Hello all,
My apologies if this is a long post. I'm looking for some advice around integrating LDAP (Active Directory) logins via Kibana using a basic license (unfortunately we can't afford to pay for the Gold license - which is what I believe we would need to use the AD realm in Elastic).
I'm also very new to the ELK stack so please excuse any shortcomings.
As I mentioned above, I'm looking to integrate LDAP (Active Directory) logins via Kibana using a basic license.
After much searching and googling, I came across this article and settled on user impersonation:
User Impersonation with X-Pack: Integrating Third Party Auth with Kibana | Elastic Blog
After following the article and more google-fixes, I was able to get things working as expected and as the article explains things should work.
Our config is as follows:
- System build was done on a Ubuntu 18 box. All ELK roles are installed on the same host
- We use NGINX in front of Kibana as reverse proxy and perform some magic via PAM to allow our users to input their domain username/passwords when prompted for login via NGINX (config below) - User must be in htpasswd.users or they won't be able to login
- NGINX is then passing a basic auth/proxy_set_header header containing the NGINX login credentials to Kibana for user login
- User accounts are created in Kibana and dummy passwords are used as NGINX is passing the data via auth header and the proxy_set_header value in NGINX config (see below)
- Users are able to login; however, when they login they see 'Service Account' user as explained in the link above (basically we create an nginx role/user with correct permissions and after creating the user accounts in Kibana, we add them as 'Run As' users to the nginx role and that gives them the perms they need in Kibana).
- Users are happy they can login and things generally seem to work
With all that said, I'm wondering if anybody has found a better solution for this as we've recently found some security issues around login and as I'm new to all this, I'm really not trying to reinvent the wheel - especially if somebody has a better NGINX reverse proxy config. And although this is working, it doesn't seem optimal - obviously the licensed version is optimal but sadly that's not an option for us.
For anybody whose actually taken the time to look and read through this, thank you very much in advance for the help and support; very much appreciated.
mike
- NGINX Config: -
# server configuration
#
server {
listen <server ip>:443;
server_name <ssl SAN name>;
ssl on;
ssl_certificate /etc/nginx/certs/<server>.crt;
ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/certs/<server>.key;
ssl_protocols TLSv1 TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2;
ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;
ssl_session_timeout 1d;
ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:50m;
ssl_ciphers 'ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA512:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA512:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384';
#auth_basic "Server";
#auth_basic_user_file /etc/nginx/htpasswd.users;
# Add index.php to the list if you are using PHP
index index.html index.htm index.nginx-debian.html;
# Kibana
location / {
#auth to ldap via pam via sssd
auth_pam "Kibana on <server>";
auth_pam_service_name "nginx_restricted";
proxy_pass http://<ip>:5601;
proxy_redirect off;
proxy_buffering off;
# Send a Basic Auth header to Kibana on every request to get past the login UI
# Password must be Base64 encoded before using in Nginx config
proxy_set_header Authorization "Basic <Base64'd password>";
# Also submit the 'es-security-runas-user'header on every request with a value of X - Forwarded - User sent from the downstream auth_pam call
# X-Forwarded-User would be 'user' if the auth AD call was user@<domain>
proxy_set_header es-security-runas-user $http_x_forwarded_user;
proxy_http_version 1.1;
proxy_set_header Connection "Keep-Alive";
proxy_set_header Proxy-Connection "Keep-Alive";
rewrite /login https://<server name> redirect;
}
}
- Kibana Config : -
# For more configuration options see the configuration guide for Kibana in
# https://www.elastic.co/guide/index.html
# =================== System: Kibana Server ===================
# Kibana is served by a back end server. This setting specifies the port to use.
#server.port: 5601
# Specifies the address to which the Kibana server will bind. IP addresses and host names are both valid values.
# The default is 'localhost', which usually means remote machines will not be able to connect.
# To allow connections from remote users, set this parameter to a non-loopback address.
server.host: "<server IP>"
# Enables you to specify a path to mount Kibana at if you are running behind a proxy.
# Use the `server.rewriteBasePath` setting to tell Kibana if it should remove the basePath
# from requests it receives, and to prevent a deprecation warning at startup.
# This setting cannot end in a slash.
#server.basePath:
# Specifies whether Kibana should rewrite requests that are prefixed with
# `server.basePath` or require that they are rewritten by your reverse proxy.
# Defaults to `false`.
#server.rewriteBasePath: false
# Specifies the public URL at which Kibana is available for end users. If
# `server.basePath` is configured this URL should end with the same basePath.
#server.publicBaseUrl: ""
# The maximum payload size in bytes for incoming server requests.
#server.maxPayload: 1048576
# The Kibana server's name. This is used for display purposes.
#server.name: "your-hostname"
