Last year I supported the Solo V2 Kickstarter camaign. Solo is a completely open source FIDO2 security key. You can use it for Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) on web sites, for protecting your private SSH keys and other things. The Solo2 is similar to keys such as the Yubikey from Yubico, the Google Titan Security Key, the Kensington Verimark or Nitrokey. Because all these keys implement the standards of the FIDO2 project, many of the examples here work with these keys too.
The Kickstarter campagin has ended, however now you can buy Solo V2 security keys via their Indiegogo campaign. If you decide to buy a security key, then I strongly recommend buying at least two of them so that you can use the second key as a back-up key in case the first key breaks or gets lost.
It appears that the firmware of the Solo V2 currently has some problems, preventing it to work correctly on some sites and there are some complaints about the lack of progress in this matter and a lack of communication. There is hope that these problems will be fixed in the near future though. A new firmware version 2:20220822.0 is available fixing some important problems. Make sure to update the firmware before starting to use the key, because updating to this version will erase all existing credentials, forcing you to re-register your key everywhere.
There is also little documentation, which can make it a bit difficult to get started if you are new to FIDO2 security keys. That’s why I decided to create this guide, to serve as a tutorial explaining how to use the Solo2.
Installing software
For basic usage of the key, you actually do not need to install any software. However there are some utilities available which allow you to update the firmware, set a PIN, view all credentials stored on the key, etc. First of all, we will install the solo2 CLI. It’s not yet packaged in Debian, so we need to download it from Github. I check the sha256sum to ensure I get the right files. This utility written in Rust does not support all functionality yet and for that reason I also install the Python based Solo1 CLI, which is packaged in Debian. The fido2-tools package finally contains some utilities which work on all FIDO2 keys.
# apt install solo-python fido2-tools
$ curl -L -O https://github.com/solokeys/solo2-cli/releases/download/v0.2.0/70-solo2.rules
$ curl -L -O https://github.com/solokeys/solo2-cli/releases/download/v0.2.0/solo2-v0.2.0-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
$ curl -L -O https://github.com/solokeys/solo2-cli/releases/download/v0.2.0/solo2.completions.bash
$ sha256sum 70-solo2.rules solo2-v0.2.0-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu solo2.completions.bash
4133644b12a4e938f04e19e3059f9aec08f1c36b1b33b2f729b5815c88099fe3 70-solo2.rules
d03b20e2ba3be5f9d67f7a7fc1361104960243ebbe44289224f92b513479ed9b solo2-v0.2.0-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
a892afc3c71eb09c1d8e57745dabbbe415f6cfd3f8b49ee6084518a07b73d9a8 solo2.completions.bash
# mv 70-solo2.rules /etc/udev/rules.d/
# mv solo2-v0.2.0-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu /usr/local/bin/solo2
# chmod 755 /usr/local/bin/solo2
# mv solo2.completions.bash /etc/bash_completion.d/
Touching the Solo2
When authenticating to websites or doing other operations, you will be asked to tap or touch the security key. The Solo2, unlike the Solo1 or Yubikey, does not have a physical button which needs to be depressed, but has 3 touch areas. These are the 3 gold coloured areas at both sides and at the back of the key. You do not need to press them, gently touching one of them is enough. In practice, I had most success touching the two touch zones at both sides of the key simultaneously with 2 fingers.
Updating the Solo V2 firmware version
You can check which version of the firmware is currently installed on your key with this command:
$ solo2 app admin version
At the moment of writing, the most recent version is 1:20200101.9 2:20220822.0.
To update the firmware version, run this command:
$ solo2 update
Setting a PIN on the Solo V2 key
I strongly recommend setting up a PIN on your FIDO2 key. It will be required to do any administrative tasks on your key, such as adding or removing credentials such as SSH keys,
You cannot set a pin with the solo2 CLI, but you can simply use the solo1 CLI:
$ solo key set-pin
If a PIN has already been set and you want to modify it, run:
$ solo key change-pin
You can also use any Chromium based browser (such as Google Chrome), and go the the URI: chrome://settings/securityKeys . There click on Create a PIN.
