Openssh client broken when using ServerAliveInterval in fw v.4.x

It seems that something with the openssh-client package has broken somewhere in a v4.x firmware update. Connections cannot be established when using the ServerAliveInterval option (used to establish SSH tunnels). Enabling the option always results in the error Connection to 0.0.0.0 port 22 timed out immediately after connecting, without any waiting time and just after debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_KEX_ECDH_REPLY.

This is likely a bug in OpenWrt, but I couldn’t verify it as all tests were conducted with GL.iNet devices. Specifically, I’ve checked it on the GL-E750 (Mudi V2) and the GL-AR300M16 (Shadow) devices. In the latter, with firmware v3.x, the problem does not occur.

Since the tunnelssh package also uses openssh-client, this issue is likely related: Slate sshtunnel problem

I can’t use the dropbear client because it doesn’t have the option to send environment variables, which I also need.

Steps to reproduce the error (example with the Mudi device):

Device: GL-E750 (Mudi V2) with the Quectel EM060K-GL modem
Firmware version: 4.3.12 (4.0 0312release4)
OpenWrt version: 22.03.4

Setup:

opkg install openssh-client 

Log of the failed connection with ServerAliveInterval (connecting to localhost for simplicity):

root@Mudik:~# /usr/bin/ssh localhost -vvv -o ServerAliveInterval=60
OpenSSH_8.9p1, OpenSSL 1.1.1t  7 Feb 2023
debug1: Reading configuration data /etc/ssh/ssh_config
debug3: expanded UserKnownHostsFile '~/.ssh/known_hosts' -> '/root/.ssh/known_hosts'
debug3: expanded UserKnownHostsFile '~/.ssh/known_hosts2' -> '/root/.ssh/known_hosts2'
debug2: resolving "localhost" port 22
debug3: resolve_host: lookup localhost:22
debug3: ssh_connect_direct: entering
debug1: Connecting to localhost [::1] port 22.
debug3: set_sock_tos: set socket 3 IPV6_TCLASS 0x48
debug1: Connection established.
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_rsa type 0
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_rsa-cert type -1
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_ecdsa type -1
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_ecdsa-cert type -1
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk type -1
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk-cert type -1
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_ed25519 type -1
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_ed25519-cert type -1
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk type -1
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk-cert type -1
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_xmss type -1
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_xmss-cert type -1
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_dsa type -1
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_dsa-cert type -1
debug1: Local version string SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_8.9
debug1: Remote protocol version 2.0, remote software version dropbear
debug1: compat_banner: no match: dropbear
debug2: fd 3 setting O_NONBLOCK
debug1: Authenticating to localhost:22 as 'root'
debug3: record_hostkey: found key type ED25519 in file /root/.ssh/known_hosts:4
debug3: load_hostkeys_file: loaded 1 keys from localhost
debug1: load_hostkeys: fopen /root/.ssh/known_hosts2: No such file or directory
debug1: load_hostkeys: fopen /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts: No such file or directory