# =================== System: Kibana Server (Optional) ===================
# Enables SSL and paths to the PEM-format SSL certificate and SSL key files, respectively.
# These settings enable SSL for outgoing requests from the Kibana server to the browser.
#server.ssl.enabled: false
#server.ssl.certificate: /path/to/your/server.crt
#server.ssl.key: /path/to/your/server.key
# =================== System: Elasticsearch ===================
# The URLs of the Elasticsearch instances to use for all your queries.
#elasticsearch.hosts: ["http://localhost:9200"]
# If your Elasticsearch is protected with basic authentication, these settings provide
# the username and password that the Kibana server uses to perform maintenance on the Kibana
# index at startup. Your Kibana users still need to authenticate with Elasticsearch, which
# is proxied through the Kibana server.
#elasticsearch.username: "kibana_system"
#elasticsearch.password: "pass"
# Kibana can also authenticate to Elasticsearch via "service account tokens".
# Service account tokens are Bearer style tokens that replace the traditional username/password based configuration.
# Use this token instead of a username/password.
# elasticsearch.serviceAccountToken: "my_token"
# Time in milliseconds to wait for Elasticsearch to respond to pings. Defaults to the value of
# the elasticsearch.requestTimeout setting.
#elasticsearch.pingTimeout: 1500
# Time in milliseconds to wait for responses from the back end or Elasticsearch. This value
# must be a positive integer.
#elasticsearch.requestTimeout: 30000
# The maximum number of sockets that can be used for communications with elasticsearch.
# Defaults to `Infinity`.
#elasticsearch.maxSockets: 1024
# Specifies whether Kibana should use compression for communications with elasticsearch
# Defaults to `false`.
#elasticsearch.compression: false
# List of Kibana client-side headers to send to Elasticsearch. To send *no* client-side
# headers, set this value to [] (an empty list).
# Allow Kibana to pass our 'run as' header to Elasticsearch from Nginx
elasticsearch.requestHeadersWhitelist: [ es-security-runas-user, authorization, Authorization ]
#xpack.monitoring.elasticsearch.requestHeadersWhitelist: [ es-security-runas-user, authorization, Authorization ]
# Header names and values that are sent to Elasticsearch. Any custom headers cannot be overwritten
# by client-side headers, regardless of the elasticsearch.requestHeadersWhitelist configuration.
#elasticsearch.customHeaders: {}
# Time in milliseconds for Elasticsearch to wait for responses from shards. Set to 0 to disable.
#elasticsearch.shardTimeout: 30000
# =================== System: Elasticsearch (Optional) ===================
# These files are used to verify the identity of Kibana to Elasticsearch and are required when
# xpack.security.http.ssl.client_authentication in Elasticsearch is set to required.
#elasticsearch.ssl.certificate: /path/to/your/client.crt
#elasticsearch.ssl.key: /path/to/your/client.key
# Enables you to specify a path to the PEM file for the certificate
# authority for your Elasticsearch instance.
#elasticsearch.ssl.certificateAuthorities: [ "/path/to/your/CA.pem" ]
# To disregard the validity of SSL certificates, change this setting's value to 'none'.
#elasticsearch.ssl.verificationMode: full
# =================== System: Logging ===================
# Set the value of this setting to off to suppress all logging output, or to debug to log everything. Defaults to 'info'
#logging.root.level: debug
# Enables you to specify a file where Kibana stores log output.
logging:
appenders:
file:
type: file
fileName: /var/log/kibana/kibana.log
layout:
type: json
root:
appenders:
- default
- file
# layout:
# type: json
# Logs queries sent to Elasticsearch.
#logging.loggers:
# - name: elasticsearch.query
# level: debug
# Logs http responses.
#logging.loggers:
# - name: http.server.response
# level: debug
# Logs system usage information.
#logging.loggers:
# - name: metrics.ops
# level: debug
# =================== System: Other ===================
# The path where Kibana stores persistent data not saved in Elasticsearch. Defaults to data
#path.data: data
# Specifies the path where Kibana creates the process ID file.
pid.file: /run/kibana/kibana.pid
# Set the interval in milliseconds to sample system and process performance
# metrics. Minimum is 100ms. Defaults to 5000ms.
#ops.interval: 5000
# Specifies locale to be used for all localizable strings, dates and number formats.
# Supported languages are the following: English (default) "en", Chinese "zh-CN", Japanese "ja-JP", French "fr-FR".
#i18n.locale: "en"
# =================== Frequently used (Optional)===================
# =================== Saved Objects: Migrations ===================
# Saved object migrations run at startup. If you run into migration-related issues, you might need to adjust these settings.