Yet another alternative is to use the fido2-token utility, part of fido2-tools. First you need to get the device path of the key:
$ fido2-token -L
/dev/hidraw4: vendor=0x1209, product=0xbeee (SoloKeys Solo 2 Security Key)
So in my case it’s /dev/hidraw4. Then change the PIN like this:
$ fido2-token -C /dev/hidraw4
Do not forget your PIN, otherwise you cannot use your key any more to authenticate to registered sites!
In case you forgot your FIDO2 PIN, you will need to completely reset your key. This will erase all keys and generate new ones, so you will need to have an alternative way to authenticate to websites where you registered this key.
$ solo key reset
FIDO2 Two-Factor Authentication
Usually you go the security settings on the website and there you can enable 2FA. For some sites, you will be required to set up TOTP first before you can register a security key. So make sure you have a TOTP application such as FreeOTP+ for Android or Raivo OTP on iOS. TOTP is then a back-up method for 2FA in case you loose access to your key. If you have multiple FIDO2 keys, don’t forget to register them all.
A side note: don’t use SMS as a second factor for authentication. SMS 2FA is insecure because these messages are transferred in clear text and there are various ways they can be intercepted.
2FA with the Solo2 on Android
You can connect the Solo2 to your Android device by USB, or you can use NFC. When a web application tries to authenticate your key, you will get a pop-up message where you can choose whether you want to connect it via USB or use NFC. In the case of USB, connect your key to the USB port and tap it, just like you would do on your PC. If you chose NFC, just bring your Solo2 key to the back of your phone and it should authenticate.
This all works fine in Chromium based browsers, however I was not able to successfully authenticate with the Solo2 in Firefox. I managed to get it working with Firefox Nightly though. You will need to go to about:config and set security.webauthn.ctap2 and security.webauth.webauthn_enable_usb_token both to true in order to get it working.
Enabling 2FA on well-know websites
Google
Go to https://myaccount.google.com/ and in the left menu click on Security. Under Signing in to Google click on 2-Step Verification. There click on Enable two-factor authentication.In the wizard that appears, you will have to click on Security Key and follow to instructions to add your key.
Github
In the right top corner, click on your avatar and choose Settings. Then in the left menu click on Password & Authentication where you can enable Two-Factor Authentication. You will have to set up TOTP first, and after that, you can register your security key.
Gitlab
In the right top corner, click on your avatar and choose Preferences. Then in the left menu click on Account where you can enable Two-Factor Authentication. You will have to register a Two-Factor Authenticator (TOTP) first, and after that, you can register your WebAuthn devices.
Masstodon
Click on the Preferences icon then choose Account – Two-Factor Auth. You will need to set up TOTP first, and after that you can add a security key.
Nextcloud
The app Two-Factor WebAuthn needs to be installed on your Nextcloud instance.
Click on your avator in the top right corner and choose Settings. Then choose Security in the left menu and there you can add Webauthn devices.
Microsoft personal account
Make sure you are using the newest firmware because this is not working with older firmware versions.
You need to go with a Chromium based browser to https://account.microsoft.com/ (Firefox does not work at the moment). There click on Security – Security Dashboard – Advanced security options – Add a new way to sign in or verify – Use a security key.
Microsoft Azure Directory account
If you have a Microsoft Directory Azure account, for example if you are using Office 365 in your organization, then it might be possible to use your Solo2, however this depends on the settings made by your administrator. if Enforce key restrictions is enabled, certain keys can be blocked, or only specific keys are allowed. Also the option Enforce attestation needs to be disabled, because otherwise only keys which have been tested by Microsoft are allowed. Unfortunately Solo keys have not been validated by Microsoft (also Google’s Titan security keys are in this case). Note that this attestation does not include an evaluation of the security of the key.
Currently there is no news about applying this attestation for the Solo keys.
Twitter
On the website in the left menu, click on More – Settings and privacy and then on Security and account access – Security – Two-factor authentication. There choose Security key.
https://help.twitter.com/en/managing-your-account/two-factor-authentication
Facebook
Really? You should not be using Facebook.
