# Add to Claude CLI
claude mcp add ssh-mcp-secured npx '@marian-craciunescu/ssh-mcp-server-secured@latest'

npm install -g @marian-craciunescu/ssh-mcp-server-secured

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ssh-mcp-secured": {
      "command": "ssh-mcp-server-secured"
    }
  }
}

Connect to host 172.168.0.2 with user admin connectionId=router1

{
  "host": "172.168.0.2",
  "username": "admin",
  "deviceType": "cisco",
  "connectionId": "router1"
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ssh-mcp-secured": {
      "command": "ssh-mcp-server-secured",
      "env": {
        "SSH_FILTER_MODE": "blacklist",
        "ROUTER1_PASSWORD": "admin123",
        "ROUTER1_ENABLE_PASSWORD": "enable123",
        "SERVER1_PASSWORD": "rootpass",
        "SERVER1_USERNAME": "root"
      }
    }
  }
}

{
  "host": "10.0.0.1",
  "port": 2222,
  "username": "admin",
  "connectionId": "old-switch",
  "sshOptions": {
    "KexAlgorithms": "+diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha1",
    "HostKeyAlgorithms": "+ssh-rsa"
  }
}

ssh -p 2222 admin@10.0.0.1 -o KexAlgorithms=+diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha1 -o HostKeyAlgorithms=+ssh-rsa

host,username,port,deviceType,connectionId
172.168.0.2,admin,22,cisco,router1
10.1.2.15,noc,22,cisco,router2
192.168.1.1,root,22,linux,server1

[
  {
    "host": "172.168.0.2",
    "username": "admin",
    "deviceType": "cisco",
    "connectionId": "router1"
  },
  {
    "host": "10.1.2.15",
    "username": "noc",
    "deviceType": "cisco",
    "connectionId": "router2",
    "sshOptions": {
      "KexAlgorithms": "+diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha1",
      "HostKeyAlgorithms": "+ssh-rsa"
    }
  }
]

export PROFILE_CISCO_USER=admin
export PROFILE_CISCO_PASSWORD=secret123
export PROFILE_CISCO_DEVICE_TYPE=cisco
export PROFILE_CISCO_PORT=2222
export PROFILE_CISCO_SSH_OPTIONS='{"KexAlgorithms":"+diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha1","HostKeyAlgorithms":"+ssh-rsa"}'

export PROFILE_ROUTERS_BLACKLIST="show running config,conf t,configure terminal"
export PROFILE_ROUTERS_WHITELIST="show ospf neigh,show version,show ip interface brief"

ssh_connect host=10.0.0.1 profile=ROUTERS connectionId=router1
# show ospf neigh        → allowed (profile whitelist)
# show running config    → blocked (profile blacklist)

Load connections from /path/to/connections.csv and connect to all

{
  "host": "10.1.2.15",
  "profile": "ROUTERS",
  "command": "show version"
}

{
  "status": "error",
  "connectionId": "10_1_2_15_2026_08_12_sessionid_a1b2c3",
  "command": "show bogus",
  "error": "Command exited with code 2",
  "exitCode": 2,
  "output": "% Invalid input detected",
  "retry": "The SSH connection is still open. Call ssh_execute with this connectionId to run a different command, then ssh_disconnect when finished."
}

{
  "host": "10.0.0.1",
  "username": "admin",
  "preset": "topex",
  "jumpCommands": ["telnet lh", "telnet 127.0.0.1"],
  "command": "view portsoncard *"
}

{
  "command": "show version",
  "connectionIds": ["router1", "router2", "switch1"]
}

{
  "command": "show ip interface brief",
  "connectionIds": ["*"]
}

SSH → open shell → send jump command (e.g. "telnet lh") → wait for nested prompt (e.g. "topexsw>") → ready

{
  "host": "10.0.0.1",
  "username": "admin",
  "connectionId": "topex1",
  "preset": "topex",
  "jumpCommand": "telnet lh"
}

{
  "command": "view portsoncard *",
  "connectionId": "topex1"
}

{
  "host": "10.0.0.5",
  "username": "root",
  "connectionId": "fs1",
  "preset": "freeswitch"
}

{
  "command": "sofia status",
  "connectionId": "fs1"
}

{
  "host": "10.0.0.1",
  "username": "admin",
  "connectionId": "custom1",
  "jumpCommand": "telnet 192.168.1.100",
  "jumpPromptPattern": ">\\s*$",
  "jumpExitCommand": "quit",
  "jumpReadyTimeout": 8000
}

[2026-01-22T20:26:02.044Z] [INFO ] ✓ SSH connection established to 172.168.0.2:22
[2026-01-22T20:26:02.046Z] [DEBUG] ♥ Keepalive #1 sent to 172.168.0.2 | {"uptime":"10s"}
[2026-01-22T20:26:12.047Z] [WARN ] ⚠ CONNECTION CLOSED BY REMOTE HOST: router1

{
  "ssh_mcp": {
    "command": "ssh-mcp-server-secured",
    "args": [],
    "env": {
      "SSH_FILTER_MODE": "blacklist",
      "SSH_ALLOW_SUDO": "true",
      "SSH_LOG_BLOCKED": "true",
      "SSH_BLACKLIST": "rm,rmdir,mkfs,fdisk,shutdown,reboot,halt,poweroff,passwd,useradd,userdel,iptables,crontab,conf t,configure terminal"
    }
  }
}

{
  "ssh_mcp": {
    "command": "ssh-mcp-server-secured",
    "args": [],
    "env": {
      "SSH_FILTER_MODE": "whitelist",
      "SSH_ALLOW_SUDO": "false",
      "SSH_LOG_BLOCKED": "true",
      "SSH_WHITELIST": "ls,cat,grep,tail,head,df,du,free,uptime,ps,systemctl,journalctl,docker,kubectl,ping,curl,dig,ss,netstat,show,display"
    }
  }
}