debug1: load_hostkeys: fopen /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts2: No such file or directory
debug3: order_hostkeyalgs: have matching best-preference key type ssh-ed25519-cert-v01@openssh.com, using HostkeyAlgorithms verbatim
debug3: send packet: type 20
debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT sent
debug3: receive packet: type 20
debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT received
debug2: local client KEXINIT proposal
debug2: KEX algorithms: curve25519-sha256,curve25519-sha256@libssh.org,ecdh-sha2-nistp256,ecdh-sha2-nistp384,ecdh-sha2-nistp521,sntrup761x25519-sha512@openssh.com,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256,diffie-hellman-group16-sha512,diffie-hellman-group18-sha512,diffie-hellman-group14-sha256,ext-info-c
debug2: host key algorithms: ssh-ed25519-cert-v01@openssh.com,ecdsa-sha2-nistp256-cert-v01@openssh.com,ecdsa-sha2-nistp384-cert-v01@openssh.com,ecdsa-sha2-nistp521-cert-v01@openssh.com,sk-ssh-ed25519-cert-v01@openssh.com,sk-ecdsa-sha2-nistp256-cert-v01@openssh.com,rsa-sha2-512-cert-v01@openssh.com,rsa-sha2-256-cert-v01@openssh.com,ssh-ed25519,ecdsa-sha2-nistp256,ecdsa-sha2-nistp384,ecdsa-sha2-nistp521,sk-ssh-ed25519@openssh.com,sk-ecdsa-sha2-nistp256@openssh.com,rsa-sha2-512,rsa-sha2-256
debug2: ciphers ctos: chacha20-poly1305@openssh.com,aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr,aes128-gcm@openssh.com,aes256-gcm@openssh.com
debug2: ciphers stoc: chacha20-poly1305@openssh.com,aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr,aes128-gcm@openssh.com,aes256-gcm@openssh.com
debug2: MACs ctos: umac-64-etm@openssh.com,umac-128-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-256-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-512-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha1-etm@openssh.com,umac-64@openssh.com,umac-128@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-512,hmac-sha1
debug2: MACs stoc: umac-64-etm@openssh.com,umac-128-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-256-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-512-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha1-etm@openssh.com,umac-64@openssh.com,umac-128@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-512,hmac-sha1
debug2: compression ctos: none,zlib@openssh.com,zlib
debug2: compression stoc: none,zlib@openssh.com,zlib
debug2: languages ctos:
debug2: languages stoc:
debug2: first_kex_follows 0
debug2: reserved 0
debug2: peer server KEXINIT proposal
debug2: KEX algorithms: curve25519-sha256,curve25519-sha256@libssh.org,diffie-hellman-group14-sha256,diffie-hellman-group14-sha1,kexguess2@matt.ucc.asn.au
debug2: host key algorithms: ssh-ed25519,rsa-sha2-256,ssh-rsa
debug2: ciphers ctos: chacha20-poly1305@openssh.com,aes128-ctr,aes256-ctr
debug2: ciphers stoc: chacha20-poly1305@openssh.com,aes128-ctr,aes256-ctr
debug2: MACs ctos: hmac-sha1,hmac-sha2-256
debug2: MACs stoc: hmac-sha1,hmac-sha2-256
debug2: compression ctos: none
debug2: compression stoc: none
debug2: languages ctos:
debug2: languages stoc:
debug2: first_kex_follows 0
debug2: reserved 0
debug1: kex: algorithm: curve25519-sha256
debug1: kex: host key algorithm: ssh-ed25519
debug1: kex: server->client cipher: chacha20-poly1305@openssh.com MAC: <implicit> compression: none
debug1: kex: client->server cipher: chacha20-poly1305@openssh.com MAC: <implicit> compression: none
debug3: send packet: type 30
debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_KEX_ECDH_REPLY
Connection to ::1 port 22 timed out
root@Mudik:~#

