Modernize SSH Authentication with Identity-Driven Access
Ditch Static SSH Keys. Secure SSH Access with Short-Lived, Identity-Bound Certificates. Simplify, secure, and automate your SSH access with our Zero Trust Identity-Based SSH Certificate Management Software.
SSH Keys Are Outdated. SSH Certificates Are the Future.
Static SSH keys were never designed for today's dynamic, cloud-native infrastructure. Your SSH key-based authentication is a ticking time bomb. They are hard to manage, impossible to track, and dangerous when compromised.
Key Sprawl: SSH keys don't expire and they live long, leading to an ever-growing inventory of static, unmanaged keys that provide perpetual access to servers. Moreover, keys are stored in USB sticks, shared folders, and emails.
No Identity Binding: Keys don't tell you who accessed your servers. Without proper session logs, you lack the visibility and audit trails needed for compliance and security investigations.
Operational Headaches: Creating, distributing, and revoking keys across your infrastructure is laborious and prone to human error.
Blind Trust on Hosts: Users are forced to blindly trust host key fingerprints on their first connection (TOFU - Trust on First Use), opening the door to man-in-the-middle attacks.
Key Reuse: Setting up and using the same SSH key pair to login to multiple servers increases the surface area of potential attacks.
How BastionXP SSH Certificate Manager Works
Our SSH Certificate Manager replaces traditional SSH key-based authentication with ephemeral SSH user certificates that are tied directly to the user's verified identity via SSO, OIDC/SAML, and 2FA.
- User requests an SSH user certificate from the BastionX CA.
- BastionXP CA requests the user to prove his/her identity.
- User authenticates by logging in via SSO (OIDC/SAML) with 2FA.
- SSH Certificate Manager issues a short-lived SSH certificate tied to the user identity.
- User uses the certificate to SSH into authorized systems.
- Certificate auto-expires, access is automatically revoked.
- Any replica of the certificate, backed up or stored anywhere, also expires automatically.
The server automatically verifies the short-lived certificate by checking its signature against the trusted BastionXP CA (Certificate Authority) Certificate. This ensures the user certificate is issued by a trusted CA, the certificate is valid, unexpired, and linked to the authenticated user — so only authorized individuals can gain access. No more distributing, rotating, or revoking static SSH keys. No persistent credentials. No guesswork. Just secure, identity-bound SSH access.
BastionXP: The Ultimate Identity-Based SSH Certificate Management Solution
BastionXP Identity-Based SSH Certificate Management Software gives you complete control and visibility over your SSH certificate infrastructure from a single, centralized platform. Designed to scale with your business, it transforms SSH certificate management from a manual burden into a simple, automated process.
Centralized SSH Certificate Management
Gain a single pane of glass to view, manage, and audit every SSH certificate trail. This is the cornerstone of secure access.
Unrivaled Security
Achieve true zero-trust network access (ZTNA) by generating and distributing SSH certificates only after a successful SSO OIDC based user authentication.
Identity-Based Access
Certificates are tied to user and host identities, ensuring that access is granted based on who you are, not just what key you have.
Designed for All Work Environments
Whether you need Linux SSH Certificate management or support for other systems such as Windows or Mac, our solution integrates seamlessly into your existing workflow.
Enforced Expiry
Every certificate is short-lived, with a defined validity period, drastically reducing the window of vulnerability.
Avoids Key Sprawl
Short-lived SSH certificate based authentication avoid problems associated with public key sprawl. Certificates expire in few hours and become invalid even if copied or stored in multiple places.
Effortless Onboarding & Offboarding
Single command to generate and manage short-lived SSH certificates for end users who need SSH access to servers. Short-lived user certificates, eliminate the need for user off-boarding process because certificates expire in few hours.
Automated SSH Certificate Lifecycle
Our SSH Certificate Management Tool automates the entire certificate lifecycle—from certificate generation, signing & distribution to rotation and instant revocation. Eliminate manual processes & human error. Implement SSH certificate management best practices effortlessly.
Simplifies Auditing
Detailed audit log trails are generated for all user activities and certificate management actions. SSH session recording and replay feature helps reviewing every command executed by an user.
Hardware-Backed Trust for the Modern Perimeter
Identity is only as secure as the hardware it lives on. BastionXP anchors your digital certificates to the physical silicon of your fleet, ensuring only genuine, corporate-issued devices can ever touch your network.
Automated Certificate & Key Management
BastionXP PKI/CA automates X.509 & SSH certificate creation, signing, distribution, rotation and revocation.
Identity Based Access Control
Certificates are tied to device, host and end user identity. Certificates are issued only after hardware-rooted device attestation or OIDC login.
Short-Lived Certificates
Issues short-lived SSL/TLS X.509 certificates to devices, workloads and end users, eliminating the security risks associated with long-lived certificates.
Zero Trust Security
Generates SSL/TLS X.509 server and client certificates for mutual TLS(mTLS) authentication and end-to-end encryption.
Auditing & Compliance
All activities and events are logged to provide a detailed log trail for auditing and compliance purposes. Logs can be analyzed later using a log analyzer to identify anomaly.
Role Based Access Control
Supports SCIM integration with your Identity Provider(IdP). Assign roles to your team members and restrict access to your enterprise resources using RBAC policies.
Your Questions, Answered
Need help? Check out our FAQs for instant answers to the most common questions about our platform, features, and support.