Bastion Host On DigitalOcean

What is a Bastion Host?

A bastion host is a special-purpose computer on a network specifically designed and configured to withstand attacks. There are two common network configurations that include bastion hosts and their placement.

The first requires two firewalls, with bastion hosts sitting between the first “outside world” firewall, and an inside firewall, in a DMZ. Often, smaller networks do not have multiple firewalls, so if only one firewall exists in a network, bastion hosts are commonly placed outside the firewall.

Getting Started

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DigitalOcean VPC

On 7 April, 2020, the VPC service replaced the Private Networking service on DigitalOcean.

A Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) is a private network interface for collections of DigitalOcean resources. VPC networks provide a more secure connection between resources because the network is inaccessible from the public internet and other VPC networks. Traffic within a VPC network doesn’t count against bandwidth usage.

VPC are available at no additional cost and are enabled by default. They serve the same function as VLANs do. You have two options, you can either manual create a VPC network or if you don’t have a VPC network DigitalOcean will create it for you when you build a new VPS.

DigitalOcean Cloud Firewalls

Cloud Firewalls affect both public and VPC network traffic. Rules specific to either must specify the public or private IP range.

We will be creating two cloud firewall rules, one named public-network and the other named private-network. These will be used as Access Control Lists to help protect our VPC network.

Both the Public-Network and Private-Network cloud firewalls should be added to the bastion-host, while only the Private-Network cloud firewall should be added to all other members of your VPS.

PUBLIC-NETWORK

INBOUND RULES :

Type	Protocol	Port Range	Sources
ICMP	ICMP	None	All IPv4, All IPv6
SSH	TCP	22	All IPv4, All IPv6
HTTP	TCP	80	All IPv4, All IPv6
HTTPS	TCP	443	All IPv4, All IPv6
CUSTOM	UDP	51820	All IPv4, All IPv6

OUTBOUND RULES :

Type	Protocol	Port Range	Sources
ICMP	ICMP	None	All IPv4, All IPv6
All TCP	TCP	All Ports	All IPv4, All IPv6
All UDP	UDP	All Ports	All IPv4, All IPv6

PRIVATE-NETWORK

INBOUND RULES :

Type	Protocol	Port Range	Sources
ICMP	ICMP	None	10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, 192.168.0.0/16
All TCP	TCP	All Ports	10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, 192.168.0.0/16
All UDP	UDP	All Ports	10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, 192.168.0.0/16

OUTBOUND RULES :

Type	Protocol	Port Range	Sources
ICMP	ICMP	None	All IPv4
All TCP	TCP	All Ports	All IPv4
All UDP	UDP	All Ports	All IPv4

I also recommend creating new ssh keys to add to your bastion-host.

ssh-keygen -b 4096  -a 1000 -t rsa -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa

Let’s lock down your ssh service.

$ sudo mv /etc/ssh/sshd_config /etc/ssh/sshd_config.bak

# Harden SSH Settings
$ sudo cat <<-EOF > /etc/ssh/sshd_config
HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key
HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key
HostKey /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key
AcceptEnv LANG LC_*
AllowGroups root sudo
Banner /etc/issue.net
ChallengeResponseAuthentication no
Ciphers [email protected],[email protected],aes256-ctr
ClientAliveCountMax 0
ClientAliveInterval 300
Compression no
HostbasedAuthentication no
IgnoreUserKnownHosts yes
KexAlgorithms [email protected],ecdh-sha2-nistp521,ecdh-sha2-nistp384,ecdh-sha2-nistp256,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256
LoginGraceTime 20
LogLevel VERBOSE
Macs [email protected],[email protected],hmac-sha2-512,hmac-sha2-256
MaxAuthTries 3
MaxSessions 3
MaxStartups 10:30:60
PermitEmptyPasswords no
PermitRootLogin no
PubkeyAuthentication yes
PasswordAuthentication no
PermitUserEnvironment no
PrintLastLog yes
PrintMotd no
StrictModes yes
Subsystem sftp internal-sftp
UseDNS no
UsePAM yes
X11Forwarding no
AllowTcpForwarding yes
EOF

Create a new set of ssh host keys.