Log of the successful connection without ServerAliveInterval:

root@Mudik:~# /usr/bin/ssh localhost -vvv -o ServerAliveInterval=0
OpenSSH_8.9p1, OpenSSL 1.1.1t  7 Feb 2023
debug1: Reading configuration data /etc/ssh/ssh_config
debug3: expanded UserKnownHostsFile '~/.ssh/known_hosts' -> '/root/.ssh/known_hosts'
debug3: expanded UserKnownHostsFile '~/.ssh/known_hosts2' -> '/root/.ssh/known_hosts2'
debug2: resolving "localhost" port 22
debug3: resolve_host: lookup localhost:22
debug3: ssh_connect_direct: entering
debug1: Connecting to localhost [::1] port 22.
debug3: set_sock_tos: set socket 3 IPV6_TCLASS 0x48
debug1: Connection established.
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_rsa type 0
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_rsa-cert type -1
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_ecdsa type -1
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_ecdsa-cert type -1
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk type -1
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk-cert type -1
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_ed25519 type -1
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_ed25519-cert type -1
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk type -1
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk-cert type -1
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_xmss type -1
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_xmss-cert type -1
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_dsa type -1
debug1: identity file /root/.ssh/id_dsa-cert type -1
debug1: Local version string SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_8.9
debug1: Remote protocol version 2.0, remote software version dropbear
debug1: compat_banner: no match: dropbear
debug2: fd 3 setting O_NONBLOCK
debug1: Authenticating to localhost:22 as 'root'
debug3: record_hostkey: found key type ED25519 in file /root/.ssh/known_hosts:4
debug3: load_hostkeys_file: loaded 1 keys from localhost
debug1: load_hostkeys: fopen /root/.ssh/known_hosts2: No such file or directory
debug1: load_hostkeys: fopen /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts: No such file or directory
debug1: load_hostkeys: fopen /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts2: No such file or directory
debug3: order_hostkeyalgs: have matching best-preference key type ssh-ed25519-cert-v01@openssh.com, using HostkeyAlgorithms verbatim
debug3: send packet: type 20
debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT sent
debug3: receive packet: type 20
debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT received
debug2: local client KEXINIT proposal
debug2: KEX algorithms: curve25519-sha256,curve25519-sha256@libssh.org,ecdh-sha2-nistp256,ecdh-sha2-nistp384,ecdh-sha2-nistp521,sntrup761x25519-sha512@openssh.com,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256,diffie-hellman-group16-sha512,diffie-hellman-group18-sha512,diffie-hellman-group14-sha256,ext-info-c
debug2: host key algorithms: ssh-ed25519-cert-v01@openssh.com,ecdsa-sha2-nistp256-cert-v01@openssh.com,ecdsa-sha2-nistp384-cert-v01@openssh.com,ecdsa-sha2-nistp521-cert-v01@openssh.com,sk-ssh-ed25519-cert-v01@openssh.com,sk-ecdsa-sha2-nistp256-cert-v01@openssh.com,rsa-sha2-512-cert-v01@openssh.com,rsa-sha2-256-cert-v01@openssh.com,ssh-ed25519,ecdsa-sha2-nistp256,ecdsa-sha2-nistp384,ecdsa-sha2-nistp521,sk-ssh-ed25519@openssh.com,sk-ecdsa-sha2-nistp256@openssh.com,rsa-sha2-512,rsa-sha2-256
debug2: ciphers ctos: chacha20-poly1305@openssh.com,aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr,aes128-gcm@openssh.com,aes256-gcm@openssh.com
debug2: ciphers stoc: chacha20-poly1305@openssh.com,aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr,aes128-gcm@openssh.com,aes256-gcm@openssh.com
debug2: MACs ctos: umac-64-etm@openssh.com,umac-128-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-256-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-512-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha1-etm@openssh.com,umac-64@openssh.com,umac-128@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-512,hmac-sha1
debug2: MACs stoc: umac-64-etm@openssh.com,umac-128-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-256-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-512-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha1-etm@openssh.com,umac-64@openssh.com,umac-128@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-512,hmac-sha1
debug2: compression ctos: none,zlib@openssh.com,zlib
debug2: compression stoc: none,zlib@openssh.com,zlib
debug2: languages ctos:
debug2: languages stoc:
debug2: first_kex_follows 0
debug2: reserved 0
debug2: peer server KEXINIT proposal
debug2: KEX algorithms: curve25519-sha256,curve25519-sha256@libssh.org,diffie-hellman-group14-sha256,diffie-hellman-group14-sha1,kexguess2@matt.ucc.asn.au
debug2: host key algorithms: ssh-ed25519,rsa-sha2-256,ssh-rsa
debug2: ciphers ctos: chacha20-poly1305@openssh.com,aes128-ctr,aes256-ctr
debug2: ciphers stoc: chacha20-poly1305@openssh.com,aes128-ctr,aes256-ctr
debug2: MACs ctos: hmac-sha1,hmac-sha2-256
debug2: MACs stoc: hmac-sha1,hmac-sha2-256
debug2: compression ctos: none
debug2: compression stoc: none
debug2: languages ctos:
debug2: languages stoc:
debug2: first_kex_follows 0
debug2: reserved 0
debug1: kex: algorithm: curve25519-sha256
debug1: kex: host key algorithm: ssh-ed25519