If you really must use Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/help/148233965247823/
LinkedIn
It appears that at the moment of writing LinkedIn does not support 2FA with FIDO2. You can set up TOTP though, which I recommend doing. Click on Me in the top menu and choose Settings & Privacy. Then in the left menu choose Sign in & security and click on Two-Step verification.
WordPress
To enable FIDO2 two-factor authentication in WordPress, install the plugins two-factor and two-factor-provider-webauthn. Enable both modules and then in the WordPress administration menu go to Settings – TwoFactor WebAuthn. Use the option: Disable old U2F provider. the two-factor plugin includes U2F by default, but this is not supported any more by Chromium based browsers, so you want to use the more modern webauthn instead. Then you can set up 2FA in the menu Users – Profile: enable WebAuthn . Then under Security Keys (WebAuthn) click on Register New Key, tap your key and give it a unique name. Do this for both your security keys.
If you have set up Modsecurity with the Core Rule Set, you will end up with a HTTP 403 Forbidden error when trying to register your key or try to authenticate with it. Create /etc/modsecurity/99-wordpress-webauthn.conf with this content:
SecRule REQUEST_FILENAME "@endsWith /wp-admin/profile.php" \
"id:1100,\
phase:2,\
pass,\
t:none,\
nolog,\
chain"
SecRule ARGS:action "@streq update" \
"t:none,\
chain"
SecRule &ARGS:action "@eq 1" \
"t:none,\
ctl:ruleRemoveTargetByTag=OWASP_CRS;ARGS:u2f_response,\
ctl:ruleRemoveTargetByTag=OWASP_CRS;ARGS:webauthn_response"
SecRule REQUEST_FILENAME "@endsWith /wp-login.php" \
"id:1101,\
phase:2,\
pass,\
t:none,\
nolog,\
ctl:ruleRemoveTargetByTag=OWASP_CRS;ARGS:u2f_response,\
ctl:ruleRemoveTargetByTag=OWASP_CRS;ARGS:webauthn_response,\
SecRule REQUEST_FILENAME "@endsWith /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php" \
"id:1102,\
phase:2,\
pass,\
t:none,\
nolog,\
chain"
SecRule ARGS:action "@streq webauthn_register" \
"t:none,\
chain"
SecRule &ARGS:action "@eq 1" \
"t:none,\
ctl:ruleRemoveTargetByTag=OWASP_CRS;ARGS:credential"
and reload your Apache configuration. It should now work.
What if it does not work?
If registering your key or authenticating with your key fails on a website, try with a Chromium based browser. Firefox does not support CTAP2 yet, and this can cause trouble on sites which require verification of a PIN. Firefox has CTAP2 support now, but it’s disabled by default. Make sure you use the latest version of Firefox (109 at the time of writing) and activate CTAP2 support by going to about:config and setting security.webauthn.ctap2 to true.
OpenSSH
To use your Solo2 key for OpenSSH authentication, you will at least version 8.2p1 on both server and client. OpenSSH 8.3p1 adds support for discoverable credentials or resident keys: with discoverable credentials, the FIDO2 security key itself is enough to do SSH public key authentication. This has a slight security risk though if people get access to your Solo2 key because now the only protection is the PIN you have set on the key. Non-discoverable keys don’t have this security risk, because you also need the private key stored on your computer to authenticate.
SSHD configuration for FIDO2 keys
As written before, you need at least version 8.2p1 or 8.3p1 of OpenSSH. The default settings as provided by Debian should be OK, but I strongly recommend to add this option to sshd_config if you only use FIDO2 keys for interactive login:
PubkeyAuthOptions verify-required
I prefer doing this by creating a file /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/fido2.conf with this line.
This options ensures that only keys which require a PIN can be used, at least adding some protection against theft of a FIDO2 key which contains discoverable credentials.
You can also add the option touch-required to PubkeyAuthOptions in order to require touching the key when authenticating. This will make it impossible to authenticate with keys which were created with the no-touch-required option.
