One Identity Safeguard for Privileged Passwords 2.9 - Administration Guide

Session request workflow

Authorized users can authorize connections, view active connections, limit access to specific resources, be alerted if connections exceed pre-set time limits and even terminate connections.

Typically a session request follows the workflow below:

1. Request: Users that are designated as an authorized "user" of an entitlement can request a session for any asset in the scope of that entitlement's policies.
2. Approve: Depending on how the Security Policy Administrator configured the policy, a session request will either require approval by one or more Safeguard for Privileged Passwords users, or be auto-approved.
3. Review: The Security Policy Administrator can optionally configure an access request policy to require a review of completed requests for assets in the scope of the policy. In addition, if session recording is enabled in the policy, reviewers can audit the workflow transactions and launch the Desktop Player to replay the session as part of the review process.

The following topics explain the entire end-to-end session access process from request to approval to review (and play back if sessions recording is enabled).

About sessions and recordings

One Identity Safeguard for Privileged Passwords proxies all sessions to target resources. Users do not have direct access to resources, therefore, the enterprise is protected against viruses, malware or other dangerous items on the user's system. Safeguard can proxy and record Unix/Linux, Windows, network devices, firewalls, routers and more.

Important notes

• PuTTY is installed with the Windows desktop client and is used to launch the SSH client if PuTTY is not available on the machine.

• Sessions requests are enabled by default. However, if authorized users cannot request sessions, check the Session Requests Enabled setting (Administrative Tools | Settings | Access Request | Enable or Disable Services).

  NOTE: You must have Appliance Administrator permissions to manage the service settings.

• All session activity (every packet sent and action that takes place on the screen, including mouse movements, clicks and keystrokes) is recorded and available for play back.
• If Safeguard for Privileged Passwords detects no activity for 10 minutes during a privileged session, the session is terminated.
• It is highly recommended to assign an archive server for each Safeguard Appliance's session recording to avoid filling up the appliance's disk space. For more information, see Session Recordings Storage Management.

Embedded session related notes

• For some systems (SUSE and some Debian systems) that use SSH, you must enable password authentication in the package generated configuration file (sshd_config). For example, in the debian sshd_config file, set the following parameter: PasswordAuthentication yes.

• Both SSH and RDP session recordings use the Timestamping Certificate Authority. For more information, see Sessions Certificates.

  Recordings are signed and timestamped every 30 seconds so that partial recordings may be verified as authentic.

• During an RDP session, Safeguard proxies the connection to the target asset.

  When an RDP connection is established, the embedded sessions module will generate a certificate on the fly and sign it using the RDP Connection Signing Certificate. Therefore the RDP client trusts the RDP Connection Signing Certificate and the generated certificate that is signed by the RDP Connection Signing Certificate. This allows the client to verify that the connection is trusted.

• During an SSH session, Safeguard proxies the connection to the target asset. Therefore, Safeguard for Privileged Passwords's SSH host key (Settings | Sessions | SSH Host Key) must be trusted by the client. This SSH host key is unique and produced during manufacturing. This key can be trusted by the client or replaced with a different key if desired.

Requesting session access

If you are designated as an authorized "user" of an entitlement, you can request access for a specific period (or session) to any account or asset in the scope of the entitlement's policies.

You can configure One Identity Safeguard for Privileged Passwords to notify you of pending access request workflow events, such as when a session request is pending, denied or revoked, and so forth. For more information, see Configuring alerts.

To request session access

1. From your Home page, click New Request to open the New Access Request dialog.

   NOTE: You can also submit an access request from your Favorites pane, if you previously saved it as a favorite.

2. On the Asset Selection tab, select the assets to be included in the access request. The assets available for selection are based on the scope defined in the entitlement's access request policies. The limit is 50 assets.

3. On the Account & Access Type tab, select the accounts to be included in the access request and the type of access being requested for each selected account. The accounts include linked accounts, if any. For more information, see Linked Accounts tab (user).

   • Asset: The display name of the managed system.
   • Network Address: The network host name or IP address of the managed system.

   • Account: The accounts available appear in the Account column. When an asset has multiple accounts available, either Select Account(s) or the account name appears as a hyperlink in the Account column. Click the hyperlink in the Account column to display a list of accounts available and select the accounts to be included in the access request.

     The accounts available for selection are based on the Asset-Based Session Access setting (Access Config tab) defined for the entitlement's access request policy. That is:

     • If None is selected in the access request policy, the accounts Safeguard for Privileged Passwords retrieved from the vault will be available for selection. The selected account will then be used when the session is requested.

     • If User Supplied is selected in the access request policy, you will be required to enter the user credentials as part of the request workflow, prior to launching the SSH, RDP, or telnet session.

     • If Linked Account is selected in the access request policy, linked directory accounts will be available for selection. The selected account will then be used when the session is requested.

     • If Directory Account is selected in the access request policy, only the specified directory accounts will be available for selection. The selected directory account will then be used when the session is requested.

   • Domain: The name of the domain for the request.

   • Access Type: The type of access request appears in the Access Type column. When multiple access request types are available, this value appears as a hyperlink, which when selected displays an additional dialog allowing you to select the access type. Select one of the following for a session request: RDP, SSH, or Telnet.

     The access type options available depend on the type of asset selected on the Asset Selection tab. For example, RDP is only available for Windows sessions.

   To remove an asset or account from the list, select the entry in the grid and click the Delete toolbar button.

4. On the Request Details tab, configure the following settings, which will apply to all of the selected assets and accounts:

   1. Normal Access: If the policy has emergency access enabled, select this option to gain normal access to this password. Normal access ensures the access request goes through the entire end-to-end access release process from request to approval to review as defined in the policy by the Security Policy Administrator.

