I’m currently facing an issue with SSH access on my DigitalOcean Droplet. After learning about a security vulnerability in CyberPanel, I wasn’t able to update it in time, and now I’m completely locked out of SSH.
Has anyone here encountered a similar issue or have any advice on additional steps I could try? Any insights on recovering SSH access after a CyberPanel security issue would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
This textbox defaults to using Markdown to format your answer.
You can type !ref in this text area to quickly search our full set of tutorials, documentation & marketplace offerings and insert the link!
Hey there!
Since you mentioned you tried the recovery console, what is the exact error that you get when you try to access your Droplet via the recovery console?
You should be able to access the console through the DigitalOcean Control Panel. Look for the option to access the console directly, as this will give you terminal access to your Droplet without needing SSH as it bypasses the network configuration.
If you manage to access the console, you can try the following steps to troubleshoot the SSH issue:
Once you have console access, check your firewall settings. If you’re using ufw
, run:
sudo ufw status
Ensure that SSH (port 22) is allowed. If it’s not, you can enable it with:
sudo ufw allow 22/tcp
Verify that the SSH service is running:
sudo systemctl status ssh
If it’s inactive or failed, try starting it:
sudo systemctl start ssh
Since you mentioned a CyberPanel vulnerability, it’s worth checking the CyberPanel settings and logs to see if there are any misconfigurations or blocked access attempts.
If you’ve taken a snapshot of your Droplet before the issues arose, you might consider restoring that snapshot. This can help if you’re unable to recover SSH access quickly.
If all else fails, don’t hesitate to reach out to DigitalOcean support. They can help you regain access to your Droplet:
- Bobby
I’m sorry to hear you’re experiencing issues, especially in light of the recent CyberPanel security vulnerabilities.
As mentioned you should be able to access the droplet using the recovery console, if you’re running into an error, feel free to share it here or also to contact our support team as ell.
Once the access is restored you would like to check if the Firewall rules have been changed and re-apply the necessary rules to regain access using a ssh-client. Bobby already provided the commands you can use to ensure ssh access is allowed.
Restoring the droplet from snapshot or backup is also an option in case you have available snapshot or recent backup that contains your most up to date data.
Also, ensure that CyberPanel is updated to the latest version to patch known vulnerabilities. The next step will be to use security tools to scan for malware or unauthorized scripts that may have been introduced during the exploitation.
If backups were not taken until this moment it is a good idea to start backing up the droplet using backups or snapshots in order to have a working solution in case this is needed in the future.
Hope that this helps!
Get paid to write technical tutorials and select a tech-focused charity to receive a matching donation.
Full documentation for every DigitalOcean product.
The Wave has everything you need to know about building a business, from raising funding to marketing your product.
Stay up to date by signing up for DigitalOcean’s Infrastructure as a Newsletter.
New accounts only. By submitting your email you agree to our Privacy Policy
Scale up as you grow — whether you're running one virtual machine or ten thousand.
Sign up and get $200 in credit for your first 60 days with DigitalOcean.*
*This promotional offer applies to new accounts only.