{
  "ssh_mcp": {
    "command": "ssh-mcp-server-secured",
    "args": [],
    "env": {
      "SSH_FILTER_MODE": "blacklist",
      "SSH_ALLOW_SUDO": "true",
      "SSH_LOG_LEVEL": "DEBUG",
      "SSH_BLACKLIST": "conf t,configure terminal,rm,shutdown,reboot",
      "ROUTER1_PASSWORD": "admin123",
      "ROUTER1_ENABLE_PASSWORD": "enable123",
      "ROUTER2_PASSWORD": "pass123",
      "SERVER1_PASSWORD": "pass1234"
    }
  }
}

{
  "ssh_mcp": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["@marian-craciunescu/ssh-mcp-server-secured"],
    "env": {
      "SSH_FILTER_MODE": "blacklist",
      "SSH_ALLOW_SUDO": "true"
    }
  }
}

{
  "commandFilter": {
    "mode": "whitelist",
    "allowSudo": false,
    "logBlocked": true,
    "whitelist": [
      "ls", "cat", "grep", "df", "ps", "systemctl", "docker", "show", "ping"
    ],
    "blacklist": [
      "rm", "shutdown", "reboot", "passwd", "conf t", "configure terminal"
    ],
    "dangerousPatterns": [
      ";\\s*rm\\s+-rf",
      "curl.*\\|\\s*bash"
    ]
  }
}

✓ ls -la
✓ docker ps
✓ show ip interface brief
✗ rm -rf /tmp/files       → Blocked: 'rm' is in blacklist
✗ configure terminal      → Blocked: 'configure terminal' is in blacklist
✗ shutdown now            → Blocked: 'shutdown' is in blacklist

✓ ls -la                  → Allowed: 'ls' is whitelisted
✓ show version            → Allowed: 'show' is whitelisted
✗ vim /etc/hosts          → Blocked: 'vim' not in whitelist
✗ make install            → Blocked: 'make' not in whitelist

SSH_FILTER_MODE=mixed
SSH_WHITELIST=show, show running-config interface, show running-config | include, ping -c , ls -lha, terminal length 0
SSH_BLACKLIST=show running-config, conf t, configure terminal, reload, rm, shutdown, ping

✓ show version                            → 'show' (4) beats nothing
✓ show interfaces terse                   → 'show' (4) beats nothing
✗ show running-config                     → 'show running-config' (19) beats 'show' (4)
✓ show running-config interface Gi0/1     → 'show running-config interface' (29) beats 'show running-config' (19)
✓ show running-config | include hostname  → 'show running-config | include' (29) beats 'show running-config' (19)
✓ ping -c 4 8.8.8.8                       → 'ping -c' (7) beats 'ping' (4)
✗ ping 8.8.8.8                            → only 'ping' (4) matches, and it is blacklisted
✓ terminal length 0                       → whitelisted, so the server can disable its own pager
✓ ls -lha                                 → exact whitelist entry
✗ ls -la                                  → matches NEITHER list → blocked by deny-by-default
✗ reload                                  → blacklisted, no whitelist match
✗ rm -rf /tmp/x                           → 'rm' (2) blacklisted, no whitelist match

✗ show version | rm -rf /   → Blocked: dangerous pattern /\|\s*rm/i

<IP>_YYYY_MM_DD_sessionid_<6 random chars>

<SSH_AUDIT_DIR>/audit_YYYY-MM-DD.jsonl

{"timestamp":"2026-06-08T11:07:12.569Z","connectionId":"10_0_0_1_2026_06_08_sessionid_a1b9f3","host":"10.0.0.1","command":"show version","exitCode":0,"output":"..."}

→ ssh_run {
    host: "172.168.0.2",
    profile: "ROUTERS",
    command: "show version"
  }
  (connects, runs, closes; returns the output)

→ ssh_run_with_jump {
    host: "10.0.0.1",
    username: "admin",
    preset: "topex",
    jumpCommands: ["telnet lh", "telnet 127.0.0.1"],
    command: "view portsoncard *"
  }

1. → ssh_run { host: "172.168.0.2", profile: "ROUTERS", command: "show bogus" }
   ← { status: "error", connectionId: "172_168_0_2_..._sessionid_a1b2c3", exitCode: 2, ... }
     (connection left open)

2. → ssh_execute {
       command: "show interfaces terse",
       connectionId: "172_168_0_2_..._sessionid_a1b2c3"
     }

3. → ssh_disconnect { connectionId: "172_168_0_2_..._sessionid_a1b2c3" }

1. Load connections from CSV (passwords auto-resolved from env vars)
   → ssh_load_connections { filePath: "devices.csv", connectAll: true }
   (ROUTER1_PASSWORD, ROUTER2_PASSWORD resolved automatically)

2. Execute show commands on all devices
   → ssh_execute_on_multiple {
       command: "show ip interface brief",
       connectionIds: ["*"]
     }

3. Execute a command on one specific router
   → ssh_execute {
       command: "show running-config | include hostname",
       connectionId: "router1"
     }

4. Check connection health
   → ssh_check_connections {}

5. Inspect why a command was blocked
   → ssh_get_command_filter {
       connectionId: "router1",
       command: "configure terminal"
     }

6. Disconnect all
   → ssh_disconnect_all {}

# Clone
git clone https://github.com/marian-craciunescu/ssh-mcp-server-secured.git
cd ssh-mcp-server-secured

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run in development mode
npm run dev

# Test with MCP Inspector
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node index.js