## Update ssh_host keys
rm /etc/ssh/ssh_host_*
ssh-keygen -t ecdsa -b 521 -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key -N ""
ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key -N ""
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key -N ""

awk '$5 >= 3071' /etc/ssh/moduli > /etc/ssh/moduli.safe
mv /etc/ssh/moduli.safe /etc/ssh/moduli

We need to edit the netplan for both the bastion-host and the webproxy so that the bastion-host handles all routing.

sudo nano /etc/netplan/50-cloud-init.yaml

You can read more details on editing your netplan on DigitalOcean.

network:
    version: 2
    ethernets:
        eth0:
            addresses:
            - xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/20
            - 26xx:xxxx:x:xxx::xx:xxxx/64
            gateway4: xxx.xxx.xxx.1
            gateway6: 26xx:xxxx:x:xxx::1
            match:
                macaddress: ab:ab:ab:ab:ab:ab
            nameservers:
                addresses:
                - 1.1.1.1
                - 1.0.0.1
                - 2606:4700:4700::1111
                - 2606:4700:4700::1001
                search: [technerdonline.com]
        eth1:
            addresses:
            - 10.128.0.2/20
            match:
                macaddress: ba:ba:ba:ba:ba:ba
            nameservers:
                addresses:
                - 10.128.0.2
                search: [local]
            routes:
            -   to: 10.128.0.0/20
                via: 10.128.0.2

On the proxy server make the following netplan change.

network:
    version: 2
    ethernets:
        eth0:
            addresses:
            - xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/20
            - 26xx:xxxx:x:xxx::xx:xxxx/64
            #gateway4: xxx.xxx.xxx.1
            #gateway6: 26xx:xxxx:x:xxx::1
            match:
                macaddress: ab:ab:ab:ab:ab:ab
            nameservers:
                addresses:
                - 1.1.1.1
                - 1.0.0.1
                - 2606:4700:4700::1111
                - 2606:4700:4700::1001
                search: [technerdonline.com]
        eth1:
            addresses:
            - 10.128.0.3/20
            match:
                macaddress: ba:ba:ba:ba:ba:ba
            nameservers:
                addresses:
                - 10.128.0.2
                search: [local]
            routes:
            -   to: 0.0.0.0/0
                via: 10.128.0.2

Apply the netplan changes.

sudo netplan apply

We will need to create a set of IPTABLES rules for both IPv4 and IPv6 but first we need to load some Kernel modules.

sudo nano /etc/modules-load.d/iptables.conf

overlay
br_netfilter
ip_vs
ip_vs_rr
ip_vs_wrr
ip_vs_sh
nf_conntrack
iptable_nat
iptable_filter
iptable_mangle
ip_nf_target_redirect
ip_set
ip_vs_nfct
ip_vs_proto_tcp
ip_vs_proto_udp
veth
bridge
bridge_netfilter
ip_nf_filter
ip_nf_target_masquerade
netfilter_xt_match_addrtype
netfilter_xt_match_conntrack
netfilter_xt_match_ipvs
nf_nat

Copy and paste the following content, replacing PUBLIC_IP with the public IP address of the bastion-host, WEBPROXY_PRIVATE_IP with the VPC IP address for the webproxy, and BASTION_PRIVATE_IP with the VPC IP address with the bastion host private IP.

nano ipv4.conf

*mangle
:PREROUTING ACCEPT [0:0]
:INPUT ACCEPT [0:0]
:FORWARD ACCEPT [0:0]
:OUTPUT ACCEPT [0:0]
:POSTROUTING ACCEPT [0:0]
COMMIT

*nat
:PREROUTING ACCEPT [0:0]
:INPUT ACCEPT [0:0]
:OUTPUT ACCEPT [0:0]
:POSTROUTING ACCEPT [0:0]
-A PREROUTING -i eth0 -d {PUBLIC_IP} -p tcp -m tcp --dport 80 -j DNAT --to-destination {WEBPROXY_PRIVATE_IP}:80
-A PREROUTING -i eth0 -d {PUBLIC_IP} -p tcp -m tcp --dport 443 -j DNAT --to-destination {WEBPROXY_PRIVATE_IP}:443
-A POSTROUTING -d {WEBPROXY_PRIVATE_IP} -o eth1 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 80 -j SNAT --to-source {BASTION_PRIVATE_IP}
-A POSTROUTING -d {WEBPROXY_PRIVATE_IP} -o eth1 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 443 -j SNAT --to-source {BASTION_PRIVATE_IP}
-A POSTROUTING -s {BASTION_PRIVATE_IP} -o eth0 -j SNAT --to-source {PUBLIC_IP}
-A POSTROUTING -s {PRIVATE_SUBNET} ! -d {PRIVATE_SUBNET} -j MASQUERADE
COMMIT

