sshd-keygen-wrapper

rsblanchard wrote:

It was used by older incantations of Micromat's TechTool-Pro [v18.0.3] on Ventura -- apparently it was/is a hack by Apple to allow private entries, in the Keychain, where Apple's increased security wouldn't ordinarily allow it, according to internet sources .

Okay, y’all made me dredge up an old reply of mine. Here you go:

The sshd-keygen-wrapper tool is an ssh secure shell key generator that is part of macOS, and is used when initially connecting to a Mac remotely via ssh.

If you've enabled ssh remote access via > System Preferences > Sharing, then this'd be a pretty typical tool to be used as part of that.

Here's the entirety of the bash shell source code of the tool:

https://opensource.apple.com/source/OpenSSH/OpenSSH-95/sshd-keygen-wrapper.auto.html

Basically, the tool creates several SSH-related keys to uniquely identify your particular Mac to folks connecting into it via ssh. This is a central part of enabling ssh remote access into any system with an ssh server.

If you're concerned about folks causing shenanigans, then avoid installing add-on cleaners or add-on security tools—those can be less effective and more problematic than any of us might like, can create vulnerabilities, and can sometimes cause slowdowns, crashes and hangs—and do ensure that you have complete and current backups, and particularly have at least some backups that are rotated away from your computer, or otherwise disconnected from your computer. There are certainly other recommendations here too, but these backups are your path to data recovery from loss or theft or breach or damage.

This tool creates the host keys needed for ssh, if those host keys are not already created and present.

ssh host keys uniquely identify the host to ssh clients, but do not themselves grant access into the host.

PS: JAMF, among others, is aware of this tool.

A better explanation, is called-for .

https://macreports.com/what-is-sshd-keygen-wrapper-on-mac/

rsblanchard wrote:

A better explanation, is called-for .

That’s an open-ended question.

A better explanation of what aspects of that tool, of how the tool is used, of ssh, or of how or why the tool is included?

Answers to the lattermost “why?” stuff tends to be above our pay grade, of course.

Even Apple's own engineers couldn't all answer that question. Certain people mostly work on specific aspects of the OS. And there are over a thousand underlying Unix commands in macOS.

It's like asking a person on an automobile assembly line who does nothing but install windshields all day long how the transmission works.

It was used by older incantations of Micromat's TechTool-Pro [v18.0.3] on Ventura -- apparently it was/is a hack by Apple to allow private entries, in the Keychain, where Apple's increased security wouldn't ordinarily allow it, according to internet sources .

The reported sshd-keygen-wrapper setup is a normal part of most macOS configurations.