Can I Limit the IP(s) that sshd Listens On?

To limit the IP addresses which sshd listens on, you just need to modify its settings within the sshd_config file. Follow these 4 easy steps:

1. First, backup the sshd_config file, then edit it with your favorite editor. 
    
2. Now, to limit the IPs sshd listens on, you need to change the ListenAddress configuration line:
    
   [email protected] [~]# cd /etc/ssh/
   [email protected] [/etc/ssh]# cp sshd_config sshd_config.save
   [email protected] [/etc/ssh]# vi sshd_config
   [email protected] [/etc/ssh]# diff sshd_config sshd_config.save
   15c15
   < ListenAddress 10.0.0.1
   —
   > #ListenAddress 0.0.0.0
    
3. Next, restart sshd and verify that it’s listening on the specified address:
    
   [email protected] [/etc/ssh]# /etc/init.d/sshd restart
   Stopping sshd:                                             [  OK  ]
   Starting sshd:                                             [  OK  ]
   [email protected] [/etc/ssh]# netstat -anp | grep sshd
   tcp        0      0 10.0.0.1:22                 0.0.0.0:*                   LISTEN      1718/sshd
    
4. If you want sshd to listen on more than one address, then add additional ListenAddress lines to the configuration file:

   [email protected] [/etc/ssh]# diff sshd_config sshd_config.save
   15,16c15
   < ListenAddress 10.0.0.1
   < ListenAddress 10.0.0.2
   —
   > #ListenAddress 0.0.0.0
    
   [email protected] [/etc/ssh]# /etc/init.d/sshd restart
   Stopping sshd:                                             [  OK  ]
   Starting sshd:                                             [  OK  ]
   [email protected] [/etc/ssh]# netstat -anp | grep sshd
   tcp        0      0 10.0.0.1:22                 0.0.0.0:*                   LISTEN      1884/sshd
   tcp        0      0 10.0.0.2:22                 0.0.0.0:*                   LISTEN      1884/sshd

And there you have it!

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