*filter
:INPUT DROP [0:0]
:FORWARD DROP [0:0]
:OUTPUT ACCEPT [0:0]
:FILTERS - [0:0]
-A INPUT -m conntrack --ctstate RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i lo -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -m conntrack --ctstate INVALID -j DROP
-A INPUT -p icmp -m icmp --icmp-type 8 -m limit --limit 5/sec -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i eth1 -m conntrack --ctstate NEW -s {PRIVATE_SUBNET} -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -j FILTERS
-A INPUT -j DROP
-A FORWARD -o eth1 -m conntrack --ctstate RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A FORWARD -i eth1 -o eth1 -m conntrack --ctstate NEW -s {PRIVATE_SUBNET} -j ACCEPT
-A FORWARD -o eth0 -m conntrack --ctstate RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A FORWARD -i eth1 -o eth0 -m conntrack --ctstate NEW -s {PRIVATE_SUBNET} -j ACCEPT
-A FORWARD -i eth0 -o eth1 -j FILTERS
-A OUTPUT -o lo -j ACCEPT
-A OUTPUT -o eth0 -j ACCEPT
-A OUTPUT -o eth1 -j ACCEPT
-A FILTERS -m conntrack --ctstate RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A FILTERS -p tcp -m conntrack --ctstate NEW -m tcp --syn --dport 22 -j ACCEPT
-A FILTERS -p tcp -m conntrack --ctstate NEW -m tcp --syn --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
-A FILTERS -p tcp -m conntrack --ctstate NEW -m tcp --syn --dport 443 -j ACCEPT
-A FILTERS -p udp -m conntrack --ctstate NEW -m udp --dport 51820 -j ACCEPT
-A FILTERS -p udp -m conntrack --ctstate NEW -m udp --dport 51821 -j ACCEPT
-A FILTERS -m conntrack --ctstate INVALID -j DROP
-A FILTERS -j REJECT
COMMIT

Now create IPTABLES Rules for IPv6.

nano ipv6.conf

*nat
:PREROUTING ACCEPT [0:0]
:INPUT ACCEPT [0:0]
:OUTPUT ACCEPT [0:0]
:POSTROUTING ACCEPT [0:0]
COMMIT

*filter
:INPUT DROP [0:0]
:FORWARD DROP [0:0]
:OUTPUT ACCEPT [0:0]
:FILTERS - [0:0]
-A INPUT -m conntrack --ctstate RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i lo -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -m conntrack --ctstate INVALID -j DROP
-A INPUT -i eth0 -p ipv6-icmp -m icmp6 --icmpv6-type 128 -m limit --limit 5/sec -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i eth0 -p ipv6-icmp -m icmp6 --icmpv6-type 133 -m limit --limit 5/sec -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i eth0 -p ipv6-icmp -m icmp6 --icmpv6-type 134 -m limit --limit 5/sec -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i eth0 -p ipv6-icmp -m icmp6 --icmpv6-type 135 -m limit --limit 5/sec -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -j FILTERS
-A INPUT -j DROP
-A FILTERS -m conntrack --ctstate RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A FILTERS -p tcp -m conntrack --ctstate NEW -m tcp --dport 80 --tcp-flags FIN,SYN,RST,ACK SYN -j ACCEPT
-A FILTERS -p tcp -m conntrack --ctstate NEW -m tcp --dport 443 --tcp-flags FIN,SYN,RST,ACK SYN -j ACCEPT
-A FILTERS -m conntrack --ctstate INVALID -j DROP
-A FILTERS -j REJECT
-A OUTPUT -o lo -j ACCEPT
-A OUTPUT -o eth0 -j ACCEPT
-A OUTPUT -o eth1 -j ACCEPT
-A FORWARD -o eth1 -m conntrack --ctstate RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A FORWARD -i eth1 -o eth1 -j FILTERS
-A FORWARD -o eth0 -m conntrack --ctstate RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A FORWARD -i eth1 -o eth0 -m conntrack --ctstate NEW -j ACCEPT
-A FORWARD -i eth0 -o eth1 -j FILTERS
-A FORWARD -j REJECT
COMMIT

Apply the iptables rules and install iptables-persistent.

sudo iptables-restore -n ipv4.conf
sudo ip6tables-restore -n ipv6.conf

sudo iptables-save
sudo ip6tables-save

sudo apt install iptables-persistent

Simply install your favorite web server on the proxy droplet (i.e. nginx, caddy, haproxy etc). I would also suggest installing wireguard on the bastion host, it is also pretty easy to get a secure wireguard mesh network setup if you have multiple VPC.