Setting up FIDO2 credentials for SSH
To generate credentials for SSH with your FIDO2, you basically use this command
$ ssh-keygen -t ed25519-sk
There are diffferent options available which you can add:
-O resident: You want to create discoverable credentials.-O no-touch-required: You want to disable the requirement of touching the key for authenticating.-O verify-required: You require that the PIN is entered when authenticating. I strongly recommend this option.-O application=ssh:SomeUniqueName: In case you want to store different SSH keys on your Solo2, you will have to give each of them a different application name starting with ssh:-f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk_solo2_blue: If you use multiple FIDO2 keys, you may want to store the key in a unique file for every FIDO2 key. Replace the file name of this example by the name of your choice.
You can verify that the credentials are correctly stored on your Solo2 using this command:
$ solo key credential ls
In case you would want to remove the credentials stored on your key, you can do so by using this command:
$ solo key credential rm CREDENTIALID
Replace CREDENTIALID by the value you found with the previous command.
After creating the key, you need to copy the public key to the authorized_keys file on your server. You can use ssh-copy-id for that:
$ ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk_solo2_blue.pub username@server.example.org
Of course use the correct file name for the public key.
If you used the option no-touch-required when generating the key, you will have to edit the ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file on your server so that this options precedes the key. For example if authorized_keys contains this:
sk-ssh-ed25519@openssh.com AAAA....= username@host
Change it to this:
no-touch-required sk-ssh-ed25519@openssh.com AAAA....= username@host
Now it should be possible to log in to the server using this command:
$ ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk_solo2_blue -o IdentitiesOnly=yes username@server.example.org
You will be asked to enter the PIN of your key and to touch it, depending on the options you used when creating the key. I add -o IdentitiesOnly=yes because otherwise ssh will first try to authenticate using the keys loaded in your SSH agent. With this option we enforce it to use only the private key we have specified with the -i parameter.
You can make this default by editing ~/.ssh/config, so that you don’t need to repeat the -i and -o parameters every time when connecting:
Host server.example.org
User myusername
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk_solo2_blue
IdentitiesOnly yes
Importing discoverable credentials on another system
When you use discoverable credentials, all information needed for authentication is stored on the key itself, in contrast to non-discoverable credentials, where part of that information is also stored in the private key file on the computer. For this reason, with discoverable credentials, it is easy to import them on any computer.
$ cd ~/.ssh/
$ ssh-keygen -K
The public and private key will be written in the .ssh directory, and then you can authenticate again using the ssh -o IdentiesOnly=yes -i command just like on the system where you generated the key.
Troubleshooting FIDO2 SSH authentication
On the server check the sshd logs, which can be found in /var/log/auth.log or in the ssh journal:
# journalctl -u ssh
Successful authentication with your FIDO2 key, should be logged like this:
Accepted publickey for username from xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx port zzzzzz ssh2: ED25519-SK SHA256:....
Notice the ED25519-SK part which indicates that the credentials on your FIDO2 key were used.
If you see this:
error: public key ED25519-SK SHA256:... signature for username from xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx port zzzzz rejected: user presence (authenticator touch) requirement not met
This means that you have created a key with the no-touch-required options not set. Try adding no-touch-required to the authorized_keys on the server, as noted above, at least if your server does not have PubkeyAuthOptions touch-required set.
On the client-side, you can add the -v parameter to debug what happens:
$ ssh -v -o IdentitiesOnly=yes -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk_solo2_blue username@server.example.org
If you are using GNOME with gnome-keyring as ssh-agent, you will encounter this problem:
debug1: Offering public key: /home/username/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk_solo2_blue ED25519-SK SHA256:... explicit authenticator agent
debug1: Server accepts key: /home/username/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk_solo2_blue ED25519-SK SHA256:... explicit authenticator agent
sign_and_send_pubkey: signing failed for ED25519-SK "/home/username/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk_solo2_blue" from agent: agent refused operation
This is because of the lack of support of verify-required credentials in ssh-agent/gnome-keyring.
A work-around is to rename the public key, so that gnome-keyring will ignore it:
$ mv ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk_solo2_blue.pub ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk_solo2_blue.public
you will need to log out and login again after making this change.
Sources and more information
Securing SSH with FIDO2
Solo2 discussions