Updated: 2022/Sep/29

Please read Privacy Policy. It's for your privacy.

SKEY(1)                     General Commands Manual                    SKEY(1)

NAME
     skey - respond to an OTP challenge

SYNOPSIS
     skey [-n count] [-p password] [-t hash] [-x] sequence# [/] key

DESCRIPTION
     S/Key is a One Time Password (OTP) authentication system.  It is intended
     to be used when the communication channel between a user and host is not
     secure (e.g. not encrypted or hardwired).  Since each password is used
     only once, even if it is "seen" by a hostile third party, it cannot be
     used again to gain access to the host.

     S/Key uses 64 bits of information, transformed by the MD4 algorithm into
     6 English words.  The user supplies the words to authenticate himself to
     programs like login(1) or ftpd(8).

     Example use of the S/Key program skey:

           % skey  99  th91334
           Enter password: <your secret password is entered here>
           OMEN US HORN OMIT BACK AHOY
           %

     The string that is given back by skey can then be used to log into a
     system.

     The programs that are part of the S/Key system are:

     skeyinit(1)   used to set up your S/Key.

     skey          used to get the one time password(s).

     skeyinfo(1)   used to initialize the S/Key database for the specified
                   user.  It also tells the user what the next challenge will
                   be.

     skeyaudit(1)  used to inform users that they will soon have to rerun
                   skeyinit(1).

     When you run skeyinit(1) you inform the system of your secret password.
     Running skey then generates the one-time password(s), after requiring
     your secret password.  If however, you misspell your secret password that
     you have given to skeyinit(1) while running skey you will get a list of
     passwords that will not work, and no indication about the problem.

     Password sequence numbers count backward from 99.  You can enter the
     passwords using small letters, even though skey prints them capitalized.

     The -n count argument asks for count password sequences to be printed out
     ending with the requested sequence number.

     The hash algorithm is selected using the -t hash option, possible choices
     here are md4, md5 or sha1.

     The -p password allows the user to specify the S/Key password on the
     command line.

     To output the S/Key list in hexadecimal in addition to words, use the -x
     option.

EXAMPLES
     Initialize generation of one time passwords:

           host% skeyinit
           Password: <normal login password>
           [Adding username]
           Enter secret password: <new secret password>
           Again secret password: <new secret password again>
           ID username s/key is 99 host12345
           Next login password: SOME SIX WORDS THAT WERE COMPUTED

     Produce a list of one time passwords to take with to a conference:

           host% skey -n 3 99 host12345
           Enter secret password: <secret password as used with skeyinit>
           97: NOSE FOOT RUSH FEAR GREY JUST
           98: YAWN LEO DEED BIND WACK BRAE
           99: SOME SIX WORDS THAT WERE COMPUTED

     Logging in to a host where skey is installed:

           host% telnet host

           login: <username>
           Password [s/key 97 host12345]:

     Note that the user can use either his/her S/Key password at the prompt
     but also the normal one unless the -s flag is given to login(1).

SEE ALSO
     login(1), skeyaudit(1), skeyinfo(1), skeyinit(1), ftpd(8)

     RFC 2289

TRADEMARKS AND PATENTS
     S/Key is a trademark of Bellcore.

AUTHORS
     Phil Karn
     Neil M. Haller
     John S. Walden
     Scott Chasin

NetBSD 10.99                     July 25, 2001                    NetBSD 10.99