# The number of documents migrated at a time.
# If Kibana can't start up or upgrade due to an Elasticsearch `circuit_breaking_exception`,
# use a smaller batchSize value to reduce the memory pressure. Defaults to 1000 objects per batch.
#migrations.batchSize: 1000
# The maximum payload size for indexing batches of upgraded saved objects.
# To avoid migrations failing due to a 413 Request Entity Too Large response from Elasticsearch.
# This value should be lower than or equal to your Elasticsearch cluster’s `http.max_content_length`
# configuration option. Default: 100mb
#migrations.maxBatchSizeBytes: 100mb
# The number of times to retry temporary migration failures. Increase the setting
# if migrations fail frequently with a message such as `Unable to complete the [...] step after
# 15 attempts, terminating`. Defaults to 15
#migrations.retryAttempts: 15
# =================== Search Autocomplete ===================
# Time in milliseconds to wait for autocomplete suggestions from Elasticsearch.
# This value must be a whole number greater than zero. Defaults to 1000ms
#unifiedSearch.autocomplete.valueSuggestions.timeout: 1000
# Maximum number of documents loaded by each shard to generate autocomplete suggestions.
# This value must be a whole number greater than zero. Defaults to 100_000
#unifiedSearch.autocomplete.valueSuggestions.terminateAfter: 100000
# This section was automatically generated during setup.
elasticsearch.hosts: ['https://<server ip>:9200']
elasticsearch.serviceAccountToken: <token>
elasticsearch.ssl.certificateAuthorities: [/var/lib/kibana/ca_1678831147948.crt]
xpack.fleet.outputs: [{id: fleet-default-output, name: default, is_default: true, is_default_monitoring: true, type: elasticsearch, hosts: ['https://<server ip):9200'], ca_trusted_fingerprint: <trusted fingerprint>}]
# Custom Monitoring Config
#
# Allow Monitoring to run properly
xpack.monitoring.elasticsearch.requestHeadersWhitelist: [ es-security-runas-user, authorization ]
- Elastic Config : -
# ======================== Elasticsearch Configuration =========================
#
# NOTE: Elasticsearch comes with reasonable defaults for most settings.
# Before you set out to tweak and tune the configuration, make sure you
# understand what are you trying to accomplish and the consequences.
#
# The primary way of configuring a node is via this file. This template lists
# the most important settings you may want to configure for a production cluster.
#
# Please consult the documentation for further information on configuration options:
# https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/index.html
#
# ---------------------------------- Cluster -----------------------------------
#
xpack.license.self_generated.type: basic
#
# ---------------------------------- Cluster -----------------------------------
#
# Use a descriptive name for your cluster:
#
#cluster.name: my-application
#
# ------------------------------------ Node ------------------------------------
#
# Use a descriptive name for the node:
#
#node.name: node-1
#
# Add custom attributes to the node:
#
#node.attr.rack: r1
#
# ----------------------------------- Paths ------------------------------------
#
# Path to directory where to store the data (separate multiple locations by comma):
#
path.data: /var/lib/elasticsearch
#
# Path to log files:
#
path.logs: /var/log/elasticsearch
#
# ----------------------------------- Memory -----------------------------------
#
# Lock the memory on startup:
#
#bootstrap.memory_lock: true
#
# Make sure that the heap size is set to about half the memory available
# on the system and that the owner of the process is allowed to use this
# limit.
#
# Elasticsearch performs poorly when the system is swapping the memory.
#
# ---------------------------------- Network -----------------------------------
#
# By default Elasticsearch is only accessible on localhost. Set a different
# address here to expose this node on the network:
#
network.host: <server ip>
#
# By default Elasticsearch listens for HTTP traffic on the first free port it
# finds starting at 9200. Set a specific HTTP port here:
#
http.port: 9200
#
# For more information, consult the network module documentation.
#
# --------------------------------- Discovery ----------------------------------
#
# Pass an initial list of hosts to perform discovery when this node is started:
# The default list of hosts is ["127.0.0.1", "[::1]"]
#
#discovery.seed_hosts: ["host1", "host2"]
#
# Bootstrap the cluster using an initial set of master-eligible nodes:
#
#cluster.initial_master_nodes: ["node-1", "node-2"]
#
# For more information, consult the discovery and cluster formation module documentation.
#
# --------------------------------- Readiness ----------------------------------
#
# Enable an unauthenticated TCP readiness endpoint on localhost
#
#readiness.port: 9399
#
# ---------------------------------- Various -----------------------------------
#
# Allow wildcard deletion of indices:
#
#action.destructive_requires_name: false
#----------------------- BEGIN SECURITY AUTO CONFIGURATION -----------------------
#
# The following settings, TLS certificates, and keys have been automatically
# generated to configure Elasticsearch security features on 14-03-2023 21:27:03
#
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Enable security features
#xpack.security.enabled: true
xpack.security.enabled: true
xpack.security.enrollment.enabled: true
# Enable encryption for HTTP API client connections, such as Kibana, Logstash, and Agents
xpack.security.http.ssl:
enabled: true
keystore.path: certs/http.p12
# Enable encryption and mutual authentication between cluster nodes
xpack.security.transport.ssl:
enabled: true
verification_mode: certificate
keystore.path: certs/transport.p12
truststore.path: certs/transport.p12
# Create a new cluster with the current node only
# Additional nodes can still join the cluster later
cluster.initial_master_nodes: ["<node name>"]
# Audit Events
xpack.security.audit.enabled: true
# Allow HTTP API connections from anywhere
# Connections are encrypted and require user authentication
http.host: 0.0.0.0
# Allow other nodes to join the cluster from anywhere
# Connections are encrypted and mutually authenticated
#transport.host: 0.0.0.0
#
#