debug1: kex: server->client cipher: chacha20-poly1305@openssh.com MAC: <implicit> compression: none
debug1: kex: client->server cipher: chacha20-poly1305@openssh.com MAC: <implicit> compression: none
debug3: send packet: type 30
debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_KEX_ECDH_REPLY
debug3: receive packet: type 31
debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEX_ECDH_REPLY received
debug1: Server host key: ssh-ed25519 SHA256:O7S/Ij8+5jNsM9cXBPyUBc3VZVPLZ2R40qDd599KMl8
debug3: record_hostkey: found key type ED25519 in file /root/.ssh/known_hosts:4
debug3: load_hostkeys_file: loaded 1 keys from localhost
debug1: load_hostkeys: fopen /root/.ssh/known_hosts2: No such file or directory
debug1: load_hostkeys: fopen /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts: No such file or directory
debug1: load_hostkeys: fopen /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts2: No such file or directory
debug1: Host 'localhost' is known and matches the ED25519 host key.
debug1: Found key in /root/.ssh/known_hosts:4
debug3: send packet: type 21
debug2: ssh_set_newkeys: mode 1
debug1: rekey out after 134217728 blocks
debug1: SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS sent
debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS
debug3: receive packet: type 21
debug1: SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS received
debug2: ssh_set_newkeys: mode 0
debug1: rekey in after 134217728 blocks
debug1: Will attempt key: /root/.ssh/id_rsa RSA SHA256:g3onxORN3tcTT+CLtK1FmpUX8Cwt0ZPr4UtF11qnTNk
debug1: Will attempt key: /root/.ssh/id_ecdsa
debug1: Will attempt key: /root/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk
debug1: Will attempt key: /root/.ssh/id_ed25519
debug1: Will attempt key: /root/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk
debug1: Will attempt key: /root/.ssh/id_xmss
debug1: Will attempt key: /root/.ssh/id_dsa
debug2: pubkey_prepare: done
debug3: send packet: type 5
debug3: receive packet: type 7
debug1: SSH2_MSG_EXT_INFO received
debug1: kex_input_ext_info: server-sig-algs=<ssh-ed25519,sk-ssh-ed25519@openssh.com,rsa-sha2-256,ssh-rsa>
debug3: receive packet: type 6
debug2: service_accept: ssh-userauth
debug1: SSH2_MSG_SERVICE_ACCEPT received
debug3: send packet: type 50
debug3: receive packet: type 51
debug1: Authentications that can continue: publickey,password
debug3: start over, passed a different list publickey,password
debug3: preferred publickey,keyboard-interactive,password
debug3: authmethod_lookup publickey
debug3: remaining preferred: keyboard-interactive,password
debug3: authmethod_is_enabled publickey
debug1: Next authentication method: publickey
debug1: Offering public key: /root/.ssh/id_rsa RSA SHA256:g3on...
debug3: send packet: type 50
debug2: we sent a publickey packet, wait for reply
debug3: receive packet: type 51
debug1: Authentications that can continue: publickey,password
debug1: Trying private key: /root/.ssh/id_ecdsa
debug3: no such identity: /root/.ssh/id_ecdsa: No such file or directory
debug1: Trying private key: /root/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk
debug3: no such identity: /root/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk: No such file or directory
debug1: Trying private key: /root/.ssh/id_ed25519
debug3: no such identity: /root/.ssh/id_ed25519: No such file or directory
debug1: Trying private key: /root/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk
debug3: no such identity: /root/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk: No such file or directory
debug1: Trying private key: /root/.ssh/id_xmss
debug3: no such identity: /root/.ssh/id_xmss: No such file or directory
debug1: Trying private key: /root/.ssh/id_dsa
debug3: no such identity: /root/.ssh/id_dsa: No such file or directory
debug2: we did not send a packet, disable method
debug3: authmethod_lookup password
debug3: remaining preferred: ,password
debug3: authmethod_is_enabled password
debug1: Next authentication method: password
root@localhost's password:
debug3: send packet: type 50
debug2: we sent a password packet, wait for reply
debug3: receive packet: type 52
Authenticated to localhost ([::1]:22) using "password".
debug1: channel 0: new [client-session]
debug3: ssh_session2_open: channel_new: 0
debug2: channel 0: send open
debug3: send packet: type 90
debug1: Entering interactive session.
debug1: pledge: filesystem
debug3: receive packet: type 91
debug2: channel_input_open_confirmation: channel 0: callback start
debug2: fd 3 setting TCP_NODELAY
debug3: set_sock_tos: set socket 3 IPV6_TCLASS 0x48
debug2: client_session2_setup: id 0
debug2: channel 0: request pty-req confirm 1
debug3: send packet: type 98
debug2: channel 0: request shell confirm 1
debug3: send packet: type 98
debug2: channel_input_open_confirmation: channel 0: callback done
debug2: channel 0: open confirm rwindow 24576 rmax 32759
debug3: receive packet: type 99
debug2: channel_input_status_confirm: type 99 id 0
debug2: PTY allocation request accepted on channel 0
debug3: receive packet: type 99
debug2: channel_input_status_confirm: type 99 id 0
debug2: shell request accepted on channel 0


BusyBox v1.35.0 (2023-04-09 12:27:46 UTC) built-in shell (ash)

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          |__| W I R E L E S S   F R E E D O M
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 OpenWrt 22.03.4, r20123-38ccc47687
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root@Mudik:~#