ZR-CSAPI key changes every time the software restarts

API and Webhooks
1

When I connect to Zoom Rooms software via ZR-CSAPI, the host key is saved to .ssh/known_hosts file. So far so good. But whenever the Zoom Rooms software is restarted and I reconnect to it, I get the following warning from my ssh client:

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@    WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED!     @
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SOMEONE IS DOING SOMETHING NASTY!
Someone could be eavesdropping on you right now (man-in-the-middle attack)!
It is also possible that a host key has just been changed.
The fingerprint for the RSA key sent by the remote host is
SHA256:YztcJt9KtxdpnT0ETmf4R4lxLKMQR7NO51By2hDr3N0.
Please contact your system administrator.
Add correct host key in /home/pi/.ssh/known_hosts to get rid of this message.
Offending RSA key in /home/pi/.ssh/known_hosts:1
  remove with:
  ssh-keygen -f "/home/pi/.ssh/known_hosts" -R "[192.168.1.35]:2244"
RSA host key for [192.168.1.35]:2244 has changed and you have requested strict checking.
Host key verification failed.

Please make the host keys permanent to avoid false warnings.

2

Hey @alexander.zarubkin,

I have asked our Zoom Room Engineers to investigate this. I will get back to you with updates. (ZOOM-186718)

Thanks,
Tommy

3

Where can I track the status of the request based on this id? Or is the bugtracker for internal usage only?

4

Hey @alexander.zarubkin, that’s an internal tracking tag we put here so we can follow up :slight_smile:

5

Hey @alexander.zarubkin,

After speaking with engineering, the current design is to regenerate the host key whenever the system restart.

Thanks,
Tommy

6

Hi @tommy, thanks for the response! By system restart do you mean the reboot of the PC, or the restart of the Zoom Rooms software?

And what is the rationale behind this decision? As you can see, it leads to warnings in ssh client, which is annoying. Does regeneration of the host keys make up for that by fixing some other problem?

7

Hey @alexander.zarubkin,

It is when the software restarts. We made this change due to a bug in the installation package.

Thanks,
Tommy