   2. Emergency Access: If the policy has emergency access enabled, select this option to gain immediate emergency access to this password. When you use Emergency Access, the request requires no approval. For more information, see Creating an access request policy.

   3. Request Immediately: Clear this option to enter a specific date and time for the request. Enter the time in the user’s local time.

   4. Checkout Duration: This either displays the checkout duration; or, if the Allow Requester to Change Duration option is enabled in the policy, it allows you to set the days, hours, and minutes that you want the password and overrides the checkout duration set in the access request policy. For more information, see Creating an access request policy.

   5. Ticket Number: If the policy requires a ticket number, enter a valid ticket number for this request. When multiple accounts are specified in the request, if any of the selected accounts require a ticket number, you must specify a valid ticket number. The specified ticket number will be applied to all of the requests associated with this access request. For more information, see Ticketing.

   6. Reason: If the policy requires reason, select an access request reason code for this request. Select the Description down arrow to view the description defined for the selected reason. When multiple accounts are specified in the request, if any of the selected accounts require a reason, you must specify a reason. The specified reason will be applied to all of the requests associated with this access request. For more information, see Reasons.

   7. Comment: Enter information about this request. When multiple accounts are specified in the request, if any of the selected accounts require a comment, you must enter a comment. The comment will be applied to all of the requests associated with this access request. The limit is 255 characters.

5. To save the access request as a favorite, click the Add to Favorites button.

   The Add to Favorites dialog displays allowing you to specify a name and description for the access request. It also allows you to assign a color to the request's icon.

   This access request is then added to your Home page Favorites pane. Selecting it from the Favorites pane displays the New Access Request dialog allowing you to edit the request details or enter a required reason or comment before submitting the request.

6. After entering the required information, click Submit Request.

   The Access Request Result dialog displays showing you the access requests submitted and whether a request was successful.

   In a rare event that the access request does not result in a launchable session request, the following notifications display:

   • Please try again. The linked sessions module state is currently down or may be in a locked state. This message may mean one of the following:
     • SPP could not contact SPS. Try again so the request can be redirected to another managed host in the SPS cluster.

     • The SPS configuration is locked. Try again because this condition is typically because the SPS administrator is making configuration changes to the SPS appliance at the same time that a new access request is being created or a session is being launched.

   • Missing the session connection policy. or
     The selected Access Request Policy cannot be used to initiate a session from SPP. The highest priority policy must be associated with a valid SPS connection policy.
     Check the connection policy configuration. Go to Entitlements | Access Request Policy | Sessions Settings to add a valid connection policy. Save the policy and recreate the access request. For more information, see Session Settings tab.

Taking action on a session request

The actions a user authorized to request access to a privileged session can take depends on the state of the request.

To take action on a session request

1. From your  Home page, the Requests widget has these controls:
   • Select  (expand down) to open the list of active requests.
   • Select  Popout to float the Requests pane. You can then select and drag the pane to any location on the console and re-size the window.

   Note: You enable or disable the Home page widgets in the  Settings menu.

2. Open the list of requests and select one of these view filters. The number indicates how many requests are in that state.

   • All: Requests in all states.
   • Available: Approved requests that are ready (that is, a session that can be launched).
   • Approved: Requests that have been approved, but the checkout time has not arrived.
   • Pending: Requests that are waiting for approval.
   • Revoked: Approved requests retracted by the approver.

     • The approver can revoke a request between the time the requester launches the session and checks it back in.

     • When a user with Security Policy Administrator permissions revokes a "live" session, the active session is terminated.

   • Expired: Requests for which the checkout duration has elapsed.
   • Denied: Requests denied by the approver.
3. Select an account to see the details of the session request.

4. You can take the following actions on session requests, depending on the state.

   • Available: Make selections on the request. If the password changes while you have it checked out, and your current request is still valid, select either Copy or Show again to obtain the new password. Seconds Remaining shows you how long you have to copy information to use to log in.
     • For SSH and RDP accounts:
       • Click Launch to launch the SSH client or RDP connection. For more information, see Launching the SSH client or Launching an RDP session.
       • Click  Check-In to complete the checkout process once you have ended your session.

       • In addition, you can use the following buttons to view or copy information into the dialog that contains the credentials needed to launch the session.

         • Click  Copy to check out and copy the password.
         • Click Show to check out the password and view the password.
         • Click Help to copy the value into the appropriate field of the configuration dialog.
     • For telnet or TN3270/TN5250 over telnet accounts, the fields needed are based on the terminal service application in use:
       
       • For a terminal service application that uses an inband connection string (like telnet), click  Copy to copy the Hostname Connection string and check out the password. Then, paste the information in the log in screen.
       • If the terminal service application requires more information for log in (for example, TN3270/TN5250 over telnet):
         • Click Show to display values which may include Vault Address (the SPP address), a one-time Token, Username, Asset, and Sessions Module (the SPS address).
         • Click  Copy by any of the values to copy a single value. Or, you can click  Copy at the right of all values to copy the entire the connection string, if that is required by your terminal service application.
         • Paste the necessary information into your terminal service application.
       • Click  Check-In to complete the password checkout process. This makes the session request available to reviewers.
       • Click Hide to conceal the information from view.

   • Approved: Select  Cancel to remove the request. A session request changes from "Approved" to "Available" when the requested time is reached. It stays available until you either cancel the request or it reaches the end of the duration period.

   • Pending: Click  Cancel to remove the request.

   • Revoked:

     • Click  Resubmit Request to request the password again.
     • Click  Remove to delete the request from the list.
   • Expired: Click  Remove to delete the request from the list.

   • Denied:

     • Click  Resubmit Request to request the password again.
     • Click  Remove to delete the request from the list.