 private key

puttygen id_dsa -o id_dsa.ppk
will convert the OpenSSH key to one PuTTY understands.

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PLEP
Guest

Unsupported cipher

Hi Martin,

I'm using Core FTP and on the other side they are using WinSCP.
I tried to convert a SSH private key to a PuTTY using PuTTYgen.
I got a error message "Couldn't load private key (unsupported cipher)"

Need help. Thanks

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PLEP
Guest

Re: Unsupported cipher

Hi

Cipher method when using 'Generate key pair' on Core FTP server side (not possible to change it)

Here is the header:
-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
Proc-Type: 4,ENCRYPTED
DEK-Info: DES-EDE3-CFB
Thanks

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martin
Site Admin
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Re: Unsupported cipher

@PLEP: Are you sure you do not confuse server's host key with your account private key? Account private keys should not be generated on server-side.

Anyway, PuTTYgen does not support this cipher indeed. You would need to re-encrypt the key using another tool before you will be able to import the key to PuTTYgen.

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Don Sanches
Guest

Re: Unsupported cipher

Seem to have solved this. Under some *NIX system (Linux or, as in my case, FreeBSD) change directory to where the private key is. Lets say it is named private.key.
Run this:
ssh-keygen -p
It is basically for changing the password for the private key.
It asks now for the filename, enter: private.key
Then it asks for the current password, enter it
Then it asks for the new password twice, you can enter something new or just the same one.
It will re-write the file private.key but now it is coded with AES-128-CBC which PUTTY DOES understand! Now it can be imported by PuTTYgen.
This way I solved the problem with the key coded with DES-EDE3-CFB which nothing could understand except one non-freeware program!

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Mathieu
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Converting CFB to CBC using OpenSSL

I had the same problem with my SFTP server (Solarwinds Serv-U) generating CFB keys that cannot being understood by PuTTYgen.
Please refer to this page:
https://web.archive.org/web/20221210015643/https://parkwharf.com/blog/cipher-feedback-encryption-woes-on-windows/

With a simple command you can convert from CFB to CBC:
openssl dsa -in my-useless-CFB.key -out hopefully-useful.key -outform pem
Note: change dsa by rsa if your CFB key is using RSA

Converted successfully with PuTTYgen 0.73

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Keith
Guest

Kiteworks also generating private keys that PuTTYgen can't import

The private key file generated by Kiteworks (for SFTP/SSH connection) starts with
-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
Proc-Type: 4,ENCRYPTED
DEK-Info: AES-256-CBC
Using WinSCP 6.3.3 with PuTTYgen 0.81, we use PuTTYgen to try to load the private key file.
We get PuTTYgen error:
Couldn't load private key (unsupported cipher)

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martin
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Location:
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Re: Kiteworks also generating private keys that PuTTYgen can't import

@Keith: PuTTYgen indeed does not support AES-256-CBC-encrypted keys. Probably because afaik that format is never used by OpenSSH.

But you might be able to use OpenSSH ssh-keygen to convert the key to a format that PuTTYgen understands.
Try:
ssh-keygen -p -f your_key

It's actually suggested above already.

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Keith
Guest

Kiteworks generating private key that PuTTYgen can't import

Thank you Martin!

Setting up OpenSSH, will give that a try and report back.

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